Lampreys

by Alan Spencer

  "IT'S A SHAME. THESE CREATURES ARE SO BEAUTIFUL. I DESIGNED THEM MYSELF. YOU'LL BE THE FIRST TO DO BATTLE WITH THEM. I'LL WARN YOU. THEY'RE STARVING!!!"

  Before Henry could direct his team, the demented voice added, "OH, YES, OF COURSE! THEY WANT TO SEE WHAT'S ON THEIR PLATES. LET ME LIGHT THE WAY!"

  Every light flickered on in the expansive room. They couldn't see to the very back, the corridor was so long. Shattered glass covered the floor in glittery fragments. Cages, holding tanks, and aquariums to house large aquatic life had all been shattered. Everything in captivity had escaped, and the massive horde was charging right towards Henry and his team.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The storm outside had downgraded itself into a cool misting. The sky was pure darkness. The black didn't let up to give any dimension. His body was ice cold, but Bavardi didn't have feelings of any kind. He should be dead. He was dead. Only forty-percent of his body remained intact, as the rest had been devoured by Dr. Sutherland. Bavardi was only a vessel of brain function.

  No pain, he kept thinking. No pain. No pain at all.

  And thank God for the favor, he thought.

  Bavardi was sprawled out on the helipad. There was hearing in his left ear, but in the right, he was deaf as a post. He heard the sound of rubber squeaking. Through his left eye, a lamprey had slithered into his socket, crawled through his broken sinus cavity, and channeled itself down his throat and into his belly. He sensed a colony of smaller lampreys burrowing into his intestines. What skin remained on his body, the monsters used to stay moist.

  I am their vessel, Bavardi thought without knowing why. I am nothing but meat to be eaten. I am a host. Use me as you will.

  The broken connections of his kneecaps and hipbones were reconnected. Bone and muscle were crudely fastened together. Bavardi saw the lampreys swim across the platform in a mass, using their thin leathery dorsal fins to propel them forward. The spinning of their teeth, like a motor fan, propelled them forward at impossible speeds. Easily, a hundred lampreys the size of snakes was burrowing into Bavardi's body. Serrated, chewed meat was squished together. Broken bones were fastened by lamprey bodies working in tandem to put back together a broken man. A stirring in his brain, he sensed lampreys crawl into his skull through his ear holes. The bastards were nesting in his brain. Their suction mouths dug into the hemispheres of his brain, as if plugging in. Bavardi was theirs to use. Six lampreys combined to shape a crude bicep. Sucker faces doubled as hands and fingers. Bavardi was a walking monstrosity.

  Mostly monster, very little human, Bavardi did what he could to hold on to the little part of himself that still existed.

  I am a vessel.

  No pain.

  No pain at all.

  Use me as you will.

  Bavardi climbed the ladder leading to the rooftop. He didn't move in the direction Conrad had earlier when running from Dr. Sutherland. Bavardi hobbled across one building to another. He had no idea where he was going, but the lampreys did. They had a job to do and Bavardi had no choice but to help.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Conrad followed the mysterious man in the lab coat down the long stairway. Below the aquarium, there was a landing where several tables were covered in various papers, strewn files, and laptop computers. Dry erase boards were covered in drawings of the snake-eel creatures called lampreys. Mathematical equations, scientific jargon, and wild arrows pointing to the various parts of the lamprey covered most the board. The doctor, clutching his bleeding side, sat down on one of the chairs clumsily, and drank straight from a bottle of whiskey. The first pull wasn't enough, so he sucked down another. The guy's lab coat was soaked in a widening pool of blood. The injury was taking its toll on the man. What injury was a question Conrad wasn't quite ready to ask. The man seemed infirm and kept whispering and muttering things to himself.

  "You should take a drink," the man insisted. "It's quiet now, but things are about to get busy. You not getting eaten in that tank confirm she's about ready."

  Conrad didn't want a drink.

  He wanted answers.

  "Ready for what? Who are you? I already asked you these questions, and you're not answering them."

