by Amy Cross
“You nasty little bastard,” Freeman said, with disgust in his eyes. “Is that what you do when someone tries to take you out? You squirt out some venom to try to kill your old host?” He watched as the venom slowed to a trickle and then stopped completely. “As long as I have breath left in my body,” he continued, “I will make sure that not one of you bastards survives.”
Holding the creature closer to the light, he saw that its skin was starting to sizzle.
“You don't like that, do you?” he whispered. “You burn easily, huh? Good to know.”
With that, he began to squeeze the tongs, watching as the creature's center bulb began to tighten and tighten. Smiling, he saw the thick black skin was starting to split open, and thick black liquid began to run down the side and drip onto the floor. Still squeezing, he felt the tendrils flicking out at him, desperately trying to get him to stop, but he continued to close the tongs until they began to dig deep into the creature's body.
“I hope that hurts,” he continued. “I hope you -”
Suddenly he saw two faint slits starting to open on either side of the main body, and to his shock he realized that the creature had a pair of eyes – jet black, but with hints of red and brown - that were staring back at him. Finally, a faint hissing sound could be heard, followed by a high-pitched whine that seemed almost like a scream, before the mass burst entirely, sending chunks of bloody juice dripping down as the tendrils fell still.
“This is my fault,” Freeman said finally. “If I hadn't taken that dead squirrel to her...”
Dropping the tongs, he grabbed his two rifles and reloaded, before heading to the door.
“This ends,” he said firmly. “Now.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Oh God,” Crystal whispered as she stood with her back to one of the cabins, listening to a soldier walking past. Once she was sure he'd left, she peered around the corner and watched him heading toward the trees.
Turning, she made her way past the last of the cabins and began to hurry across the grass. She figured she just needed to get to the top of the road and then make her way through the forest, avoiding any roadblocks, and that eventually she'd reach civilization. Constantly checking over her shoulder to make sure that no-one had spotted her, she scrambled down a narrow slope until she stopped behind a bush and took a moment to catch her breath.
“Please God,” she whispered, “please, I'm a good person, really! I never meant to hurt anyone, this was all just a huge misunderstanding. The medical waste was supposed to be harmless, so please, please, you have to let me live. I swear, if you do, I'll be a saint from this moment on.”
After checking that no-one was nearby, she turned and stayed low as she scurried between the trees. Constantly fearing that she could hear something moving behind her, she kept looking over her shoulder, but so far there was no sign of anyone. Stopping to catch her breath for a moment, she leaned against a tree and tried to force herself to stay calm.
“Help!” a voice shouted suddenly.
Turning, she saw a girl running toward her.
“Help me!” the girl yelled. “You have to -”
“Shut up!” Crystal hissed. “Go away! Leave me alone!”
The girl kept running.
“Do you want them to hear you?” Crystal asked, finally grabbing the girl as she got closer, and placing a hand over her mouth. “When I let go,” she whispered, “you are going to stop shouting, do you understand? I will not have you giving away our position!”
The girl stared at her with terrified eyes.
“Okay,” Crystal continued, taking her hand away. “Keep your fucking voice down!”
“I hid,” the girl stammered. “I hid all night! Those things were all around me, they were everywhere, I thought they'd get me at any minute but...” She looked back, as if she thought she was being followed. “Eventually I just had to run. They're monsters, they have these tendrils and they -”
“I know,” Crystal replied. “Believe me, I've seen the little bastards.” She paused for a moment. “I recognize you. What's your name again?”
“I heard trucks,” the girl continued. “Did help come?”
“Help came and then help was taken away again,” Crystal explained. “We can't trust those soldiers. Whatever's going on, we just have to get as far away from here as possible.”
“And then what?”
“I have no idea.”
“But think,” the girl continued. “You're a smart person, aren't you? In this situation, what's the best thing to do?”
“Get help.”
“From where?”
“I don't know! There's a diner nearby, or we could just head straight for the main road. Someone has to pass by eventually.”
“And do you think they'd stop to help?”
“Of course!”
“But why?”
Crystal stared at her for a moment. “Why?” she asked incredulously. “Because that's what you do when you see someone who's obviously in trouble. You stop and you help them.”
“I see,” the girl replied with a faint frown. “So that's your best idea, is it? Hope for a lucky break?”
“Do you have a better one?”
“I don't, no. Do you?”
Crystal paused, starting to feel distinctly uneasy.
“Humor me,” the girl continued. “If going to the road wasn't a possibility, what would be your next choice?”
“I don't know,” Crystal replied, taking a step back. “Why am I the one who has to come up with all the ideas?”
“Because that's the whole point of the simulation,” the girl told her. “To test things, to see how people react when they come face to face with the truth.”
“Simulation? What are you...” Pausing, Crystal stared at the girl for a moment before a sudden flush of realization crossed her mind. “I've seen you before.”
“Of course you have,” the girl replied. “I can't believe it took you so long to recognize me.” She stepped forward. “I think you know me by this body's old name. Beth, wasn't it?”
