Convulsive Box Set

by Marcus Martin

  Lucy gave a single, upward nod, wary of the many forms her reputation took in that city.

  “How are you liking our deluxe spa retreat?” said Ruth, gesturing to the grubby camp and open fields around them.

  “It’s quieter than I expected,” said Karys.

  “The majority of our personnel are on duty. We can only work the fields during daylight,” said the sergeant.

  “So what’s your deal, ‘Captain’?” said Ruth, tugging her boot laces up firmly.

  “I’m here to test crop viability and pest control methods – I’m a botanist. The sample I cultivated at my previous site has just been approved by DC for a bigger rollout. Though it’s not to everyone’s liking,” said Karys.

  “I already hate it,” said Ruth.

  “How does it work?” said Lucy.

  “It involves intercropping. Planting a D4 wheat variant between normal rows of wheat to control other D4 pests. We think we’ve found a variant that can co-exist alongside terrestrial wheat without destroying it,” said Karys.

  “You don’t sound too sure,” said Lucy.

  “It’s a lot of pressure. We only have a handful of viable crop fields left, and people in DC are starting to notice their meals are getting smaller,” said Karys.

  “I haven’t noticed anything,” said Ruth.

  “That’s because you’re military. DC knows better than to starve the people protecting it,” said the sergeant, gruffly.

  “There’s another thing,” said Karys, hesitantly.

  “Oh, joy,” said Ruth.

  “DC’s made a breakthrough against the creatures. They want us to test it – in a location that’s safely removed from the civilian population,” said Karys.

  “Meaning we’re the ones who’ll get screwed. Ideal,” said Ruth.

  “What’s involved?” said Lucy.

  “We need to capture a D4 creature,” said Karys.

  “That’s insane. Have you seen what they do to people?” said the sergeant.

  “What’s even the point of that?” said Lucy.

  “That’s classified,” said Karys.

  “So is my participation,” said Ruth.

  “You’ll face court martial if you don’t cooperate,” snapped the sergeant.

  “I thought you were against the idea?” said Ruth.

  “I’m in favor of anything that keeps you two out of my face for more than twenty minutes. Besides, it’s an order from above, so we’ll execute it accordingly,” said the sergeant.

  “U-S-A, U-S-A!” chanted Ruth, snapping to attention sarcastically.

  “We just need to hold it for forty-eight hours and run some tests. DC’s sending a collection unit or something after that,” said Karys.

  “The kind of mission you’re talking about won’t work. It can only end in failure and fatalities. Trust me – I’ve been there,” said Lucy.

  “I’m inclined to agree,” said Ruth, folding her arms.

  A whining engine hummed in the background, getting louder as it crunched up the dirt path to the camp. The horn blared urgently.

  “That doesn’t sound good,” said the sergeant.

  The group hurried across the yard to the camp’s entrance, where a pickup was speeding towards them. The driver waved a hand through the window, then pounded the horn again.

  The sergeant raised a hand to halt the vehicle, which skidded to a stop before them. The driver wore a red and cream checkered shirt and dark blue baseball cap. His bearded face was panicked, and he spoke in a garble.

  “Come quick – they’re trapped, three of them – in the field,” cried the farmer.

  “Woah, Pete, slow down, trapped how?” said the sergeant.

  “I don’t know, some kinda creature, I didn’t see. We heard a scream from the field. It sounded like Elkin, so we ran in to help. Then we got separated, and there was more screaming. I – I said I’d come get backup,” said the farmer, urgently.

  “If any of them are infected, there’s nothing we can do,” said Lucy, bluntly.

  “She’s right – we’d be risking our lives for what?” said Ruth.

  “Please, we don’t know it’s that. I just heard screaming. My wife’s in there, please,” he implored.

  “Who’s on call for this unit?” said Karys.

  “All of us. Let’s move out,” said the sergeant.

  “Are you for real?” said Lucy.

  “This is non-optional. Our orders are to protect the farm and the workers. Let’s go,” said the sergeant, grabbing an assault rifle.

  “Hurry,” urged the farmer.