  "I'm Dr. Hatcher. I'm an assistant director to this disaster. The director's out there cavorting around doing God knows what with his subjects. He's tried to kill me a handful of times. I guess he has bigger fish to fry now. Dr. Sutherland is insane. He hasn't been the same since the lampreys laid eggs in his brain. He's plugged into their collective consciousness. He wants what the lampreys want. Sutherland will see to it she gets off this rig and slithers into more populated areas. It would take only days, maybe a week, before half of the United States would be infected. They work fast because they're so hungry. They'll always be hankering for more flesh."

  "Slow down, please," Conrad said, clutching his aching head. He'd been through hell, and there was no end of the ordeal in sight. "My family is here. They're in the military, sort of, and they've been forced to come here and fight these things. I bet they're looking for me. You could help them. But what happened to your side? You're bleeding. You need medical attention."

  "I'm as good as dead," Dr. Hatcher sighed. "I was attacked by one of the smaller lampreys. I pulled it out in time, but those teeth, they spin and suck so fast. I lost a good chunk of meat. The bleeding hasn't stopped. It doesn't matter. I only wanted to live long enough to watch Mama leave this installation. It'll be a magnificent show. Her exodus will be so beautiful. If I'm going to go out, I'm going to see Mama bloom."

  "Who is Mama?"

  Dr. Hatcher pointed at the gigantic tank. "She's in there. You can't see her. The water hasn't been cleaned since the lampreys got out of control. Dr. Sutherland let the other ones out of their cages, and since then, we've all been on the menu."

  "You mean there's a giant lamprey in there?"

  "She probably weighs a few tons and Mama keeps on getting bigger."

  "Why is she waiting in there? Why not bust out?"

  "She can and she will, in good time. When she does, it's going to be a show to remember. You might as well drink up and relax while you still can. You're not getting off of this installation alive. Start letting that sink in. You won't survive. You're as good as dead."

  Conrad pointed at the dry erase boards and the tables. He ignored the promises of death. "So you created these super lampreys? Why?"

  "Why not?" Dr. Hatcher threw his head back and laughed. "And why not tell you what this is all about, huh? What else am I doing besides waiting to bleed out and for my buzz to kick in? You're not doing anything with the information. We're all doomed to die here. So fine, my team and I worked our asses off on this project. If it weren't for Dr. Sutherland letting them out of their cages and locking down the installation after they laid eggs in his brain, we would've succeeded."

  Dr. Hatcher indulged in another drink.

  "Why create super lampreys? Yes, the question of all questions. Think of it like this. It's funny how organic and all natural products have become the rage these days. It's trendy, saving the environment, isn't it? It's like wearing a fucking fanny pack."

  Dr. Hatcher was starting to get drunk.

  "Recycling, free range poultry, compost heaps, no GMOs, free trade, natural cleaners, they're all nice and dandy ideas, but one day, one distant day, hundreds and hundreds of years from now, using apple cider vinegar to clean your house and eating free range meat won't do a fucking thing to save the planet. We're delaying the inevitable. Hundreds, maybe thousands of years down the line, this planet is going to turn into a hot box of pollution. We won't be able to live on this planet, and the human race will die out. The earth will hit the reset button and we'll be extinct.

  "My point is that the day will come when going organic isn't enough. Our research here is based on the need to clean up pollution by any means necessary. Forget morality, kindness, and popular opinion. We had to start somewhere, so we decided to start with our drinking water. Like our rivers, lak
es, and streams, and then we'd expand to the oceans. We chose the lamprey because of their versatility. They normally feed on bacteria and other matter. Their suction mouths, their teeth, they're all perfect for sucking up pollution, so we enhanced them metabolically and physically. A lot of test tubes and growth hormones and steroids were injected into these lampreys. We designed them to have three stomachs, triple the teeth, the suction power of a thousand vacuums, and the ability to ingest and process paper, cardboard, and steel. They can shit it out just like everything else.

  "We imagined them being freed in lakes and streams so they'd eat trash. If there's an oil spill, we can design them to suck up the oil from the water. Our team wasn't going to stop there. If this project was a success, we would've chosen birds to fly up so high in the sky they could fix our ozone layer. Smog in the bigger cities would be eliminated. Acid rain would be a thing of the past.

