by L. S. O'Dea
“Help yourself.” She nodded, happier than he’d ever seen her.
He tapped it with his claw. “It’s really hard. I can see why Speckles wouldn’t have been able to break it. My claws were a lot softer when I was in the egg.”
“Mine too,” she said.
He hit it harder. He didn’t have the patience to go slowly. If he lost some food, he’d lick it off the bush later. He hit it again and again until a chunk of shell broke away. He stared at the membrane that protected all that luscious food. It was light yellow and there were large spots of brown deep inside. The pungent scent made his mouth water. He gently poked through the film and tipped the egg to his mouth, A cool liquid slid down his throat. It was thicker than water and slimy but there was little taste.
“Suck,” she said. “You have to suck to get the good stuff.”
He did but all he got was more tasteless liquid. He tried again and there was a slight pop right before his mouth was filled with thick goo. He tipped back his head, slurping and chewing. When the last of it was gone, he lowered the egg, wiping his lips.
“You like it?” Flea was almost bouncing with excitement.
“Delicious.” He looked over her shoulder at Bumpers who was still at the edge of their camp. “It’s great. Try some.”
“Here.” Flea held an egg out to him.
Bumpers didn’t move, but his face twisted in anger.
“What’s the matter with you?” asked Glick. There was no way Bumpers cared that these had been Brush-Men like them. He’d known what they’d been eating all along.
“Bumpers?” Flea put the egg on the ground.
“You.” Bumpers pointed at her. “You went out there. Alone!”
“Ah...Yeah.”
Bumpers was on her in a flash, yanking her to her feet. “You should’ve waited for me. Told me your idea.”
“I didn’t want to wait.” She slapped his hands. “I’m not weak. You don’t need to take care of me.”
“Flea, it’s dangerous.” He pulled her to him.
“And it’s dangerous for you too.” She wiggled half-heartedly to break free.
“I can handle it.”
“I am not weak.” She shoved his chest.
He tightened his grip. “I...I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“And I don’t want anything to happen to you.” She sighed, relaxing against him.
“It won’t.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“Swear to me that you won’t go again.” Bumpers shifted so he could look in her eyes.
“I can’t.”
“Please.” He rested his forehead against hers. “For me.”
She touched his face. “I promise, I won’t do anything stupid.”
“That’s not what I asked. Please, Flea. I can’t leave and be worrying about you.”
“Then don’t worry.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed him. “Or don’t leave.”
“You can’t travel alone. It’s too far. The soil will kill you.”
“Not anymore. I touched it and I’m fine.”
“You touched it?” He grabbed her arms, lifting them. “Let me see—”
“I’m okay.” She showed him her hands. “I had to dig the eggs out of the ground. The dirt is better now. Not poisonous.”
“You got lucky, but it was a stupid thing to do.” He kissed her fingers.
“It wasn’t stupid.” She pulled her hands away. “I noticed that the Guards weren’t using gloves anymore when they gathered samples. I figured, if they could touch it, then we probably could too.”
“Did you notice that?” Bumpers looked at Glick.
“No.”
“That’s because the two of you sleep all day. I stay up and watch them.” She sat on the branch.
“We’re awake all night.” If Glick had his choice, he’d do nothing but eat and sleep, but he didn’t like being called lazy.
“I know. I’d rather sleep when you’re gone. Except today.” She sat up straighter, obviously proud of her addition to their food supply.
“Yeah. Well, the food’s great. You did a good job.” He always liked it when Bumpers complimented him and he could never stay mad at Flea. She was just too cute. “Plus, the trip across the enclosure will be faster.”
“You still shouldn’t have done it.” Apparently, Bumpers didn’t have a problem staying mad at her.
She grabbed an egg. “But if I hadn’t we wouldn’t have this.” She handed it to Bumpers as he sat down next to her.
He frowned as he tapped his claw against the shell, but even Bumpers couldn’t hold back his groan of pleasure as he sucked the juice from the egg.
CHAPTER 19: Glick
“Bumpers, the metal isn’t going to budge.” Glick dropped his hold on the stick. “We’ve been trying for days.”
Every night for the last several days, they’d raced across the soil to the other enclosure. Running on the ground was easier than jumping from bush-to-bush, but it was still a long trip. As soon as they’d arrived, they’d done nothing but push, pull and shove on that stupid piece of wood. After hours of wasted time and energy, they’d hurry home before the Guards and Almighty returned in the morning.
“It’s moving. A little. But it is moving.” Bumpers used his back and legs to push the stick against one of the openings in the vent. “Come on. Help me.”
“Bumpers, stop.” This was hard but it had to be said. “It’s done. We tried, but it’s not working.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “We should go back. Hang out with Flea. Talk and eat the eggs.”
“We don’t have many left.” Bumpers face was flushed from his efforts.
“I know.”
“Then what?” Bumpers straightened, breathing heavy.
The Brush-Men who were watching them, moved a little closer. Glick was unable to stop himself from shifting away. At least they’d stopped attacking the glass, but he hated how they watched his every move.
“Answer me, Glick. What do we do when all the eggs are gone?”
