The big rig hauling Jed, Mule, and a whole lotta jungle juice advanced into new territory. They were well on their way deep into mushroom forest. The red caps mixed with toadstools towered over blocking out most of the suns. The road was rough on account of the thick white mycelium growing across everything like a soft blanket.

Mule was back in the driver's seat. The road gradually had become mush smoother, and smoother. It was smooth sailing until it was composed of nothing but some kind of wispy dark mold.

“Let's put on our respirators here Mule who knows what kind of toxins are in this air,” said Jed.

“You got that right, better safe than sorry” said Mule, putting on his own.

Outside the view was nothing but the dirty rotten mold spores floating into the windshield. A giant mushroom had died prematurely deflated, blackened, and then its stem snapped. A giant gray sack growing a massive payload of spores had revealed itself blocking the path up ahead.

“That once upon a time grew from the ground but now it has died, and is a stink bomb waiting to be set off” said Mule.

“Well what do we do now?” asked Jed.

“Put on our hazmat suits, and venture out there for a little stroll to scout the big rig here a path around” said Mule, climbing to the back of the cab.

“Well I suppose I have my crystal cutter here should we need it again” said Jed.

“For now just worry about keeping a hand on your gun” said Mule, suiting up.

“Gulp, gee wiz I could really use a day or two vacation from danger” said Jed, working his boots into the first leg of his suit.

Both doors of the big rig cab had opened. Both adventures dropped boots on the ground, and were fully suited for the spooky environment. Jed high fived Mule’s protected hoof with his thick padded scientific gloves.

“Nice outfits” said Jed.

“It’s almost like I can fetch things out of thin air, meanwhile retrieving things from other dimensions that might come in handy,” said Mule, wearing a hazmat suit specifically tailored for donkeys.

“How's the special X-ray vision doing?” asked Jed.

“That part of my identity I may be lost forever. I would say it was taken away sometime during my stay after the Queen sucked me into the core of the planet,” said Mule.

“Yeah, I wasn't a fan during my limited time there either, and I had a tour guide of sorts that was supposed to be helping” said Jed.

“I forgot to tell you, I stumbled across that very guide who had become lost down there. He died at the end of that story” said Mule.

Jed looked around trying to make heads or tales of a path forwards. He already had to dust himself off from the cling spores that attached themselves all over. He whipped his clear respirator mask with a cloth, and it was almost immediately fogged again.

“I’m sorry about your previous master, I lost mine as well. With that sentimentality shared lets get on with things” said Jed.

“Going forwards in life I suppose that makes us equals” said Mule.

“Yeah, but life ain’t worth all too much either. So maybe after we get this cargo delivered, and become rich we won’t be equalized together anymore in survival mode” said Jed, he had his torch in one hand, and flint in the other.

The little sparks didn’t last long in the thick air that dumped them. The torch started really smoking, but no flames had come out yet. Jed worked his way towards the back of the truck to the hose attachment. He sprayed a few squirts of jungle juice on what he could see of the torch’s end.

“Yeah, Yeah that'll do it ” said Mule, standing behind his shoulder.

Jed grinned as he flicked the flint quicker than he ever had. The added punch of the juice was just the right ingredient to produce flames in the current atmosphere. The torch was really burning now.

“Burn away the dark, and any witch's out there torch” said Jed.

“Shh.. Did you see that movement over there?” whispered Mule.

There was not a single tree anywhere in the vicinity. It was a forest of nothing but dead shrooms, and their artifacts filling the air. A boulder stood out as the only other stationary object illuminated by the torch. Mule was pointing one of his hoofs at the boulder.

“The shadow went behind there Jed” he whispered.

“Here buddy take the torch on your saddle” said Jed, approaching.

The torch was successfully harnessed safely on the animals back. It casts light just as well as before. Jed had his rifle, and it was pointed at the big rock. He was waiting for trouble.

The objects surrounding them stayed dead still, and so did the sound. Everything was muted by the spores boxing them in. Mule turned to the truck behind them noticing the dimming lights. The vehicle had already become coated with a thick hairy coating of fungus debris.

“I think this is a time limited affair,” said Mule.

