1:Florida
Florida is known for its crazy people and its crazy wildlife.
Invasive species are the biggest threat to an ecosystem, as invasive species disrupt it and directly compete with the local wildlife. This, in turn, most often than not, leads to the extinction of the local wildlife.
Florida is an invasive species hotspot.
Its problems began in the 1800s when the colonists introduced species from europe in order to feel more at home. Despite now knowing the harm this can cause there have been more invasive species introduced in Florida int he last 5 years than the enterity of the 19th century and it show no signs of slowing down.
Ninety-two percent of plants are invasive, one third of birds found are invasive, and there are 64 invasive reptiles. Over 500 non-native species thrive in Florida. Forty percent of Florida's native species have gone extinct. Due to Florida's subtropical climate, it is a paradise for reptiles and offers many of the same food and resources that the invaders need.
The invasive species meet the Floridian ecosystem due to the pet trade. Escaped pets or irresponsible pet owners don't want their pets and then let them into the wild. Animals can also escape enclosures, and sometimes hurricanes destroy the enclosures, letting the animals escape.
The local wildlife is ill-equipped to deal with sudden invaders that are originally from a faraway land. The invaders spread disease and compete directly. In an ecosystem, there are niches and every niche is filled. If another animal were to show up and compete for the same niche, it disrupts the ecosystem.
An example is the native white-tailed deer and the invasive axis deer. Both animals feed on the same thing, which is in supply for only one. So, they compete for it, and slowly the axis deer drives the white-tailed deer out of competition. It also doesn't help that they look similar, so when axis deer are hunted to keep their numbers down, in many cases, it is the white-tailed deer which is killed.
One man does his best to protect the local wildlife , but another wants to see how far he can disrupt it.
2:Papa Het
Ronnie Hunt was a young man with black hair filled with gel. He wore his signature cocky grin. Ronnie is an FBI agent. In his school days, he was the rebel. If there was a problem, 9 times out of 10 he was somehow involved. Ronnie couldn't wait to graduate and become an agent. Beneath all his trouble-making, he was skilled and hardworking if only he was less smug his superiors said. However, for his first major mission, Ronnie did not think he would be searching for a madman named Jeremiah King.
Jeremiah was a thrill-seeker, a daredevil, and dealt with the illegal side of the pet trade using animals to make money. But recently, he opted for a new hobby: bringing non-native species into Florida's ecosystem. Ronnie was not thrilled and knew he was being tricked by his bosses. Everyone considered Jeremiah to be simply an average madman, and Ronnie did not know why he needed to team up with a hunter of invasive species to take Jeremiah down.
Ronnie met with the man known only as Papa Het. He saw him in his black pants, black tank top, black shades, black boots, black tattoos on his arms of nearly every animal there was. He saw the man had medium-sized gray hair, a mustache, and he sat down eating a burrito while "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" by The Rolling Stones played.
"Are they serious, I have to team with you?"
Het said. "Relax, sit down, put your feet up, enjoy the sight of my office."
"You consider being outside of a Mexican restaurant your office?"
Het shrugged. "So, you came here why?"
Ronnie groaned. "Cause those idiots in charge forced me to work with you to take down Jeremiah King."
Het turned down the music, gobbled up his burrito, went to the bathroom, washed his hands, and went to his jeep. "Let's go," as they drove, Het put on a cowboy hat and turned up "Ace of Spades" by Motorhead and said, "Do you have any idea who we're dealing with!?"
"I read his file, the man is-"
"He has 2 husbands and 4 wives!" Het motioned with his fingers up at Ronnie's face.
'Dear God, make this day end, please,' he thought.
3:The Villian
He turned off the music as they entered the whereabouts of Jeremiah King. They located him in his private zoo. He jumped out of the jeep and held his gun. He didn't say a word.
Ronnie liked this, it was straight, direct, just his style.
They quickly got to the private zoo, went inside. It was dark, but they could see what Jeremiah was doing there..
There were too many animals to count, but all were in small cages, unable to move at all. The conditions were awful, the smell horrendous, all the animals looked famished. All the animals wore colorful collars with their names written on them. The collars were put on them as cubs and were never changed, so the skin grew over the collars.
"This disgusts me," said Het. Then the lights went up.
