The World's Next Plague (7 page)

Manon saw the pistol leap in Pauley’s hands,
and heard the bullet pass near his head, just before a heavy weight
collapsed on top of him, tearing with hands and teeth at his neck
and shoulders. Next to him, Armando was struggling to fend off an
attack from the Jombi Pauley had shot from behind.

The last thing Manon saw before succumbing to
the darkness was Pauley running wildly away into the jungle.

~ Epilogue 1 ~

Tanis knew he did not have long to live. It
had been two moons since the white men had changed into Jombi. The
three of them stood as silent sentinels, guarding the clearing,
since that day. The fourth man had not turned, and Tanis had
watched from a safe distance as the others tore the screaming
survivor to pieces.

For the last two days, Tanis had been propped
up against a large tree trunk at the edge of the clearing. His
shirt, necklaces and other bangles had been set beside him on the
ground. A swollen red lump larger than his fist protruded from his
scrawny right leg. He was sweating, and the pain in his legs kept
him from being able to walk. Sensing weakness, the spiders were
growing bolder with each passing hour, and now waited just out of
his reach.

Tanis had not had anything to drink in days.
His tongue was swollen and his head throbbed dreadfully.
Occasionally, he would return to reality and have a few minutes of
lucid thought, before again becoming confused, forgetting where and
who he was.

In one of these moments of clarity Tanis made
his last conscious decision. Falling sideways, he grasped a nearby
spider with desiccated, stick-like, fingers. The fangs sank deep
into his wrist and soon the pain and thirst were forgotten.

~ Afterward ~

I watched the end of the tape many times on
our way back to civilization. It was very difficult to see
everything that was happening. The recording showed a chaotic
scene, and it was impossible to make out all of the details due to
the distance and the lens being partially obscured.

I was able to see something dark and covered
in fur jump from the trees and attack the group, but I was unable
to make out exactly what it had been. I believe it was a howler
monkey based on the calls from the wildlife we heard while my crew
was in the clearing many years later, but it could have been a
different species.

I was able to count the gunshots and watch as
the crew fought among themselves for survival. I also watched as
three distinct figures stood after all of the commotion was over.
Each stayed in one spot until the camera stopped recording. A
fourth figure lay unmoving on the ground.

When my crew was there, we did not encounter
any spiders, but on the recording made by Manon the plentiful
spiders were often referred to and discussed. I do not know what
happened to them all in the many years before we arrived. Perhaps
their species, once infected, was unable to reproduce and they died
out.

I also watched as Pauley escaped into the
jungle unharmed. Where he went, what he did, or if he survived is a
mystery. As far as I know, the green bottle went with him.

I took many liberties with the story to fill
in the missing pieces, but the tape exists... or at least it once
existed. I encourage anyone at the Archive channel to search for
and distribute the tape. I also encourage those in authority or in
the medical community to take this threat seriously before it is
too late. If there is the slightest chance an illness like the one
I saw still exists, we must be proactive in finding and eliminating
it.

###END###

Author Notes

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