“Isn’t it always” said Jed.

Just out of the group's vision behind the large boulder a creature was getting ready to leap.

“Riiibit” it said, pouncing out on two super strong hind legs.

The creature had some frog features, but was otherwise mutated beyond belief. The eyes had expired, and the front was two tentacle crystal grabbers. The predator's mouth opened revealing a void lined with increasingly smaller, but just as sharp rows of teeth. It had some kind of scaled nostrils above the mouth. The creature loudly sniffed hunting for a scent to prey.

Jed and Mule had remained out in the open without moving a muscle. The torch was burning away making extra smoke by burning away clouds of the falling fungus. Jed nervously eyed the flickering flames threatening to kill them. The creature rotated its sniffers looking for clues of where to find food. Otherwise it had not moved.

“Sniff, Sniff” a burning sensation had entered.

It hopped out from the bushes directly in front of Jed, Mule, and their truck. It extended a tongue towards them. Jed blasted.

“Bang, bang, bang, bang!” he shot his rifle, blowing holes into the attacking tongue.

The creature shrieked in pain, and jumped again. This time it was directly at them. Jed, and Mule dove for cover. The thing thudded onto where they had just been.

“Bang, bang, bang, bang!” said Jed’s gun hitting the creature.

The bullets lodged into the fungified flesh where they stayed resting. Out of the bullet holes a very lethal looking green gas cloud was leaking out. The cloud engulfed the creature before it inhaled into the void in its center. It blew back a smoke trick: A crossbones danger symbol formed in the smoke cloud.

“Hu ho hu” the creature seemed to laugh at its antics, and was unharmed from the bullets.

It was at this same time Mule was lining up an angle to reverse throw. He bucked until the torch was undone, and then kicked it mid air as it fell to the ground. The flames on a stick tumbled and went sailing directly into the mouth hole. The creature hissed, as smoke was beginning to pour from the bullet holes.

Jed had started shooting again, but Mule had just noticed on account of being hyper focused in combat. Mule had his signature sawn off sewn to his harness. He charged the creature. The mutation was waddling away.

“Boom!” he double tapped at close range.

Mule was blown back by the kickback of the gun, and then the creature exploding really launched all four hooves in the air. Jed took a big chunk of rotten shroom covered in slime to his torso, knocking him over like a candle pin. The donkey landed on the big rig’s roof denting it on impact. The man was knocked over, and trapped under rubble. All around the pair chunks of rotted mutated flesh, shroom, and spores rained thick. The mutated creature had been pushed down the road into the rotten growth blocking the path.

“crunk!”

A massive chunk of shroom landed directly in front of the truck. It tore the entire bumper off with the force of impact. Meanwhile Jed had got himself free from under the ruble. He made a mad dash to the truck dodging threats from above. Another chunk of something smashed into the boulder, and splashed mutated blood over the trailer.

He climbed inside the cab to relative safety, and slammed the door shut behind. Mule was already behind the driver's seat.

“Whew” said Jed.

Mule had his hoof on the pedal. The big rig gunned down the path that had been cleared with the explosion. The cargo bumped, and jerked threatening to tear them off course.

“Thud!”

The tires, and suspension groaned over the added weight applied. Mule concentrated on driving, while Jed frantically checked the mirrors, and rear-view.

“Whatever hit us it’s too dark to see it” said Jed, checking the ammo remaining in his rifle.

“Never mind probably just a trophy for us later after we get out of this place” said Mule.

“You know I worry about things sometimes.. What if the cargo has been contaminated? I’ll climb back there and find out” said Jed.

“Not now you wont. We will find out the answer to that soon enough friend, but I would not worry the liquid container we are trucking is of extremely sturdy construction” declared Mule.

“Alright. You know sometimes it's hard to remember that it is better for that stuff to be contaminated than me. After all we’ve been through, well I need to remember the promise of light at the end of this tunnel “ said Jed.

“Well it would be cruel to have made it all this way, only to fail right near the finish line. You know as well as I that things on this planet are really random, and sad, together we will imagine fortune will go our way as long as that possibility still exists” said Mule.