Creative Landscaping

“Okay, I get the appeal of gazebos. I understand the desire to display art amid flowers in planters. I even get the utility of security cameras. Just tell me, please, who the hell needs to put an automated sentry gun system in their front lawn?”

“Do you know how often I get people knocking on my door, trying to sell me something?”

“Are you serious? Fifty BMG seems a bit much in response to solar panels.”

“Solar panels? Aww, you are adorable cheri.”

New Orleans Tailor in a conversation with Lady Frankenstein over her mansion repairs after Katrina.

"Is any of Carl’s armor even worth putting on, other than the helmet?” Lisa asked as she secured Davy's harness on the lizard.

"It's all still functional." Carl said, eyeing a hole in his back plate. "Mostly. I'll have to replace some of it when we get home, but this will still provide some protection. For a few more hits, at least."

He calmly duct taped over the hole before putting it on.

"Right." she said arching an eyebrow at the tape. "Well, Onward to Coffee and Freedom!" she said, Davy jumping and chirping in enthusiasm.

"And there is a perfect thumbnail." carl said with a grin.

"Indeed."

Once more they trooped down the stairs, into the jungle, this time moving through the game trails and avoiding the rises that marked the pit traps. A Rhea passed them, not taking a second look at Carl. "Thank god, the wash and shower worked."

“Cassie will be happy.” Emilia said. “If you died, she’d have to build a giant rotisserie."

"Okay, now I want her to do that anyway."

"I wonder, could we steal some of those eggs..." Lisa mused.

"We're not backtracking." Ryan laughed. "Not again."

"We can always come back AFTER we get the fuses to fix the Elevator." Lisa said. “And then we can get enough birds for a barbeque." A short while later Davy was tugging at his leash giving excited chirps and squeaks.

"What's got his attention?" Ryan asked, looking in the direction the little guy was pulling in.

"I wonder myself. We're heading in that general direction." Lisa let the little reptile pull her along for a bit. "Oh, a pond! It's very clear too. I can see fish swimming around."

Davy pulled at his harness wanting to go swimming, he chirped at the fish. I’m going to have to put a pond in.” Lisa said. She blinked. “Guys.” she pointed to a downed sign. The wooden post rotted through. “Do not swim” it said under that was an arrow and the words “fishing pool” painted on the sign.

"I mean, I wasn't planning to." Carl said, filming with the primary camera. He was doing this just as a Caiman who was hiding in the brush near the edge struck, grabbing his leg by the heavy boot and tugging him into the water.

"What the fuck!" He yelled, falling to his back, trying to grab the ground as he was being dragged back.

Lisa gasped dropping Davys leash and leaping for Carl’s hand, the Crocker Spaniel let out a growl sensing danger to his people and launched his thick little boy at the larger crocodilian. “Davy no! Get back here you little idiot!” Lisa shouted pulling hard on Carl’s arm.

Emilia also grabbed one of Carl’s arms, preventing him from being pulled entirely into the lake, while Ryan moved around, firing a couple of shots into the body of the small crocodilian. The animal seemed to ignore the nine-millimeter rounds, though it showed injury.

Then the Crocker got ahold of its bigger relative, and the reptile went stiff, shuddering for several seconds. The white reptile stopped biting down and jumped back, intending to find a new way to attack, but the larger beast let its intended prey go and sank back into the lake, to escape.

Davy let out a loud squeak. Splashing into the lake to chase down the aggressor. Ryan grabbing at his leash as the white beast growled and squeaked at the water.

“Carl, are you okay? Lisa asked as Emilia and her pulled the camera man away from the water

Ryan, still wrestling an enraged crocker, dragged them both back to the shore. "That thing got a hell of a grip on you."

"Someone help me... shit... yeah, it got me good." He winced, falling when he tried to stand. "I think my ankles broke. It's definitely pretty badly twisted."

"Do we need..."

"No, backtracking at this point is a losing game." Ryan said, already knowing what Emily was going to say. "Damnit. Do you think you could walk with some sort of support, or if one of us helped you?"

“Going to have to.” He spoke.

“Let’s get the boot off before we have to cut it off. We can use sticks and duct tape to stabilize his foot if it’s broken. And we need to look for cuts. And get them treated. Humid environments like this are hell for infection. Lisa said in her voice firm, Em can you get me your first aid kit?

"Yeah, here you go." The other woman said, while Ryan cut off the laces of the photographer’s boot, slipping it off carefully. "I think he avoided any lacerations." Ryan said, unzipping the leg of the armored pants slightly, finding bruising already forming but not any blood.