"Oh, my friend Het, it's so good to see you. How long has it been? 2-3 years?" It was Jeremiah. He wore a red shirt, had a beer belly, a terrible '80s mullet, and a goatee. Ronnie pointed his gun at Jeremiah and so did Het. Then Jeremiah took a macaque, it was tied in rope and had a muzzle. Jeremiah pointed a gun to its head and laughed. Ronnie was dumbfounded. The man was as insane as the reports said.
Het gave a stone-cold stare. "There's a circus downtown for you, clown."
"Alright, alright, this is idiocy. You just put that monkey down and I promise that I might not blow your head off, idiot," Ronnie said. Jeremiah moved his hand to a lever. "No, don't you dare. Are you insane?" Het, terrified, Jeremiah didn't stop. Ronnie looked at Het, then at Jeremiah, wondering if he should take the shot. Het fired, but it was too late. Jeremiah had pulled the lever.
All the cages opened.
The animals began to come out of them. "We need to get out!" yelled Het. Ronnie followed Het and called for backup. His superiors always said to call for backup regardless of the situation. "I should've listened."
The backup arrived and with the amount of animals running wildly, there was only one thing they could do...slaughter them.
Bears, tigers, lions, jaguars, snakes, all the ones that were non-native to Florida were released. 117 of them were killed. There was blood for meters and meters and meters, soaking the grass, a river of blood clearly seen from a helicopter's view. Ronnie was shaken by the sight. How could he or anyone imagine a carnage like this? He saw Het holding back tears, looking at the blood, he clenched his fists. "I'll kill that bastard!" He growled.
4:Python
There were several species that escaped the police's grasp; the Burmese python, lionfish, cane toad, just to name a few. Ronnie's superiors assigned him to spend more time in Florida to help catch the invasive species. Ronnie didn't feel like spending time on this insane mission, but he said to his superior, "Of course, sir, anything to stop the criminal bastards." And when his superior walked away, Ronnie whispered, "Go fuck yourself." Ronnie was stunned at the cost of the cheapest hotel. He said, "If the cheap ones cost this much, then the expensive ones must be covered in gold." He had no choice but to stay at the place of Papa Het, and he didn't want to spend time with him.
His house was an average suburban house in Florida, nothing special. Ronnie's room was fine; he slept well. As he got up the next morning, he heard Het listen to "Peace Sells but who's buying'' by Megadeth. As he entered the kitchen, He saw a picture of Papa Het. It must've been at most 2 years old. The man wore a cowboy hat and sunglasses. He was smiling. He held his arms up, in his hands were milk bottles. And near him, two adult Siberian tigers sucked on the bottles. Ronnie rolled his eyes at this. Then he noticed a spider crawling onto the picture. "Ugly bugger." He was about to swat it before his hand was grabbed.
"What the hell's the matter with you?" Het stared at him angrily.
"Pissed that I didn't say good morning?"
Het let go of his hand. "I don't want to ever see you harming a spider."
"You want them crawling up your pants while you're asleep?" Ronnie smirked.
"You brat. Don't you know that without spiders, you wouldn't be alive?"
"Ok, this is a whole new level of absurd."
"Spiders eat the bugs which attack crops. Without spiders, food would be much more expensive, and in less supply. Out of the 43,000 species of spiders, only 30 are dangerous, and there are even many species of herbivorous spiders."
"I graduated from school so I don't have to listen to lectures, you know." Ronnie went to the fridge, but what Het said interested him. It was ironic, an animal which helps humanity greatly but is ugly and killed for it.
Ronnie ate scrambled eggs and bacon while he devoured an entire piece of pork. The man ate with his hands. Ronnie read his file, but there was nothing interesting about him, just an invasive species hunter, biologist, conversations, blah blah bla to Ronnie. But he was not normal. Ronnie got a good look at him; his muscles were massive. They were the muscles of a bodybuilder in his late 20s, not at all the arms of a man in his early 60s.
After he devoured his meal, he downed three cans of beer consecutively. Afterwards, he went to the sink, washed his hands and face. He was wheezing, then he lit a Cuban cigar, puffed it four times and said, "We will be hunting the invasive Burmese python. Now, I demand that you are quick with your hands and mind as much as John Akeley."
"Who's that?"
Het clapped his hands in disbelief. "You don't know who John Akeley is?"
