; ; “What’s up?” I asked. Gail turned around and grinned at me.
; ; “Have you heard about these weird trees?” she said, waving a ; printout at me. “They’re popping up all over the place. Nobody ; seems to know how they’re spreading so fast.”
; ; Gail was the friend of mine who had told me about the tree in the ; first place. She was definitely the most intelligent amongst us, with ; a brilliant, forensic mind that could cut through irrelevancies and ; see patterns in evidence quicker than any of the rest of us. She was ; good-looking, plump, with strong features and long brown hair that she ; kept tied behind her head in a ponytail. She played down her own ; attractiveness by always wearing horn-rimmed glasses, sensible ; sweaters that looked much too tight on her, shabby jeans and work ; boots, but even clothes like these couldn’t quite hide her ; voluptuous, rounded figure. She was just not interested in her own ; sexiness – every so often, late at night in the university bar, one ; of us would drunkenly try to chat her up, but she would always laugh, ; and throw beer at us.
; ; Gail had been unwittingly responsible for my assault by the tree, and ; ever since it had happened, I had wanted to show her what it was ; like. Now I realised I had my chance.
; ; “Yeah, there’s one down by that bog I was at last week,” I ; said casually. “I had a look at it. I think I know how it does ; it.”
; ; “How?” she said eagerly. “Does it have male and female forms? ; No, they’re too sparse for that. Airborne seeds? No, I know, ; it’s got to be a succulent, right? Is it a succulent?”
; ; “I’m not sure,” I said, trying to keep a smile off my ; face. “Maybe you should come and have a look. You’d be able to ; explain it better than me.” Gail rolled her eyes in mock ; exasperation.
; ; “I have to do everything round here,” she complained. “All ; right, surfer boy. Get the car round the front. I’ll meet you out ; there.”
; ; Ten minutes later, I was driving Gail out of the city and into the ; flat, featureless countryside of the Midlands. She kept on talking ; about the trees and expounding her theories about their method of ; reproduction. I nodded and made the occasional encouraging remark, but ; I knew how the trees reproduced – at least, with men – and I ; told myself that what I had planned was in the spirit of scientific ; enquiry. The fact that Gail didn’t know she was my test subject was ; unfortunate, but it was also necessary, if we were to gain a true ; understanding of the tree’s physiology.
; ; After a couple of hours, we had reached the bog. It was another hot, ; cloudless day, the midges dancing low over the brown water. Gail ; clambered out of the car and set off towards the tree. I got the video ; camera out and hoisted it onto my shoulder, to make a permanent record ; of the proceedings.
; ; “Is this it?” said Gail, pointing at the lone, twisted, ; thick-trunked tree, standing at the lip of the bog.
; ; “That’s it,” I said, pressing REC and putting the eyepiece to ; my eye. Gail skirted around the bog and walked quickly towards the ; tree, stepping carefully to avoid the pools. I followed her, and soon ; we were standing fifteen feet away from the tree.
; ; “So what’s the big secret?” she asked, wiping the sweat from ; her brow with the back of her hand. She was red-faced and hot inside ; her thick woollen sweater and muddy jeans.
; ; “Well,” I said, still videoing her, “if you go up close, ; there’s a sort of vertical crack, at about head height. Have a look ; at it.”
; ; “Where?” she said, taking a step forward.
; ; Suddenly, with a kind of SCHLOP! sound, a melon-sized gob of yellowish ; slime was spat out of a knot in the bark of the tree, flew through the ; air and splattered over the front of Gail’s sweater. She stopped, ; amazed.
; ; I was amazed, too. She looked down at the mess across her chest, ; looked at me and grinned hugely.
; ; “Did you see that?” she whooped. “It spat at me!”
; ; “Careful,” I said. “Maybe it’s poisonous.” Gail ; examined the yellow slime and sniffed it.
; ; “Don’t think so,” she said. “It smells just like resin. I ; think it might be – hang on…” She dabbled her fingers in the ; mess of yellowish goo, and a look of wonder spread across her ; face. Taking the sides of her sweater in both hands, she pulled ; gently, and it limply came apart across her chest. The sweater had ; just melted away where the slime had touched it. She dropped the ; ruined sweater on the ground.
; ; “Weird,” she breathed. “Looks like it can dissolve vegetable ; fibres.” She scooped up some more slime and rubbed it on her ; shirt-front, and sure enough, the shirt seemed to liquefy and fall ; apart at the front. She pulled off her shirt – underneath, she was ; wearing a one-piece black swimsuit.
