Edward Lee - Slither

The words dragged Slydes's memory back like something on a hook. Big guy. Like a zombie. Ruth had said the same exact thing. And she'd also said a bunch of shit about-

"Tell me about the worms…'

"They're the whole experiment, Slydes. And like I said-we're the subjects. Any poor fucker who's dumb enough to come to this island… becomes part of the experiment them guys are doing."

Slydes's voice ground like gravel. "What guys?"

"You ain't see 'em? They sneak out every now and then to check on things. Military guys. Army, navy, I ain't sure. They're wearin' these camouflage rubber suits, and gas masks."

Slydes just stared at the information his brother had given him. "Shit, man-" Jonas's knees shook, and sweat made his yellowed face shine like baby oil. With difficulty, he sat down at the base of the tree. "Ahh, yeah, that's better. You gotta get your ass out of here now, Slydes. Get out of here before I turn over."

"What do you mean, turn over?"

"I been infected by those yellow things. They look like fat ticks, and they got red spots on 'em."

Slydes suddenly felt like he had a belly full of spoiled meat. He knew what his brother was talking about. Dread nearly closed his throat off. "Jonas, I picked a couple of the selfsame things off my body the other night. Am-am-am… I infected too?"

"You ain't turning yellow so probably not. Maybe you got 'em off before they could bite. When they bite they inject this shit in your blood… that changes you. Changes you yellow. Changes your insides… so the worms can grow in you better."

Slydes looked at his arms, saw no signs of the insane infection that had stricken his brother.

"But it also changes your brain, too, after enough time's passed. I ain't there yet, but I will be. It's almost like you start to take on the instincts of the worms."

"You mean like that little one in the pot house? And I just saw some more in that creek, little tiny things."

"Them's the worms I mean."

"But-but… but Ruth said she saw some worms ten feet long. That ain't true, is it? Tell me it ain't true."

Jonas grinned through gray teeth. "It's true. Them little tiny things in the creek? They grow fast, and they grow big."

"Not ten feet!" Slydes protested.

"Oh, shit, man-they get bigger than that."

The information wasn't what Slydes needed to hear.

"The big ones are the worst, 'cause they need to eat more. They dissolve your insides, brother, and then suck it out. That's what they eat. They choose smaller people to lay their eggs in, and bigger people to eat." Jonas's brow popped up. "And you're a pretty big guy, Slydes. So what I'm sayin' is you gotta get your ass off this island right now. Get Ruth off too. And leave. Now While you still got a chance."

'I'm taking you with me, get you to a doctor back on the mainland."

Jonas shook his head. His yellow finger trembled when he slipped a reefer from his pocket and shakily lit it up. "It's too late for me. Get out before I change more, 'cause you know what happens then?"

"What?" Slydes croaked.

"I'll come for ya. I'll try to infect you. Watch." Jonas coughed wetly into his hand, then showed it to his brother. Amid the wad of appalling phlegm, several of the yellow things twitched. Jonas picked one out and popped it between his fingers. "This one here, it ain't got a worm in it 'cause it's one of the ones that changes you. That white stuff inside."

Slydes saw white strings in the slime.

"It changes your cells or something, to make you a better host." He popped another one. "Ah, here's one. Here's a fertile one. See, Slydes, some of these things have the white stuff, and some of 'em have worms. This one's got a worm. Look."

Slydes could barely do so… but he looked anyway. In the dab of muck hanging off his brother's fingers, he saw the tiniest bright pink worm wriggling away.

"How do you know all this stuff?" Slydes asked.

Jonas's head tilted at the question. "I think because I'm changing. The more I change, the more of the worm's instinct I get in my brain, I guess." Jonas scraped the crap off his hand and got back to his reefer. "Get out of here now, brother… before I try to infect you with the same shit."

Crazy, Slydes thought. It's crazy.

But he knew now that it had to be true.

'Shh!" Jonas bid. "Listen…"

Slydes stood still.

He could hear something rustle, and when he looked through some trees, the brush was stirring.

It was stirring a.lot.

"Go!" Jonas whispered. "One of 'em's coming."

When Slydes saw the pink shine roving beneath the brush, he ran like a madman.

(II)

"Report?"

The major had called them into the security room. He appeared perturbed, but then, he generally did.

"Early this morning we investigated the first structure, where members of the third party have set up a field lab of some kind," the sergeant replied.

"I know, Sergeant. We all saw that on the monitor last night. They look like they're examining something in there. Didn't the colonel order you to find out what they're examining?"

"I did that, sir." He's already in a bad mood. Now it's going to get worse. "They're examining the subject."

"Our subject?"

"Yes, sir."

"Our worm, you're saying? They've found samples of our worm?"

"Yes, sir. And the examples of the motile ova. They were newborn hatchlings."

"Were the members of the party infected during the process?"

"I can't say for sure, sir, but they didn't appear to be."

The major leaned over the table. "Corporal, punch up the camera we have installed there."

"Yes, sir." The corporal put it on the main monitor. "She's in there again, sir." On the screen, the same slender woman was back inside, at the worktable.

'She's in there a lot," the major noted. 'You're sure you found progeny of the subject in there? Are you sure it wasn't something else?"

it was our worm, sir," the sergeant offered. 'They're replicating well, all over the island, and not just in humans. There seem to be many examples of the indigenous animal life that are adaptable. And that's actually good news."

'Yes, it is. But not if we're disclosed." The major wagged his finger at the corporal. 'Play back from the moment she reentered the building."

The corporal hit some buttons, and next they were watching the slender woman in the one-piece swimsuit unlocking the door and walking in.

Draped across an ink pen was a worm.

'1 guess I can't argue with that," the major remarked. "That's definitely one of ours."

"Yes, sir, it is. And they had samples of the ova as well. The ones last night probably weren't big enough to examine closely-not with the field equipment they have on hand, but-"

The sample she just took in there is fairly mature.'

"Yes, sir…

Silence stood with them in the room. Then the major said, if they know about the worm, then they may know about us."

"I don't think so, sir," the sergeant said. "I think they're just zoological scientists on a field excursion. They discovered our subject by accident, and at this point they have no reason to believe it's part of a genetic experiment. If they knew about us, they would have notified some authority."

"You're right." The major was thinking. "And that's our good luck. Turn on the jammers so they can't call out. We can't take any chances-the experiment's gone too well so far. We're going to be leaving soon."

The sergeant nodded. "I'm confident that everyone on the island will be infected by the time we leave."

"I agree, but we only have a few more maturation tests to do in the meantime. Keep an eye on them, and confirm infection." He looked the sergeant dead in the eye. "If you can't confirm one hundred percent infection within twenty-four hours, I want you to go out there and kill whoever's left."