It's A Jungle Out There
By CD
Part Five
“Hey man, would you look at that bunch there,” a bat told his companions
and pointed to a line of trucks driving through the jungle.
“Hoho man, it looks like them food transports heard we moved out of Jamaica.
They started recruiting guards to keep us away!” the fat one noted and
scanned the convoy with his sonar abilities.
“I haven’t ate a grape since we got here. What would you say if we
helped them get rid of their food?” the leader asked the other two and
got ready for a dive.
“You don’t have to ask me questions like that, you know the answer
is yes!” the little one replied and got ready as well.
“Alright, at the count to three. Three!” the fat one ordered and flew
right at a truck, not paying attention to the warning written on it which read
‘Ammunition! Highly Explosive!’
“No fair, you got a head start!” the leader shouted but followed anyway.
One of the escorts noticed their attackers and was quick to shout a warning.
“Bommenwerfers, achtung!” the rat cried and ran for cover.
“No you idiot, it are bats!” another guard shouted, causing panic
as other soldiers mistook that for the Brazilian Anti Terrorism Squad. A few
of them opened fire on the fruit bats who quickly realized they were raiding
the wrong convoy.
“Watch out man, they got firepower!” the fat one warned as he evaded
one shot.
“Right you are, let’s beat it!” the little one cried and flew
off.
“Idiots!” One of the officers shouted to his privates “You could
have hit one of the trucks! That might have resulted in a big boom and many
casualties!”
“Gee sorry boss, but I thought they were those BATS guys, not just average
fruit bats,” The soldier explained while inspecting a truck for damage.
“Did you hear that?” Chip asked his teammates. “That sounded
like shots. Maybe we’re near a smuggler patrol.”
“That means we’re close to their base. I don’t like the looks
of this,” Dale sounded worried.
“Hey look, over there, those are bats!” Monty shouted and pointed
to three figures in the sky.
“Over here!” Steve shouted at the trio, hoping they would have information
about what happened.
The bats landed and the Rangers quickly recognized the group.
“You guys? How did you get here?” Chip let out curiously.
“What do you think man? We’re here to eat fruit and have some fun,
and we’re all out of fun,” the leader replied.
“Could you tell us what happened over there?” Geegaw inquired, vaguely
remembering the bats from Gadget’s story about the case were Fat Cat traded
food for valuables.
“You don’t want to know,” The fat one started “Those boomers
over there got heavy duty armament!”
“Yeah, they were using these rifles to shoot at us like we were birds!
Can you imagine?” the tiny bat let out angrily.
“Those wrecking balls are really a rotten bunch!” the first one stated
while twisting his index claw close to his head to add some emphasis.
“Where are they?” Steve inquired, getting a bit nervous about the
attitude of these smugglers.
“Not to far away, just get over there and you’ll find those coconut
headed gunslingers. But remember that they’re guiding a convoy, they probably
passed by now so you’ll have to follow the dirt tracks they left,”
the fat one revealed.
“Thanks for your help, just stay out of trouble for now on,” Chip
warned as him and the team continued.
“No problem nut head. We’re switching to meat anyway, greens are no
peace,” the short one stated as him and his companions took off.
“Now you see what happens when you start flapping your guns to much? We’re
being followed now!” An officer whispered to his soldiers after listening
on the conversation of the Rangers.
“It wasn’t my fault sir, Hein started shouting!”
“Shut up! It’s all of you who were fault!” The sergeant insisted.
“Yours too,” a private noted while pointing to the leader’s smoking
gun.
“Whatever. Let’s warn the convoy and set a trap,” the sergeant
ordered and moved.
“What’s that noise?” Steve wanted to know as he raised a hand
behind his ear to hear better.
“Who cares?” Dale dismissed as he proceeded into the direction the
smugglers were supposed to be.
“No lad, it seems the bloke’s right. It’s like someone’s
chopping down a tree,” Monty confirmed, being blessed with better hearing
than his comrades.
“TIMB-” Someone shouted before he was interrupted.
The Rangers and their friends quickly scurried out of the way of the tree, while
none of them knew where it would come from. When it crashed to the ground the
entire group was divided. Chip was the first to recover and quickly set to find
the others.
“Guys, were are you?” He called out as he retrieved his hat.
Dale and Monty got out of the vegetation they were hiding in while Gadget climbed
out from beneath the felt tree, helping her dad and Mousestein get out as well.
