Jacqueline Druga - Omnicide

“That’s true,” Art said. “But it’s not going to eat the world. Just everything not alive.”

“Which is everything but people,” Cass said. “And trees of course. How long?”

Art shook his head. “It depends how fast it spreads. It can be very fast, or it can take decades.”

“We’re safe, though,” Mark said. “Right? I mean we don’t have any more cases here.”

Niles shook his head. “It’s spreading, it’s being carried from place to place.”

“How?” Mark asked.

A loud ‘whap’ caught everyone’s attention and everyone looked at Bill.

“Sorry.” Bill hunched. “A fly.”

“I fucking hate flies,” Cass said.

“Well,” Art said, “you’re gonna hate them even more. The flies were the one thing impervious to OG-22X.”

Kit’s shoulders dropped as he sighed out. “And with all the dead bodies and animals…”

“Millions of flies. That fly”—Art pointed—“may have just dropped that fungus there.”

Ada stood up abruptly, marched across the room to the desk, whipped a small spray bottle from her belt, and pumped a few times onto the dead fly. “Not anymore. I hit it with MMB.”

Art shook his head with a dismissive look. “As much as I like to appease you, I can’t. Your MMB isn’t going to work against a prehistoric fungus. It’s out there. It’s back. Soon it will cover everything and if we don’t figure out something,” Art said, “Griffin will not be spared.”

Griffin, AZ

With her left hip against the kitchen sink, arms folded, Trixie tried to inconspicuously peek out the kitchen window. “She’s not picking anything. She’s just looking around.”

Lena snapped the ends of the fresh green bean and tossed it in a bowl. “I’m sure whatever she’s doing she has reason for it.”

“So weird. Did you see the way she gutted that deer? She kind of scares me.”

“It’s called field dressing. Don’t make fun of Ada. She invited you into her home and is a good woman. She has her quirks but that’s what makes her awesome.”

“I’m not making fun, I promise.”

“Anyone home?” Eb’s voice carried to them.

Trixie answered, “In the kitchen.”

Eb came into the kitchen clutching papers in his hand. “Hey.”

Lena looked up. “Hey, Eb.”

“Good to see you out of the room.”

“I had to. Did Cass and Kit leave?”

“Yep.” Eb nodded. “Them and the two docs. About an hour ago. Not sure the radios will work. Mayor is manning the station just in case.”

Trixie walked up to Eb. “I’m Trixie. I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“Eb. Nice to meet you. Is Ada here?”

Trixie pointed. “She’s out in the garden.”

Eb looked out the window then went to the back door.

“He’s cute,” Trixie whispered. “He married?”

“He’s divorced,” Lena answered.

“Ada, can you come in for a moment.” Eb’s hollering carried into the kitchen just before he returned.

“Everything alright… Eb?” Trixie asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I got some information.” Just as he sat down, Ada returned.

Immediately she went to the sink to wash her hands. “Sorry. Was checking for the mean green.” She grabbed a towel and dried her hands. “I’m clear. What’s going on, Eb? Everything okay with Cass?”

“Yeah. Her, Kit, and the docs headed out to find that plane.”

“Did you see them off?” Ada asked. “Was Cass wearing the emergency belt I gave her?”

“I did. And she was. Thank you,” Eb said. “Anyhow, I know all of us were searching the web, social media, you name it, for survivors. It’s especially crucial now that the… what did you call it, mean green is looming.”

“If the two bonehead Harvardites are right,” Ada replied.

“You don’t think they are?” Eb asked.

Ada shrugged. “They could be. Doesn’t mean we’re doomed. It just means if it’s coming we need to kick into action to stop it.”

“Can we?” Eb asked.

“Hell yes. What’s coming is natural, we just need nature to beat it. That’s all,” Ada said.

“The reason I’m here,” Eb said, “is because we need to find people before the mean green takes over.”

“Stop. Wait.” Lena held up her hand. “The mean green. Is that what you’re calling the green stuff growing on bodies and the deer.”

“It’s gonna grow on everything,” Eb explained. “Art and Niles told us that it’s gonna cover and break down anything not alive. Kind of like speeding up the biodegradable process. So anyhow, when we had a signal, I had Kat go on social media, like Lena, and start looking. But I just told him to print it up, instead of wasting time reading all the posts and feeds. He was looking through and he found one not far away.” He handed Ada the papers. “I highlighted the conversation.”

Ada looked down and read, “Anyone driving to Flag…” Her eyes lifted, then she continued. “Flagstaff. No planes. Stuck in Vegas.”

Trixie exhaled a loud sigh. “Oh, I was stuck in Vegas once. Not exactly stuck there, but we missed our connecting flight because two Romanian senior citizens got confused and wouldn’t leave the plane. The woman started crying and sobbing. We ended up in Boise, talk about nothing to do.”

Ada shot her a glance. “Talk about having nothing to do with what is going on here,” she said sarcastically.

“It kind of does.” Trixie shrugged.

“Anyhow”—Eb pointed at the paper—“you can see two people offered him a ride to other places, but they stopped responding.”

“He posted four more times to the post ‘Anyone out there,’” said Ada. “Last one said he was going to the underground.”

“Yeah, I couldn’t figure that out,” Eb said. “The underground what?”

“You know Vegas,” Ada replied. “Heck you go there all the time for those fights. Is there a train… the underground what?”

Trixie spoke up. “The Underground.”

Both Eb and Ada looked at her.

“You don’t know?” Trixie asked Eb. “You go to the fights at the same resort. It’s underground, has a few eating places, game room, comedy club…”

Eb sung out a long ‘oh’ and nodded. “Okay. I know where it is. It is underground.” He looked at Ada. “Food. Probably thinks it’s safer there.”

“What are you gonna do?” Ada asked.

“Go. We can be there by four at the latest, we can make it back by dark or stay. Which brings me to my point of coming here,” he said to Ada. “Feel like going?”

Ada only hesitated for a second before smiling. “Hot damn, give me fifteen minutes to gear up.”

Eb agreed. Knowing Ada it would be interesting to see what she considered ‘gear’ for the trip, but she was by far the best person to take.

Willow Springs, AZ

“Oh, brother,” were Kit’s first words when they reached the plane.

Not ‘oh, shit’ or even ‘damn’ but a G-rated, boy scout, ‘oh, brother.’ Upon hearing it, Cass raised an eyebrow and turned her head to him. She wanted to make fun of him for his less than enthusiastic or alarmed reaction. After all he was pretty snide to her about her Ada-made utility belt. Instead, she snickered. “Really?”

“What?” Kit asked.

“That’s your reaction ‘oh, brother’?”

“Yeah.”

Cass could have thought of a hundred other reactions to seeing the plane. The aircraft had been perfectly landed on the deserted highway. Cass supposed the pilot had truly wanted to keep his passengers safe, telling them to stay inside.

But the plane was not how they expected.

Most of it and the road around it was covered with the fungus. Primarily green in color with spots of aqua blue and emerald green throughout. It wound up from the road like a vine, reaching the plane and spreading across it like mold. Only spots and segments of the windows could be seen.