Edward Lee - Slither

"Right," Nora picked up. "That's what the experiment's all about. To see how vulnerable humans are to the worms and ova."

"A potential antipersonnel weapon," Loren posed. "The girl I got this gun from said she came here with several friends, and one by one they'd all been infected by the worms. She said these military guys seemed to be surveying them, which makes sense because of all those tiny cameras out here."

`As far as the military is concerned," Nora said, "we're expendable."

'Yeah," Trent added, "and we're being jammed and there's no way off the island."

Loren sat bolt upright. "Shit! I forgot! There is some good news in all of this."

Nora and Trent looked at him.

"We can get off the island. Because I know where there's a boat."

"You're pulling our legs?" Trent said. "We could never be that lucky, not after all this shit."

"Well, we are that lucky. There's a Boston Whaler anchored in one of the coves. No keys to start the engine, but we can push it out of the cove and drift back to the mainland. It'll be tough if the tides aren't right."

"I'll drag the fucking boat out with my teeth if I have to," Trent said. if we stay here much longer, we'll be worm food."

"I guess we should leave now…" Nora's eyes widened on the others. "But… I don't feel right, about-"

"Annabelle," Loren said.

"Should we try to find her?"

Loren and Trent both slowly shook their heads. "There's no way she could've survived," Trent said. He seemed reflective suddenly. "This is a stupid thing to suggest but…" He stared off.

"What?" Nora asked.

"I'm really curious about something. I think we should take a chance and stay for at least another hour. The tide'll be higher then anyway, easier to get out." He took out his gun, checked the slide. "I want to have another look at that guy Loren shot."

"What the hell do you want to do that for?" Loren objected. "I thought we wanted to get out of here ASAP."

"We do, but I really want to check that guy's dog tags, see what branch of service he's in."

"That's actually a good idea," Nora offered, "if it's not too risky. I'd like to know who exactly is behind all this."

Loren maintained his protests. "What difference does it make? Army, navy-who cares? If there's a submersible out there, it's probably the navy. I don't give a shit. Nora, one of those worms lifted Annabelle up into the trees!"

"We'll be careful," Nora said, hoping she wasn't being too naive. "I'm curious about something too. While the lieutenant's checking out that guy in the gas mask, you and I can go check something else."

"What?" Loren asked.

"The other side of the island. Where the original control station is for the old missile site."

Ruth grabbed Slydes's beefy arm, her eyes wide in trepidation. "We're not going in there! Fuck that shit! I'm not going near that place!"

Slydes frowned as he sized up the old utility shed. "Keep your voice down," he gruffed. "And what's your damn problem now?"

"That's where I fell asleep the other night! Then the zombie dragged me out and dropped me in the woods, for the worms!"

The zombie again. What could Slydes do? It wasn't a zombie, he knew, but it was almost as bad: an infected human. "The zombie ain't here, Ruth. And there might be food in that shed. We ain't eaten anything in a couple of days."

"I ain't fuckin' hungry! Let's go!" she pouted.

"Plus, I'm dyin' of thirst, and don't tell me you ain't either." Slydes pointed through the trees. "There's a cooler right there. Maybe there's something in it we can drink."

"There's nothing in it!" she kept complaining. "And even if there is, it's hot by now. That thing's been there for days." She jerked around, pointing down. "Look, there's a stream. We can drink that water. Then we won't have to go into that fuckin' shed." Animated, she rushed to the narrow brook, got to her knees. She was about to cup some water into her hands, but-

"Fuck," she muttered.

Slydes smiled.

The stream was full of tiny pink worms.

"Yeah, you go ahead and drink that, Ruth. Go ahead."

She rushed back over, grossed out. "Let's just get out of here. You said all we had to do is find one of the other boats."

We will. In a minute." He grabbed her hair and shoved her toward the shed.

"Fucker!"

"Now come on," he ordered, "and quit being a pain in the ass." Jesus, this is too much work, he thought. Right now her pretty backside ain't nothing but a ball and chain… He followed her as she stumbled forward.

The heat was crushing them; Slydes felt like slowcooking meat in his jeans and boots, his shirt drenched. Ruth's pink T-shirt looked like wet tissue paper pasted to her bosom and belly. Pretty soon there won't be any water left in me to sweat out… He didn't know much about medical stuff, but he could imagine that in this heat, with no water, they wouldn't last much longer. In spite of his physical strength, each step reminded him how weak he was getting. Ruth looked like she'd keel over any second.

"Fuck! Look!" she yelled next.

Crawling very slowly down the shed's front wall were half -a dozen yellow ova.

Those fuckers! Slydes thought. He remembered them well. Some of 'em have baby worms in them, and some of 'em… What had Jonas told him? Stuff inside that changes you when they bite. "Just steer clear of them," he told Ruth. He flipped open the cooler sitting out front.

Aw, shit!

It was full of worms and ova. They seemed to be percolating in there, incubating. They must like heat, he considered.

He flipped the lid closed. "Nothing in there."

"Oh yeah!" Ruth seemed delighted. She bent over a portable Coleman grill next to the cooler. Dried-up burgers lay on the ground, but next to them lay a barbecue fork. Ruth wielded it like a sword. "Now we can defend ourselves!"

Slydes winced. "All that bong resin's clogged your brain. What are you gonna fight with a barbecue fork?"

"The worms! Next time one sneaks up on us, I'll jab it with this."

"You do that." Slydes dismissed her banter. "Let's just look inside."

Ruth stepped back from the door. "Slydes, I'm fuckin' serious. I don't wanna go in there. The zombie might be there."

"Ruth, if the zombie's in there, I'll shove his head up his ass, okay? Then I'll stick him with your barbecue fork, and that'll be that."

Her puffy lips pressed together. "You don't even believe thereis a.zombie, but -I don't give a shit."

"Fine. Now let's go in. I'll even go first." He opened the creaky door, then-

Oh, what the hell?

– grabbed Ruth by the hair and shoved her in first.

"You're a fuck, Slides! You're a lyin' piece of fuck!"

"Yeah, yeah." He stepped in after her, looked around. At least it was cooler in here, out of the sun; the little windows were open, letting in a bit of a cross breeze.

"See, pea brain? No zombies in here."

Ruth gusted out a relieving sign. 'And-shit!' Her dirty bare feet thunked to the corner. "Food!"

Some plastic bags lay on the floor, full of potato chips and cheese curls.

At least that's somethin, Slydes thought. It was the closest he'd come to thanking the Fates. "Any sodas in them bags, any bottled water?"

Ruth bumbled through the bags. "No. But at least we've got something to eat." She ripped open the cheese curls. A moment later, her cheeks looked stuffed as -a chipmunk's.

If we don't get some water soon, we're gonna die, Slydes thought point-blank. He didn't dare voice this to Ruth, though. He opened a bag of chips and began munching. But if I could get that little gas grill lit outside, I could boil some of the creek water. That would kill any worms or ova. "You got a lighter on you?"

"Fuck no," she said, crunching more curls. Her fingers and puffy lips were orange.