"No."
"Because you're green!"
Ronnie rolled his eyes.
Het said, "He beat me in the the fastest handwriting contest two times!" He pointed at Ronnie.
Ronnie couldn't wait to do something.
As he was getting dressed, Het stood behind him and said, "Did you know that spiders would never approach you when you're asleep as they're afraid of your breathing?"
"Can we please just go!?"
They got to Het's airboat and traveled through the Florida Everglades. Het enjoyed the wind blowing through his hair, but Ronnie was annoyed by it. He hated the Everglade; it looked like a dumpsite to him.
They traveled across the marshes for hours. "Do you know where we're going?"
"Of course I do, you don't need to worry," said Het.
Ronnie wanted to go on his own, however, in the marshes, it was easy to lose your sense of direction, and Ronnie had no idea where he would go if it weren't for Het. "Look!" Het pointed.
"I don't see anything."
"Look where my finger is and focus," Ronnie squinted his eyes. He saw something moving in the water. He saw the head, then the long body. It was a snake. "That's our target," Het said.
The Burmese python became an invasive species in 1992 after Hurricane Andrew destroyed the enclosure where several of the animals were. The snake thrived and quickly multiplied. They have become the undisputed apex predators, with only alligators being able to challenge them. Both species have waged war against each other.
The snake has obliterated many of the native mammal populations. Raccoons in the area are down by 99 percent, rabbits by 99 percent, lynxes by 87 percent, and many more have suffered.
Het drove the boat slowly to the snake to not alarm it. The snake didn't move. It was still, just its tongue sticking out every now and then. Its length was 5 meters.
"Okay, so how are we gonna do this? Are we gonna give it bait or--"
"Bait?" Het said puzzled. "This is no fish, boy."
"Ugh, I know, it was rhetorical. Just tell me how we're going to deal with this thing."
Het took off his sunglasses. "Simple, watch and learn how the old school does it."
Ronnie grinned and crossed his arms. "Oh, do tell how the old school does it."
Het jumped into the water.
"ARE YOU INSANE!?"
Het was on top of the snake. There were massive splashes, a huge struggle ensued.
Ronnie was at the edge of the boat, looked in awe and horror. Het's legs thrashed violently, and the snake violently moved, trying to wrap itself around his abdomen. Both went under water. There were bubbles, and the water moved slowly, but it was calm.
Then the water splashed, and Het emerged. He grabbed the snake by its head and throat, but the python had wrapped itself around his arms. "I miscalculated," said Het.
"Miscalculated!? That was madness!"
"I can't feel my hands. You need to grab the edge of the tail and pull it to the boat,"
Ronnie went into the water, moved to the end of the snake. The python was still trying to wrap itself around Het but struggled. Het was barely managing to keep it at bay. "God, I can't feel my arms!"
Ronnie reached for the snake.
"Make sure it's the edge of the tail!"
Ronnie saw the python moving, his eyes went left and right, waiting for the right moment before he went forward. With both hands, he snatched the edge of the python.
He went aboard right away. Het got close to the boat, barely holding on to the snake's head. Ronnie put 15 kilos of weights onto the snake. He went to Het, pulled him up onto the boat. Het instructed him on where to hold the snake next.
Ronnie held the middle of it. Het regained a better grip on the snake. Together, they put in a steel box, closed it, locked it. Het double-checked it, triple-checked. A sigh of relief for both men, and they drove back.
The Burmese python was handed to the authorities; it would be sent to an enclosure.
Ronnie sat on the bench and ate an ice cream; he needed something sweet. In front of him, there were a few Floridian girls. They were beautiful. Ronnie smiled at them, he wanted badly to flirt with them.
"Women here don't like short men," Ronnie was startled when Het whispered in his ear.
"I mean, look at you, kid. I can put you in my pocket, you're Napoleon size."
"I'm 172 cm! Napoleon was 168."
Het laughed. "Oh, you're a history buff, then? Okay, but do you have Napoleon's dick?" He laughed again.
"You're too smug for your age."
5:The Southern Invaders
Ronnie was asleep dreaming of beautiful Floridian women in their bikinis. Water was splashed on his face, awakening him from the dream. Ronnie wiped the water from his eyes, disoriented. As he looked up, he saw Het looking down. "I bet you were dreaming of girls in their bikinis."
