Book One of Virtues Series: Numbness

Chapter Three: Extreme Gardening

I can't believe we have to go in here...

This is the reason I wanted to avoid being late was because tardies, especially the ones who disrupt the ceremony, have to weed the Garden of Eden

Though if you compare the Garden of Eden in the books from what we are about to face? I honestly can tell that the book version is pretty much heaven from the complete hell we are about to face when we walk through these doors.

"Remind me again why they didn't get a gardener for this place?" Eric complains as he held onto an insecticide bottle and a rake.

"Because Eric...Most of the gardeners that apply for the job end up becoming skeletons or lost a few limbs..."I stated as a matter of fact and saw his expression turned from laid back to completely horrified.

"Don't be a baby, Eric! We got this! Besides when you die, I can have Chara all to myself!~" Alexis says to him with this playful smirk on her face as I watched Eric's face turned into a pissed off expression but I quickly intervened but smacking them both behind the heads.

"Stop it, you two! We don't have time for this argument! You can kill each other later! Right now, we have to finish this before lunch or we get an even worse punishment than this.."I say seriously as I opened the automatic dual doors after entering a code that was given to me by Commander Monday.

We entered the room and looked around. Alexis was smiling in amazement and Eric just kept his guard up while holding the rake out as a weapon. The Garden of Eden is where all the vegetation for medicine and food are being held together. Basically, this is the place where we get out stuff from. It was a greenhouse covered in a strong glass dome and all around you could see vegetation and animals roaming around the place. Despite how much of a paradise this place looked like, there were some downsides...

Because of the amount of sins in the area in the city, there was often a mutation with one of the plants. When that happens, punished students were sent here to weed them out as...well...punishment for their behavior.

"Keep your guards up guys....We don't know what creatures lurk here..."I stated to which the two nodded.

As we walked around, Alexis spotted a bunny twitching its cute nose at her. I heard her 'awwed' at it as I stopped walking and turned around.

"Its so cute!!!~ come here little guy!~"She says at the bunny but I had a bad feeling about it as I felt Eric grab my shoulder and starts to point into the direction where two beady red eyes were staring at us. Suddenly I heard a scream and turned around to find Alexis gone as I chased after her.

"Alexis!!!!!" I yelled running into the direction where I saw the leaves shake where Alexis stood and saw her being carried by some sort of a mutated Bunny beast. It was as tall as a man and had rows of sharp teeth and big beady red eyes. So these were the things Eric and I saw in the bushes!

"IT'S NOT CUTE!! REPEAT! NOT CUTE!!" She yelled at me as it held her over its shoulder. I summoned my katana blades and turned them into its twin pistol form shooting the creature by its legs as it shrieked and shrink into a small mutated bellflower-like creature which bled a black like substance as it dropped Alexis making her land on her face. In a panic, I rushed over to her and held her up as she rubbed her chin.

"I think I lost a tooth..."She tells me to which I sighed smiling gently at her knowing that if she could still make a comment like that, she was ok. My eyes widen after awhile and that's when I remembered something! Where the hell was Eric?!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I face palmed at the scream and started to walk into the direction of the scream while making sure Alexis was behind me. I swear these two need to learn how to stop being such damsels in distress...

When we got to the place where we heard Eric's scream, we didn't find him but in the spot where we heard him was a large flower bud.

"Eric!! Where are you?!" I called out to my twin brother, hoping he could hear me. I then heard noise coming from the giant bud as it suddenly opened its petals revealing rows of giant, sharp teeth and no surprise, I found Eric inside.

"HELPPPPPP!!!!!!!!" he yelled out as the giant bud roared at us, turning its appearance into a giant Venus Flytrap. It started to throw leaves at us as I tackled Alexis out of the way, watching the leaves cut into a tree a bit as I watched Alexis paled. The leaves were as sharp as razors! I looked around it while occasionally dodging the sharp leaves that were flying at us like shurikens when I noticed the stem protruding under one of the petals and got an idea.

"Alexis, I want you to distract that thing while I get to its stem!"I told Alexis as she dodged an attack from the venus flytrap.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?! THIS THING IS HUGE!!!" Alexis exclaims as she summoned out her hammer-whip, looking at me like I was a suicidal person right now.

"Just trust me!!" I said as she sighed deeply, nodding slowly and starts running around the Venus Flytrap while dodging its attacks as I made my way at it shooting at the stem part when I noticed it being protected by sharp vines which made me grumble.

"HEY YOU OVERSIZED SALAD!!! I'M OVER HERE!!" Alexis yelled as she dodged a long vine that almost flattened her if she didn't had such fast reflexes as she gulped continuously taunting at the creature while I continue to shoot at the vines, watching each of them break one by one, making a pathway for myself as I slid to the stem in order to avoid attacks from the fly trap.

"GUYS HURRY IT UP PLEASE!!!!! I FEEL TINGLY!!!! I THINK THIS THING IS DIGESTING ME!!" Eric yelled from inside the plant monster. I turned my twin pistols into its twin katana form and sliced at the stem. Since it was thick it took a lot of strikes until it finally cut off landing hard on the ground as it regurgitated Eric who was covered in plant slime.

"Ewwwww Eric sti--!!"

"SHUT UP ALEXIS!" Eric says grossed out at the plant juice all over him as he started cleaning himself up with the small river that he found on the side. The water was clean so we didn't have to worry about it.

After we got out of the greenhouse, we looked at ourselves and noticed our clothes were tattered and dirty with Eric still smelling like the creature's plant juice as I sighed in frustration.

"We are never...NEVER...EVER going to school late ever again..."Eric says in a frustrated tone as he started to walk off with me and Alexis nodding in agreement.

"Agreed..."