Jungle Horror Concept: Part 1
10/27/2022 2:22 AM MST
fiction, horror
One day a female botanist working in a university encounters a student named Adam who has transferred from a remote jungle region. They introduce one another, and the student brings out a journal, explaining that he had drawn various plants while living in the jungle and had never been able to figure out their names.
She examines the drawings and theorizes the families they may be part of but she doesn’t know which genus. She asks if he took any samples of them, but he explains he did not because he feared they may be poisonous. They amicably break off introductions, and then she begins the first lecture.
Later in the semester, Adam meets and befriends another student, Chris who is an athlete and a wannabe explorer. The two eventually decide that he needs to go on a real adventure, and the jungle student is planning to visit his family over summer break, so he invites the other student to come along and explore the jungle.
The semester passes, and the two prepare for their jungle expedition. They pack microscopes and petri dishes, vials and specimen slides. They board the plane and when they land a terrible storm is brewing and trash is blowing around the street as the two board a taxi cab. The two make light conversation with the taxi cab, and he recommends a club in town that the two should visit. They pay him and thank him for the advice, and then they walk up to Adam’s family house.
Adam’s mom answers the door, but she appears saddened, but still happy to see them. She explains that his father had to leave to help his brother with a problem at his house across town and he hasn’t returned or answered her phone calls. The two borrow her Jeep and they set out to locate him. When they arrive at his brother’s house, they find it’s locked and no one answers the door. They check the garage and his vehicle is still parked. The two speculate that he and his brother must have gone for a walk to the lake nearby, which is his brother’s favorite spot.
The two park the Jeep and approach the lake. It’s getting colder as the day is drawing late and the storm has blown in a cold front. They decide to search for signs of Adam’s father and his brother by walking around the lake and checking over various hills that occluded their vision from the outset, unsure of what else to do and deciding they need more time to think. They laugh at how now they are the ones walking around the lake and that Adam’s father and brother likely were picked up and enjoying beers at a pub somewhere nearby.
As they begin to walk towards the lake, Adam’s phone rings and his mom is on the line. She worriedly explains that Adam’s father left a message on her answering machine saying that he feared he was dying and that he may have been poisoned. He then ends the message by saying he is waiting for emergency services outside his home.
Worried the two abandon their lake-side walk and rush to the hospital, the only one within many miles of the village they are in. They ask if Adam’s father is in admittance and they explain he was, but that he left some hours ago. He apparently had a mild allergic reaction and was given hydroxyzine and appeared fine afterwards. He then was dismissed from the hospital and had apparently left.
They call Adam’s mom explaining the situation and she seems relieved, although confused that Adam’s brother hadn’t answered the phone either and wasn’t at his home. Nevertheless, she concludes that he must be on his way home then and that he should arrive shortly. The two leave and drive back to the house.
They arrive and find Adam’s mom and dad cheerful and seemingly normal. They have ordered a pizza and invite the two to enjoy it with them. After eating the parents decide to watch a horror movie, but the two decide they ought to prepare for their expedition the next morning. They go online and look up maps of the surrounding area, figuring that the national parks would frown upon them harvesting samples and otherwise trampling around.
They decide upon visiting a small swamp surrounded by dry land which is accessible by vehicle with only a short hike required. Knowing the storm had caused the temperature to drop they decide that it would be best to go around 1 or 2 PM when it’s warmer. The next morning they awaken to find that Adam’s parents have left, but they left a note stating that they are visiting their friends and going golfing. They remark to one another that it’s good that they are enjoying the day and getting exercise.
They then leave the house, but realize that his parents had taken the Jeep and the only other vehicle requires a new transmission. They discuss calling a cab, but the distance is too far and they don’t want to pay the fee nor wait for the return pickup trip to arrive. They wonder if they ought to postpone the expedition until the next day, but then Adam remembers that he has an acquaintance in town, Jake, that he used to hang out with and that he was always interested in psychedelics.
They decide that if they pitch it to him correctly, he may offer to go with them to see if there are any hallucinogenic toads or mushrooms they could analyze. They call him and he explains that he’s interested but that he doesn’t have any money for gas, but that if they give him some money and buy him lunch he’ll happily take them.
He arrives roughly 20 minutes later, and the three set out towards the swamp. They stop for gas at a local station and decide to go in to purchase some drinks. While in the store, a couple of other customers who are checking out are discussing a strange odor in the area and they remark annoyed that there are no anti-allergy medications left for purchase. Adam and Steve laugh in a concerned manner and question to one another if it could be related to the allergic reaction Adam’s father had experienced. Jake asks them what happened and the two explain the situation that had occurred the other day. He mentions to them that he has some anti-allergy medication with him along with some other drugs in case they decide to lounge during their swamp expedition.