"I-I wasn't!"
Het laughed. "I was a young man once too, I know."
"You don't know anything," Ronnie said. As Ronnie was getting up, Het grabbed his hand. "Huh?" Het pressed his thumb on Ronnie's. "1 2 3! You're out." He beat him in thumb wrestling.
"I wasn't ready that time!"
They did it again, and Ronnie lost. He challenged him for a third time. Ronnie waved his finger left, right, and in circles, his eyes staring at Het's thumb. He moved forward swiftly, catching Het's thumb. He bent it down, staring, counting: "1 2." Het released his thumb, free and smashed Ronnie's down: "1 2 3," he lost.
Ronnie immediately walked away from Het, cursing.
"I can tell you're not a morning person," said Het. Ronnie scoffed as he searched for his pants. "I bet you spent all night coming up with your childish game."
"Oh, so you think this is childish? OK, OK," Het put his hands in his pockets. "How about we jog to the beach?"
Ronnie grinned. "Careful, old man, you might die from a heart attack."
Het showed irritation but said nothing.
A minute later, they were outside jogging. Het was in front, Ronnie behind. It was an endurance test, but the beach was only 15 minutes away. An idea came to Ronnie. "Hey, old man, race you to the beach." Ronnie ran past Het like grease lightning. Het smiled and shook his head as he continued to jog calmly.
Ronnie arrived at the beach in a minute, his breathing rapid. The air in his lungs refused to stay. He had to calm down; he ran so fast. He swallowed, wiped the sweat off his forehead, strolled a bit. His breathing calmed. The Floridian sun was merciless, and all the shades were taken over by beach-goers.
Ronnie saw two girls near him in the shade. He smiled. "Finally, a good chance to have fun." He approached the girls confidently, his back was slapped by Het who ran past him. "The last one to the lifeguard buys dinner."
Ronnie was in shock. Het ran like an athlete.
Ronnie ran after him quickly, struggling to catch up. Het turned around, ran backward. "What's the matter? Are you being outrun by an old man?"
Ronnie seethed, his face turned red from anger and running. He quickened his steps, made them larger, but it was useless. Het was such a massive man that one of his steps was equal to three of Ronnie's. Het was still running backward, smiling. Ronnie sped up, feeling his muscles tiring, but it did not deter him. He ran and ran, nearing Het. Het began to run normally; it was neck and neck. Het increased his speed. Ronnie accelerated even more; he passed Het and left him in the dust.
Ronnie reached the lifeguard first. "I... won... dinner!" he raised his finger to the air, constantly filling his lungs with air. Het reached the lifeguard finally; his legs hurt, but he chuckled while looking down, hands on his hips.
Afterwards, they were in Het's jeep. He turned up "What Goes Around Comes Around" by Saxon. They reached their destination; lush green was everywhere. Het set up a cage, tied a rope to the door, and the two hid in the bushes.
"So, what are we catching?"
"We're catching the green iguana."
Ronnie just stared at him. "Seriously? And we need a cage like it's a tiger? Let's just go in and scoop it up."
"And let it escape? It is much faster than you."
"How can a little lizard be faster than a human?"
"Firstly, kid, it is 1.7 meters."
Ronnie groaned. "Your point?"
"Four legs are faster than two."
The green iguana was accidentally brought from cargo ships in the 1960s. It is a herbivore that eats anything green. However, due to its large size, it outcompetes many of the native inhabitants. It spreads disease and is even known to use burrows. By doing this, it drives away the burrowing owl, which cannot dig and instead uses other animals' burrows. But with the green iguana using them now, the burrowing owls range has been drastically decreased.
The two waited patiently for the lizard; however, Ronnie couldn't stand it. It hurt to stand still, so silently, his thoughts raced elsewhere. He looked over to Het, who was like a statue. Ronnie had to wait for several more minutes before the green iguana showed up.
The iguana slowly walked to the cage, seeing the lush green vegetation. It couldn't resist gorging itself on it. It went in and ate, but the trap couldn't be set yet. The tail was sticking out. As the iguana ate more and more, its head went deeper into the cage, reaching all the vegetation until its tail was fully in the cage. Snap, the trap shut — they captured the iguana.
At night, the two men ventured into a pond. Het said, "Now we're gonna do something that would be more of interest to you."
