“How much longer are we going to sit in this dank pile of leaves?” The pair of bandits were cold and stiff from crouching at the side of the path. It was getting late in the morning, but still, no one had come by for them to target.
“You said this was a perfect spot for an ambush,” he carefully shifted position, desperate to bring circulation back to his bare feet but not wanting to fix his camouflage of leaves once again.
“If I’d known you’d complain this much, I wouldn’t have brought you, Adam. Then I’d have quiet, and a full cut of the goods,” the second man growled back, only turning his head enough to glare at the lump to his left. Sure, it would be easier to overpower travelers with two of them, but he was starting to wonder if it was worth the trouble of listening to the little snake gripe.
“Did you see that, Zikri? There’s something bright blue by that tree. A ribbon?”
Zikri closed his eyes and let out a breath so that he wouldn’t be tempted to kick the other man.
“You know that we’re hunting, Adam? You do understand that, right? This is why we’re waiting for a person, not an animal,” he murmured the last bit to himself. If his companion was quieter they could be going after a deer instead.
“Can’t you see them? Someone dropped a package of blue ribbons over there, I see a few of them all tangled together,” Adam pointed to the tree next to them and Zikri shushed him and told him to hide again. But despite himself, he too looked over at the ribbons and froze in fear.
Only a few steps away from them were several blue coral snakes. They were as thin as a ribbon and were gliding closer as he watched. Zikri held as still as he could and prayed that the deadly snakes would move past them quickly. He wished that they’d never come up with the idea to hide in the leaves.
“Look at that! There’s a few of them in here with us too!” Unaware of the danger, Adam twisted to take a better look at the fluorescent blue ‘ribbon’ by his bare feet. Zikri tried to quietly warn his friend without moving or agitating the snakes, but Adam kept talking.
“Why don’t we just gather these up instead? We could sell them in town I’m sure. Here,” he bent down and grabbed at the streak of blue closest to him, “they’re such a pretty blue color, and there’s a splash of red on them t-!”
But Zikri’s warnings never penetrated the babble of words Adam had kept up before it was too late and the coral snake whipped around to sink its fangs into his hand. With a cry he jumped up, disturbing several other snakes that too struck out at him. Zikri watched in horror as the man stumbled onto the path and began to convulse. He knew it would be impossible to save his friend now, and besides if he moved he was sure the other snakes would attack him as well.
Adam lay still not long after, and still, no one came down this road. Zikri trembled slightly as he stayed in his uncomfortable crouched position, and tried to ignore the feel of smooth scales slithering over his hands and feet. A cold sweat beaded at his neck and face as he began to realize the true mistake they’d made. These bushes and leaves at the side of the path were home to the snakes, and they’d disrupted them during mating season. He could see his future in his mind now. Either he’d try to run and be struck down, or sit here until his limbs gave out and he stumbled and startled the coral snakes. He didn’t know which was worse, but could only hope that the bright blue and red scales around him would vanish before he lost his strength.
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