“STOP!”
I stumbled to a halt and turned toward the scout. “What is it!”
The ant had likewise frozen mid-step. She lifted her head, antennae twitching as they scoured the air. “Oh, Mother’s egg. We’re in trouble.”
“Trouble? What do you…” My question stalled as I finally noticed it. Faint lines of reflected sunlight crisscrossed the air around us, running across grass blades and down to the ground. Spider web! Quickly, I scanned the area. At first, I expected to see a typical spiral web like the ones I always saw in pictures, but this web seemed more the cobweb sort, spreading throughout the area in a deadly maze that drifted in and out of visibility with every breeze. Thankfully, the spider itself was nowhere to be seen. Or maybe that wasn’t such a good thing. “Do you think we can back out?”
“Not sure. I wasn’t paying attention, so I don’t know how far in we are.”
I sighed. “Not much of a scout, are you.”
“Oh, give me a break!” She hissed. “I’m not used to having someone to talk to. I…got distracted.”
“Great.” I finally spotted an opening where we most likely had come from. “I think I found it. Follow me. And be careful.”
Slowly, I made my way through the silken trap, having to adjust my route with almost every step as the whole thing would change when seen from different angles. My companion stayed close behind, almost trampling my abdomen sometimes. I hardly took notice, though. Far more important things occupied my attention, like imminent death.
“You’re hungry.”
Although the scout had spoken quietly, I had been so focused on the path ahead, I nearly jumped out of my…well, chitin. “What?”
“You’re hungry,” she repeated.
I was surprised to find that it was true. My stomach didn’t growl, but a distinctive weak feeling had come over me which I could now identify as hunger. “How can you tell?”
“I can smell it, of course.”
Of course. “Well, can it wait? We’re kind of in the middle of something here.”
“That’s precisely why you have to eat. You don’t want to get groggy in this situation, do you?”
“Good point. So, what do I do? There’s no food around.”
The scout scoffed. “What are you talking about? I’m right here!”
I looked at her in confusion, then horror. Images of shipwrecked survivors drawing straws went through my brain. “You can’t possibly be suggesting what I think you’re suggesting! I know things are pretty bad right now, but we’re not that desperate.”
“Don’t be so dramatic!” She scolded. “My crop is full, so I have enough for both of us.”
“Your what? Both of us?”
“Just turn around, and I’ll feed you,” she instructed.
Still confused, I obeyed. Doing an about face, I found my mandibles almost pressed up against hers. Before I could ask “now what,” she came forward and kissed me.
At least, it felt like a kiss. She opened her mandibles wide to get them out of the way and pressed the actual mouth between them to mine. Without realizing it, I had also done the same. Thus, there were no obstructions as she spat out a drop of sweet syrup which I reflexively drank in. Instantly, I felt strength return, just in time for the weirdness of what we had done to strike me. Unable to gag, I instead jumped away, rearing back on my back four legs and using the front two to wipe off my face. “Gah! What was that!?”
The scout, however, shouted in warning. “Hold on! Don’t-”
Instantly, I felt my leg catch against something stretchy and vaguely sticky. Freezing, I looked down to find my clawed foot tangled up in a strand of silk. A split second later, a scuttling sound echoed overhead. Moving as little as possible, I rotated my head to look up. There, high on a grass blade several stories overhead, a spider the size of a car stood poised at the edge of its green perch, front legs gently touching its web. Motionless as a statue, it waited.
Cautiously, I moved to sever the line, but even as I shifted my weight slightly, the spider darted forward, sliding deftly from strand to strand as it zeroed in on my location. Instantly, I froze. The monstrous arachnid did the same. Only it was now a few body lengths closer. I could see the light gleaming off its eight eyes and the subtle hint of fangs beneath its ready mouthparts.
Crap.