Deep in the Jungle of Doom Page 8

  “That’s not fair!” you shout. Now what are you going to do?

  The cave creatures swarm forward. They grab your arms and legs. Their hard rocky hands hurt your skin. It feels as if they’re going to rip you apart!

  Struggle to PAGE 97!

  The footsteps are coming closer and closer. Quickly, you duck under the table. The shrunken heads hanging down form a curtain. You pray you can’t be seen. You watch from under the table as three pairs of legs enter the clearing. All three are wearing khaki pants and army boots.

  “What an odd little clearing!” says a British-sounding woman’s voice. You see a woman bend down and touch the earth. She is wearing a full set of khaki fatigues and carrying a long hunting rifle.

  She’s a hunter! A jolt of fear blasts down your spine. What if she sees you? She might think you’re an animal and shoot you!

  “Some kids were here,” she declares, patting the ground.

  “Why, that’s absurd!” another British-sounding voice answers. “Why would children be in the heart of the jungle?”

  “James!” the woman declares sharply. She kneels on the ground. “I am Gwen Shripp, the world-famous hunter! I know the footprint of a sneaker when I see one! I knew I should never have brought you on this expedition!”

  “You’re right, Gwen dear,” James apologizes.

  That’s when Gwen, the world-famous hunter, turns and sees you hiding under the table. She quickly raises her gun!

  DUCK out of the way on PAGE 115!

  The icy water fills your eyes, ears, and mouth. You gulp for air only to swallow water, cough, and sputter. You thrash your arms but it feels as if you’re still sinking! In your panic, you let go of your stick!

  Your lungs begin to ache. You open your eyes and try to see what it is that has pulled you under.

  It’s no good. All you can see is the blurry blue of water. Water … water … everywhere …

  With one last burst of strength you shake off the thing that has you by the foot. Gasping for air, you reach the surface. You look back in terror and see …

  ZOE! She’s red-faced and giggling.

  “Zoe!” you shout. “You know I can’t swim!”

  “Sorry.” She laughs, treading water. “You looked so scared staring into the cave like that! I just couldn’t resist giving you a little dunk!”

  “I’m not scared!” you protest. “I was just wondering if we’ll be able to find a way out. It’s so dark in there.”

  “Just wondering, huh?” Zoe teases. “Want me to go first?”

  If you want Zoe to lead, then follow to PAGE 52.

  If you want to go first, proceed to PAGE 83.

  You are faced with the skeleton of a tiger.

  This pit must be an old tiger trap! you think. Your knees feel as if they might give way.

  The bones of the tiger are frail and decaying, but they glow with a ghostly iridescence. The tiger’s tail whips from side to side, clattering like a rattlesnake. It opens its giant jaws to roar at you, but no sound rushes out. The tiger has no voice. All you hear is the tiger’s tail rattling in the wind. That and the frantic beating of your heart.

  The tiger steps toward you. One paw looks even more crushed than the rest of them. That must be the one you stepped on.

  It rips through the air with its claws.

  You step backward …

  CRUNCH!

  RATTLE!

  Looks like you’ve awakened the bones of another tiger. Hope you’ve got guts. It’s two against one.

  Quick! Flip to PAGE 25.

  You duck to the right. The ant takes the tunnel to the left. It wasn’t chasing you at all! It was only doing what ants do — moving things around!

  Whew!

  You glance around at the new branch of the tunnel you’ve chosen. The walls glitter! There are fat gems stuck in the stone!

  Wow! You’ve never seen such beautiful gems before! The farther you go down the tunnel, the more gems there are! You continue down the passageway into a cave.

  Your mouth hangs open in wonder as you behold the beautiful cave. Huge stalactites hang down from the ceiling. They drip with jewels. Everywhere you look, light bounces off the gleaming facets of precious gems. The walls are crusted with rubies, emeralds, sapphires, and diamonds.

  You step around the stalagmites that protrude from the floor. Loose jewels are scattered by your feet.

  There must be gold in here somewhere!

  Search for gold on PAGE 45.