"Sleep?"
"No...we're hunting cane toads."
Ronnie stopped walking, "Are you playing jokes on me? Ha ha, very funny. Yes, I'm a fool but come on dude, seriously, we're hunting frogs?"
"Toads."
"Same shit!"
"No, no," Het said, "different crap. Frogs have tougher skin, toads have smoother skin. Frogs jump, toads crawl. All toads produce a toxin which frogs don't."
Ronnie was ready to make a smart remark but opted not to. He just wanted to get this over with. He put on his gloves, he hated touching frogs with his bare hands, they were appalling to him.
"Look!" Het shined the light on the pond and there were hundreds of cane toads. "If we can catch half of them, it will be excellent," said Het.
Cane toads, like the green iguana, originate in South America. Cane toads are among the worst kind of invasive species. In 1935, they were introduced to Australia for the purpose of eating the bugs which ate crops. However, the toads and the bugs rarely interacted. The cane toad then devoured anything smaller than them. The toad had no threats as its skin was filled with a strong toxin, and if a predator were to eat it, it would get sick and die. Even the cane toad's eggs are filled with lethal toxin. The cane toad has predators which are immune to its toxins in its native range, but no predator outside of South America has immunity, this allowed the cane toad to thrive in Australia, its numbers are 190 million.
The toad was introduced in Florida for the same reason, while its numbers aren't as large as in Australia. Many eradication efforts were conceived but failed largely due to the southern cane toad being killed most of the time due to looking similar.
Ronnie and Het kept grabbing the toads again and again, there was a sea of them. Ronnie was disgusted by the toads with their skin and legs, and the noise they made was even worse.
Het was amused. "If you think this is bad, I can only imagine how you'd feel about gators."
"At this point, I'd rather deal with a gator."
"You wouldn't know how to handle them."
Ronnie scoffed. "If it ever got my arm, I'd just poke its eye out."
Het shook his head. "They easily deal with having torn limbs, a missing eye is nothing. What you should do is shove your arm down the gator to activate its gag reflex, but never do it with snake constrictors, they don't have a gag reflex."
Ronnie muttered something under his breath and returned to catching the toads. They were quite literally everywhere and crawling everywhere, going on top of each other and making an awful noise that bothered Ronnie.
Ronnie caught a lot of them, he glanced over to Het who caught a lot less, he grabbed the toads gently while Ronnie grabbed them firmly.
"Will you hurry it up, old man?"
"You have to be gentle with them. If you squeeze them too hard, they will shoot out their toxic glands from their skin into your eyes that will blind you."
"...You're telling me this now!?"
Once they were finished, Ronnie headed to bed exhausted. It was a tedious day. As he lay on his stomach, he remembered that Het didn't buy him dinner.
6: The Sea
Ronnie sat at the breakfast table and saw Het slicing up fish, but it looked like no fish Ronnie had seen. He examined it closer and was stunned: "You're slicing a pufferfish?"
"Yeah."
"Do you have any idea how poisonous they are?"
"Relax, I trained for years under a skilled chef."
"Gordon Ramsay?" Ronnie smirked.
"Smartass."
Ronnie looked at how she sliced the pufferfish. He knew that this animal had to be sliced in a careful manner due to containing too much poison. If one part of flesh, which contains poison, isn't properly cut, it will be fatal.
Het served the plate to Ronnie. "No thanks."
"Too good for my cooking?"
"Nah, I just don't want to die by a crazed old man."
Het then tossed Ronnie's pufferfish onto his plate. "You know that seafood is good for the blood."
"Except when it's poisonous."
Het shrugged. "Don't worry, the poison from the pufferfish ain't that bad. You'd just feel dizziness, lack of sight, weakness in the muscles."
"That's not bad to you?"
"It will be over before you know it."
Het then began to devour his meal like an animal. Ronnie stared at him with a disgusting fascination. Het looked up at him, his mouth full. "What?"
"You look like you just escaped from a Siberian prison camp."
Afterwards, Het drove him to a golf course. "Your actions keep confusing me, old man. Aren't we supposed to go hunting for invasive species? And what about Jeremiah King? It's like you forgot he even exists."
Het took his golf club. "You know, life isn't all about women in bikinis."
"Shut up!"
