You leave the cave

"Fine! Stay here if you want. I'm gonna get back to the ship, and the only way to do that is to leave this damn cave so I can get a signal out."

"I'm not stopping you, John, but just remember 'I told you so' when your ass is getting pumped full of pollen!" She turns away from you in a huff. You've had just about enough of her attitude and are ready to leave her there, but after what she did for you, you feel like you need to make one more appeal.

"Look, If I make contact with the ship, I'll tell them where to find you. They can send a team to come get.."

"What?" she says while cupping her hand around her ear mockingly. "Speak up! I can't hear you over the sound of all those plants fucking your brains out!"

That's the last straw. You storm out of the cave without saying another word. You tried. You really tried to be reasonable, but she has this way of pushing your buttons that you just can't stand. You know you shouldn't leave your fellow crewman behind, but right now you just have to get away from her.

The sunlight makes you squint as you emerge from the cave. Reflexively, you hold the edge of your hand up to shade your eyes as you look around. You see plant life all around, but no movement. That's a good sign, you think. You reach for your communicator only to find it missing. Damn! You must've left it in the cave. You really don't want to go back in there right now with Sandy, but there's no sense in being out here with out it. You take a deep breath, let out a sigh, and turn to go back. Just as you do though, something catches your eye. There's a patch of something blue not too far from where you are. It looks to be about the same shade as the botanists' uniforms. Could it be one of them? You'd better check it out.

Carefully, you make your way over to where you spotted the blue patch, pushing through some rather ordinary looking vegetation. There's no sign of movement from the plants or even the strange flowers that were all over the place when you first beamed down. You reach a small clearing, and there on the ground you see what's left of the two male botanists, face-down in the dirt and stone dead. A chill crawls up your spine at the sight of them. Their bodies look desiccated, dried up like raisins in the sun. While their blue tunics are mostly intact, the lower halves of their uniforms are completely shredded. Their crotches each rest on top of a bed of large wilted petals, the remnants of those pussy flowers like the one Sandy wanted you to stick your dick in. It looks like these poor bastards actually did it. A shudder runs through you as you see how their bare asses have been gaped. Growing inside each one is a thin sproutling with tiny leaves. Astonishingly, you see the sproutlings twitch and slowly grow another inch or two before you decide you really don't want to be standing here any longer.

Leaves rustle to your right. You turn in their direction and see movement for a brief moment. Your heart races. All is silent as you strain to hear anything other than your own pulse pounding in your temples. A low moan emanates from the direction of the movement. Could it be the third botanist? If there's a chance she's still alive, it's your duty to check it out. Every instinct though is telling you that's a bad idea, and you should run back to the cave while you still can.