“Oh God,” Crystal said, taking another step back. “What do you want from me?”
“We thought this would be a good opportunity to simulate a hostile encounter,” Beth told her, “in order to determine how humans would react. I must say, as a species, you're more resourceful than we'd expected, although you're still prone to making serious mistakes. There's also a lot of variation from one individual to another, but I've seen nothing so far today, since the others arrived, to make me think that this process is going to be difficult.”
“No!” Crystal shouted, turning to run before Beth grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to the ground.
“Your usefulness has ended,” she said, crouching next to Crystal and forcing her against the mud. “We have learned a great deal from you, but now -”
“I can help you!” Crystal stammered. “I'm smart, I know things! The others, they're dumb, they ran around like headless chickens as soon as this started, but if you need someone to help you plan ahead, you have to let me live!”
“I do?” Beth asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
“Kill the others if you want,” Crystal continued, “I don't care. But me? I'm the smartest human you'll ever meet. I know how to get things done, and I know how other humans think. I'm sure we can come to some sort of mutually beneficent arrangement. I really wouldn't want much, just a guarantee of safety after you've done whatever it is you want to do to the rest of the world. Believe me, I would be so useful to you!”
“Fascinating,” Beth replied, staring down at her. “I never anticipated this. Some humans will actually try to sell out the rest of their species in order to guarantee their own personal safety.” She paused for a moment. “We'll be sure to take that factor into account and perhaps use it to our advantage,” she said finally. “If we meet someone who might actually be useful, that is.”
“Wait -”
Before Crystal could finish, Beth o
pened her mouth wide and two sharp tendrils began to emerge. Although she let out a brief cry of pain, Crystal quickly fell silent as Beth began to feast.
***
“Did you hear something?” Lizzie asked suddenly, looking back toward the trees.
“Like what?” Lincoln replied.
“I don't know, like...” She paused, waiting for the sound to return. “It was like someone crying out, just for a second.”
“I didn't hear a thing.”
“Huh.” She turned to him. “Shouldn't we be getting back? You obviously don't believe me about the lake.”
“I'm skeptical,” he replied, looking out across the water, “but that doesn't mean I've completely dismissed the idea. Right now, all possibilities are very much on the table.”
“So what are you waiting for?” she asked.
“Do I seem to be waiting for something?”
“We've been down here by the lake for an hour now,” she pointed out. “Earlier you were talking about how urgent the situation is, and now it's like you're okay with just hanging around like this. Shouldn't you be out there coordinating the search or putting some kind of plan into action in case those creatures get beyond the perimeter?”
A faint smile crossed Lincoln's lips.
“What's so funny?” she asked.
“You're smart,” he replied. “Resourceful, too. If it hadn't been for you, the other people in that cabin with you would most likely have died a lot sooner. All things considered, Ms. Miller, I'd say that you show great potential. Other people could learn a lot from studying you.”
“I'm not smart,” she told him. “I just... I did what anyone would have done.”
“Not quite.” He looked out across the lake for a moment. “Almost since the dawn of human history, cancer has been trying to break through. Did it ever occur to you that maybe cancer isn't something to be fought against, something to be destroyed? That maybe it's the natural next stage of life on this planet? I mean, sure, cancer isn't pretty and it most often ends up killing its host, but sometimes evolutionary change takes time to reach its final form. Humanity has tried everything to beat cancer, but it just seems as if cancer is an essential part of life. What is cancer, anyway? It's the uninhibited reproduction of cells that have gone into overdrive. Some people might say that it's the essence of life itself. Who are any of us to say that cancer should be snubbed out? Like larvae bursting from a cocoon, maybe cancer is the process by which the next stage of intelligent life is going to arrive?”
“No,” Lizzie replied, “that's... That's just crazy.”
He turned to her.
“Look beyond your fears,” he said calmly. “Look beyond your own sense of self-preservation, Lizzie. See the bigger picture.”
“You make it sound like...” She paused for a moment, watching him with growing suspicion. “You make it sound like you're on their side.”
“I told you the truth earlier,” he continued. “I really was at Leadenford Hospital and I really did deal with Doctor Andrew Page. I took a sample of the cancer and then I really did leave him to die when the missiles hit. Believe me, it wasn't easy and I suffered for a while after that. I drank too much, I let my work slide, I got sloppy... Then again, when I say that I suffered, what I mean is that Doctor Lincoln suffered. I can access his memories, his emotions, his knowledge, but only as an observer.” He paused. “I was also telling the truth when I said that Doctor Lincoln took the cancer sample to a laboratory so he could study it. What I neglected to mention, however, is that there was a certain... breach of security. A contamination event took place.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, taking a step back.
“I think you understand precisely what I mean.”
She stared at him, horrified by the calm, confident look in his eyes.
“You're one of them,” she whispered.
