Mandible

by Ian Woodhead

  That took some effort but after a few moments, and help from the corner of the bunk bed, Andrew got back on his feet. He found the door had now transformed into an archway. “Where does that go?”

  [Does it matter? As long as it takes you out of here and away from the clutches of that bastard insect queen who wanted to absorb you. Andrew, don't just look at it. Go through, let’s get out of here!]

  Andrew didn’t need telling twice. He held the staff weapon tight, walked into the swirling mass of blue light and vanished.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Ellis grabbed Lorraine's arm and pulled her back from the edge.

  “Jesus!!” she gasped. “Nice catch.”

  “Are you okay?”

  The older woman nodded. “Yeah, I think so. Just a bit shaken. That resin stuff just collapsed from under my feet!”

  She steadied Lorraine then squeezed past the woman. Ellis saw where Lorraine had almost fallen, crouched and ran her fingers over the surface. The resin fell away at her touch.

  “Be careful!”

  “Don't worry,” Ellis replied. “I think we've arrived.” She looked over her shoulder and found three pairs of eyes staring back at her.

  “Where are we?” asked Jason.

  The dissolved resin fell about three feet and splattered onto a very familiar stone surface. She lay down and carefully pushed her head through the hole. “You've got to be having a laugh,” said Ellis under her breath.

  “Are you going to answer me?” asked Jason.

  She flipped onto her back and sat up. “We're back at the market. Only,” she shrugged. “Only it's changed. A lot.” Ellis got to her feet. “It's a bit of a drop but not that bad.”

  “Wait a minute,” said Lorraine “What do you mean that it's changed?”

  Ellis laughed. The noise felt so weird to her. “Let's just say the chances of grabbing a burger or picking up a new pair of jeans is pretty much zero now.” She turned around and lowered herself onto the market floor. Ellis bent low and shuffled forward until she was clear of the remains of the resin tunnel before standing up.

  “Christ. What the hell have those things been doing in here?”

  Ellis wished she could answer Lorraine's question. She'd like to know too. Some kind of light blue hexagonal scaffolding now covered the outsides of every stall. Ellis reached out with her arm then drew it back, not daring to touch it, in case the stuff jumped onto her bare flesh. It was alive, the stuff had grown over the wood. The tiles at each base were cracked and pushed up to allow the intruding stuff to take hold. Was that stuff under the ground as well? Ellis resisted the urge to bang her head against the honeycomb for asking such a dumb question. Of course it was underground. It's where all this stuff as well as the insects came from. Christ. If this was happening in here, then what did the town look like now? Their homes were being terraformed before their very eyes and there was absolutely nothing they could do about it. Could this situation possibly get any worse?

  A sharp scream split through the air. She spun around. Lorraine had gone as white as a sheet. Her gaze was fixed on the honeycomb. “It's okay, honey. I don't think it's harmful. I wouldn't advise touching it though. You know, just in case.”

  She slowly turned her head to face Ellis. “What?” She scrunched up her face. “I wasn't looking to that, Ellis. Have you seen inside? Oh God. I bet all the stalls are the same!”

  “They are,” replied Jason.

  He had already peered into a stall which used to sell comics. Her boyfriend was now kicking away some of the encrusted blue stuff growing up a nail bar. Three weeks ago, she had made an appointment in there. Ellis wanted to surprise Jason with a new look. She planned to have her nails done, buy a new outfit as well as sorting out her messy hair. As plans went, it was perfect. That is until the factory called her in for three extra shifts during that week.

  “This one is full of them as well.” Jason spun around. His gaze caught something behind the others. "Fuck, this is not good." He bent down, ran over to Ellis, grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her down. He gestured to Lorraine and Marty. “Hide!” he hissed. “We've got company!”

  She smelled them before their enemy became visible. A kind of wet, rotting seaweed stink. Two newly-hatched Mantil strode past their hiding place, followed by a bright red beetle. That thing was where the smell was coming from. Christ, it really did stink. Ellis risked discovery by raising her arm and holding her nose shut with her fingers.