  “I’ll set the timepiece right here,” you say to Zoe. You withdraw the miniature timepiece from your shirt pocket and set it carefully on the flat rock.

  “I’m ready. Let’s get out of here!”

  There’s a loud CLICK from the rock where you set the timepiece. The ledge slides into the wall! You have pressed a secret button of some sort!

  Quickly, you catch the hourglass as it slides off the disappearing rock shelf. Whew! That was close! It almost fell down the tunnel.

  That’s when you feel the grooves of the ladder you’ve been climbing start to flatten out. The ladder is becoming smooth — the whole tunnel is rounding out, turning into a big round chute! You can’t hold on much longer!

  Hurry to PAGE 73 to see what happens!

  “I’ll scare them away!” you whisper to Ben. “Watch this!”

  You jump out from behind the big bush. Roaring like a monster from a horror film, you slash the air with your claws.

  “Aaaaaargh!” Mrs. Wheedle hollers at the top of her lungs. The rest of the kids scream in terror.

  “Run!” Mrs. Wheedle cries. And they scatter like flies.

  All except for Bill Green, who just stands there with his mouth open. Finally, his brother grabs him by the arm and drags him into the brush.

  “Nice going!” Ben says, taking off his glasses and wiping his eyes. He’s laughing so hard, tears are streaming down his face.

  “Did you see Mrs. Wheedle’s expression?” you ask with a chuckle.

  Ben does a little imitation of Mrs. Wheedle screaming. He dances around in a circle, flailing his arms. Suddenly, he stops. An expression of true terror comes over his face. He points right at you.

  “Mmmmu … mmmu … mmmu …” Ben stammers in fear.

  “What’s wrong?” you ask. “Are you okay?”

  “Mmmmuglani!” Ben exclaims. “Behind you!”

  Race to PAGE 111.

  “Sorry fish-guy!” you shout over your shoulder. “We’ve got to get back to the king!”

  You splash through the pool and into the main tunnel.

  “I can’t believe we did it!” Zoe exclaims.

  “I know!” you reply. “I’ll almost be glad to see Mrs. Wheedle!”

  The two of you race into the throne chamber. The king of the cave people is pacing on the top of the pyramid. Only a few grains of sand are left in his tremendous timepiece.

  “We have your gold!” you call to him.

  All the cave creatures gather around as you and Zoe climb the steps to the top of the pyramid.

  You kneel down in front of the king and pull Zoe down, too. Both of you present him with the gold you found.

  “I see you have brought me the gold I requested,” he states with his booming voice. You can see your reflection in his globby eyes. His moss-covered face is serious and stern.

  “I have just one question for you before I release you.”

  Oh, no! What more could he possibly want?

  Flip to PAGE 70 to find out.

  “Quick, Zoe, follow me!” you shout. You spin around and duck to the left, speeding past the cave people. No way are you going to stick around to introduce yourself to a gang of underground mutants!

  You hear them grunt in surprise as you run by them. Zoe is right behind you.

  You see a small tunnel off to the side in the great chamber. The tunnel is brightly lit. A good sign!

  You barrel through the tunnel.

  “Run!” Zoe yells, panting. “They’re right behind us!”
>
  It’s true, you can hear them grunting to each other as they chase you.

  Ahead of you, the tunnel grows brighter and brighter. It’s almost as bright as daylight. Maybe the tunnel leads to the outside!

  Zoe shouts, “A door!” and points off to the right.

  A small blue door is cut right into the side of the tunnel. Maybe the door leads outside!

  You can try the door or you can just go straight. Either way, you’d better move fast. The cave creatures are gaining on you!

  Do you stick to the tunnel? Keep going to PAGE 134.

  Or do you try the blue door? Flip back to PAGE 40.

  “Aargh!” you cry as you run away from the ant.

  You hear its scuttling legs scratching the dirt behind you.

  The huge ant chases you farther and farther into the maze. Over your shoulder you see its huge bug eyes and sharp pincers. That rock in its pincers must weigh a ton!