Het laughed. "I know you don't care for work. You care for the excitement. But you gotta relax. You must have your downtime in order to focus better at work."
"By playing golf?" Ronnie was amused. "You're the stereotypical old man."
"Maybe, but it is relaxing. Though I admit, I'm terrible at golf." Het chuckled. "But it is fantastic to get out, stretch your muscles, have a nice walk in nature, and enjoy the fresh air." Het lit a Cuban cigar.
They spent two hours at the golf course. Ronnie was embarrassed at first. He couldn't even hit the ball. But eventually, he hit it well. But Het always did better, though neither man came close to scoring a hole in one.
There were several other golfers, mostly elders and middle-aged men. The golfers commanded the ground, but the alligators commanded the water. Golfers on one side and mere meters away alligators on the other side basking in the sun.
If a ball fell into the water, it was lost forever. Ronnie was just fascinated seeing the golfers on the left and the alligators on the right. Sometimes the reptiles would take a stroll through the golf course. Some golfers tried to retrieve the balls that fell in the water, and they would angrily shake their clubs while the gators hissed. The gators themselves would eat the balls on occasion. One gator even decided to rest inside of the cart. Ronnie heard Papa Het put on "Damage Case" by Motorhead.
As they drove near the beach, Het put on "Ride Like the Wind" by Saxon, and he sung along. "So you like Saxon?"
Het was pleasantly surprised. "So you know the band. They're quite underrated."
"My dad listened to them." Ronnie looked at the radio and then away, staring at the beach when he heard the lyrics "I was born the son of a lawless man.Always speaking my mind with a gun in my hand."
Het noticed him, "Have something on your mind?"
"No."
Het sighed as he looked in front of the road, "you'd have to let it out sometime. If you keep it inside, you'll go insane."
Ronnie was hesitant before he said, "it's all typical, you can guess it in one shot." Het turned down the music, "and the rest of your family?"
"My mom's alive and that's all I'll say."
"I suppose you became an agent to make your old man proud."
"You're on thin ice," Ronnie said coldly. T
here was silence.
Ronnie said, "don't give me the silent treatment. Since you started it, might as well tell me, did your old man approve of you dealing with smelly animals?"
"He couldn't care less about me, he left when I was 5."
Ronnie felt a little sting inside him. He didn't respond.
"I was with my mother who despised biology. She was a firm believer of God and being a kid I saw my mother's words as law. I didn't bother with biology class, what was the point? God created everything. It wasn't until she died of cancer after refusing treatment that my 12-year-old worldview ended. I thought of what really is biology and it intrigued me. And one thing led to another and here I am."
Ronnie listened, emotions ran through him but he didn't know what they were, "Did you ever speak to your dad again?"
"Yes, but he only talked to me once I became successful."
Ronnie looked away, he felt hurt at the memories. "Why do fathers never seem to approve of anything? They're so jaded, they care about what interests them, not what their sons find joy."
Het parked the car, "I'm not qualified to say anything on the matter, I guess it's tough love. But some are just apathetic."
It wasn't the words that Ronnie expected would come from someone he considered crazy, maybe just maybe he was right. To do your own thing without the burden of the past.
"Now," Het said "put on your swimsuit, we're going after lionfish."
The lionfish became invasive in Florida in the mid-1980s presumably escaped or released pets. Lionfish eat everything that fits in their mouth, no animal can eat the lionfish as its spines are sharp and venomous.
No animal has immunity in Florida. Lionfish regularly consume herbivorous fish that keep algae in check from coral reefs. Once a coral dies, algae take over, these fishes strip the algae so that new coral can grow, but with the lessened population of these fishes, coral numbers also declined.Without corals, the animals that are reliant on them would perish. 25 percent of marine life, in fact.
Het and Ronnie were at the top of a cliff; down was the ocean 10-meter drop. "Must be a bore for you, kid, there are no women in bikinis at this part of the beach."
"That joke is getting old."
Het laughed. "What are you waiting for? Jump."
"Elders have the advantage."
"Alright, if you insist," Het walked to the edge of the cliff and pointed his finger. "See now, don't jump over there, lots of sharp rocks."
Ronnie came closer, looking exactly where the finger was pointing. "I don't see anything," Het pushed him.
"YOU CRAZY OLD BASTARD!"