“This is going to hurt. She ran her hands gently over his foot, does anything feel cold or numb?

"Ouch, no... plenty hurts though."

"The boots are pretty reinforced, though something like a freaking gator coming out of the water is a bit beyond the design specs." Emilia admitted.

"I can wiggle my toes...ouch... fuck... but don't ask me to do it more."

“Not broken, possibly cracked definitely sprained.” Lisa began wrapping his ankle tightly in an ace wrap. Can you find some longer sticks so I can splint it just in case? And a longer stick for a crutch. One good thing about a forest is it does give us resources. She looked up. “Mom was a surgeon; I picked stuff up.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Well, that's useful." Emilia said, handing her a couple of sturdy feeling sticks, while Ryan looked for something to use as a crutch. Soon they managed to get the cameraman back on his feet Lisa using a roll of duct tape to make a temporary water proof boot on the injured foot, It was already swelling bad enough she didn’t want to try and get his boot back on.

“Okay, let’s go. Carl lean on me if you need to.” Lisa said. Do you want me to take the camera?”

"Yeah. I guess the rest of the trip is going to be helmet cameras." He said as they started moving again. "Sorry I'm slowing us down.”

"Not your fault that you got jumped. We were stupid for not thinking of it, I mean the guy had a giant damn croc as a weapon and bio-engineered Rhea's to eat cocaine. We were dumb, all of us."

“Well, we could tie the camera to Davy’s harness. Give you croc-cam.” Lisa offered.

"It’s not that kind of camera. However, I have spare go-pros. Next time we stop, we'll hook him up."

Lisa nodded; Emily picked up the sign. Looks like he had a fishing spot somewhere that way. “Unless it’s a trap it should be safer if it’s one of Mister Lizard’s trails.”

"Well, let's follow it. Suggests if there's anything important to find, it'd be in that direction anyhow."

"Might even be near an exit option we didn't take into account."

Twenty minutes later they found themselves at a deep lake next to it was a small picnic table, and a fire pit with a cast iron spot and grill. “Now this makes sense! Why have all this if you can’t come in and enjoy it!” Lisa said.

"He has a fishing pond. I can see the damn trout in there." Ryan shook his head. "On the bottom of an inland sea, he put a freaking fishing pond in. This is just so weird."

“What about this whole place isn’t weird!” Lisa said helping Carl to sit, “But it’s a good spot for a break, let Carl put his leg up. And let Davy swim.” The stubby croc was bouncing and wriggling begging to be allowed in the pond.

"First," Carl, sitting at the table, pulled out one of the go-pros, and quickly rigged up a set up to put it on the eager little reptiles back. After that, they let him jump in and swim around, Emilia already having checked to make sure none of the more dangerous animals were in the pond. "I think we went up hill, there were some stairs. I guess the gator things couldn't be bothered to work their way up here."

“Well, he did something so he could just relax here.”

In the water, the Crocker Spaniel happily chased fish, and swam into the tunnels that kept all the ponds clean and fresh, and once upon a time let his mother wander the dome with ease… until she outgrew them. He could hear her chirps and loving growls in the water, and he sang back about how happy he was and how wonderful belly rubs were. Her chirps carried amusement and agreement, she told him she was sending a present for him and his friends. A few minutes later the small white creature swam out of the tunnel dragging a trout that was almost as big as he was. Pulling it to the surface he growled around the wiggling fish.

"Holy crap. He caught a whopper there." Ryan said, watching the little guy swimming up with the big fish.

"Give that here, hon. That's a bit big for you, little guy." Lisa said, taking the fish. "God, that's a beast. It'd be enough for all of us."

“Well fish will be a nice change from Rhea. Carl said.

“Well why don’t one of you clean the fish and the other can start a fire while I clean the grill in the pond?”

"Sounds like a plan."

The little white fisher beast got the best parts, for him, meaning the head, while the filets were soon grilled over burning coals, a bit of the fruit they'd collected broken out to be the dinners side. "Okay, so... How far do you think we have to go? I can't really see the domes clearly through the trees, so I'm finding it hard to keep track." Lisa admitted.

“I think we are about halfway there, the hills trees and ‘natural detours are making it feel farther.” Emily said.

"It’s likely sculpted to be like that. He probably wanted it to feel huge, both for himself and for anything else. I'd bet if we actively looked, we'd find some terracing here and there to add to the ground footage."

“How are you doing Carl? Ryan said watching as the lizards both decided to nap after lunch

"Legs throbbing, can't get comfortable no matter what I do, that's ignoring the bruises from the birds are aching like you wouldn't believe, and we only had a few aspirin in the aid kits. That's an oversight to fix later. All in all, it could be worse."

