Chapter 39: Pregnant to the brim

Fleeing towards the direction indicated by Two, handsome plunges into a part of the forest where the light only passes through a thin luminous ray.

The branches are low and tangled together, making it difficult to escape.

He slows down a little to hunker down glancing over his shoulder at the same time to see if the pursuers are at a reasonable distance and then... there he stops dead in his tracks.

There is no one other than him.

Neither the others in the group, nor the sort of living dead who wanted to decapitate them.

He bites his lip, lost then happy when he realizes there is no longer any danger.

He takes a deep, relieved breath.

What should he do now? Find the woman he first flirted with or go to the lake first?

Maybe the woman was caught by the savages... or maybe the rest of the group is still grappling with their pursuers and only he managed to escape?

It's better to find the lake first. Everything else can wait.

Ok, but where should he go now?

The man looks up and everywhere he looks he sees only trees.

Trees and spider webs in tunnels.

One slowly descends from the canopy to place its flesh-pink legs on the black bark right in front of it.

Handsome watches it for a moment. The creature seems very big for a spider. As big as his fist.

Then he starts moving. Determined to find a place where he could see better his surroundings.

The combination of low branches and cobwebs complicates everything.

The further he advances, the more numerous the silver threads are.

When they are at the level of his head the man remove them with his hand. These threads are particularly sticky and resistant. They glow under the fine rays of light. From time to time he sees one or two spiders but he tries as best he can to stay away. He is not afraid of spiders but given the location he fears that they could be venomous.

Despite his efforts he ends up being covered in spiderwebs even his hair is not spared.

In front of yet another silver tunnel, Handsome runs his hand through this shiny work and takes it down from there.

Behind it he finds a sort of cocoon.

The "cocoon" swings gently at the end of a silver thread. As the white and black envelope turns on itself, Handsome meets the dead gaze of the trapped crow.

And when the hanging crow slowly completes a half circle, the man sees the pink legs ending in a black tip of a spider on the carcass.

Then the hairy hooks. And then the bulging, black eyes that shine.

The arachnid jumps in his face, Its legs fully spreads .

The man screams, steps back, gets tangled in more webs behind him. The creature falls at his feet.

Handsome crushes it without thinking.

he swallows as he realizes that this part of the swamp is even quieter than the other places.

He says to himself that it is better to go back.

If the spiders are really venomous and do not hesitate to attack when they see a human. That means he got himself into quite a bit of trouble.

So he turns around to go back where he came from.

Part of the crushed spider's body remains stuck to its sole.

In a slow fall the arachnids around him descend from their territory with the help of their wire.

.One falls on his shoulder. Handsome jumps and quickly hit it.

The spider falls to the ground but it manages to avoid its foot and jumps again.

Handsome widens his eyes in horror when he realizes how high these things can jump.

An exclamation stuck in his throat, he protects his face with both arms.

He feels the weight falling on them, and sees the tips of the legs protruding.

Now he realizes how big these spiders are once they expand. They are much bigger than just his fist.

Before he manages to free it another one falls on his head.

-Argh!

A third is added at the base of his neck.

He can feel its limbs encircling his throat.

Maybe he should have run instead of standing still.

He tries to remove them one by one. first the one on his arms.

She holds on with all her might.

Under his fingers he feels the abdomen of the arachnid and the rough hair that covers it.

Gritting his teeth he dislodges it little by little but the others don't wait for their turns.

The spider behind him moves and grabs onto half of his face before biting his temples.

It quickly becomes clear to him that these creatures do indeed have a poison virulent enough to attack a human.

Because in less than three seconds he falls to the ground as paralyzed as a statue.

He can't close his mouth.

He drools his head against the ground.

His eyes also remain wide open.

His heart is squeezing itself. He feels it slowing down. his brain is out of air giving him a headache.

Vaguely he asks himself: Am I going to die?

Tears well up in his eyes, then unable to hold them back, they flow down his cheeks.

He really doesn't want to die. He is terrified of death. Anyone could die, why him?

The idea of death, of nothingness, terrifies him.

The spiders don't care about his moods.

They fight among themselves. Forms balls of legs that move in all directions. In waves they come over his body then leave again when they are defeated by new one before the horrified eyes of Handsome.

They all move very quickly, they are excited.

Meanwhile Handsome feels his heart weaken until it no longer produces any beats. A cold, vibrating pain fill his ribcage. A compression then a release which gives him the impression of free falling.

He knows that his heart has failed him.

His clenched fingers spasm. His eyes are wide open but for 1 second he can no longer see anything.

He thinks: "I am dead"

He is dead and yet he is conscious.

he regains his sight shortly after to see one of this arachnids standing in front of him on its hind legs.

he can see the ugly thorax of the thing in full view.

His mouth is still open.

Without being able to resist, he sees the spider slowly sliding its legs across the bottom of his face.

Then he felt it slide carefully inside.

its black tips caressing his lips then brushing his tongue.

the weight moves to the end of its palate to descend better.

Pushing again and again into the narrow passage of his windpipe.

He feels it.

He is dead. his body is dead and it no longer needs to breathe. So he can't choke even with a spider of this size in his throat.

Yet he can still feel fear.

His body cools over time.

The other arachnids leave him to climb back into their webs.

But the one inside him makes its way to his stomach.

then the spider stops moving, firmly settled in him.

the man waits,he waits to lose consciousness completely, to really die.

All the while hating the very idea of becoming nothing. Nothing but a bag of meat ready to be devoured and rotten.

But instead he slowly regains his capacity of movement.

His clenched fingers dig into the earth as he realizes he can move again.

Handsome tries to use his legs but for the moment they remain inert like pieces of wood.

When he tries to speak his soft tongue only manages to pronounce almost inaudible "hngg".

His temperature drops again, his skin turns gray after what seems to him to be a very long time.

there are noises in the distance then closer.

Now Handsome can move his feet, hands, arms and even his head.

He crawls in the mud using his forearms.

The spiders ignore him.

He seems to hear voices. Voices that are familiar to him.

His tongue is still numb but he manages to articulate "Help" then he repeats it over and over:

-Help ! Help! HELP?!

The voices get closer, his eyes blurred by tears see the face of the old man, Pony, Charismatic, Potatoes, Two and Follower.

He smiles, hopeful once again