; ; “Polyester,” she grinned at me. “This should hold up.” She ; stepped forward again, and this time there was a SCHLOP! SCHLOP! as ; two more huge gobs of yellow goo were fired at her, splashing over the ; lap of her jeans and the top of her swimsuit. She laughed.
; ; “I don’t think it likes me,” she commented, as her jeans fell ; apart, falling down her legs. She sat on the ground and pulled off her ; boots and socks, then threw her ruined jeans away. “We have more ; clothes in the car, right?” she asked, wiping the slime off her ; chest. Her heavy breasts were bulging in the swimsuit.
; ; I had to swallow – my mouth was dry. “Yeah,” I said. Gail ; nodded, and stood up again. Now she was dressed only in her tight ; black swimsuit – her plump, bare arms and legs were exposed for the ; first time since I had known her. She eyed the tree carefully, and ; stepped forward again.
; ; Nothing happened. She glanced at me, raised her eyebrows and took ; another step forward. Still nothing.
; ; “Must have run out,” she said, and stepped up to look at the ; tree. I kept the camera on her. She peered at the rough bark.
; ; “Oh yeah,” she said, “I can see the crack…bizarre, it ; looks more like it’s organic…smells really nice…” She put ; her nose to the crack in the bark, and inhaled.
; ; Then it happened. The crack split open, formed itself into a puckered ; mouth shape, and lunged over Gail’s head. But Gail was quick - she ; saw it coming and jerked her head back. Not quick enough, though.
; ; The “mouth” closed over Gail’s head down to her nose, ; gripping her fast, leaving only her mouth outside. “Oh, God!” ; she cried, as the thick vines rapidly snaked about her body, lashing ; her to the tree-trunk. I kept recording, moving towards the tree.
; ; “It’s got me!” Gail exclaimed. “I can’t see…Andy, ; for God’s sake, get me out of here!” The vines were twirling ; around her arms and legs, and slithering inside her Speedo, crawling ; all over her body. She wriggled desperately.
; ; “Hang on, Gail,” I said, “this could be of great scientific ; interest.”
; ; “Fuck you!” she fumed. “Get it off me! I think it wants ; to…oh Jesus!!”
; ; The vines inside Gail’s swimsuit suddenly bunched and pulled apart, ; ripping her swimsuit into several pieces. The shreds of it fell to the ; ground and Gail’s plump, naked body was finally revealed. She ; writhed desperately, her mouth contorted, but the bulbous tips of the ; vines were snaking down between her legs, and up into the deep cleft ; of her ass.
; ; “It wants to fuck me!” Gail moaned. “It’s touching my ; pussy! Oh God – it’s touching my ass…” She heaved, her ; white body shockingly naked in the mesh of thick green vines, trying ; to escape what was being done to her, but it was no use. I zoomed in ; on the thick, swollen tip of the vine, pushing inexorably down between ; Gail’s trembling, white ass cheeks, and I knew she was feeling the ; same horror and fear and shameful arousal that I had experienced. I ; felt for her, I wanted to rescue her, save her from the tree’s rape ; of her, but I also knew that if she went through with it, we would ; share a precious secret knowledge.
; ; “It wants to fuck me in the ass!” Gail sobbed. “Don’t let ; it fuck my ass, Andy, pleeease…”
; ; “Try to relax,” I urged her, even as I felt a pang in my ; heart. I knew this was the most difficult part, just letting it ; happen. Gail went “UNH!” as the vine slithered into her pussy, ; and her hips were pushed away from the tree with the force of it. Then ; the vine behind her urged itself into her anus, and she moaned an ; agonised “AAAHHH!!!” Now the tree was fucking her in both ; orifices simultaneously, and she was lifted off the ground with the ; force of it.
; ; I kept filming only with the greatest difficulty. I wasn’t at all ; sure if this was the same for Gail as it had been for me. There was ; something so poignant in the sight of my friend, the girl I was most ; fond of, being used by this unknown force in such an intimate and ; terrible way. I forced myself to keep filming Gail as she moaned, ; being fucked and sodomised by the vines, the tree invading her most ; secret places, expertly manipulating her helpless naked body.