“Yeah, pain killers, backpack rifle, and a can of cooking oil.” Emily said listing off things to change with the kit. “A lot of Lisa’s cooking would have been easier with a little bit of fat.”

"Yeah. More food than some trail bars, which I didn't even bother packing since she brought better." Emilia said. "We're learning a lot. Oh, and a cooler backpack."

I’d also recommend salt. Lisa said. A salt and pepper shaker or even just a handful of packets would go a long way. We got lucky I was able to score salt in Lizard’s kitchen.” Lisa added, finishing off her fillets.

"Smells good. At least we've eaten well this trip, for the most part. One emptied cooler notwithstanding, glutton." Ryan said, pointing at Davy, who just continued gnawing on his fish head.

“So, rest a little longer, then continue on?” Lisa asked, sipping one of the last sodas wanting the caffeine

"Yeah. If we make decent time, I'm hoping we can find the garage room by evening. And hopefully there's an access panel or something we can get in through, without having to break something."

"Or worse, backtrack again."

“Oh, hell no! I will get Davy to help me chew my way out of here before we backtrack again!” Carl said.

"That's the spirit." Ryan nodded. "And honestly, at this point we can't really take any longer than we have to. you need a hospital."

Lisa nodded. "And he'll need one more the longer we have to make him walk. We're getting into the garage room one way or the other."

Ryan nodded. “Well let’s go. They began walking again, when warm rain started falling. Falling from hidden sprinklers.”

"And there's the rain, on schedule." Ryan sighed.

The other three groaned, as they stared having to watch the bushes more closely as the gold frogs came out to enjoy the rain,

Fortunately, the little frogs weren't everywhere, and they could avoid thicker patches if they were careful. Still, the rain didn't make things more pleasant, as it turned to steam in the hot dome, or so it seemed.

Thirty minutes later, the rain stopped, and Ryan called a halt at a fallen log that had cleared a fair amount of the surrounding foliage out. "Sit Carl. I can almost hear you wincing with each step."

With a bit of help the camera man sat down. Sorry between my ankle and the bruising I know I’m slowing us down.”

You’re not the only one that needs a break, Davys been floating the last ten minutes, little guy needs a break, he’s a little heavy to carry.” Emily said.

"And Lisa's been hiding a limp. I'm guessing you're feeling the walk, and heavy boots." Ryan nodded when she did. "Yeah, so we need the break. I'm just glad we haven't had another fight break out from something."

“Don’t dare the fates.” Emilia said pulling out water to share around. Patting the passed out Crocker spaniel. She pulled out a mangosteen for Juicy.

"Yeah, I just jinxed us, didn't I." He sighed. "It was probably inevitable anyway. So, any idea how to look for an entry into the garage?"

"Actually, yeah. Thinking about it, I'd bet there is at least an access panel, likely below considering the lifted decks of these domes." Carl said. "The only reason to do that is accessibility, and hiding a panel is pretty easy, so far as floors go."

“Well, wherever it is it’s not a hundred percent secure considering the nests of house geckos.” Lisa said rolling her feet glad for a chance to sit. “Thinking about it I suspect you are partially right. I think the garage is a den. One thing we didn’t find in the lair was his suit up area, none of his toys or suits, and with this place he’d have a suit up room.”

"You know, that's a good point. And that would suggest access from here, or back there. A suit up area would need to be quickly accessible."

“Do you and Emilia want to scout ahead? Carl and I can wait here with the shotgun, so you can find the shortest way to the door for Carl?

"That's not a bad thought." He pulled his second pistol out and handed it to Lisa. "Just in case another one of those gator things get close."

Ryan nodded to Emilia, and they followed the path they'd been on, scanning for threats, and for the chamber they were looking for. "How are you holding up"

“Well other than you having to use the damn Zelda trigger, pretty good. It’s been nice having someone to cook, and we learned some things for exploring future lairs. I am ready to see the sun again though. Even with the day night cycle… I miss the sun.

"It’s weird. I'm both claustrophobic and bothered by how big everything is. It's the strangest sensation. This place would probably be great if we weren't stuck down here. I mean, hunting, fishing, luxury living. Get some internet routers run down here, and it's pretty tight."

"I can get that. I wonder how hard this place is going to be for Lisa to sell. The perks of this place are fantastic, but the negatives are pretty negative. Wait, am I seeing what I think I’m seeing? Really? She pointed. Peeking through the green was a bright yellow and orange one story Spanish Casita. backed up to a tall dark green structure.