Free Undead Genesis: Zombie by Colten Steele Page A

two
trees and found the first of the sacred ingredients, the ransi
flower. A pouch full of these beautiful, but poisonous, red flowers
had been carefully collected and was presently hidden below with
his meager gear deep in the crevice of a nearby tree. However,
there was no trace of the final hallowed component he was required
to retrieve in either of the first two trees; the larvae of the
bondai fly.
    In previous generations the larvae were found
abundantly at the top of every cotton tree, but before he was born
the larvae started to disappear and boys sometimes had to climb
more than one tree now to find it. Marik knew he would throw
himself from his precarious perch in frustration rather than to
sulk back to the tribe without finding the last ingredient.
    He spent another few moments admiring the
rising sun and thanked his ancestors for keeping him safe. He
praised their bravery and asked for them to direct his life on this
day. Singing ancient songs of tribute to the spirits of the many
men who made this same climb before him, he unwrapped himself from
his hammock and started to ascend the final few feet to reach his
goal.
     
    ~ Chapter II
~
     
    Marik was in the branches one hundred eighty
feet above the ground and was exhausted. The eagerness to reach the
top he felt hours ago had fled as he struggled to remain steadily
focused. His last meal had been consumed the previous day and had
consisted of a few mouthfuls of a hard dried porridge and the
second half of a slightly over-ripened pineapple. He sipped the
last of his water and knew he needed to start the long precarious
journey back down the tree soon to avoid dehydration.
    The top of a cotton tree in the northern rain
forest of Brazil towered over the rest of the canopy and was unlike
any other environment in the jungle. Many species of plants and
insects lived here which were not found anywhere else in the world.
The large bondai fly was one of these species and had yet to be
discovered by the civilized world. Once the bondai fly emerged from
its cocoon, it flew off to the next cotton tree it could find where
it mated, laid eggs in the upper branches a few weeks later, and
then died. The larvae spent their lives at the tops of the trees.
They first consumed the carcass of their mother, and then fed on
the tree until pupating.
    The adult fly was remarkable for its size and
aggressiveness. It could grow up to an inch and a half long and was
extremely territorial. The bite of the fly left a painful welt
which did not disappear for days. Marik had spread a thick mixture
over his entire body derived mainly from a single large pointy aloe
leaf crushed days ago. He had been told this would protect him from
the painful bite, but had also heard stories from men who said it
did not always work. He was cautious, but had not seen any of the
flies or larvae in the two previous trees, so he was less worried
than he had been previously.
    Marik was shuffling along with his feet on a
low branch and his hands searching the leaves on the branch just
above him. The muscles in his neck and shoulders were sore from
looking up for hours in search of the elusive larvae in a tree
whose canopy covered more than half an acre.
    When the heavy fly unexpectedly smacked into
the side of his neck and took a painful chuck of skin in its sharp
jaws, both hands came off of the branch he had been clinging to.
Thankfully the hammock from the night before was tied around the
branch above him and looped under one arm. One of his feet slipped
and for a moment he hung in the balance waving both arms
wildly.
    He was vaguely aware he had wet himself as
one hand groped to regain a hold on the tree branch above and the
other beat frantically at the insect which still stubbornly clung
to his neck. He connected solidly with a slap that left its own
mark on his skin and the bondai fly fell weightily on his shoulder.
It teetered there a moment, before falling forward, rolling down
his chest. Marik quickly lost