“Don't run,” he replied. “Don't panic and do something stupid, Lizzie. You're smarter than that. Hear me out.” He took a deep breath. “This doesn't have to be a zero-sum game. When you uploaded that video of the deer online, we immediately realized that we'd found the survivors of Leadenford, the specimens that escaped in the waste bags. We came here and sealed the area, and then we decided to conduct a few experiments. For one thing, we wanted to know how humans would react when they came face to face with us. The original plan was to just kill you all once we were finished, but now I'm starting to see that you have other uses. Lizzie, you don't have to die. You can work with us instead, help us to create a new world where our two species can live side-by-side.”
She shook her head.
“Think it through,” he continued, with a hint of earnestness in his voice. “Don't let your natural aversion blind you. Two creatures living in one body, working together... That's not actually a bad solution to the difficulties of life, is it? I mean, humans already have something similar going on in their guts. You have millions of bacteria in your body already, Lizzie, and without them you'd die. Parasites aren't necessarily a bad thing. We gain from you and you gain from us, it's win-win. Doesn't that make sense? Doesn't that sound like a very social approach?”
“It makes you sound like a monster,” she replied, her mind racing as she tried to work out how to get away from him. Glancing back through the trees, she realized that she had to warn the others too.
“Join us,” Lincoln continued. “Work with us. You already have cancer in your body.”
“I'm never going to be like you,” she said firmly.
“It's growing in your guts,” he replied. “I can sense its mind awakening. You have bowel cancer, and it's trying to break forth from your body, Lizzie. Let it happen. I can help you, I can guide your cancer as it develops. There doesn't have to be any pain or suffering for either of you. Think about it, you could be the first example of a human who recognizes and nurtures her cancer instead of trying to destroy it.”
She took another step back.
“Lizzie -”
“You killed all those people.”
“They were idiots,” he continued. “We only want to work with smart humans, people who have the intelligence to maybe see things from our point of view. There are hundreds of us in the world now, and we're not going away. A tipping point has been reached, soon there'll be millions, then billions...”
“I'm not going to help you,” she told him, taking another step back until she bumped against the pier's railing.
“Then what are you going to do?” he asked. “Fight? Cry? Scream? Rail against the dying of the light? Come on, Lizzie, you're so much smarter than that. You have an open mind. Don't let fear make your decisions for you.”
“Go to hell.”
“On the contrary,” he replied, stepping toward her, “the Great Memnon promises paradise for those of us who work to further the development of the species. He'll let you enter paradise too, Lizzie, if you just help us.”
Edging away from him, Lizzie looked around for something she could use if she was attacked. By the time she reached the mud and began to make her way back toward the trees, she'd realized that her only hope was to run, but Lincoln was stepping closer all the time, as if he was determined not to let her get too far away.
“Lizzie,” he said finally. “Talk to me. Tell me what you're thinking.”
“I'm thinking...” She paused. “I'm thinking I have to help the others.”
Turning, she began to run through the forest, but she only managed a few paces before Lincoln caught her and pushed her against a tree. Slamming hard into the wood, she stumbled across the forest floor but kept running, only for him to swipe her legs from under her, sending her crashing down into the mud with a gasp of pain.
“Lizzie,” he said, stepping over her. “I thought you were smarter than this.”
Scrambling to her feet, she felt something hard under her right hand. Looking down, she saw a small rock.
“You're disappointing me,” Lincoln continued. “Use your brain, Lizzie. Think about thi
s logically, I'm offering you something wonderful.”
“I'm offering you something wonderful too,” she replied.
“And what -”
Before he could finish, Lizzie turned and swung the rock at his head, catching him on the side of the forehead and sending him crumpling to the ground. Without even stopping to see whether she'd caused any serious damage, she dropped the rock and began to run again, racing between the trees in a desperate bid to get back to the campsite. She kept expecting him to catch up to her again, to be dragged down, but after a couple of minutes she reached a small clearing and dropped to her knees, desperately short of breath. Looking back over her shoulder, she realized there was no sign of Lincoln following her. She waited, convinced that there was no way a simple blow to the head could have stopped him, but finally she began to consider the possibility that she'd managed to give him the slip.
Getting back up, she began to hurry up the slope.
***
Letting out a cry of pain, Kirsty dropped down to her knees and held her breath. She'd only made it a few steps from the cabin, having taken forever to get moving, but now her damaged foot was starting to really hurt. Looking down, she saw that the exposed meat was a much brighter shade of pink, and there was plenty of dirt in the wound. She tried to brush her foot clean, but any pressure at all was enough to send a jolt of agony through her body and she finally gave up, figuring that she should just wait for professional help.
“Oh God,” she whispered, “please don't let me die here.”
Looking around, she waited for some sign of the soldiers, but the campsite seemed strangely empty. She'd expected swarms of troops, maybe even a helicopter or two overhead, but now she was starting to think that Freeman might have been right: the so-called military response team seemed like little more than a few badly-trained soldiers and a couple of doctors. She turned and looked toward the trees past the ruined main building, and finally she realized that her best option was simply to find some way to keep going, to ignore the pain in her foot.
