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When we arrived back at the cabin, Phyl was waiting on the porch for us. Dr. Case sat with her in the second rocking chair. Both were armed.
I introduced them to Walt, Heather, and Carlton, and we told them about our trip. By the time we finished our story, most of the remaining folks at the cabin had come around to listen. Only the children were still asleep. When I got to the part about the millipede creature and the cow, there were a couple of gasps, both at the fact that it was carrying a cow, but also at the size of the beast.
To be honest and fair with these people, we shared the part about things dancing just past the headlights, and our guesses as to what they were. I told them all about my fears of cockroaches and ants, and what could happen if DNA from those insects had been used by the Russian scientists.
One man in the back asked a question. “So you’re saying that there’s giant ants under us right now? Inside this mountain?”
I shook my head. “That isn’t what I’m saying. I’m saying that if they exist, they could be. We’re working in the blind here, people. We have no way of knowing for sure what has been used for DNA in any of these creatures.”
The man continued his argument. “But, if that’s the case, then they could come up under us any time! If that’s true, they could come up and eat us any minute!”
“That’s only a remote possibility! We don’t know that they exist!”
The man was belligerent. “Well, just what the hell do you know, Mister?”
“Right now, you know everything that I know. Anything else is just speculation, and we have no facts to back them up. So let’s not do any fear-mongering, shall we?” I wiped my forehead. “I just want everyone to know the facts. We haven’t made any conclusions on any of it. It would be foolish to base anything on speculation of things we haven’t seen.”
The man fell silent, but I could see that his words had made an impression on some of the people there. The fear on their faces betrayed them.
“Let’s just get the food unloaded, and get some sleep,” I said. “It will be dawn soon. We can unload the rest during daylight.”
Several, but not everyone, helped to unload the food. Others milled around, then slowly slipped away.
Phyllis told me that if we raided again, we’d have to begin storing food in Susan’s freezer.
When I was alone with Phyllis, she wanted to talk.
“Paul, you frightened some of them tonight.”
I nodded. “I know.”
“Did you mean to?”
I thought for a moment. “Maybe not frighten, but make them aware of possibilities.”
“I’m afraid those ‘possibilities’ might make some of them leave.”
I looked into her eyes. “That might not be a bad thing, Phyl.”
“Paul!”
“All along, I’ve said that if anyone doesn’t want to play by my rules, they can leave. If they’re too frightened to face the possibilities presented by these creatures, and they think they can do better somewhere else, then they’re welcome to leave. I’ll give them food and water for a few days, and I’ll wish them luck...just like I wished Ben good luck.” I took off my shirt and put it over the bedroom chair. “If they think they can find someplace better, or someone else that can lead them, I’d rather they leave. I don’t want them sowing discontent or defeatism here.”
“But is it the right thing to do?”
“I don’t know. And I can’t worry about it. I have to do what I feel is right for the group. I can’t please everyone, no matter what choices I make.”
***
AFTER THE SUN CAME up, I got up, too. Phyllis had gotten up already, and went downstairs to start breakfast for everyone. I hadn’t been able to sleep very well, so I decided that I really needed a cup of coffee.
Teresa met me at the bottom of the stairs. “Phyllis needs to see you.”
I nodded my thanks to the teen. “Kitchen?”
Teresa nodded.
I went into the kitchen and found Phyl and Bernice working at making breakfast.
“Hi, honey,” I said. “Teresa said you were waiting for me.”
“We lost about twenty people last night.”
“What?”
Phyllis turned and looked at me. “I said we lost about twenty people last night. After you guys got home.”
“Twenty?” I sat down heavily in one of the kitchen chairs.
Bernice tied up a trash bag. “Latisha said that they were mostly her passengers. Some kids, too.”
Billy had just come into the kitchen with Lee. “They took a few weapons and some ammo with them. And food for a few days.”
Lee looked at me, not wanting to ask the question that I had rolling around in my head. But, he asked it anyway. “Should we go after them?”
“No.” I shook my head firmly. “This was their choice. This isn’t a damn prison, and I’m not a damn guard. If someone decides that they want to go, then we’ll all say a silent prayer for their safety, and move on.”
Billy smiled lightly. “I’m glad to hear you say that, Paul. We were all afraid you’d want to do something foolish.”
I shook my head again. “No, if they don’t want to stay, we don’t need them. As crass as it sounds, it’ll make the food last longer.”
Nothing more was said about the people that had left.
After breakfast, I put Teresa, Heather, Richie, Keith and Clarissa to work unloading the rest of the supplies we had brought home. While they unloaded, Richie had walked around to the front.
“Paul? You might want to come look at this.”
I walked to the front of the bus. Embedded in the grill was one of the moth creatures. Its wings were still moving slightly.
“Richie, go get Dr. Case. Quickly, now.”
Richie ran to the cabin and inside. Less than thirty seconds later, Dr. Case came running out of the front door, with Richie close behind him.
The good doctor skidded to a halt beside me. “Oh, this is great! It’s still alive! Do we have something to put it in? I need to study this creature as much as possible, while it’s still alive.”
I snapped my fingers. “I have just the thing! Keith, Clarissa, come here.”
