The Vendeleer Brothers Book 4: The Plagued Forest

Ian could feel his stomach growling as he and Brian rummaged through a swamp ridden gas station.

“Are there any can openers over there?” Brian asked. “Cause I found some cans of raviolis.”

Ian looked wistfully at the microwave, wishing that it worked. He wanted some nice warm food and a hot shower.

“You know, I’m just now realizing that gas stations have a weird assortment of items sometimes. I mean, I just found rope. Who goes to a gas station for rope?”

Brian came over with a bag of non perishable foods, a Slim Jim in his mouth.

“Scratch the can opener. Most of these have those easy open tabs.”

Ian glanced over at his brother’s college friend, opening up a Slim Jim for himself. He was starting to realize how little he really knew about him. He knew that Brian liked pizza, video games, and other… nerdy things.

“So uh… Brian…” he started, shifting awkwardly among the ferns sticking out of the tiled floor. “Tell me about yourself.”

Brian blinked a few times in surprise.

“Uh… well, what do you want to know?”

Ian shrugged helplessly.

“I don’t know. It’s just… I’ve always just considered you Roderick’s friend, and… I don’t know.”

“Oh. Well… it’s not like I have a tragic backstory or anything. I consider myself a pretty normal dude.”

At the sound of that, Ian regarded him skeptically.

“Brian. You make weird gadgets for spirits and ghosts. How is that normal?”

“Well, besides that.”

The two of them stood there in awkward silence for a moment, chewing on their Slim Jims.

“Well, I guess I’ll just go see what else I can find…” Brian mumbled, putting the bag on the counter and walking away. Ian internally face palmed, wishing he was better at communicating.

So instead of beating himself up over his lack of social skills, he decided to focus on the task at hand. They had to gather supplies and figure out how they were going to get the swamp creature out of the clearing and all the way to the weird sanctuary they had found. The two of them made their way out of the gas station and down the overgrown road, carrying a couple of bags of food and other things that they thought might be useful.

Ian tried not to think about how it was technically stealing, but he figured it was probably ok since it was kind of an apocalyptic situation. He had also made sure to grab a toothbrush and toothpaste, reveling in the opportunity to actually brush his teeth with clean water…

“Woah… Ian, do you see that?” Brian suddenly asked. Ian looked over and was astonished at their luck. Almost hidden in the reeds, crashed into a pole, was a truck with a trailer, and on the trailer, was a small motorboat. Ian hopped up onto the trailer and examined it.

“This is perfect for maneuvering through a swamp!” he exclaimed, throwing his things in. “Come on, help me bring it down.”

The two of them strained and pushed the boat off the trailer and into the water. Then, Ian cranked it and they sped off into the swamp. They rode in silence, quietly eating some of the food they grabbed.

“Hey Ian, you don’t think the sound will scare him do you?” He asked.

“Umm… good question. I guess we can turn them off right before we get there and then somehow push there with a big stick.”

Ian listened to the motor going, looking at Brian sitting there in front of him.

“Brian? Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Why do you always talk about pizza and video games in intense situations?”

At this, Brian gave a little smile and put up some finger guns.

“Because usually I’m scared out of my crap and I want to think of something that makes me happy. It’s kind of a distraction for how scared I am.”

“Oh. That makes a lot more sense now.” Ian replied. “Er… sorry for uh… getting mad at you about that earlier…”

“It’s ok. I know you’re stressed out too. People just show it in different ways.”

Ian was finally starting to see why Brian and Roderick were such good friends. Brian was a lot more chill and understanding than he had thought.

At that moment, Ian could see that they were approaching the boardwalk, and he turned the motor off and let them glide into the thick of the trees. After a moment of quietness, it was apparent that they were no longer the only people in the swamp. Ian and Brian exchanged glances. They both reached out to the large vines and pulled the boat along, doing their best to remain hidden in the plants surrounding them. They reached dry ground and pulled the boat ashore, and then started to sneak forward towards the clearing.

They could hear Keith’s voice, as well as a few others.