; ; She screamed, then a handful of vines crammed themselves into her ; mouth, and began pumping her face. “MMMMMMMMM!!” she went, the ; vines tugging on her body, as she was stretched and hauled in the ; tree’s intimate embrace. I could see that smaller vines had ; encircled her breasts, and were pushing her upper body away from the ; tree, so that her breasts would not be squashed flat – the small, ; smooth tips of these vines had encircled Gail’s bare, pink nipples ; and were stroking them rhythmically.
; ; Gail was blinded and naked, her legs and arms moving like a swimmer ; underwater, she was being fucked in her mouth, vagina and ass by the ; tree, but it was as determined to make her enjoy it as it had been ; determined to get me aroused. She was still making stifled moans of ; fear and horror, but her soft body was no longer trying so desperately ; to escape. She was letting herself ease into the humiliation and ; indignity of the fucking. I realised I’d been holding my breath and ; took a gulp of air – I knew, finally, that what was being done to ; Gail was exactly what had been done to me. I filmed her, awed by the ; sight; I longed to be experiencing again what was happening to her ; now.
; ; Her ass cheeks clenched and unclenched around the vines that were ; pumping into her rectum; her nipples were visibly stiff. Gail let out ; a voluptuous groan, and her body shook as the vines that had entered ; her began to swell and pump fluid. The thick white sap began to leak ; and then flow out of her ass and her pussy, sluicing down her legs, ; and it burst from her filled-up mouth, pouring over her chin and ; chest. Then, the tulip-like mouth clamped over the upper half of ; Gail’s head began to pump pint after pint of the sticky white sap ; over her head and face, drenching her. She made only a choking, ; whimpering sound, as her body flushed crimson with orgasm.
; ; She went limp, and the vines in her mouth, pussy and ass slithered ; rapidly out of her. The “mouth” unclamped itself from her head, ; and the cables that had lashed her to the tree relaxed. Gail collapsed ; backwards. I threw aside the camera and caught her. She lay in my ; arms, trembling, nude, completely covered in the sticky white cum-like ; sap of the tree, blinded where it covered her eyes.
; ; She coughed and gasped for breath.
; ; “Are you okay?” I asked, cradling her head in my arms.
; ; “Oh Jesus,” she moaned. I cleared some fluid off her face. She ; blinked it out of her eyes and looked up at me, dazed, her eyes ; unfocused. “I, I just…I can’t believe it. I came…God, it ; was…I’ve never felt like that before. Did that just happen?”
; ; “I know what it’s like, darlin’,” I said, smiling. “The ; same thing happened to me. I wanted you to see it for yourself.”
; ; “Thanks for, like, warning me in advance,” she muttered. I ; helped her to her feet. She was weak and shaking. I helped her walk ; towards the car, but half way there she doubled over and groaned.
; ; “I think I’m gonna be sick,” she gasped. I let her down on ; her hands and knees. “It’s normal,” I told her. “Just let ; it happen.” She shuddered, coughed, and then a powerful stream of ; green liquid shot out of her mouth and splattered onto the moss. Then ; she whimpered, as another stream of the green, viscous fluid spurted ; from her ass. I stroked her head until the fit passed, holding her ; tight while she wept. Then I lifted Gail to her feet, and we got to ; the car.
; ; I used our drinking water to wash her off, then I wrapped her in a ; towel and dried her. She was still weak and shaking. Finally I helped ; her dress in some spare clothes and put her in the passenger seat. I ; got in the driver’s seat and we headed back to town; she fell ; asleep, blessedly, her face drawn but peaceful.
; ; I pulled up outside her apartment. I shook her gently and she woke up, ; and smiled at me, exhausted.
; ; “Are you gonna be okay?” I said.
; ; “I think you’d better come in,” she murmured. “I need a ; hot meal and a cold drink, or seven.”
; ; “Yeah, it was like that for me too,” I said.
; ; “I mean,” she went on, tiredly, “we have a lot to talk ; about. We have to get a report in about this by Friday. It’ll knock ; their socks off.”
; ; “Plenty of time for that,” I said, and I leaned over and, to our ; mutual surprise, kissed her fondly. She responded warmly, then ; chuckled to herself. I got out, opened her door, and helped her into ; the building.
; ; We spent the rest of the week in her apartment, working on the report ; and sharing our experiences. If we’d known the impact our report ; would have on world science, and the shock and notoriety it would ; provoke, we might have kept our findings to ourselves. But what’s ; done is done; Gail and I continue our research. My best friend is now ; my senior partner both in and out of work, and for that, I suppose I ; should be grateful to the damn trees.