Base Camp

The expedition sailed out of an old decrepit metal structure not too dissimilar from the one they had entered back at the station. This building, however, was a slightly different style of architecture and nearly completely covered in creeping vines and other overgrowth spilling forth from the swamp that surrounded it. It was that swamp that Mitch's canoe now puttered out into, as large overhanging trees with thick roots clutched the low mud around them. A few hundred meters away, he could see a small cluster of large fabric tents surrounded by a chain linked fence topped with barbed wire. A small watchtower constructed of spindly steel was the tallest thing in the enclosure, and as they approached, a figure slid down the tower's ladder and made its way out of an open gate to approach the shore.

Commander Epsilon had already disembarked from her boat and was talking to the figure from the tower, who Mitch could now see was a muscular shirtless man with a leather strap slung across his waist that holstered what appeared to be one of the Agency's standard issue stun pistols. Epsilon was smiling and laughing as they conversed, and it seemed to Mitch that the two were old friends of some sort.

His canoe soon slid up onto the muddy bank and Beverly quickly hopped out and began tugging the boat further up onto the tangled shore. In a few minutes they had all left the water and were dragging their gear and vessels up out of the murky water of the bog. As they began to all pick up their gear, Epsilon turned to address them all.

"Alright team, listen up! This here is Agent Delta. He runs the base camp. The rest of the day and tonight we'll stay here. The big tent next to the flag pole is logistics. Head there and some of Delta's people will send you to your bunks."

They all complied, and Mitch was soon entering a big green canvas tent near the watchtower to find his assigned bed. The large tent was lined with three rows of steel bunk beds, and he found his to be the bottom bunk on the far left corner. After stowing his gear while the others did the same, he walked out of the tent to find Beverly, Epsilon, and a few other members of the expedition waiting for him.

"Mr. Flannigan, good. You're the last of the rookies." Mitch stepped up into a line with four other members of the team that seemed to be around the same age as himself as Epsilon stood in front to address them. "Before we set out tomorrow, I want you all to get a better understanding of this place. I'm going to take you a few miles south through the swamp to show you the coast. As you know, we'll be going north, into the swamp, but I want you to see some of what we've already found. Follow me, we have some gear ready for you all."

Epsilon turned and began to walk towards a gate a few dozen meters away from the tower. As they followed, Beverly fell in beside him. "Have you read up about the coast?" She asked, eyes wide with excitement. When Mitch indicated that he had not, they became even more so. "It's really fascinating! This whole area seems to maybe have been one big city at some point, it's hard to tell exactly how big because so much of it is beneath the swamp and the ocean. So far, the most intact structures have been found further down the beaches. They even think that they may have been more technologically advanced than our earth! "

Mitch nodded as he listened. He had read a bit about what they would be exploring, but in truth he had been more concerned about the strange creatures that he kept reading and hearing about. His attention was quickly brought back to Epsilon as they reached the gate. To his surprise, she had thrown off the harness strapped about her torso and was beginning to pull her shirt off. Mitch found himself staring as she shrugged off her top and began to undo her pants, before those too were soon being kicked off into a growing pile off to the side.

"I don't know if you all have noticed, but it is extremely hot and humid here. It's not exactly regulations, but if you want to lose some of that gear that's making you sweat, by all means go for it."

Mitch stared at their platinum haired leader, really seeing her body for the first time. She was now dressed only in a tight black one-piece swimsuit, and as he stared, she turned and bent over to retrieve some gear she had tossed in the pile. She was in great shape, her toned legs and thighs on full display as she rummaged through her discarded clothes.

Sensing motion around him, Mitch turned and found that most of the other rookies were beginning to similarly disrobe. He glanced at Bev as she unbuckled her pants and pushed them down to her ankles, revealing navy blue bikini bottoms and thick shapely thighs that were just shy of muscular. She kicked off her boots and pants and began to unbutton the top few buttons of her shirt before rolling up her sleeves as well. She stopped momentarily when she caught Mitch starring, and he quickly turned away, clearing his throat slightly.

Beverly chuckled, "See something you like?"

"Well...I mean...I'm just kinda wishing I had had put my swim trunks on beneath my clothes too." Mitch rubbed the back of his neck and hoped he did not sound too awkward.

"You can always just walk around in your underwear."

Mitch thought he caught Epsilon glance their way at Beverly's comment. "Nah I, uh, I'll be fine."

When Epsilon lead the rookies out of the camp, they were all in various states of undress. Epsilon was still dressed only in the one-piece swimsuit with a harness of gear now donned atop it along with her strappy sandals, Beverly was still bottomless with a half unbuttoned and rolled up shirt, and Mitch had deigned to roll up his pant legs to his knees and ditch his shirt altogether in favor of a loose harness to hold what little equipment they gave him. The other rookies had all partially disrobed as well, with one brown haired girl wearing nothing but bikini thong bottoms and a sports bra with a fanny pack clasped about her trim waist. When Mitch had pictured this expedition in his head, he had not imagined so much exposed skin. That being said, Mitch was glad they could break regulations like this. He had barely been here an hour and had already sweated through his discarded shirt.