Keith came over. I leaned over and whispered into his ear what I wanted and where it was. He ran into the cabin to get it. To Clarissa, I whispered what I wanted for her to bring, and she ran around to the back of the cabin with an enthusiastic grin.
The moth creature looked like it was part moth and part housefly. Its wings, from what we could see, was covered in the same kind of dust that moths have, but its body was compact, and shaped like a fly. Its tail was bluish-green, and we could see four legs. That was all we could see until we got it out of the bus grill.
Clarissa got back first, carrying a small piece of plywood and a pair of heavy work gloves.
As she handed me the two items, Keith tore out of the house with his assignment: a ten-gallon aquarium.
“Perfect! Thanks, kids!” Dr. Case was ecstatic.
I put on the gloves, and told Dr. Case what I wanted. “Now, I’m going to try to take this thing out as gently as I can. Once I have it out, I’ll put it into the aquarium. Doc, you’ll put the plywood over the top. Okay?”
The doctor had the plywood in his hands. He nodded. “Okay. I’m ready when you are, Paul.”
The thing looked to weigh less than ten pounds. Its body was a little larger than a guinea pig. I reached over and took hold of the thing as gently as I could. It was really jammed into the grill, but with only a little maneuvering, I was able to pull it out. I heard the children gasp, and Teresa said, “Oh, man!” I put the creature into the aquarium, and Dr. Case put the plywood over the top.
I still hadn’t seen the thing’s face. But I had my chance then.
Its face was almost human. It had what looked like a human nose, and it looked broken. The ‘nose’ was bleeding, oozing black ichor. It had a slit under the nose, with fully-formed lips, and a slight chin. That’s where the human resemblance ended, however. It opened and closed its mouth to breathe, and the mouth was full of tiny, sharp-looking teeth. Its tongue lolled out of its mouth, and the tongue was as long as its body, and was as black as night. It had two eyes set on either side of its broken nose, and they were milky and empty.
Two things hit me at once. These moth-creatures were fully-grown squirmers, and they had partial human DNA inside them!
It was the empty eyes that made me realize where these creatures originated.
I told Dr. Case my hypothesis.
“You may very well be right, Paul. It would explain why the infected people were still able to function after the eggs began hatching. The infected bodies recognized the human DNA. By the time the bodies realized that the larvae were dangerous, it was too late for the body to respond.”
The creature suddenly began making a screeching, whining noise, and began fluttering its wings madly inside the aquarium, battering itself against the glass in an attempt to escape its prison.
Richie quickly placed a good-sized rock on top of the plywood. Hopefully, it would be heavy enough to keep the thing inside.
“Paul, will you help me carry this into your study?” asked Dr. Case.
“Will it be safe?”
Case studied the aquarium. “Yes, I think so. It won’t be coming out of the fish tank alive.”
I looked into the doctor’s eyes. He nodded his assurance. I nodded my agreement, and we each picked up a side of the small, glass case. In no way was our prize heavy, but we didn’t want our prisoner to flutter away if something happened to the plywood while only one person carried the container.
As we go to the cabin’s porch, I called out to the kids. “Keith! Clarissa! Keep unloading the bus, please!”
The young people turned back to the bus and began unloading the chemicals and the clothing.
Phyllis met us at the door. “Paul Stiles, you are not bringing that thing into this cabin!”
“Phyllis, we have to. Dr. Case can give us answers.”
“Dr. Case can get us all killed!”
“Phyllis, we’re inside already. We’re careful. And we’ll keep the study door closed. It won’t live long enough to kill anyone.”
“How do you know that? A crystal ball?”
“Phyllis, enough! Please!”
Phyllis ran over to the kitchen, crying.
I stared daggers at Dr. Case. “This had better be worth it, Doc.”
I had noticed something about our guest. Once inside, out of the sunlight, it had stopped fluttering and trying to escape. It settled quietly onto the bottom of its glass prison, and watched us carefully.
We set the aquarium down carefully onto the metal ambulance stretcher that Dr. Case was using as an examining table. Doc walked around to look at the thing’s face.
“Incredible,” he muttered to himself, barely audible. He turned to look at me. “Can you believe they used human DNA this way?”
“Yes, I can. And it sort of pisses me off.”
Case looked a bit flustered. “Yes, me, too. But it is fascinating! How can this thing live? What does it eat? How does it reproduce? How do its eggs get inside a human body?”
“Some of those things we won’t be finding out, will we, Doc?” I tried to keep my tone from sounding menacing, but I didn’t particularly want to know this thing’s mating habits.
Case smiled. “No, we won’t be finding out how its eggs get inside human bodies. At least I hope we won’t.” He shrugged his shoulders. “If we do, it won’t be from this guy, unless it comes from your gloves somehow.”
I looked down. I still had them on. I quickly pulled them off, and left Dr. Case to his studies. I went to the kitchen and got a gallon-sized freezer bag, one with the yellow-and-blue stripes that turn green when the bag is sealed properly. I dropped the gloves inside, sealed the bag, and washed my hands thoroughly. The freezer bag went into the kitchen trash, which I then took outside to the burn barrel. I went back inside and washed my hands again.
Paranoia is a great motivator.
Now I had to swallow my own paranoia and find Phyllis, so that I could convince her that her paranoia wasn’t something to worry about.