  The beetle stopped at the point where Jason had kicked in the honeycomb. It spun around and some sort of sticky, white fluid burst from its abdomen. The stuff spread over the broken pieces and brought the structure back to how it originally looked.

  It turned around and tidied up a few stray threads before scurrying off towards the two Mantil. This was just unreal. How could they possibly fight this? “Why are we even bothering?” she said. Jason turned his head and asked her to be quiet. “Be quiet? What's the point? Admit it. We're all going to die down here and you know what is the saddest part about that, Jason? Nobody will even know that we all tried our fucking hardest to stop this.”

  Jason turned and tried to wrap his arms around her. She pushed him away. “You can't give up, Ellis. It's not over yet. We still have a chance. You just need to have faith.”

  Ellis laughed. “Have faith? Oh, please, just fuck off, Jason. Admit it. We might as well lie back and let them take us.”

  “Stop that bullshit,” he growled. “Just fucking stop it, Ellis. We're not finished yet.”

  Ellis stood up, no longer caring if the beetle or the two Mantils saw or heard her. All that mattered to her right now was to prove how wrong Jason was. “You want to know how fucked we are?” She booted the honeycomb covering the nail bar as hard as she could, gaining a little bit of satisfaction when a narrow crack appeared across two of the beams.

  “Stop it!” cried Lorraine. “You'll bring that beetle back.”

  “I think that's what she's trying to do,” said Marty.

  Ellis kicked it again and again, not stopping until four of the beams had crumbled away. The bunched up cocoons were clearly visible through the gap she'd made. Jason was right. They really had packed them inside. She felt a pair of hands settle on her shoulders and assumed it was Jason getting ready to ask her if she was alright. It surprised her a little to find the hands belonged to Marty.

  “You are right, you know,” he said. The older man kept his voice low enough so only she could hear his words. “I knew it back when I saw just how many of those things there were back when we were in the pub. As soon as I saw how easily they'd overrun the place, I knew we were all living on borrowed time.” He pulled a kitchen knife out from his belt. “Just say the word and I'll do you right now. Don't worry. It's pretty sharp so it won't cause too much pain. One deep cut across the side of the neck and you'll probably be dead before your body hits the floor.”

  Ellis tried to back away, only for Marty to grab her wrist tight.

  “I see you're suddenly a little frightened? Don't be, my precious. I'll be dead soon after once I cut you, Ellis. Do you think Jason will allow me to live after I kill you?” He grinned. “Not a chance. He'll put a bullet through my brain in a second!”

  What the fuck was wrong with him? Oh Christ, she didn't want to die anymore, certainty not by the hands of the crazed psycho. Where did that ultra sweet middle-aged perfectly harmless man go to? The one who she always shared her problems with? The one who had, on many occasions managed to put her back on the straight and narrow?

  That question remained unanswered thanks to the cocoon hanging behind Marty shifting to the side. The middle-aged man seemed unaware of the movement, his attention was fixed on the tip of the knife he held. The surface about a quarter of the way down its length bulged out. Five points, arranged in a circular pattern pushed even further out.

  That thing in there was trying to get out! The stuff continued to stretch like some giant brown balloon. Marty finally realised that something
was amiss when the skin started to split. An unformed limb, partly human but covered in pieces of cartilage-like shell burst through one of the holes.

  Marty suddenly released her wrist. He swapped the knife into his other arm then spun it in a high arc. The blade sliced across the cocoon, cutting deep. Ellis stumbled back and fell into Lorraine's arms. She watched in utter horror and revulsion as thick, brown fluid spattered across Marty's face as he continued to stab and slash at the thing inside that chrysalis.

  “Marty. Come on, man,” said Jason. “I think it's dead now.”

  The man didn't appear to hear, he continued to mutilate the thing. Ellis tried desperately not to throw up. She knew that if that cocoon hadn't started to move when it did, he would have done that to her. He only stopped when another of the cocoons started to move. He made a beeline for it only for Jason to push past her and Lorraine. He smacked the knife out of Marty's hand then grabbed the back of his collar and wrenched him out of the market stall. “Enough, I said. For crying out loud.”