The muggy air did not relent as they left the enclosed camp and made their way beneath the tall canopy of the swamp. If anything, it increased. The sun shined in a cloudless sky, but as they began to make their way beneath the trees, not much of it breached the canopy. Their path was marked every dozen meters or so by a metal stake with an LED mounted to the top and a strip of red cloth hanging underneath.

"While we're at base camp, follow the makers if you go out into the bog." Epsilon called out over her shoulder as they followed. "Most of the surrounding area has been scouted, but there are still things that can sneak up on you, even when following the trail."

The group came to the edge of the murky water and approached a makeshift monkey bridge that stretched across the water to another splotch of land a dozen or so meters away. The three ropes that made up the bridge were tied off on either side to a particularly large tree, and they had to swing up under the cords to begin the clamber across. As he made his way over, Mitch looked down at the murky soup and noticed the water rippling beneath him for a moment. He slowed his pace to try and see what was causing the disturbance, and for a moment he could have sworn that the silhouette of a face rose slightly out of the water before quickly dissolving and dispersing back into a liquid form.

"Did you see something?" Beverly asked behind him, and he turned to notice that he was holding the entire group up.

"Uh, I'm not sure. Let's just keep going."

They continued on this way for another thirty minutes, crossing lumps of soil in the muck, more rope bridges, and trudging through some ankle deep water on occasion. Try as he might, Mitch could not help but be partially distracted by his half-naked fellow teammates. His eyes kept drifting to Epsilon's firm backside as she led them through the swamp, and whenever Beverly made her way past him her curves demanded his attention. There were others in the group too that drew his gaze. The brown haired girl in the bikini thong and sports bra brushed past Mitch twice now, and if he did not know better he would have thought that she was wanting him to ogle her, the way she kept bending over near him to check every other strange piece of flora. Another woman with short auburn curls and glasses that had stripped down to a tight white t-shirt and baby blue bikini bottoms would walk past him every few minutes and pause to take pictures of their surroundings while the group marched past, before she would quickly scramble after them to catch back up. The only other man in the group was a fellow that Mitch had not met before. Similarly shirtless as himself, the fit dark haired man with a close cropped beard did not seem to be as similarly distracted as Mitch. Then again, Mitch figured that he could just be better at hiding it.

Before long, they could hear the sound of the ocean waves crashing up ahead through the trees. Epsilon pulled them all to a stop and turned to address them.

"You all wait here for a minute. I'm gonna go make sure the beach is clear of any potential issues, then I'll be back. Stay here, and don't wander off."

With that, the silver haired leader turned and disappeared into the brush and left the rookies alone. For a minute, the rookies shuffled around awkwardly, not sure what to do. The sound of a camera click broke the tension, and they all turned to see the curly haired girl taking another picture of the swamp. She paused at the attention, and looked back at the others.

"What?" She asked defensively.

"Candice, how many pictures are you gonna take this trip?" The girl in the bikini thong laughed.

"Well, I mean...It's what I'm supposed to do! I'm the visual cataloguer." The curly haired girl, apparently named Candice, stammered.

"Huh. Have you gotten any good pictures of me yet?"

"Seriously Audrey? Well...actually I may have a few..."

The two girls conspired together as Candice began to show the other girl some of the photos she had taken, and the rest of the Rookies began to mill about. Mitch walked up the edge of the water and stared off into the dense swamp. He felt someone walk up beside him, and he heard Beverley begin to speak.

"This is crazy, huh? A whole different world!"

Mitch glanced over at his blonde comrade and noted the look of wonder in her eyes. It was definitely different, that was for sure. The trees and plants looked similar to that of earth, most were probably identical, but the odd splash of color here, or strange sound echoing in the distance were constant reminders that this place was not Earth. At least, not the Earth Mitch was from.

"Yeah....crazy." Mitch muttered, once again momentarily distracted as his eyes flicked down to take in Beverley's curvy half-naked body.

"I don't know how you plan on being a good explorer if all you keep looking at is me." Mitch's eyes flew back up to meet Beverley's gaze.

"Oh, uh, right...well-"

Beverley cut him off with a laugh. "It's fine Mitch, I'm just messing with you."

"Candice! Get a picture of this!" Mitch heard Audrey call out from someone behind them.

Out of curiosity, Mitch looked back to see the girl in the thong, Audrey, that was her name, hopping out onto some particularly large roots that sat above the water. She seemed to be making her way towards some thick, green, dangling vines.

"Audrey what are you doing?" Candice called after her as she followed towards the edge of the muck with her camera at the ready.

The brown haired girl leaned out over the water and grabbed one of the hanging vines. She gave it a few good tugs as if to test its strength and smiled in satisfaction.

"Is the camera ready? I'm gonna swing out over the water like Tarzan!"