  "TECHMODE, a private research entity, funded this project. They hired the topmost scientists to design a species of lamprey artificially that would exclusively eat pollution in our bodies of water. The problem, the lampreys preferred the taste of human flesh to garbage. They can't get enough meat. We tried to erase that instinct from their minds. That's what we've been working on here on this installation. It proved impossible.

  "As we kept on with our research, Dr. Sutherland and other team members were attacked by the lampreys that were at the time the size of harmless snakes. They ate some of their victims alive, while others, like the good doctor, they plugged into their brains to control them. Dr. Chan, another assistant director, tried to call for outside help, but Dr. Sutherland had her killed and then had this place locked down. The lampreys have grown on their own, breeding and birthing in hours. They grow so fast it is impossible to stop them.

  "TECHMODE is watching the facility through the security cameras. They're letting us die. They want to see the full extent of the lamprey and their abilities. They want to see Mama in that tank come to life. I've watched almost a dozen military teams come in here with their big guns and they die all the same. TECHMODE hired ENTECH to locate teams to wipe clean this installation so TECHMODE could start all over again. ENTECH's GI Joes can't do shit to stop the lampreys.

  "TECHMODE waited too long to bring in the Calvary. They did that on purpose. TECHMODE does environmental research, but they also create biological weapons, you see? I guess this installation has turned into a testing ground for that new weapon. They've scrapped the anti-pollution idea altogether. Once big Mama leaves her tank, and they see the full extent of what she can accomplish, they're going to finally blow up this place. They figure ENTECH's hired guns will wipe out as many lampreys as possible and lower the risk of contamination. Then they'll take our research and sell it to the highest bidder. But if one of those things fall into the water and makes it to land, go ahead and kiss the human race goodbye. They're going to suck humanity of every ounce of flesh and blood until there's nothing left.

  "They're so smart. They burrow into living vessels so they can travel from place to place when they're out of water. Human blood keeps them moist just like water. When that fails, they'll occupy anything, even dead corpses. They'll do absolutely anything to survive.

  "But do I care? No not really. I'm dead soon, so fuck them. Fuck everyone. Once upon a time, I thought my work would do something positive for the world. I wanted to secure the environment for future generations to enjoy, but you know what? The human race would find another way to fuck it all up. The pollution-eating lampreys would be just an excuse to treat the environment like shit. So forget it. Let them all die. I'm done with humanity."

  Conrad couldn't believe what he was hearing. "So you're just going to sit here and do nothing to save people's lives? You can help my father and his team kill the lampreys so they don't get off this rig and spread."

  "I'm not doing a damn thing except drinking and watching big Mama's grand exit."

  "You won't even get to do that, Dr. Hatcher."

  Dr. Sutherland had crept up behind Dr. Hatcher. The man's jaw was extended wide enough to clamp around Dr. Hatcher's entire head. Those spinning teeth, the mean crunching noises, the broken eggshell sounds, Dr. Hatcher's head was instantly liquefied. The mess was raucously sucked up into Sutherland's throat. Dr. Hatcher's body did a nervous jig as spurts of blood sprayed from his serrated neck stump.

  Dr. Sutherland stepped back, lifted up his shirt, and exposed that hideous maw jagged with teeth. The doctor's midsection was tight with new muscles as the mouth started to suction air. Dr. Hatcher's body bent in half from the maw's sucking force. The doctor's hip and pelvic bones crunched and shattered. Bones burst beneath his skin. Arms and legs were wrenched off with such uncouth power. Dr. Hatcher's remains were in ten pieces when they were dragged up into that vicious belly-mouth and devoured.

  Conrad fell off his chair and was now crawling backwards. He cried out when his back hit the glass of the aquarium. He sensed vibrations through the glass. He couldn't see Mama, but Conrad knew she was stirring in those mysterious depths.

  "Dr. Hatcher is doing more good in my stomach than he ever did on the field," Dr. Sutherland rasped. "When I tried to convince him to side with Mama, Dr. Hatcher refused, so I said have it your way. One day, we'll feed on you. He didn't believe letting them inside his body was for the best, so all the bad for him. I'm sure it doesn't feel good to be eaten alive, but it sure feels fine doing the eating!"