They leave the gas station and return to the main route towards the swamp however when they exit the small commercial center they see a wall of cops blocking off the road up ahead. Adam remembers that this is the only road that leads to the swamp and curses to the others at how unfortunate they’ve been at conducting their expedition. However, they decide if they abandon the drugs it should be safe to proceed. It’s just a matter of convincing Jake.
Jake explains that the box he has with him contains at least $500 worth of drugs and that it would be a complete waste to abandon them. Adam and Steve both are convinced it’s worth doing for their own sake, but understand his hesitation. They try to sway Jake with an offer of repayment for the drugs, but when they make the offer he instead decides that it would make more sense to simply take all the drugs.
He offers to split the haul with them, but they explain they need to remain sober to properly collect the samples. Undeterred by this, he decides he can handle the load entirely himself. They set aside the over the counter medications including the anti-allergy medication in case they need it later. The “haul” consists of two bottles of DXM, a gram of cocaine, and a vial of heroine.
They pull over to a small Cul-de-sac and Jake haphazardly injects the heroine, snorts the cocaine, and downs the DXM. He shouts out furiously and then joyously returns to the vehicle. The three are getting ready to take off when a police cruiser pulls up blocking their exit. Jake begins panicking a bit, and cursing the cop comparing the cruiser to a large hound with fire in its eyes.
He exits the Jeep and starts to run up towards the cruiser flailing his arms and clearly inebriated. Adam follows quickly, concerned the cop may assault him in self defense or out of protocol. He reaches Jake and attempts to grab his arm, but he swings at Adam and hits him in the jaw knocking him back. Adam yells at Jake calling him an idiot and begging him not to proceed with what he’s doing.
Jake shifts his focus to Adam becoming emotional, and yelling how he knew it was a bad idea to take the drugs and that they should have just left and found another way to reach the swamp. Fortunately Jake calms down and two cops exit the cruiser and approach them. Adam explains that Jake had taken many drugs at a party and they were driving him home.
The cops are concerned and decide they can’t allow Jake to leave with them, and that he must be taken to the hospital. Adam and Steve say their goodbyes to Jake and they leave, returning on their way. They arrive at the swamp at roughly 3:30 PM, slightly later than they had intended. However, they have more than enough time to explore and collect samples to fill the containers they have brought.
Once they arrive at the swamp they begin exploring and find that there are many plants that the two do not recognize, and some that they remember seeing as kids. They walk around collecting samples of the plants. They collect various herb-like plants, many stalk-like ones. They collect a few flowers, some which smell terrible. Eventually they stumble upon a small cave entrance which is too constrained vertically for them to enter or even to crawl into.
They lean down to see if they can spot anything interesting inside the cave. To their intrigue, they notice that the cavern seems to expand vastly after the initial narrow entrance. Wondering if there is any other way into the cavern, Steve pulls out his cell phone and uses the flashlight feature to peer further into the cave. As he shines the light inside, the two notice that there is a clump of white mushrooms that they had failed to see before.
They happily realize they can reach the mushrooms if they use a stick and carefully pull them towards them. They gently scrape at the mushrooms and a few fall down into collectible range. They bag them up, and begin to stand when they hear a moaning sound from deep within the cavern. It sounds like a large creature but with broken vocal cords which are raspy and clanking. Slightly shaken they decide it best to leave the cave and perhaps even leave the swamp as well. However, they realize they haven’t taken any photos for social media and also they should take photos of the samples while they are fresh in case they change color.
They take some photos to post online, and then lay the samples out on a blanket for photographing. While they do this however, they begin to notice a shadow approaching them from behind. However it appears ephemeral and certainly not of a creature. They turn around wondering what it could be, and see a huge cloud of yellow dust blowing in slowly from the direction of the cavern.
They quickly repack the samples and pull their shirts over their mouths running towards the vehicle. This is surely the same allergen that has been plaguing the town since they arrived. When they reach the vehicle, they realize the engine won’t start. They exit and examine the exhaust and find it’s clogged with pollen. They attempt to start the vehicle again with no success. They pop the hood and find it too is clogged with pollen and decide it’s beyond their skill to fix.
The two start coughing, perhaps out of psychological fear but more likely out of an allergic reaction. They leave the samples in the Jeep and take the anti-allergy medication with them. They then run down the street as the plume of pollen spreads. Eventually they manage to bring enough distance between them and the pollen and stand next to a tree while splitting the anti-allergy medication.
They wait, watching the pollen and decide to check the news on their phones to see if any notifications have been put out. Sadly nothing has, so they instead decide to hike to the T junction they came from and wait to hail a ride.