Ronnie made a huge splash in the water but was alright. Het followed closely. Ronnie was cursing to himself, but an amused smile was hidden away. They took their spears and swam, looking for the lionfish.
It was easy to find them as they were in great numbers. They swam, keeping a bit of distance before ramming their spears at the fish, then putting them in the caged baskets.
The fish were quick and had fast reflexes, so they weren't always successful. The lionfish hid under rocks, and some camouflaged themselves perfectly. There were some feisty lionfish that swam directly towards them. It was those that were the easiest to catch.
They captured 12 between them before they surfaced for air.
Above them stood Jeremiah King.
7:The Hunt
"Nice day for a swim, eh?"
"What are you doing here!?" Het was agitated. The massacre that was caused due to Jeremiah's actions flooded back to him. Jeremiah proceeded to release bees that swarmed directly down.
Jeremiah then drove off.
"Is this guy an idiot, bees really?" Ronnie said. "So, we just have to hold our breath a bit and they'll go away."
"No, those are African bees, they wait."
The bees began to sting Ronnie's face. The stings were greater than a normal bee. Ronnie went underwater, holding his breath.
African bees are so aggressive that elephants have a warning call whenever they see them. Once African bees stung a man to death and kept stinging him hours after he was dead.
Het pointed to a cave. They swam towards it. Caves do not always lead to a surface area, this was a gamble.
Ronnie followed him closely. The cave was getting darker, the light fading. They didn't bring a flashlight, this event was unpredictable.
For 2 minutes, they held their breath. Ronnie was beginning to struggle. Het grabbed his shoulder, signaling for them to go up. Ronnie couldn't hold his breath much longer, and it wasn't certain that they would find air. T
hey swam up and...
Air
They crawled up and saw a small light not far. They crawled to it and once they came out they saw Jeremiah across talking to a man. They stood there, trying to hear anything, but the waves muted his speech. Het tried lip reading but it wasn't of much use. Het unfortunately couldn't make out exact sentences. Jeremiah went into a hut. Ronnie and Het swam to shore at fast speed.
They got to the jeep and drove quickly back. Jeremiah was just coming out with the man, they both entered a car and drove off. He followed quietly behind.
"I'm calling backup."
"Don't!" Het yelled. Ronnie hadn't seen him like this, his face was of wild fury.
Het gripped the wheel, his teeth of a mad baboon.
"Alright, let's just get all out of the way as I don't want to be in a crazy situation with Jeremiah for the third time. Who is that guy really? What is he to you?"
"None of your business," Het spat.
Ronnie narrowed his eyes. "You have to let it out eventually or you'll go insane."
Het snorted a laugh. "Oh, I got it out of me years ago, I know what I'm doing."
"You don't say," Ronnie said skeptically. "You refused backup. I learned from my mistake last time, and you will not just run off."
"Backup? They're useless, arrogant, ignorant fools, just like you. I know exactly how it goes with people like you. You never bothered to listen to my genuine advice. You only care for your work and only care for what benefits you. Everything has to revolve around you. You never stop to think how without animals, humanity would seize to exist. You cannot fathom what I'm doing and you cannot fathom the madman I'm chasing right now."
"Then tell me," Ronnie said, crossing his arms. "Who is Jeremiah King really? All the files I've read don't give out his real motivations, just that he's mad. You two were close once, huh? Was it a disagreement? What made you become Papa Het, huh? To take this silly good nature guy personality. I bet Jeremiah worked with the agency."
"Your speculation is filled with crap," Het said, restraining his anger.
"Is it, though? I think you started to love nature while you worked with Jerimiah together at your time with the FBI I mean they trust you a lunatic with a gun even an important mission. In short, he kicked your puppy."
Het laughed. "One more word, please, I'll toss you out." Het turned serious. "You're my backup if worse comes to worst, but right now, you're dead weight."
Ronnie turned quiet, eyeing King's car in front before he said, "We've known each other this long, what is your real name?"
Het scoffed. "In 10 minutes, we will never see each other again, I don't see the point."
Jeremiah parked his car and went into an old abandoned factory with the man. Het pulled his gun and followed them. Ronnie stayed back, calling for backup before he pursued them.
The factory was dark, rusty, and cold. There was a huge body of water below the stairs. The man and Jeremiah were talking and laughing; the flooding waterfall of water obscured what they were saying.