"I don't think that's such a good idea..."

"It's fine! These vines are super sturdy."

Audrey gave the vine another strong yank to emphasize her point. Candice sighed and muttered something inaudible, but she raised her camera all the same. Audrey smiled then leaped off the large root with a laughing whoop and swung far out over the murky waters of the swamp. When she got out as far as the length of the vine would allow, she twisted around to make the swing back. The vine she was hanging from then shifted, as if the part attached to the top of the tree had come loose and slid across the canopy over the dark waters below.

"Woah!" Audrey gasped, clinging tightly to the vine as it sagged down slightly from the movement.

The vine still seemed to be holding, but because of the movement Audrey had lost all of her leverage and was now dangling above the swamp water a few meters below. Mitch and the others all quickly ran over to the edge of the water upon seeing this.

"Are you okay?" Candice called out to the dangling woman.

"I'm fine! It must have just been anchored to a different point than I thought."

As they watched Audrey hanging two dozen meters away, Mitch thought he saw the vine she was hanging from almost seem to move. Not just because of Audrey's motions, almost like it was acting on its own.

"Ah, what the hell?" Audrey muttered as she looked up at her hand.

In her struggling, she had somehow got the vine coiled around her wrist. Almost like it was gripping her. It was then that Mitch noticed the other vines dangling from where Audrey had swung from begin to twitch and stir, like they were waking up.

"Woah!" Audrey gasped as the vine she was hanging from suddenly pulled her up into the canopy out of sight.

"Audrey!" Candice yelled.

"Shit!" Mitch and Beverly cried out at once.

The other vines that had been dangling above the roots all began to slide up into the treetops, disappearing from sight. The bearded man that Mitch had yet to catch the name of ran up to the large roots and called up into the canopy.

"Audrey! Are you okay?!"

"What is this?! What are you doing? What...oh-ah...ooh!"

The rookies heard Audrey's voice ring out from somewhere up above in the dense foliage. From the sound of it, it seemed like whatever had pulled her up was doing something to her. Much more alarming though, was that it sounded like it was carrying her further away into the treetops.

"And that is why you all must pay attention to your surroundings."

The rookies all spun back in surprise as Epsilon stepped out of the foliage from behind them. The platinum haired woman walked past them to the edge of the water and put her hands on her hips as she studied the treetops. Tsking to herself, she turned back to the group.

"Snatch Clusters. That's what has her. They're common enough around this area, so watch out in the future. We're not sure if they're more plant or animal, but imagine a tumble weed had a kid with an octopus and they all lived in the jungle canopy."

"Is...is she gonna be okay?" Candice asked nervously.

Espsilon looked back up to the treetops and sighed. The group could still hear what now sounded like Audrey's moans and cries fading away into the distance.

"If she wasn't a rookie, yes. She'll have a long day for sure, but when its done with her she should be mostly unharmed, if not a bit sore. If I thought she knew the area well enough to find her way back to camp I wouldn't even consider going after her."

"What...What's it doing to her?" Candice asked with unease.

"The better question is what _isn't _it doing to her." Epsilon answered like she was discussing the weather.

This elicited a small gasp from Beverly that Mitch figured only he could hear standing next to her.

"Alright everybody, listen up." Epsilon turned to address the group in a more authoritative voice. "I'm going to have to go find our little wayward rookie. Most likely I won't be back until after sunset, so unfortunately I won't be able to be your tour guide for the rest of the day. That being said, I checked the beach and it was clear of any hazards if you want to go see it. However, do not go into the city ruins. I won't be able to help, and there are much worse things then Snatch Clusters in there. If you want to go on back to camp, you know the way."

With that, the woman turned and strode over to the roots that Audrey had swung out out from and deftly climbed up to the tallest one. She stood there for a moment and studied the branches above her as if she was looking for something. Mitch followed her gaze and noticed movement in the foliage above her. It was more of those vines! For a moment, Mitch almost called out to warn Epsilon, but then he realized that she was staring at them too.

"What is she doing..." Beverly whispered next to him.

Epsilon then began to whistle some sort of bird call that Mitch had never heard before, and one of the vines began to lower down towards her, almost like it was curious. Epsilon lifted her arms to greet it as it neared, and the vine began to coil down her outstretched arm. It slithered all the way down to her shoulder before making its way over to her sizeable bust.

"Holy shit..." Mitch heard himself whisper out loud, and he felt Beverly glance over at him.

The vine pushed its way down between Epsilon's cleavage, and Mitch thought he saw her squirm slightly at the sensation. He did not have a good view of what the vine did next, but after a few moments he saw movement between the woman's legs as her swimsuit bulged out slightly as the vine slithered up between her legs before stopping just below the small of her back. The platinum haired woman was then yanked up into the branches above like Audrey had been, and like Audrey, she quickly disappeared among the thick foliage above. As Mitch could hear her being pulled away through the overgrowth, he thought he heard a rather pleased groan.