  He threw the truck door open. Lucy and the sergeant filled up the front bench.

  “This is not a good idea, people,” said Ruth, grabbing a rifle and climbing after Karys into the back row.

  ***

  The pickup hurtled away from the camp, and took a sharp right turn onto the deserted highway. As they raced towards the site, the sergeant pressed Pete for details.

  “The three of us were doing a soil analysis – affects what we can grow. We heard a cry from the field next to the compound,” said Pete, squeezing the wheel.

  “You left the enclosure?” said the sergeant.

  “We had to, the cries were coming from the other side,” said the farmer.

  “What’s the enclosure?” said Karys.

  “The Government put a huge perimeter fence around this site over winter,” said the sergeant.

  “To keep the beasts out?” said Ruth.

  “To keep people out. They thought militias would try to seize the fields, then use food production to extort the Government,” said the sergeant.

  The truck swept down a shallow hill and lurched around another corner, leaving the concrete road and heading onto a dirt track.

  “So you three left the enclosure to find this ‘Elkin’?” said Lucy.

  “We ran in to help but we got separated. Then there was this other scream, then all this commotion. I don’t know – I just saw a body and I panicked, alright? I said I’d get help,” he said.

  “You saw a body? Who was it?” said the sergeant.

  “I don’t know, it was all so quick – I thought maybe it was Elkin, he’s been missing, right?” said Pete.

  “The other two – they’re still in there?” said the sergeant.

  “My wife, Amy, and our friend, Johnny. We’ve gotta find them,” insisted the farmer.

  “Who did the second scream come from – was it your wife, or one of the guys?” said Lucy.

  “I don’t know, OK? I don’t know!” cried Pete.

  A tall wire-mesh fence climbed into view. It was around thirty feet high, and barred the road. The lower half was covered in purple ivy, which thinned out towards the top. The vehicular gate was sealed with a thick chain, but the adjacent foot gate was wide open. The curtain of ivy covering it had been shoved aside. Lucy surveyed the electrocution warning signs pinned to the fence.

  “I’m guessing it’s not still live?” said Karys, voicing the same thought.

  “If it was, I’d be sleeping a lot better. Let’s go,” said the sergeant, stepping through the gap in the purple wall. The farmer followed close behind, clutching an axe.

  Lucy’s eyes widened as they crossed the ivy barrier. The field beyond was a packed with crops, which showed an astonishing density of growth for the first weeks of spring. The hairs on her legs bristled as a warmth greeted her shins.

  “How is this possible?” said Lucy.

  “It’s mostly the soil,” said Karys, kneeling down and crumbling the dirt between her fingers. “It radiates heat up to around a foot high. I’ve seen this type of field before – the plants have leaves low down that trap the heat, and moisture. They create their own microclimate.”

  “Can we eat this stuff? It looks like maize,” said Ruth.

  Lucy surveyed the field. It was a far cry from the orderly monocultures she’d known growing up among her neighbors’ farms. The field was a jostling array of terrestrial and D4 plants,
all competing for the space, and flourishing in the unseasonal warmth. As she walked, something crunched underfoot. It was the husks from several dead insects. She knelt down to inspect. The looked like locusts. Their parchment-dry shells were golden-brown. She peered closer; the skin around the hollow jaws was flecked with red.

  A cry sounded from the field.

  “This way!” called the farmer, pressing ahead and hacking away obtrusive stems and vines that zig-zagged across the dense crops.

  The sergeant gripped his assault rifle and signaled the others to follow. “Stay tight, and stick to the path. If I say fall back, get your asses to the truck.”

  The group crept forwards, single-file, through the narrow path Pete was clearing, as they honed in on the cries for help. Fallen stems crunched underfoot. Something squelched, too, causing Lucy to recoil in disgust. A dead field mouse lay on its back, as a half dozen golden locusts dissected its liquefying body. Lucy shuddered and cast her eyes through the thick jungle of plants on either side.

  Branches crackled loudly to the left. Lucy spun around as a hare zipped across the path, only to disappear in the thick growth beyond. More cries rang out from the crops ahead.

