Brian Keene: The Conqueror Worms

“Behemoth’s gonna eat you all,” Earl said. “Wait and see! No sense in running. There’s nowhere to hide.”

Carl’s tongue protruded from his mouth.

I stared through the crosshairs, and that’s when I noticed it. The veins in Earl’s forearms bulged, and something squirmed inside them, just beneath the skin. Something long—like a worm.

Moving quickly, Sarah crossed the floor and struck Earl on the back of the head with the pistol butt. Earl’s grip stayed firm. She swung again and there was a sickening crunch. Dime-sized drops of blood flew across the room, splattering against the wall. The house shook as she hit him a third time, and Earl’s grip loosened. His hands slipped from Carl’s throat and he fell over, sprawling onto the floor.

Carl sat up weakly and shook his head. He coughed, and I noticed red welts around his neck in the shape of Earl’s fingers. I knelt beside him while Sarah checked Earl’s pulse.

“You okay?” I asked Carl.

He squinted, his eyes shut in pain. “C-cant…catch…m-my…breath…H-hurts…”

The tremors increased. Pictures and knickknacks crashed to the floor. Somewhere below us, the foundation groaned.

“Carl, can you stand up?”

“It h-hurts…”

“Earl’s dead,” Sarah told us. She stood up and spit on his body. “That’s for Salty and Cornwell, you son of a bitch.”

“You sure he’s dead this time?” I asked.

She nodded. “I can’t find a pulse.”

I considered telling the others what I’d seen burrowing around beneath Earl’s flesh, but decided against it. There was no time.

“Come on,” I urged Carl. “You’ve got to stand up. I know it hurts, but we’ve got to go.”

The floorboards buckled and all across the house windows shattered in their sills. The dresser slid several inches across the rug.

“What are we going to do?” Kevin shouted. “It’s right underneath us!”

“Grab Carl’s arm,” I told him. “Let’s try to make it to my truck.”

“But the rest of the worms are still out there.”

I held on to Carl. “That don’t matter now, Kevin. Sarah proved that they ain’t bulletproof. The truck’s our only chance.”

We helped Carl to his feet. He coughed again, tried to swallow, and winced. The claw marks on his throat were raw and red; angry looking welts that stood out against his pale white skin.

“And when we get to your truck?” Sarah asked, wiping Earl’s blood from the pistol butt.

“Try for Bald Knob, I guess. Pray that things are better there.”

“That thing can swallow your truck in one bite,” Kevin argued. “This is pointless.”

I let go of Carl and jabbed my finger into Kevin’s chest. “Do you have any better ideas, boy?”

Kevin shook his head. “No.”

“Then shut your mouth. I’ll be damned if I’m gonna wait around here while that thing eats the house out from underneath us.”

“Hey—”

Sarah cut him off. “Let’s go.”

She stepped out into the hallway. Another tremor shook the house and she bounced against the wall.

Another bout of coughing seized Carl, and he doubled over, grasping his throat.

“Just…leave…me…”

“Don’t even start with that,” I said. “We’re going to be okay.”

Behind us, the dresser toppled over and the floorboards began to snap like twigs.

Sarah urged us on. “Come on. The whole damn house is caving in.”

We made it to the kitchen. While Kevin kept Carl propped up, I ran to the hutch and grabbed my truck keys off the top of it. Just as I did, the entire house seemed to jump up into the air. There was a horrible, deafening rumble from downstairs, followed by the sounds of snapping timber and crumbling masonry. Something—either the basement floor or one of the retaining walls—collapsed. All of us were thrown to the floor. Above me, I heard tiles sliding off the roof.

Then, Behemoth roared. It sounded like a steam train was charging through the basement. The noise filled our ears, filled the house itself. It drowned out the rain.

“Holy shit,” Kevin gasped, picking himself back up. “He’s right underneath us!”

“Everybody out,” I said. “We’re out of time.”

“You can say that again,” Earl rasped, stumbling into the kitchen. Blood streamed from his split scalp, staining the collar of his shirt.

Kevin looked at Sarah as she clambered to her feet.

“I thought you said he was dead,” Kevin shouted.

She stumbled. “He didn’t have a fucking pulse!”

“Let he who believes in me have eternal life,” Earl wheezed, and took another step forward. This time, it was unmistakable. Long, thin forms moved beneath his skin, traveling through his bare arms and climbing up his neck and face.

Sarah choked. “Oh my God…”

Carl and I raised our rifles at the same time.

“Go ahead,” Earl cackled. A worm fell from his open mouth. “Shoot me again, you bastards.”

Before we could, the house bucked in its frame again and then tilted to one side. Carl and Sarah were both knocked to the floor again, and Sarah’s pistol went off. Kevin crashed into the refrigerator. The kitchen table and the hutch both slid towards me, slamming me into the wall and pinning my legs. An excruciating jolt of pain ran through my entire body, from my toes all the way up my spine. I screamed, and black spots swam before my eyes. I fought to keep from vomiting as another surge of pain coursed through my body. My left leg began to shriek, from the thigh down. I knew right then that it was broken.

Above us, the roof split open, revealing the dark sky. The rain poured through the snapped timbers and the wind howled, buffeting us all. The temperature in the kitchen immediately dropped.

Beneath our feet, Behemoth roared.

Earl staggered backward into the living room and Carl crawled after him. The two of them grappled and rolled onto the couch, which had also begun to slide across the floor. Carl’s fingers sought the bullet hole in Earl’s chest, and he shoved one inside. Shrieking, Earl snatched up a heavy glass ashtray from the coffee table and brought it swiping down on Carl’s forehead. I heard the sickening crunch from where I was pinned in the kitchen, even over the cries of the creature. The ashtray shattered.

The house slid another foot, swaying like a boat at sea. The couch crashed into the recliner and Earl jumped free, abandoning Carl and wheeling on the rest of us. He still clutched a dripping shard of the ashtray in his hand.

Lying in a prone position, Sarah aimed and fired. The shot went wild.

The thing beneath our feet hissed like an industrial furnace ready to blow.

Sarah fired a second shot, catching Earl in the shoulder. He jerked backward and then grinned. Sarah pulled the trigger again as he flung the shard of glass at her. The third bullet plowed into Earl’s thigh. Another quake shook the house and Earl charged Sarah, leaping into the air despite his wounds. It was almost like he was possessed.

Gritting my teeth against the pain, I fought to stay conscious, while Kevin ran to help Sarah. Earl’s teeth sank into her wrist and her blood welled around his lips. Sarah shrieked, dropping the gun onto the tilting floor. The house rolled again, rattling the foundation. Kevin slid away from them, his hands grasping uselessly.

The tremor shook the hutch, and both it and the table slammed into me again. This time, something snapped—I heard a wet sound inside my chest. I cried out in agony, struggling to free both myself and the rifle. Every tiny movement was excruciating.

The floor splintered beneath Kevin and his lower half dropped through the hole. He clutched the broken timbers, holding on for dear life.

“Oh Jesus,” he screamed. “I can see it! It’s in the basement!”