  Conrad gawked at the doctor's changing face. His mouth and belly had reverted back to normal, but his eyes were still hidden deep in the chasms of his sockets. Teeth circled his sockets. They clicked together as if ready to devour anything at a moment's notice.

  "When the world succumbs to the lampreys, it'll be people like me they treat like a god. I gave them a life, and I'll give them safe passage off this rig. I will always be there to give them the meat they crave.

  "Ooooooh, I can feel them moving in my brain. They give me such pleasure. I've never felt so good in my life. Sex, drugs, booze, it's nothing compared to what it feels like to have them living inside me. They reward the subservient. I am their willing vessel. No harm must come to Mama. Without her, they're nothing. Without her, I'm nothing. I will never be nothing again. I'M KING OF THE LAMPREYS!"

  Conrad choked back the urge to vomit. Dr. Sutherland's eyes kept popping up, looking around, and then sinking back into his skull. The teeth continued retracting and retracting, seemingly matching the fervor of his words. The doctor was insane. He was also infested. The skin along his neck, cheeks, even his scalp, was bubbling and boiling with lampreys shifting beneath the flesh.

  "So will you join us? Let us infest you."

  Popping up from the skin, dozens of lampreys stuck out of the doctor's arms, back, and neck. Dr. Sutherland was a walking medusa.

  Conrad didn't have to say a word. He retreated to the opposite end of the room. After passing lab tables and empty aquariums of all sizes, Conrad located an open door. Before he stormed out of the room, he could hear Mama splash in her aquarium.

  Whatever was going to happen, it was going down soon.

  Conrad had to find his family, tell them everything he knew about the lampreys, and somehow get the hell off of this installation.

  He prayed Dr. Sutherland didn't follow after him.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Henry's team couldn't fall back. The doors to the new room closed themselves. There was no escape. Henry couldn't show fear. The only thing he could do was raise his Gatling gun and take down as many of them as he could. Everybody else on the team had the same idea. Dirty Poncho struck a series of green flares he'd taken from the steel box. He hoped the bright light would ward off the impossible creatures.

  The burning sticks did nothing.

  Working together, the Gatling gun barrels spun, spewing bullets, death, and noise. They straight away featured shattered holding tanks big enough to hold dozens of people. The team crunched over glass as they dared to step deeper into the mysterious rese
arch room. They thought they had driven back the first group of fiendish monsters, but they were wrong.

  They were suddenly surrounded. Winds blasted throughout the room. It felt like a tornado was attacking the area. Henry clutched onto his gun tighter so the weapon wouldn't be wrenched from his clutches.

  Black-skinned lampreys crawled on the floor. They ranged in sizes from anacondas to giant sewer pipes. Countless numbers slithered forth, advancing like stealthy eels.

  Henry instructed at the top of his lungs. "Scoop, you keep the ones on the floor busy!"

  Holes were punched into the ceiling. Tiles rained down and lamprey heads the size of human beings, if not bigger, would poke their sucker faces down and hiss. Hot rubber glue-like saliva rained down in pelting wads. The teeth in their circular mouths spun at shredding speeds. Keyes' hair shot up into the air one second, and the next, her neck was stretched until the head completely broke off. Spinning up to the ceiling, the head landed in the creature's maw and it was instantly liquefied.

  Fryer cried out, "No! Goddamn all of you!"

  Fryer put down his Gatling gun.

  "No, Fryer, keep firing your guns! You can't do anything for Keyes now."

  Scoop picked up Keyes' dropped Gatling gun and was firing both at the same time. She could barely hold herself up. The fear and determination on Scoop's face kept those barrels spitting fire.

  Fryer grabbed Keyes' headless body by the waist. "Noooooooooo! You're not taking her, you slimy fucking bastards!"

  Fryer and Keyes were both sucked up into the ceiling. Henry reeled seeing both bodies enter an insane paper shredder. Fryer's legs were still kicking until his feet were the only thing remaining of him. Then the rest of him was sucked up and consumed.