Brian Keene - The Conqueror Worms

I passed the little apple tree Rose and I had planted six years ago. It lay uprooted and on its side now, withering and dying as the soil around it turned into quicksand.

I reached the edge of my yard. The woods loomed before me, dark and ominous. A hush fell over the world, and even the rain seemed to fall silently.

“Carl?” My voice echoed through the mist and took on a peculiar quality. Wet branches brushed my face as I took a few hesitant steps into the tree line. I’d walked through those woods a million times, but they looked different now, and I didn’t recognize anything. The trees were bent, gnarled shadows. More of that strange white fungus spiraled up the trunks. It hadn’t been there the day before, when I was looking for teaberry leaves. That meant it was spreading fast, whatever it was. I wondered how the spores were transported; then I remembered the deer.

Still hovering at the edge of the forest, I glanced back at the crash site. Kevin had managed to get the wheelbarrow over to Sarah and Salty. Rather than dumping Earl at the house, he’d taken him along with him. Earl was now tied to a hunk of twisted metal from the helicopter. From where I stood, it didn’t look like Salty was moving. Then the mist thickened and I lost sight of them all.

That’s when something exploded from the brush in front of me.

“Oh Lord, Oh Lord Oh Lord Oh Lord…”

Carl crashed through the thorns and brambles and sped by me as fast as his old legs would carry him. That now all-too-familiar hissing sound followed in his wake.

“Run, Teddy!” Carl shouted. “Run like hell!”

Four worms emerged from the trees. All of them were bigger than the creature from the shed—about the size of a milk cow, but much longer. Their fat, bulbous bodies undulated, whipping towards us. Rather than crawling, they moved via a series of repeated convulsions, beginning at the back end and rushing through their length like a wave. The motion propelled them forward much quicker than I would have imagined. In the time it took Carl to run past, they were upon me.

I swung at one of the worms with the ax, cleaving its rubbery hide. The fishy reek immediately assaulted my senses and I gagged from the stench. The ground gave way beneath my feet and I struggled for balance in the mud. I let go of the ax handle, leaving the weapon buried in the head of the closest worm.

Carl ran back to help me. As he pulled me to my feet, the ground began to shake. We both lost our footing and fell sprawling in the mud. My knee struck a rock, and agony shot through my leg. The mud sucked at me, trying to drag me down.

The worms had stopped moving as well. They held their heads up high, weaving back and forth like snakes, as if anticipating something. I didn’t know what they were waiting for and I didn’t care. I tried to free myself, but the mud was like glue.

Somewhere in the woods, another tree crashed to the ground. The worms howled in answer. I sank farther into the slop.

“It’s an earthquake!” Carl cried, stumbling to his feet. He was covered in mud from head to toe.

“Help me up,” I called. “I’m stu—”

The tremors increased, making speech impossible. Then the yard split open as a huge form rocketed up from below. It surged out of the ground. Mud, water, and saplings tumbled into the hole left in the creature’s wake. The worm was easily the size of a school bus, and its hiss was so deep that I felt the vibrations in my chest.

Carl pulled me to my feet and we ran. The worm reared above us, then plummeted downward. Its shadow killed what little light there was, and its pulsating bulk blocked out even the rain. The ground literally jumped as the worm crashed into the mud. It began to give chase.

Hysterical, Carl urged me onward. “Run! Run run run!”

The monster squalled behind us.

I caught up with Carl and he tugged at my arm, babbling incoherently. We loped along together, throwing glances over our shoulders. The thing plowed onward, leaving a slime-filled furrow in its wake. The four smaller worms had disappeared back into the forest. Apparently, they were just as terrified as we were. Either that or they didn’t want to get in their big brother’s way.

Kevin stood still as stone, staring, drop-jawed as we neared the helicopter wreckage. Sarah, on the other hand, kept her wits about her. She pulled a jagged, spearlike shard of metal from the wreckage. She stood ready, like a javelin thrower at the Olympics. Earl struggled against his bonds, straining the duct tape and bailing twine as he rocked backward and forward in an attempt to break free.

“Run!” I gasped. My chest was in agony, and my knee was starting to swell up from my fall.

Carl slammed into Kevin with his shoulder. “Don’t just stand there!”

Dazed, the young man looked at him in confusion. “I didn’t know there were worms, too. I thought it was just the things in the ocean.”

We didn’t have time to wonder what he was talking about.

Carl shoved him forward. “Get a move on, boy, unless you want to end up as that thing’s supper!”

Sarah stepped past them and flung the makeshift spear. It soared through the air, cleaving through the rain as it arced downward. It sank into the worm’s rubbery flesh,jutting from the creature’s midsection. Stinking fluids bubbled up from deep inside the creature.

The worm turned.

Frenzied from the wound, it careened through the helicopter wreckage, heedless of the further damage it was doing to itself. Metal shards sliced deep gashes into its pale hide, and that same brownish blood spurted from the wounds.

Earl gnawed at the bailing twine binding him to the wreckage. The duct tape had slipped from his mouth and was dangling from his chin. His eyes were round and frightened. I watched in alarm as the duct tape around his wrists began to rip.

On the ground, Salty finally regained consciousness, took one look at the monster, and screamed. The worm immediately whipped towards him. It emitted another blast of air, and the sound reminded me of Rose’s teakettle and the old steam engine railroad up on Cass Mountain.

Shouting, Sarah ran for Salty, but I grabbed her arm and shoved her toward the house instead. Pain shot down my side.

“Garnett,” Earl hollered, “you chickenshit son of a bitch! Get back here and untie me, right now!”

Sarah struggled with me. “Salty! We can’t leave him behind!”

“It’s too late for them. Just run!”

Then it was upon us, and we fled.

I only looked back once. The beast towered over Salty, its slavering mouth open wide, covering him with dripping slime. Then the head stretched forward and swallowed him whole. I made out the faint outline of his body beneath the creature’s skin as he slid down its throat.

I turned away and the pain increased. It grew worse with each step I took.

When I looked back again, Earl had succeeded in chewing his way free. He spat the frayed strands of duct tape from his mouth and glared at us as he sliced the bailing twine around his ankles with a sharp piece of metal.

“Ready or not, here I come, you bastards!”

He snatched up another shard of metal and jabbed it into the creature’s side. Grunting, he pushed the spear until it sank completely into the hide. The worm’s agonized shriek hammered our eardrums. Then Earl ran after us.

The fog started to thicken again, as if the clouds were suddenly dropping from the sky.

“Come on,” Sarah screamed.

I turned back to the house, took a few more steps, and then doubled over in agony. Pain shot through my kidneys, my stomach, my chest, and my lungs. The giant fist was back, squeezing my entire body.

I collapsed to my knees, which brought a fresh burst of pain.

Sarah knelt beside me. “Mr. Garnett, what’s wrong?”