“Something’s wrong with it. It seems weaker than before.”

“Good. It’ll be easier to kill.”

“Crap!!” Ian said under his breath as they looked over the bushes to see Keith and the other survivors surrounding the swamp creature. They had a couple of makeshift flamethrowers now by the looks of things. Ian didn’t know what to do. These guys would not listen to reason!! As he sat there silently panicking, Brian suddenly jumped out of the bushes with his hands up.

“Wait!!” he yelled desperately. “Don’t kill it!!”

Ian groaned and jumped out as well, throwing his hands up as they two of them stepped in front of the creature, which was making some pitiful noises. Some of the survivors pointed their guns at them. Ian swallowed.

“Um. Hello again.” he said awkwardly.

“You two are still alive?!” Keith growled, clenching the makeshift flamethrower in his hands. “Get out of the way! What are you trying to do? Get us all killed?”

“We’re trying to save everyone.” Ian snapped back. “And violence obviously hasn’t worked. We even got it to talk to us. It asked us for help.”

“And you’re going to listen to it?!” a large woman raged. “Look what it’s done to the town!!”

“Please!” Brian interjected. “We think it just might be sick and-.”

“I’ve had enough of this.” a scrawny bald man said, holding up his flamethrower. The others raised their weapons, and Ian and Brian took a step back, truly stuck now. Ian covered his face as they opened fire. However, nothing hit them. Right before the flames and bullets, something had hit the ground in front of them. Something large. Ian opened his eyes and gawked at the thing in front of them.

Standing in front of them was a large creature that was obviously not a part of the swamp. It looked like a cross between a dragon and a bird, with white and creme feathers covering its head and neck, and magnificent, featherless, golden wings that were spread out, protecting them from the fire. Its three tails whipped back and forth, and it had three golden horns that swirled down.

Ian thought he was already very surprised, but then, the creature spoke.

“Get him out of here!” it exclaimed in a feminine voice. “I’ll hold them off!”

Ian and Brian jumped into action, plunging their hands into the sludge and trying to push the creature into the water.

“Ian! The boat! Let’s tie it to the boat and drag it!” Brian yelled over all the noise. Ian nodded, and the two of them ran for the motorboat. Ian hopped in, and Brian grabbed the rope. Ian hoped that whatever this white and golden bird dragon was, that it would be able to handle the fire and bullets that it was getting bombarded with. Brian quickly tied the rope around the swamp creature’s wrist, and then tied it to the boat when Ian brought it around. Ian put the motor on full power, and Brian tried to help by pushing the creature. The creature feebly tried to drag itself towards the water. Slowly, it started to budge, and they both felt a great surge of relief hit them as it was able to get to the water.

“Let’s go!” Ian yelled. Brian hopped in, and under the strain of the creatures weight being pulled behind them, they started to make their way slowly through the swampy sludge. Ian looked back to see the bird dragon thing flap its wings, knocking the survivors back and swirling the flames up into the air.

He and Brian sat there in the boat as they slowly made their way through the trees, lugging the swamp creature behind them. Brian leaned over to it.

“I’m guessing that bird dragon back there is a friend of yours?” he asked. The creature was unable to fully respond, but Ian thought he saw it slightly nod. Ian gave a small sigh.

“What have we gotten ourselves into this time?” he asked. “I was only just starting to come to terms with ghosts and spirits, and then the fact that certain people have abilities. Now I’ve got to put strange mythical beasts on the list?”

Brian shrugged.

“Hey, when we agreed to this job, didn’t you think that our lives were going to get weirder? Cause I did.”

Ian frowned.

He had him there.

It was at that moment, that Ian realized that he had no idea where he was going, or where the entrance to the weird crystal place was. He looked around helplessly, all of the trees looking the same. He couldn’t even hear the survivors anymore.

“Uh… Brian? Do you know where we are?” he asked. Brian began looking around as well.

“No. I thought you knew where you were going?”

Ian scowled.

“Crap.” he muttered.