NaNoWriMo Day 20

Angry Gary and Angry Larry the Leopard Slugs
Healing

The car came roaring down the road as the morning sun shone bright, careening into the yard and skidding to a halt in a billow of smoke and dust. The man kicked the driver side door open and climbed from the car. He turned and reached in to dig around the back seat before pulling out a small hand sized pistol which he quickly slid into his pocket.
“Just in case,” he muttered to himself as he slammed the door shut.
He walked to the patio and noticed the front door was not closed all the way but after a pause he remembered that it did not close now after the raid busted it open. He pushed the door open and the sun shone into the room causing the variety of insects and animals to scatter and run for cover. He shook his head in disgust at the sight then stepped into the entry room and looked around at the debris and scattered belongings of his that were still recognizable.
He wandered through the house and shook his head in frustration until the sound of a car stopping in front caught his attention. He walked back out onto the patio and Vivian was walking up to the house with a cloth bag over her shoulder.
“Morning,” he said as she got to the patio.
“Good morning. How was your night?” she asked.
“It was okay. Nice to sleep in a good bed, specially considering mine is in pieces in there,” he said as he pointed over his shoulder at the open door behind him.
“Well, I have news for you on that front. First here is your phone,” she said as she pulled a phone from her bag and handed it to him. “This works on VoiP so you have to have a wifi connection to make any calls.”
“VoiP?” he asked with his eyebrow raised.
“Voice over internet, it’s how calls are made without having to use the cell towers. This should give you a buffer between whoever did this and yourself. Don’t give this number to anyone, this is so we can stay in touch. Make sure you connect it to the wifi.”
“Yeah, okay,” he said still a bit confused as he put the phone in his pocket. “I’ll play with it later,” he continued.
“Sure. Do you have a table to sit at, I’ve got a number of things to go over with you,” she asked looking towards the open door.
He paused a moment then said, “kind of. I have a couple chairs that they didn’t break.”
“That’ll have to do,” she said.
The man motioned his arm toward the door and said, “it’s a complete disaster, watch your step.”
Vivian walked past him and through the doorway stopping a step inside as she stared around her at the disarray. “Wow, you weren’t kidding,” she said as she gingerly stepped into the house.