He looked down for a long moment, taking a deep breath. These words weren’t easy, but they had to be said. He looked up, his eyes locking with Bumpers’. “Then we starve.” There. He’d admitted the truth. It was over. They’d lost.
“I’m not giving up.” Bumpers leaned against the stick again. “You go back. Tell Flea that she’s dead. That we’re all dead because you’re too tired, too weak to continue fighting.”
“Bumpers don’t—”
“Either help or get away from me.”
The only other time he’d seen his friend angry was after Flea found the eggs, but that had been triggered by fear. This time Bumpers wasn’t afraid; he was disgusted. No matter how much he knew that they were wasting their time, he couldn’t die with Bumpers hating him.
“I’ll help.” He added his weight to the effort but he wasn’t giving up either. “Why are we even doing this?” He didn’t want to go inside that other cage. “We have food.”
“Yeah. Enough for another week at most and don’t hope that we’ll find more. I’m sure most of the clutches were soft like mine and yours.”
“I know, but what we have might last us long enough.”
Bumpers stopped pushing and straightened. “Long enough for what? The Guards and Almighty don’t know we’re in here. They aren’t going to feed us.”
“No, but they are fixing the soil.”
“So.”
“When the soil is good and rich, bugs and other food will come.”
“Out of thin air?”
“No. Look.” He pointed to the other enclosure. “The little ones eat bugs off the plants.” The smaller Brush-Men were always chasing flies, moths or other bugs.
“Yeah. So?”
“As soon as there are plants, the bugs will come.” He pointed at the vent. “They can fit through there.”
“Why do you think they’re going to put plants in here?” Bumpers crossed his arms over his chest.
“I’m not sure but it makes sense. Why else would they repair the soil?”
“You have a point.”
“I know.” This was it. This was the argument that might let them rest. “We could even lure the insects in here.”
“How?”
“Use some of the eggs.”
“We need those.”
“Use the ones that are cracked open and rotten.”
“That’s an excellent idea.” Bumpers dropped onto the soil. “Let’s go.”
He raced after Bumpers who seemed to have renewed his energy with hope.
“Over here.” Bumpers headed to an area away from where they’d been harvesting eggs. “This is where our clutch was.” He dropped to his knees and started digging.
Glick did the same. This was way better than pushing on the stick. The dirt was rich and dark and felt like home.
Hours later, Glick sat back on his haunches, rubbing his hand against the small of his back. “Flea must’ve worked all night to find Speckles’ clutch.”
“She doesn’t give up easily.” The smile on Bumpers’ face slipped away as he paused. “Here. They’re here.” His hands flew, spraying dirt all over.
Glick bent and began helping, his fingers hitting little rocks in the earth. “I don’t see any eggs.” He spit on a rock, wiping it clean. “It’s a shell.”
“They’re all broken.” Bumpers stopped digging.
There were dozens and dozens of eggs in the ground, but they were all cracked and surrounded by white powder.
“The bodies are gone.” Bumpers sat back on his feet. “We should’ve thought about that.”
“Maybe, there’s something left.” Glick pulled out an egg that was mostly intact but not even a hint of moisture glistened inside. He raised it to his face and sniffed. No pungent fragrance of overripe meat. No scent at all. Nothing to attract the flies.
“It’s not going to work.” Bumpers began pushing the dirt back into the hole.
“Wait. There has to be one we can use.” All this work couldn’t have been for nothing. He checked another one and another, tossing them aside.
“Come on. Let’s get this filled in and go home.”
“I’m sorry.” They’d wasted the rest of the evening for nothing. His idea had been a bad one.
CHAPTER 20: Glick
Glick rubbed his hands on his legs, trying to remove some of the caked on dirt as he and Bumpers walked into their camp.
“What happened to the two of you?” Flea was weaving more leaves to protect them from the water the Guards sprayed.
“We thought we could use some eggs to lure bugs from the other enclosure.” Bumpers dropped down next to her. “We thought wrong.”
“It was a stupid idea.” He sat across from them. All his ideas were stupid.
“Actually, that’s a great idea,” said Flea.
“No, it isn’t because it won’t work.” He poured some water that had collected on a leaf into his palms and cleaned his hands and face.
“Why not?”
“Because the bodies are all gone and the eggs are dry,” said Bumpers.
“Use one of these.” She rolled an egg toward him.
“No. That’s for us to eat.” Bumpers began cleaning his hands and face.
“But we’ll capture more food if we use it.”
“It won’t work.” Glick shook his hands to dry them. “We need a supply that’ll keep them around not one meal they’ll eat and then fly back to the other enclosure.”
“Why don’t we use our empty shells?” She pointed to the pile they’d stacked on some leaves. “There should be enough stuff left inside to draw the flies.”
“Not the way we clean them,” said Bumpers.
“I ate some of the shell.” Glick smiled sheepishly. It’d messed up his stomach the next day, but it’d been worth it.
She laughed. “Next time, leave a little or we can get more. There are a lot of eggs still left in the clutches.”
“I don’t know about that. The other clutches might be dried out like the one we checked today,” said Bumpers. “We can’t waste our food in the hopes of getting more.”