  “I’m coming, hang on!” cried Pete, fiercely slashing his way through the overgrowth.

  An ensemble of squeaks sounded from the rear, as a pack of rats scurried between the soldiers’ legs, hurrying from Karys, past Lucy, down the group and into the field beyond. A fluttering, buzzing noise stirred in their wake.

  Lucy looked behind in horror as the fallen plant stems writhed on the ground. Her eyes darted to the severed crops beneath her feet. The germs of ‘wheat’ on top of each stem were disintegrating into twitching pods. A wave of dread swept across her as the first sets of wings unfolded.

  “Oh hell no!” cried Ruth, as the insects took off.

  “The field – go!” cried Karys, shoving past Lucy and barging Ruth forwards.

  The swarm was spiraling towards them, and gaining in numbers. Lucy plunged away from the path and into the dense thicket of crops ahead. She batted away tough stems and coarse leaves as she doggedly pursued Karys’s retreating figure. They stumbled and sprinted until they fell into a clearing. It was two dozen yards across. The soil was black, and formed a mound of earth in the center. The surrounding ground was littered with shoots of straw, and the air was cooler. Ruth and the sergeant were nowhere to be seen.

  Lucy backed up against Karys and the farmer. She gripped her rifle tight and faced the path. It had all but vanished behind them, as the jostling greenery rebounded back into place.

  The buzzing grew louder. With a frenetic chattering of wings, the insects surged through the boundary of crops and into the clearing. Lucy fell to her knees and threw her arms over her head. The swarm engulfed the clearing, sweeping around them in a whirlwind.

  In a matter of seconds the buzzing abated. Lucy peered out between her arms. The insects had landed on the ground and were devouring the straw beneath them. But before Lucy could draw breath, a cry sounded out. It was coming from the mound of earth in the center of the clearing.

  With their weapons drawn, all three edged around the perimeter of the black soil. Behind the central mound of earth, a body came into view. A man lay face-down, curled up, sobbing. His jeans and jacket were torn, and stained with black soil. His hair was greasy and matted. His face was obscured by his arms.

  “Johnny!” cried the farmer, rushing forwards.

  Lucy grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. Something wasn’t right. She held her finger to her lips, and pointed to the sheen of sweat across the sobbing man’s body. Pete hesitated, transfixed by the sight.

  “You there, show your face,” said Karys, raising her rifle.

  Lucy edged to the side and tossed a stone at the curled man, striking his leg. The man let out a wail, and curled up tighter still. She took another pebble and tossed it at the man’s head.

  “What the hell are you doing?” hissed Pete, as the sobbing man let out a yelp.

  Lucy restrained the farmer firmly and pointed to the fallen pebble. It glistened in the scattered cloud light.

  Karys wrenched a tall stalk of maize from the ground and edged herself into position opposite the man’s body. Carefully, she extended the long stalk towards the man, then prodded his head, hard.

  The man’s head jerked upward and he let out a curdling scream. As he did so, his jaw snapped off from one side and swung down like a flap, altering the pitch of his cry. In the same instant, the mound of black earth beside the man tumbled away, as a vast creature sprung from its lair.

  The creature was something between a snake and a giant centipede, with a long, twisting, armored exterior. Its body rose through the soil, and coiled afresh above the ground. The curled figure of the man dissolved as the creature reared upwards and shook the gelatinous mirage off its foremost segment. A starfish-like mouth appeared where the man’s chest had been. Lining its pinkish-orange undercarriage were hundreds of writhing, needle-like legs. Clinging to its midriff were two larvae the size of Lucy’s torso.

  Karys dropped the maize stalk and leaped back. The creature surged closer, looming over her, then swept around to face Lucy and the farmer.

  Without pausing to think, Lucy seized Pete and pushed him behind her. She gripped him firmly with one hand. The creature screeched and reared its head. It lunged from side to side, snapping its thick neck forwards as it tried to reach the farmer. Lucy mirrored its movements, shielding Pete with her body, while he wailed in terror.

  “Pete, Amy, are you guys here?” came a cry from the overgrowth.

  The creature’s head snapped around. It froze, and let out a desolate, pitiful sobbing sound.