  Jason pulled out his gun, aimed at the top of the cocoon and put one bullet into it. The cocoon immediately ceased its movements. He walked over to where the knife went, picked it up then hurried to Marty and helped him onto his feet. “Seriously, man. A single stab to the face ought to do it. No need to go full postal on them.” He pushed the knife handle into Marty's palm. “Come on, no point in hanging about.” He raised the gun and aimed at another cocoon.

  “What are you doing, Jason? We can't kill them all in cold blood.”

  “Yes we can,” replied Marty. “I'm going to enjoy it too. It's payback time."

  What was wrong with him? A moment ago, he said it was pointless to fight back, and now? Her head was starting to hurt.

  “You heard what our allies said. We have to kill them. They're carriers. When they get out of here, they'll spread this mutation across the planet.”

  “It just feels so wrong. It feels like murder. There has to be another way.”

  “I'm sorry, honey.” Lorraine took out her own pistol. “Your boyfriend is right. We have to do this. There really is no other choice.” She aimed her gun at another cocoon inside the nail bar and fired off two shots.

  “This is madness!” cried Ellis. She felt utterly alone. Both Lorraine and Jason were now finishing off the ones in the nail bar while Marty had gone into another market stall. There were no gunshots coming from that direction so she guessed the psycho had gone back to using his knife again.

  Ellis caught movement in the corner of her eye. Oh God, those things were coming back! “We have to get out of here.” They couldn't hear her. They were making too much noise. She reached inside the nail bar and frantically tapped Lorraine on her shoulder. The woman just brushed her hand away and moved further inside. What was wrong with the stupid woman? Ellis had no choice but to get away and hope they'd realise the danger before it was too late. She threw herself to the left, hoping that none of the invaders had spotted her, that they were too focussed on the commotion going off in the nail bar to notice her. Ellis moaned softly at the sight of three Mantil soldiers peeling away from the main group. She knew they were coming after her!

  Her only hope was to lose them within this labyrinth and pray that those things would lose interest and leave her alone. Ellis raced away from her friends. She said a silent prayer for them too, hoping that they'd realise the danger they were in and kill those bastards before they ran out of bullets.

  It took her just a few seconds of dashing left and right through this weird petrified alien-like forest of hexagonal structures to lose both her and those pursuers. She could still hear them, scuttling up and down the aisles. She carried on going, hoping to double back and join up with the others without getting caught. Since the appearance of this new batch of insects, Ellis hadn't heard any more gunfire. She couldn't work out whether that was a good or bad thing. Oh hell, Ellis had managed to get herself lost. Nothing looked remotely recognisable. This coral-like stuff had continued to grow and thicken, pushing away and destroying more of the original stalls, making it almost impossible for Ellis to work out the location. Her only hope was to reach the end wall and take it from there.

  Ellis put on a burst of speed, eager to reach the wall. She knew now that separating from the others was a crap idea. Even if they had refused to listen, those people were still her friends and they deserved better than for her to run out on them. Ellis slowed down then skidded to a stop. She crouched beside one of the structures, convinced that her pursuers were down the next aisle. She heard footsteps, getting louder and louder. They were almost on top of her!

  Three Mantil warriors passed within inches of her fingers. If just one of them happened to look down then she knew the game was up. One of them decided to stop. She had to whip her hand back so it wouldn't stand on her. Ellis's heart sped up. The loud beating sounded thunderous and the longer they stayed the more certain she became that at any moment one of those giant insect things would hear it too.

  They began to converse in some strange language that seemed to be composed more of clicks and whistles than of actual words. After another few seconds one of them actually shifted away. Were they going? Ellis hoped so. Cramp had begun to set in. The lead Mantil made another series of clicky whistles before running back the way it came. Finally, they were leaving! Ellis sat up and arched her back. As she twisted her head, something inside the stall, just beyond the honeycomb framework, moved. A sharp cry bellowed out from within. The two remaining Mantil heard it too and turned around. They saw her crouching beside the structure, let loose another barrage of clicks, raised their staff weapons and aimed them directly at her face.