“But there has to be other clutches with full eggs. There has to be.” Flea wasn’t giving up. “We can look tomorrow. If we don’t find any, we don’t use our supply, but if we do we—”
“No.” Bumpers shook his head. “Tomorrow, we go back to the vent. It’s our best chance.”
“You two can do that while I look for more eggs.”
“Flea, that’s not a good idea.”
“I disagree.” She took an egg and cracked it open and began to eat. “And I’m going to try it.”
“Flea...”
Glick picked up an egg. He wasn’t getting into the middle of this argument.
CHAPTER 21: Scottsmoor
Scottsmoor hurried into the Brush-Man laboratory. He had to check the soil before returning to the Rattus Norvegicus project. The Brush-Men were a waste of his time. No one would ever get those creatures to obey. It’d been an impossible task from the beginning—silly actually. Bugs didn’t think or feel. Bugs would never obey. Rats on the other hand were intelligent, although disgusting creatures.
“You’re early,” said Stink, closing the door to the empty enclosure behind him.
“Where’s the soil?”
“Here.” Topper handed him a bag.
He placed a sample under the microscope and studied it. “The soil looks good. I want you to get the bushes and plants.”
“What kind?” asked Topper.
“The same kind that are in the other cage.” He headed for the door.
“Trees too?” asked Stink.
“Yes.” He had to remain calm, getting upset caused the Guards to make mistakes. “Small ones that grow quickly.”
“Where do you want them planted?” asked Topper.
“In the enclosure.” Araldo, he didn’t have the time or patience for this.
“Anywhere?” asked Stink.
“Yes. Anywhere. Anywhere that there’s dirt. As long as it’s inside that enclosure.” He pointed at the empty cage.
“Okay. We was only asking.” Topper’s brown eyes were big and sad. “We just want to do a good job.”
Guards were helpful but they didn’t have enough common sense to fill the head of the tiniest Brush-Man. Now that they were upset, they’d probably plant them all in one small area. “Come here.” He walked to the glass. “See how the other enclosure is laid out?”
“Ah...I guess.” Stink glanced at Topper who looked just as confused.
He closed his eyes and took a deep, calming breath. “Get three trees and plant one over there, one there and one there.” He pointed to the back of the enclosure. “We don’t want any trees near the door.”
“Okay. Why?” asked Stink.
“Because the Brush-Men could hide in them and escape or ambush you if you have to go inside.”
“Oh. Right. Good idea.” Stink grinned at him. “Thanks.”
“My pleasure.” He loved wasting time going over tiny, obvious details.
The Guards grinned, not understanding sarcasm.
“Plant the bushes along the perimeter and the grass seed everywhere else. Understand?”
“Yep.” Topper nodded.
“You?” He stared at Stink who was still looking into the cage.
“Won’t it hurt the worms?”
“Worms? There aren’t any worms in there.” They’d killed everything inside that cage.
“My former master made me garden for him.” Stink frowned. “He couldn’t afford to have a House Servant, so he made me do it.”
“I don’t care about your previous life.”
“Sorry.” Stink blinked quickly and turned away, wiping at his eyes. “I just didn’t want to hurt the worms. My other mas...I know worms are good for the soil is all.”
“They are good for the soil, but there aren’t any worms in that enclosure.”
“If you say so,” said Stin
k.
Damnit. Now, he was curious. “Why do you think there are worms in there?”
“The earth’s all kind of bunched up over there.” Stink pointed. “Worms do that.”
The dirt was disturbed and there were little shells of eggs scattered about on top of the soil. He stepped closer to the glass. Tiny foot prints trailed from one of the bushes to the disturbed earth. Something was in there but it wasn’t worms. The important questions were what was it and how did it get inside?
CHAPTER 22: Scottsmoor
Scottsmoor yawned as he entered the Brush Men lab the next morning. He’d been here late last night, watching the videos but hadn’t seen anything too interesting. Some of the creatures did congregate near the glass that separated the cages, but he hadn’t seen any reason for this on the film. Perhaps, it was cooler or warmer there.
Today, he hoped the videos would show something more interesting than soil. Before he’d left last night, he’d redirected the equipment to focus on the empty enclosure to ensure he hadn’t missed anything due to the camera’s range of vision.
More than likely it was a bug that’d made those tracks. Stink probably brought it in with him. Guards, in general, weren’t the cleanest of creatures, but Stink didn’t get his name by accident. He swore the Guard didn’t embrace the most basic of hygiene practices.
He turned on the computer and located the video from last night. He rested his chin on his hand, trying to keep his eyes open as he fast-forwarded to the evening. He should’ve grabbed another coffee. He slowed the video to normal as soon as the lights went out on the film. He blinked, making sure he wasn’t seeing things. Something was moving in the empty enclosure. It was small. He zoomed in as much as the tape allowed. Two Brush-Men hurried across the cage to the other side before moving off camera. He zoomed back out, trying to catch them but they were gone.
“Gruntshit.” He stood and headed for the door. Two had lived. He needed to tell the professor. He stopped. First, he needed to catch them and discover how they’d survived that poison. Then, he’d redeem himself with Conguise.