  If it can carry a boulder that big, it could probably snap your whole body in two with no problem at all.

  Ahead of you, the tunnel branches in two….

  If you’re wearing the color blue, go to the left and to PAGE 93.

  If you’re not wearing blue, take the tunnel to the right and go to PAGE 127.

  The dragon has you pinned to the ground! It snaps at your face with its razor-sharp teeth.

  You get a crazy idea. You snap right back at the dragon. After all, you’re a monster, too! You growl and gnash your own sharp teeth.

  “Get off me!” you shout. You push the dragon off you and scamper to your feet.

  Then something happens. Something unexpected. You take in a big puff of air and feel the back of your neck rising up.

  It’s not really your neck, but a flap of skin on your neck. It rises up and out like a hood behind your head!

  It feels huge! And out of the corner of your eye, you can see that it’s covered with bright and colorful markings. It makes you look bigger and scarier than you really are!

  The dragon takes one look at you now and stops hissing. It starts to whimper instead. It cowers at your feet.

  You let out a terrifying howl. The dragon slinks back to the tree with its head down.

  Slink over to PAGE 66 yourself.

  “Let’s stick to this tunnel!” you yell to Zoe as you race from the cave people chasing you.

  The light in the tunnel is so bright that you’re sure you and Zoe are about to reach an exit. In another minute, you’ll be back in the jungle. Then you can go and find Mrs. Wheedle and the rest of the kids.

  You glance behind you. The cave people on your trail are closing in!

  You reach a ledge. The exit must be just beyond it. Kicking and pulling, you manage to hoist yourself up to the next level. Zoe does the same. A blast of hot air greets you.

  Spread before you both is a pool of molten lava!

  Quick! Turn to PAGE 102.

  The king of the cave people peers down at you. All the features on his face are covered by soft golden fuzz. The thick horns stick out from the sides of his enormous, round puff-ball head.

  He’s so tall that you’re getting a cramp in your neck from looking up at him!

  “We live in this mountain. It is our home. You have trespassed here,” he says as he lowers himself majestically to his throne.

  Zoe interrupts him. “Excuse me, Mr. King, sir, I mean, Your Highness, I mean, whatever your name is.” Her face is turning red.

  “Yes, what is it, human?” he asks impatiently.

  “We’re very sorry to have busted into your home like this. We really shouldn’t be here,” Zoe says, brushing her brown bangs out of her eyes like she always does when she’s nervous. “If you’d kindly show us how to get back out, we’d gladly leave …”

  “Ha-ha, very funny!” bellows the king. All the cave creatures start snorting and chuckling.

  “Silence!” the king bellows, cutting his subjects off. He leans forward and grabs Zoe by the arm!

  Find out what happens next on PAGE 116.

  You look down at your hands. What used to be soft pink skin is now rubbery gray flesh. Thin, transparent webbing connects each of your fingers. And each finger ends in a sharp claw!

  How could this have happened? You have turned into a monster!

  You reach up to feel your face. It’s different than it used to be. Instead of a nose, you feel two little airholes.

  And your eyes have grown! They’re huge! You blink and two clear flaps of skin skim over the surface of your gigantic eyes. A spiky ridge juts out from the top of your head, like a scaly Mohawk!

  Before you can even ponder what to do next, you hear the sound of someone walking through the jungle.

  You don’t think it’s Zoe, either. She took off in the other direction. Who could it be?

  Maybe it’s someone who could help. SOMEBODY put that basket of fruit there and hung those shrunken heads. Maybe they would know how to get you back to normal again!

  Then again, looking like you do, maybe you should hide.

  They’re coming closer. You can hear them humming. Quick! Make up your mind!

  To get help from the person who is coming, turn to PAGE 7.

  To hide, turn to PAGE 124.

  BEWARE!!

  DO NOT READ THIS

  BOOK FROM

  BEGINNING TO END!

  Welcome to Camp Running Leaf!

  It’s the sports camp of your dreams! But this place is weird. The coaches are slave drivers. The campers act like little robots. And the food … well, let’s just say it’s nothing to write home about.

