I am so so sorry for taking so long to update this. The only excuse I have is that so much has been going on in my life lately. I hope this makes up for it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Only my OCs.

Enjoy :)

Chapter Six:

I was sitting at a table doing some work on my laptop while Mitchell and Gail were both trying to talk on their satellite phones at the same time. I roll my eyes and shake my head at them. City people. They remind me so much of my parents and that's why I don't like these people too much. Tran was sitting at the edge of the boat carving something out while Bill drove the boat for little while.

That's when both Gail and Mitchell lost their reception. I just shake my head with a sigh as I get back to my work, but I hear Tran say "Try my phone. Works just as good, but it's free" He held out his carving to them.

"Oh, okay" Mitchell answered him "Maybe you can use my special antenna to boot your reception" he flipped Tran off while Gail smirked and Tran laughed. I smiled at Tran's humor before I got back to my work.

"Stop the boat!" Jack yelled, causing me to jump in surprise since I was so engrossed in my work. I sighed in frustration as I closed my laptop, it's obvious that I'm gonna have to wait until tonight to finish my work.

Bill brought the boat to a stop as he came down to see what Jack was yelling about. I placed my laptop back in it's case as Bill came down. They said something about a flower they see on the shore, they said the name, but I didn't catch it. Bill grabbed Jack's camera and used it as a telescope to see the flower. I stood up and walked over to them, when I did I saw Jack eyeing me strangely that made me feel real uncomfortable. I stayed close to Bill just in case.

"Blood Orchid?" Bill questioned "Isn't that supposed to red?"

"This is something else" Jack told him "An incredibly rare flowering vine, I've only ever seen it once in captivity"

"Can you get us to shore?" Sam asked Bill who handed Jack back his camera.

"It's your money" Bill answered as he picked up Kong and placed him on his shoulder and walked away.

I tagged along with Bill and Tran with my machete attached to my hip just in case while Bill brought the rifle and Tran brought his machete. Sam had asked Bill why he brought the rifle and he said if they got killed by a tiger, he can't get his money. I laughed when he said because of the expression on Sam's face when he answered her.

We trudged through the water that was luckily only knee deep, so it was a good thing I wore shorts on this little trip. When we got to shore, Jack and Sam were in awe at the sight of the flower. I'll admit, it was pretty, but why are they making a huge fuss over this flower. I just rolled my eyes as I walked away. I noticed a little path in the jungle and since I know my way around this place, I decided to see where the path goes. I know how to take care of myself, I learned from the best after all. I came to the end of the path when a strong smell hits me, it was so vile that it made me want to vomit. I covered my nose when I saw and heard flies buzzing around something. When I got a little closer, my eyes widened at what I saw and it made me sick to my stomach.

Bill's POV...

Tran and I were standing on the shore standing guard while Byron and Sam as they were getting their flower. Malina had walked off on her own, I'm not worried since I know that Lina is capable of taking care of herself, but I'll always be there for her when she needs me.

All of sudden, I heard a scream come from the jungle and Tran heard it, too as we both looked towards the direction of the scream That sounded like...Malina!

"Lina?" I called I as I ran into the jungle with Tran right behind me. When we found Lina, she was bent over some folage puking her guts out.

"Lina? Babe, what's wrong?" I asked placing a hand on her shoulder as she stood up with tears running down her face and pointed behind her as she was gasping. I looked and what I saw was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. It was a dead cow that was contorted in a horrible shape and from the smell of it, it's been dead for a least a couple of weeks.

Then, I saw something next to the carcass. I put the rifle on my shoulder before I crouched down next to the thing. I grabbed what looked like some kind of tarp, I began to pull it out from under the dead cow. It just kept coming, like there was no end to this thing, but the more I unraveled it, the more I figured out that this wasn't a tarp. It was a snake skin. I saw Tran kneel down next to me in the corner of my eye just as I came to the end of the snake skin. This thing had to be at least 50 feet long or so.

"You ever seen one this big before?" I asked Tran and I saw a look of realization come across his face.

"Nana Lax Asa" Tran mumbled in Indonesian.

"What?" I asked him, not knowing what he said.