Het, like a big cat, snuck up on them. He pointed his gun behind them, "freeze fuckers!"
Jeremiah smiled, "I was expecting you."
A massive man slammed a baseball bat at Het's head.
"Hey!" Ronnie came on the other side, pointed his gun at them, "now come quietly."
The man near Jeremiah charged at Ronnie, screaming like a wild man. He charged blindly; Ronnie startled, his brain froze. The man grabbed him and was about to toss him.
Ronnie punched him square in the chin, knocking him out. But Ronnie fell into the water.
The big man grabbed Het and was ready to toss him. He yelped, Het stepped on his foot, then punched him in the mouth, grabbed the baseball, and smashed it over his head.
He raced to the floor for his gun as Jeremiah grabbed his.
They fired.
Both took cover.
They kept firing, Jeremiah moved back into the darkness. Shots were fired several times. It was pure dark, lightened up by a powerful light and the sound of bullets. The air was full of smoke. The bullets smashed into the steel.
"It's over," Het said, as it all went quiet. "I have one shot left, but," he grinned, "you ran out. You were always a sloppy counter."
Het's grin fell as he gasped in horror. He looked down, and his skin crawled.
Jeremiah went from behind and shoved a machete through his stomach.
"True, there, old friend, but you can never deny my skills with sharp objects," Jeremiah grinned, his hot breath on Het's ear.
Ronnie rose from the water, cleared the water in his hands, and was frozen. It couldn't be... his eyes were still wet they must've been.
In front of him, was a caiman.
It didn't move curiously, it was aggressive.
It opened its jaws, and before Ronnie could blink, it slammed them on his left arm. His entire left arm was inside the caiman, and it began to roll over.
The death roll.
He was about to lose an arm.
Ronnie was submerged in the water again, got a mouth full of it. He didn't know what to do until it came to him. Shove your hand inside an alligator to activate its gag reflex.
But caimans were different. Would it work on a caiman? He shoved his arm as much as he could, the teeth slashed his skin, and Ronnie gasped for air but couldn't feel his left arm. He was frightened to look, barely mustered the courage.
His arm was intact.
The caiman went its way. It lost interest.
Ronnie got up and climbed the stairs quickly, feeling sick at what he saw. Pure terror overwhelmed him. Jeremiah was carving Het; the man was nearly cut in half. Ronnie grabbed a nearby pipe. Jeremiah was laughing, a horrible, awful, dreaded laughter of someone who can only be insane.
Ronnie swung the pipe, blood came out of Jeremiah's head, he staggered, he swung his machete. Ronnie's chest nearly got sliced.
Jeremiah tripped and fell into the body of water.
The caiman approached him.
Ronnie rushed to Het, bent down, he took off his shirt and put it over Het's bleeding stomach, but the blood engulfed the shirt within seconds. "Dear God, old man, hang on, you're not dying!"
Het grabbed Ronnie's hands. "It's Jacob... Jacob Hetzel," he gave a weak half-smile, his eyes barely open, and his muscles relaxed. His grip on Ronnie's hands weakened.
8:Same Old
Ronnie exited the hospital.
It was a sunny day in Florida; the wind was hot, and you could hardly breathe. The sun scorched the concrete.
Ronnie got a call from his superior, "Yes sir?"
"Congratulations, son. You did well. Finally, that maniac got put to rest, and we can leave crazy Florida. I honestly had enough of this wild place," he chuckled, then abruptly stopped. "It is a shame that old Jacob didn't make it. He will be sorely missed."
"The mission was all him," Ronnie said.
"Oh, don't be so hard on yourself, kid. You did great. Hey, you're definitely up for a promotion. Though I know you would like another job right away, we don't have anything as big as you'd like to say."
"It's fine, sir. I think I'm gonna spend the weekend...relaxing."
There was a pause on the other line. "Alright, can't fault you. You have fun, but don't slack off too much. Work will come sooner than later."
"Yes, sir," Ronnie hung up. In his pocket, he got out a picture of Papa Het with the tigers. He looked at the man one last time.
Ronnie went to his car and drove off. He saw three Floridian girls in bikinis but drove past them. At the stoplight, he looked at the picture again and saw a small spider on it. He left the spider unbothered.