  The activities sound cool, though! You can camp overnight and look for bones in Zombie Cave. Coach says you could win a medal — or become one of the walking dead. Aww, he was just kidding about the dead part. Wasn’t he?

  Or you can compete in the “Selection.” It’s an awesome obstacle course, with stuff like water jumps. Only, hold on. Why is that water squirming?

  You’re in control of this scary adventure. You decide what will happen. And how terrifying the scares will be.

  Start on PAGE 1. Follow the instructions at the bottom of each page. You make the choices. Make the right choices, and you’ll have the summer of your dreams. Make the wrong choice … and it’s CAMPER BEWARE!

  SO TAKE A DEEP BREATH. CROSS YOUR FINGERS. AND TURN TO PAGE 1 TO GIVE YOURSELF GOOSEBUMPS!

  “All right!” you say to yourself.

  Ten minutes ago, it looked as if you were facing another boring day at home. All the kids in your neighborhood are away at summer camp. All but you. Your parents decided to take you on a family vacation instead. To your grandparents’ farm.

  Boring!

  But your mom and dad just got an urgent call to join a dig for dinosaur bones in Mongolia. They’re leaving in the morning.

  “We’ll be away for a month,” your mom says. “Sorry, sweetie, but we’ll have to send you to Camp Pendleton after all.”

  “I guess I’ll live,” you reply, hiding your grin.

  Yes!

  Pendleton is a sports camp. You love sports! You’ve wanted to go to Camp Pendleton ever since your uncle Ed told you about it. It’s got the latest equipment and the best coaches.

  You quickly call Uncle Ed with the good news. He promises to take care of all the arrangements. He’ll even drive you there!

  The next morning, Uncle Ed arrives. Your parents are rushing around, getting ready to leave. They kiss you good-bye and remind you to be careful.

  “Don’t worry about me,” you reply. “What could go wrong?”

  Nothing, right? Hah! Turn to PAGE 2.

  “I’m psyched!” you announce as you slide into Uncle Ed’s station wagon.

  “You’re going to have a great time!” Uncle Ed declares.

  Your uncle usually doesn’t talk much about himself. You aren’t even sure what he does for a living. But you do know he likes sports. That’s what you talk about on the way to Camp Pendleton.

  Only it’s taking forever
to get there. It’s out in the boondocks. All the roads here look the same.

  You stop for a snack. Uncle Ed makes a quick phone call. When he starts the car again, he pulls out onto the road — going in the wrong direction!

  “Uncle Ed,” you say, “I think you’re going the wrong way.”

  “Nah,” Uncle Ed says. “I’ve got a great sense of direction.”

  You spot an old man in front of a lone house in the woods.

  “Pull over, Uncle Ed,” you urge. “Let’s ask.”

  “Sports camp?” The old man frowns. “There’s a camp about a mile away.” He gives Uncle Ed instructions to get there. “If you pass the gas station, you’ll know you’ve gone too far.”

  “See, I told you I knew where I was going,” Uncle Ed says.

  Turn to PAGE 3.

  A minute later, Uncle Ed turns down a dirt road. He pulls up to a military-looking gatehouse. A big sign says WELCOME TO CAMP RUNNING LEAF.

  Huh?

  “Where’s Camp Pendleton?” you cry.

  Uncle Ed only shrugs. He doesn’t seem very upset.

  A beefy guy with a crew cut, a white shirt, and a whistle around his neck approaches your car.

  “I’m Coach Rex,” he says. “Are you a new camper?”

  “No, I’m looking for Camp Pendleton,” you answer.

  Coach Rex clears his throat. “Uh — this was Camp Pendleton. A new owner just took over and changed the name to Running Leaf.”

  So everything is okay. Right?

  You say good-bye to Uncle Ed. He shakes hands with Coach Rex. “Work this youngster hard,” he orders.

  “Oh, I’m a slave driver,” Coach Rex answers with a chuckle.

  Coach Rex and Uncle Ed laugh like two old friends.