Edward Lee - Slither

"Look at her boobs," another one marveled. "Wow!"

A hush.

"1 think she's a bum who sleeps on the beach. You know. One of those homeless people."

"Oh yeah, and we're supposed to help 'em."

Homeless? A bum? Ruth finally leaned up on sore elbows. "What the fuck are you little shits talking about? I ain't no bum."

The girls squealed. "Gosh! She said the F word and the S word!"

"I want boobs like her."

Ruth couldn't see well; the sun blared in her eyes. I didn't drown, she finally realized. And I didn't get eaten by a shark!

"Hey, lady, are you all right?" one of the little girls asked.

"Yeah, do you want us to get the Den Mother?"

Ruth saw that one of the girls had a round canteen. She grabbed it-

"Hey!

– and emptied it down her throat. Oh God, that's good!

"Did you fall off a boat?" one of the girls asked.

"Something like that," Ruth replied, refreshed by the water. "Where am I?"

"You're at Fort De Soto Park."

Ruth had heard of it; it was near St. Petersburg, and she knew that St. Petersburg had a Greyhound station. She slipped a finger in the shorts she found at the shed. The cash was still there, over a hundred bucks-more than enough for a bus ticket back to Naples. "Who are you girls anyway?"

"We're Girl Scouts-"

Ruth looked beyond them, to the park. Holy fuck, look at them all… Past the beach stretched a vast campground full of tents and barbecues.

Hundreds of Girl Scouts milled about.

"You're having a campout?" Ruth asked.

"It's the National Jamboree," a girl said. "There's over a thousand of us here."

Fuck, Ruth thought. A thousand annoying little girls all in the same place. She steadied herself, then stood up. "There must be some adults here," she presumed. "I need somebody to drive me to the bus station."

"We'll take you to our Den Mother… -- – - – - – - – - – - -

"Hey, lady," another girl asked. "Are those boobs fake?"

Ruth smirked. "Of course not!"

"Wow!" several girls said in awe.

Jesus… Ruth took shaky steps off the beach, following the drove of girls. Only now was it truly sinking in: She'd survived.

When they got closer to the woods, Ruth saw the sheer density of Girl Scouts populating the vast campsite. If anything, it looked like more than a thousand. Soon she was in the midst of them all, one little chipmunk face after another giving Ruth the eye.

"What's Yuck Foo mean?" a girl asked, pointing to Ruth's pink shirt. "Is that Chinese food?"

"Uh, yeah," Ruth said. "Come on, come on, take me to this Den Mother, will ya?"

She followed them deeper into the veritable sea of Girl Scouts. Then another one asked, "Hey, lady?" She pointed to Ruth's belly. "When are you having your baby?"

Ruth gave a hard scowl. What the fuck is this little pain in the ass talking about? "I ain't pregnant," she asserted.

"You're not? Jeez, you must eat a lot."

The little shit! Then Ruth looked down…

Her belly was bloated, indeed, like a woman close to term. Ruth's eyes widened, her hands feeling the distended stomach stretched pinprick tight.

Holy fuck. I wasn't like this a few hours ago…

Very slowly she raised her T-shirt up over her stomach-

"Eww! Look! She's got cooties!"

Several of the girls stared, while several others ran away.

The skin of Ruth's swollen stomach was yellow as custard, with bright red spots.

She looked around in the deepest dread, surrounded by a thousand Girl Scouts, and she had a funny feeling that her water would be breaking any minute now.

EDWARD LEE has had over twenty-five hooks published in the horror and suspense fields, including Flesh Gothic, Messenger and City Infernal. He is a Bram Stoker Award nominee, and his short stories have appeared in over a dozen mass market anthologies, including The Best American Mystery Stories of 2000, the Ilot Blood series, and the award-winning 999. His movie, Header, has been filmed and awaits release. Lee lives in Florida's St. Pete Beach. Visit his official website at www.edwardleeonline.coni.