Steve dropped down next to Chip while Timbert landed, having apparently flown
his boss out of the way of the falling tree. Next was Hiss who climbed out of
a tree while Henk got out from behind the same tree. Zipper carefully got out
from under Monty’s hat which he had been using as hiding place.
“Where’s Flora? Where is she?” Steve panicked as he looked around.
“Over here!” Flora called out somewhat pained.
Steve and his palls quickly jumped down to find Flora who was lying under one
of the branches, which kept her from moving.
“Flora! Are you hurt?” Steve asked worriedly, on the verge of a nervous
breakdown.
“Does it look like I’m enjoying myself here?” She asked while
trying to get free.
“No worry lass, we’ll get you out from under there,” Monty encouraged
as he jumped down and signaled the others to lend a hand. “Dale, you and
Steve drag her out from under there while I lift this log here,” Monty
ordered as he prepared to lift the branch all by himself.
Steve’s friends quickly rushed over to help him and they succeeded in getting
Flora out from under the tree.
“You should thank your guardian angel that that tree didn’t fall on
your head.” Steve pointed out and silently thanked whatever deity sent
his love her protector from higher circles.
“Steve, there is only one holy bodyguard, and she’s all yours,”
Flora corrected him with a loving smile.
“We’d better get you to the hospital. The closest town is not too
far away,” Chip suggested while signaling Gadget who instantly started
construction of a means of transport.
“That’s not necessary, I don’t want to hold you up,” She
insisted but no one paid attention.
“No excuses, you’re going to a hospital. You might have internal bleeding
right now without you caring!” Steve brought up as him and Henk helped
her on her brancard.
“I guess that leaves us to explore the jungle,” Chip deducted
“Right. Mousestein, Hiss, you two can tag along with the Rangers to help
them,” Steve ordered as him and his friends brought Flora to the nearby
village.
The explorer group continued in their conquest, and it (along with the dirt
tracks) brought them to a very professional encampment that rivaled that of
the BATS.
“Strike me starkers! I haven’t seen such fireworks ever since me days
in Hong Kong!” Monty recalled upon seeing the smuggler camp.
“Hmm, there’s electric gates, watch towers, pillboxes, gun emplacements,
turrets, and probably much more in store for anyone who wants to roll over this
joint with a tank division,” Chip observed as he studied the base, while
Dale took a good look at the inside of the encampment.
“These guys know who they should hire for the job: the Dutch operative
Pete “Koen” Heijn, privateer and genocide dictator; the Frenchman
Philip “the Evil” de Burgundy, conqueror and aggressor; the middle
European Karl “Troubles” Max, propagandist and liar. And-WHOW! Twins
cannons, tight armor and hot rubber!” Dale exclaimed while zooming in and
giving a sexy roar.
“What are you looking at?” Chip demanded as he tried to spot his companions’
target, which turned out to be a high ranking female officer “Dale, get
a little control over your estrogen production.”
Dale didn’t pay any attention to the insult, either because he didn’t
know what estrogen meant or he simply didn’t care.
“Chip, Dale’s body produces mainly testosterone,” Gadget noted
but the hopeless look in Monty’s eyes told her she was ranting again.
“Let’s contact Petro Mendoza to tell him what we’ve found,”
Geegaw suggested as he turned on the radio the BATS supplied them with.
“Sir, we got some interesting information.” Geegaw started when he
finally got contact with the radar tower.
“You see now? Nothing serious,” Flora reassured her husband. She
was now lying down in a hospital bed in a ward. The doctors confirmed the damage
to her body was minimal and not much of a threat. They only wanted to keep her
for a day to observe her recovery closely.
“Thank goodness you’re right. On the other hand, you being in the
hospital would give me an excuse to stay out of the Rangers’ adventure,”
Steve reasoned.
“You sneaky dog, you,” Flora teased innocently.
A nurse entered the ward with a clipboard. “I got those test result for
you Miss Nutcracker.” She said and handed Flora the clipboard, then left
to give the two some privacy.
“Tests? Why didn’t you tell me anything?” Steve asked, confused.
“Because, silly, I wanted to keep this a surprise,” Flora explained
while studying the results. “YES!!!” She exclaimed and shot up to
hug her husband.
“What? What’s up?” Steve asked, bewildered.
Flora just pushed the clipboard in his hands and let Steve read it.