"There are legends of giant serpents around here. Nana Lax Asa" Tran explained "The Lopaks worship them"

I looked down at the snake skin and examined the markings of from where the head would be. My chest tightened when I realized what this was.

"This is no Nana Lax Asa, this is Anaconda" I said looking at Tran and I heard Malina come up behind us.

"Oh, my God" she said in a shaky voice. You could see the fear on her face as well as the panic in her green tear-filled eyes.

I then stood up and rolled up the snake skin before I tossed it back behind the cow carcass "Okay, how about we don't tell the others about this?" I suggested to Tran and Lina.

Lina let out a shaky breath as she nodded her head in agreement.

"For fifty grand, I think I can keep quiet" Tran replied with a small smile on his face, trying to lighten the mood.

"Here's the deal" I began "This is the last stop we make, nobody gets off this boat" Tran and Lina both nodded in agreement as he began to make our way out of the jungle.

I came up next to Malina and wrapped an over her shoulders "You doing okay now, babe?" I asked her and she nodded her head.

"I'll feel a lot better when we get back on the boat" She told me and I nodded my head as we followed Tran out of the jungle. Luckily, Byron and Sam were done taking their samples, so we all headed back to the boat. Sam asked me what that scream was all about and I just told her that Malina saw a dead animal in jungle. I purposely left out the part about the snake skin that was found with it.

I dropped the topic after that and we all got back on board The Bloody Mary. Tran said he would drive it for a while while Malina grabbed her medical bag to find some medicine for her stomach. She was pretty shaken up by what she saw and I don't blame her, even with her being a doctor for years and seeing some pretty awful things, I don't think you can ever be prepared for what she saw.

Malina's POV...

Later that night, I was feeling better enough to make dinner for everyone. I was still a little freaked out by what I saw, though. Bill had offered to make dinner, but I said that I could handle it and that I'll be fine. He let it go after that, seeing as how once I make up my mind about something, there's no changing it. Besides, I needed something to distract me from what happened earlier, but now that I'm clearing my head, something occurred to me. I noticed that ever since this morning, I've been feeling some nausea. Maybe that's why I threw up earlier at the sight of the dead cow, I mean I've seen some pretty horrible things in my life being a doctor and all. And that was pretty awful what I saw, but in all the years I've been a doctor, I've never thrown up at the sight of anything bad; I've always had a strong stomach, but this time was different.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't hear Sam and Gail come into the kitchen until they started talking with each other.

"So, you were one of Jack's students?" Gail asked as she took a sip of her beer.

"Yeah" Sam answered looking back at her before she handed me some tomatoes she chopped up. I smiled my thanks and she returned it before turning her attention back to Gail "He was teaching a seminar in Botanical Pharmacology. Soon as I finished my dissertation, he hired me" I grabbed a bottle of spice and sprinkled it into the pot as their conversation continued.

"Well, that's one way to get a leg up" Gail commented and I glared at her, but said nothing. This is Sam's battle, let her fight it herself.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sam challenged, seeing as how she was taken back a bit by that comment.

"I had a professor who wanted to hire me right out of school" Gail began "Of course, he wanted me to be his secretary" I bit down on my tongue slightly so that I wouldn't loose my cool. I don't understand this woman, what is her problem? It's like she hates everything and everyone.

"Look, if I've done something to offend you in anyway..." Sam began, but was cut off by Gail.

"No, no, dear not at all. Actually, I admire you. Took me ten years to get where I am today. Clearly, your generation as it all figured out" Gail gave her a fake smile as she grabbed her beer and left. Thank God. I glanced over at Sam and I could see that she seemed pretty offended and a little pissed, not that I can blame her.

"And it's because of people like her that I left the states" I said a minute after Gail left and Sam turned to look at me with a questionable look "My parents are just like her and that's why I live down here, to get away from people like them, but I guess no matter where you go there's always gonna be someone like that. I wouldn't pay attention to what she said because I could practically see the jealously radiating off of her"

She smiled her thanks to me and I returned the smile "How about we finish up here and get these people some food?" I suggested to her and she nodded her head while she helped me finish cooking.

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