  She was dead. Those things couldn’t possibly miss at that distance. Ellis closed her eyes. So much for escaping death from Marty. She'd just delayed the inevitable. There was another series of clicks then the sound of one of their weapons firing and yet Ellis was still alive. How could they possibly miss? She snapped open her eyes and found one of the Mantil soldiers lying dead at the feet of the other one. The survivor looked as confused as she was.

  It wouldn't stay like that for much longer. Ellis needed to get the fuck away from it before the damn thing decided to blame her for its mate's mysterious demise. She got on all fours and scurried forward. The remaining Mantil soldier roared. She heard it pick up its weapon. Ellis spun around. “Please!" she cried. “Don't blame me. I didn't...”

  A stream of brilliant white heat burst out from inside the market stall and engulfed the soldier. She watched in horror as the thing literally melted like a blowtorched candle. Ellis slowly sat up and dared herself to look through the honeycomb lattice to see who had rescued her.

  A very human face pushed through the now charred and brittle honeycomb lattice. “Small world, ain't it, Ellis. Fancy meeting you in here.”

  “Andrew. Andrew Davis, is that really you?” This was so weird. How could someone she once knew at school be here? She vaguely wondered if this was a trick, some kind of hallucination. The fact that this man gripped a Mantil staff weapon gave her theory more than enough credibility.

  The man threw himself through the honeycomb wall. He brushed away the black residue clinging to his clothes and bowed. “At your service,” he replied once he'd straightened himself. “It's been a bit of a weird day, wouldn't you say?”

  The man then turned to the left and told his staff weapon to be quiet. “Sorry about that,” he said while chuckling. “She's jealous.”

  His eyes travelled up and down her body, lingering a little too long at her chest. Ellis turned away and bit back the perv retort. After all, this man had just managed to save her life. “Where did you just spring from?” she asked. “We were told that there were no survivors left in town.”

  “Oh, you know. Here and there. Mainly there but also in here. Actually, I spent a lot of time in here. It didn't look like this though.” Andrew finally took his gaze off her and inspected the stuff growing over the stalls. “I know I've been away, Ellis. To pl
aces you don't even want to know. That's not important. What is crucial for all of us, is how long ago did the insects invade? Think carefully here, cos I'm kinda hoping you're going to say a few weeks ago or, even better, a couple of years.”

  Ellis shook her head. “Sorry. I'm not sure. Maybe a day, possibly two?”

  “Oh, fuck. That's not good. So, this stuff 's grown over these stalls in literally a few hours?” He turned to the staff weapon. “Your pals don't mess about, do they”

  Ellis had no time to wonder about the man's erratic behaviour before Andrew stiffened. He pushed past Ellis and pointed the staff weapon at one of the structures.

  “Come on, out you get. Don't give me a reason to fucking burn you.”

  Jason and Lorraine slowly emerged from behind the structure. Ellis ran over to Jason and flung her arms around him. "Thank Christ for that, I thought I'd lost you.”

  He pulled her back, bent his head and kissed her softly. “That's not going to happen, honey.” Jason kissed her again before looking over her head. “Who's he then?” Jason held out his hand. “Hello there, friend. I'm happy to see another face.” His gaze settled on the staff weapon. “I'd be very interested to learn how you were able to get that to work. I thought humans weren't able to operate Mantil weaponry.”

  Andrew walked forward. He held out his hand as well as wearing a big smile. The smile suddenly fell away when Marty stepped out from the other side of the structure, covered in foul smelling red and brown gore, still holding his knife.

  “It's okay,” said Jason. “He's with us.”

  The new arrival brought up the staff weapon and fired a single shot. Both Ellis and Lorraine screamed. The bolt struck Marty in the chest. The top half of his body liquidised and ran down the man's legs. The burning fluid left thick scorch trails down the fabric.