Subject: Flora Nutcracker/Firalda
Date: **-**-****
Health Institute: Las Pesos Hospital, Brazil
-Personal Data-
Name: Flora Nutcracker/Firalda
Sex: Female
Birth date: 19-06-19**
Place of birth: Miami, US
Nationality: USA, North America
Marital state: Married, childless
Occupation: Lounge Singer
City of residence: New York, US
-Test Result: PREGNANT
Steve felt dizzy when he read this. Flora just hugged him again.
“I-it appears those romantic night in Europe paid off,” Steve managed
when he got his voice back.
“Long live spring fever,” Flora cheered as she kissed her husband
on the lips.
“I suppose we’ll have to plan for when the child gets born,”
Steve suddenly realized.
“Sure, I’m starting right after we get home.” Flora reassured
him as she lay back on the bed, not letting go of Steve.
“I’m afraid we can’t tell the others yet though,” Steve
then said a bit disappointed “We don’t want to get their hopes up
in case the child does not develop or unexpectedly dies.”
“That’s not going to happen. I’ll be careful from now on,”
Flora countered, but she agreed with keeping it a secret for a while longer.
She pulled her husband a bit closer and encouraged him to lie down beside her.
“I wonder what the kid will be like.” Steve wondered and put his hands
under his head.
“You know, I realize that if we’re planning to keep the child safe
that would mean I’d have to stop with singing and I’ll be unable to
enjoy some fun activities that require a lot physical exertion,” Flora
noticed as her face turned into a bit of a sad look. Taking Steve by his shirt
and pulling him even closer, ready for a kiss. “So let’s do this while
I’m still able to.”
Mercy plopped down on the bed after another busy day of touring Saudi Arabia,
this time without Philip.
“How was your day?” The youngster asked as he approached his exhausted
sister.
“I’ve been sightseeing. And I must say this country is not as bad
as people sometimes portray it. And the people have it a lot better here than
you’d think. The only problem is water, which is about the only thing that
is in short supply in this part of the world. The population is real nice to
foreigners. Some of the residents even invited me for tea. You don’t have
to expect that in Germany or France, to them we’re just ‘fellow humans’.
I’ve talked to a man here who has studied in Colorado while he still acts
and thinks like a regular Arab. I really think some people exaggerate the aggression
of the population of the Middle East.”
“You said it, what a bunch of hypocrites,” Philip cursed, and Mercy
furled her eyebrow.
“When did you learn that word?” She wondered, not recalling she ever
taught him that.
“It’s from my time at the orphanage. I learned it from an older boy
who used to help me with fending off kids that picked on me,” Philip told
her as he started to look a bit pained. “Children used to pick on me a
lot just because I wore glasses. They thought that made me a nerd.”
“Well, considering our mother had a relationship with many people, your
father might just be a software company owner,” Mercy reasoned, but the
comment only saddened Philip.
“They also said that my mother was a dirty--” Philip continued before
Mercy cut him short.
“I know what you’re going to say. And while I agree with it, it’s
no language for a young boy,” She warned and Philip nodded understandingly.
“True. Anyway I doubted they knew who my mother was, I guess they made
a successful gamble. My mother is worse than what they say. But at the time
I always dreamed I had a mother, one that loved me; one that would take good
care of me. But the others tried to shatter that dream to make me feel bad.
Fortunately he interfered and taught me to stand up for myself when needed.
I’ll never forget all he did for me, Charles Doublecroix.”
“That sounds like a french name,” Mercy couldn’t help but notice.
“It is, he’s from Orleans. His parents moved out to New York and got
a job as the servants at a millionaire’s villa. Both of them died in a
fire which traumatized Charles heavily. The millionaire offered to adopt Charles,
but he refused firmly as he had enough of rich stinkers for the rest of his
life, so he choose to stay at the orphanage.”
“That’s sad. But it’s your bedtime now, so take a bath and brush
your teeth. I’m hitting the sack as well so no excuses,” Mercy instructed
as she kissed her brother in his forehead.
“Mercy, would you mind if I sleep with you for tonight?” he asked
shyly. “I’m scared that I might get nightmares.”
“As you wish, but only if you behave and get yourself cleaned first.”
“Thanks Mercy!” Philip exclaimed energetically and got off the bed.
Mercy grabbed him by his shirt and stopped him dead in his tracks.
“Don’t forget your towel,” Mercy reminded and threw him one of
her own.
The boy simply smiled and closed the bathroom door.