Larry suddenly awoke as the man’s car came hurtling into the yard and skidded to halt. He looked over at Gary who was still wrapped in the mucus which he gave a little tug on. Gary moaned and a tentacle limply raised then flopped back down. That was enough for Larry, Gary was still alive so he just had to get him back to his hole.
The man kicked his car door shut and walk to the patio, stepping over the top of them. Larry could hear the man in the house as he shifted things around. Soon a car pulled up and parked at the street and Vivian walked up to the house. He listened to them talk on the patio and when they went inside he decided it was time to get Gary to his hole.
The sun was shining bright now as Larry began to tow Gary, winding along through the grass sliding him along on the trail of slime he left. It was a lot slower going on the dirt compared to the patio and house, the dirt mixed with the slime and made it harder to pull Gary. Larry found himself having to produce extra amounts of slime to keep going at anything more than a snail’s pace.
He tried to keep them in the shaded areas but had to cross a number of sunny areas. As he neared their nook and hole Gary suddenly stirred and began to shift around in the mucus cradle. Larry could feel the sudden tugging and stopped moving, turning around and barking at Gary, “stay still damn it, we’re almost there. Just a little farther.”
Inaudible noises returned and the movement slowly ceased. Larry turned back forward and with a slight grumble he kept towing Gary the remaining distance to his hole. As they got near it Larry said over his back, “we’re just about there, almost home.”
Larry towed Gary directly inside his hole and tried to get him to a comfortable spot before he began to unwrap the mucus cradle. Slowly it pulled away from Gary who began to expand and release the tension he had been holding since the attack.
“You’re home,” Larry said as the last of the mucus retracted back in him.
“Hhhnnnn,” Gary replied as his tentacles lolled around.
“Just rest. You have fungus next to you and I’ll be back to check on you later. You’re home now which is the most important part. I’m starving so I’m going to go find food,” Larry said as he turned to leave.
“Hgggnnnn,” Gary slurred in response.
Larry exited the hole and sat looking around as his mind wavered between sleep and food. He knew sleep would be the best but he also knew that the hunger he worked up towing Gary was especially strong. As he weighed the options a fresh wave of hunger swept over him and he turned back towards the decomposing log and began slugging steadily towards it.
Entering the taller grass he wound around the tufts and between the shorter grasses below the tufts. He came around one tuft and came tentacle to tentacle with Tendra. Larry shrunk back in surprise and Tendra crossed her tentacles she was so startled.
“Holy shit, it’s just you Larry,” she said in relief as she uncrossed her tentacles.
“Oh, hi Tendra,” he replied relaxing and raising his tentacles again.
“What are you up to?” she asked.
“I’m starving and heading to the log. Last night was crazy, I had to save Gary from the house,” he said as he motioned towards the house.
“What? What happened to him?” she asked in surprise.
“I don’t know but he got cut up really bad then ants carried him away where I found him with cockroaches and ants all around.”
“Why were you in the house?” she asked suddenly confused.
“Gary said he was going in last night and I was curious why he was. I ended up following his trail to this big pile in the tv room. It looked like he went in the pile but then somehow got tossed out and down it,” he replied.
Tendra’s eyes were wide as she listened. “Tossed?” she asked.
“He bounced down the pile, I saw splotches of slime where he hit each time,” he said. Tendra sat in stunned silence, eyes still wide as he continued, “I followed the splotches to a big pool of his slime at the bottom. I had to cross an ant trail twice but I was able to figure out the ants carried him off.”
“Why would the ants carry him off? They don’t eat slugs,” she said confused.
“No clue but I followed the trail to the kitchen and found him in a heap surrounded by cockroaches and ants,” he replied.
Tendra shuddered at the thought then asked, “how did you get him out of the house?”
“Mucus,” he replied simply. Tendra stared at him blankly which made him continue, “we hang from it, 2 slugs, so I figured it was strong enough to drag him with.”
“You drug him out of the house? How? I don’t see you dragging him that far easily,” she asked.
“Look down,” he said with a slight smirk.
Tendra looked down but saw only the ground and grasses. She looked back up at him completely confused and before she could speak Larry toned, “slime”.
Her confused look stayed and he shook his tentacles.
“He slid on the slime since he was weeping slime from every pore. I towed him and he slid on my trail. It was fine in the house but between there and his hole was tough,” he explained.
The dawn of understanding hit Tendra and she asked, “he in his hole?”
“Yeah I towed him in there and was going to go check on him after eating,” he replied.
“I think I’ll go see how he’s doing. I might have a thing or two to help him heal,” she said.
“Sure, he’s not going far for a while so probably good for him to have some company once in a while,” Larry agreed.
“I’ll catch you later, I’m going to go check on him,” she said as she began to move past Larry.
“Yep, I’m staving so I’ll see you later,” he said as she passed, his eyes turning back towards the direction of the log and the tasty myco tendrils. “There better not be a snake again,” he thought as he slugged along through the grass.
Tendra headed straight to Gary’s hole and cautiously entered. Once inside she found Gary a weeping mess, covered in cuts and scratches with bite marks on his mantle. She gasped at the sight and slowly got closer to him.
“Gary?” she asked gently but saw or heard no response. She moved closer until she could reach out her tentacles and touch his side gently to which he slightly stirred. She noticed the bit of movement and she felt a bit of hope return. She looked around his hole taking an inventory of what all was inside.
“I’ve got a couple things that I am going to try to help you heal Gary,” she said softly. “I’ll be back with them soon and we’ll get you better,” she continued before turning and heading for the entrance.
Outside again she went directly to one of the rocks scattered around the yard. This particular one was covered in lichens and she browsed around the rock looking for the right one. She spied a suitable piece and lifting her head and mouth she bit down on the lichen and began to tug. The lichen resisted as her weight increased until she hung on it. Suddenly it popped loose and she thunked back onto the ground with it in her mouth. She carefully slugged her way back to Gary’s hole and pressed the lichen though the entrance.
“Here Gary,” she said as she drop the lichen next to him as he laid in the same spot motionless. She positioned herself next to him then again picking up the lichen laid it over the top of him so that it curled down around his body.
“Just let this sit on you and your wounds will start to heal in no time,” she said gently. She watched him for a while before turning and leaving him beneath the lichen.