  “Are you hurt? Hello?” called the approaching man.

  The creature swiveled around in a flash and darted forwards into the thick crops.

  “Johnny, run!” cried the farmer.

  He wrestled himself free from Lucy and raced after the creature, but Karys intercepted him.

  “Are you insane? Get back to the truck!” she yelled. “We have to fall back, the others will be doing the same!”

  Lucy scanned the surrounding plants, and spotted a trampled section of shoots sticking out into the clearing.

  “This way!” she said, plunging into the dense growth once more.

  Insects crackled underfoot as Lucy’s group trampled through the tangled maze of greenery.

  “Are you sure this is right?” croaked Pete, as they hurried forwards.

  Lucy kept her eyes glued to the trampled path. A familiar buzzing sound agitated around them as insects rose from the ground. She hurried towards a cluster of light, and stumbled out onto the path Pete had hacked apart.

  “Hurry!” urged Karys.

  They sprinted along the pathway, disturbing the false wheat crops as they ran. Fresh clusters of golden-brown insects fell from the plants and hatched in their wake.

  A crash pricked Lucy’s ears. A man tumbled into the pathway, nearly colliding with her. He was bedraggled and wild-eyed.

  “Johnny! Where’s Amy?” cried Pete.

  “She’s not with you?” said Johnny, aghast.

  With a clicking of wings, the golden insects took off from the ground, and rose like a tide up to the humans’ waists.

  “Get to the truck!” barked Karys.

  The group sprinted through the pathway, as the hatchling insects began to swirl. The wall of purple ivy rose to greet them.

  “This way!” called Lucy, throwing herself through the ivy curtain and out of the field.

  The others tumbled through immediately after. She slammed the foot gate behind them.

  The swarm of insects fanned out either side of the crops, then settled in the pathway to devour more fallen stems.

  A gun shot rang out from the field, followed by a cry of pain.

  Lucy leaped onto the roof of the pickup.

  “Binoculars!” she cried, peering above the tideline of ivy, through the gaps in the meta
l mesh. Johnny grabbed a set from the truck and thrust them into her hand.

  More screams from the field.

  “What do you see?” called Pete, anxiously.

  Lucy’s eyes darted to a ripple of movement coursing through the field. The creature suddenly broke through the foliage and reared upwards, stretching several feet clear of the tallest plants. It let out a shuddering screech, then disappeared from view.

  Lucy watched in amazement as the crops all around it fell flat, forming a circular clearing of freshly-coppiced plants. The creature swung its vast, trunk-like body around like a blunt scythe then reared its head once again.

  The trampled crops moved, and three humans emerged from the debris, looking dazed, and terrified. The creature screeched once again and swung its tail around, knocking over the unknown woman. The tail reeled towards Ruth and the sergeant, who dived in opposite directions.

  The sergeant leaped back to his feet. He’d lost his rifle, but grabbed his handgun and fired at the creature’s thick body. The creature lurched upwards then swooped down upon the man, swallowing his head whole. The sergeant’s legs flailed as the creature lifted him from the ground and shook him violently from side to side until his neck snapped. The creature then bit down harder, severing the sergeant’s neck completely. His decapitated body fell limply to the ground, oozing red blood onto the green and gold stalks.

  The two white larvae clinging to the creature’s underside detached and fell to the ground, where they wriggled towards the sergeant’s body. The first one there turned against the slower one, fighting it off to secure the corpse for itself. The second larva turned and made a beeline for the fallen woman, who was clutching her broken leg.

  The centipede creature reared its head once more and took aim for Ruth, but she dived away, dropping a small metal ball in her stead as she disappeared into the surrounding crops. The grenade exploded, sending a fireball across the clearing and igniting the nearest plants.

  “What the hell was that?” cried Pete, distraught.

  A fresh scream rang out from the field. Lucy refocused her lenses. Ruth was back in the clearing, and tearing off her jacket. She knelt down by the unknown woman, and thrust the material against her bleeding shoulder. The woman screamed in agony. Several meters away lay her arm, ripped off by the explosion.