The Next World

by Gerry Griffiths

  The wing flaps went down and the turbo engines gave enough back thrust to slow the plane to a complete stop.

  Ally and Dillon came rushing out of the building and both saw the plane. “Oh my God, does this mean we can go home?” Ally yelped.

  “Can Lucy come on the plane?” Dillon asked.

  “Honey, I don’t think...” Wanda started to say but decided an explanation would have to wait.

  The passenger door opened near the rear of the plane and the stairs extended down to the ground. Wearing his freshly pressed captain’s uniform, the pilot poked his head out and gave everyone a friendly wave. “Hey, folks! You ready to come aboard?”

  By this time, Isoba and Adanna had come down from the roof and joined the bustling group. The pilot’s sudden arrival had caught everyone unexpectedly. Snap decisions had to be made. Frank had to figure a way to persuade Dr. Tomie and her staff to come with them.

  Celeste came running around the side of the building. She was lugging her black case and computer bag. She glanced quickly at the plane and then at the crowd standing idly in the front of the building. “Jesus, what are you guys waiting for?”

  Frank waved his hand in the air to get everyone to quiet down.

  The pilot had just come down the steps and was walking under the shade of the plane’s wing. He ducked his head slightly and grabbed the bill of his hat and slipped it off to wipe his brow. He stepped back into the direct rays of the sun, and while he was putting his hat back on, he tripped on a thin line…

  And disappeared in a flash.

  If Frank hadn’t been looking directly at the pilot at that exact moment, he wouldn’t have known what had just happened. The man was strolling along as happy as can be, and then he was gone.

  Except for his muffled, underground scream, which only lasted a couple seconds.

  “Frank, where the hell is the pilot?” Wanda gasped.

  Everyone stared in disbelief.

  Frank could see the slightly raised lid in the dirt not too far from where the pilot had been standing. Judging by the narrow opening under the lip, the cover over the trapdoor spider’s lair had to be at least ten feet across—which meant there was one hell of a big spider hiding under there, ready to pounce out, grab another prey, and jump back inside its den before the lid even had time to come down. All in the blink of an eye.

  Dr. Tomie hobbled over to Frank who was staring at the plane. She leaned on her crutch. “Would you believe you’re looking at a seven-million-dollar airplane?”

  “Without a pilot,” Frank said, “I’d say it’s pretty much worthless, Gayle, wouldn’t you agree?”

  “I’d say that pretty much sums it up.”

  62

  The next day there was a major attack.

  It happened around one in the afternoon after everyone had finished with lunch and was taking an extended break, sitting around the mess hall and chitchatting.

  Isoba was the only one topside keeping watch. After completing a 360-degree sweep of the surrounding terrain, Isoba had taken a few minutes to sit under the umbrella to escape the blistering sun, confident there was no imminent danger.

  That’s when the small army burrowed up out of the ground.

  Isoba was taking a drink of water when the first giant marabunta climbed up the side of the building and crept onto the roof. He immediately dropped his metal cup and grabbed his rifle. The insect racing towards him on six legs was twice his size. It closed in and opened its mandible jaws, ready to bite him in half.

  He fired his rifle three times, each bullet drilling a hole into the giant ant’s black skull. Green ichor spurted out and the ant collapsed.

  Another humongous ant crawled onto the roof, followed by others.

  There was no way Isoba could fight them all. Instead, he went over to a small hatch, opened the lid, dropped his rifle through, and jumped down. By the time he hit the floor, the lid above had already closed, preventing the other ants from chasing after him, though he doubted they could have fit through the narrow opening.

  “They are on the roof!” he hollered, snatching his rifle and clambering to his feet.

  Frank heard the man yell and came running. He’d made a habit of always carrying a gun and had a forty-five caliber pistol holstered on his hip. “What’s up there?” he asked once he saw Isoba.

  “Marabunta,” Isoba answered.

  Frank knew Isoba was referring to the dreaded army ant. It was fearsome enough on a minuscule scale, but unimaginable if the creature was 3500 times bigger than its normal self—twice the size of a man.

  And there was no telling how many were outside.

  Frank ran down the hall and glanced out one of the windows. He could see the giant ants outside, scampering about the building, some even scaling the outside wall.

  “Get to the mess hall,” Frank shouted.

  By the time the two men rushed into the dining area, everyone was already gathering up their weapons, having heard the loud exchanges out in the hall.

  “We’re going to make our stand in here!” Frank told the others.

  “So, what are we fighting today?” Wanda asked, as if there was a guest lineup of creatures featured for each day of the week.

  “They’re army ants,” Frank said.

  “My next question was going to be how many, but as you said army, maybe I better not ask.”

  “I have no idea how many are out there.”

  “Do you think it would help to barricade the door?” Dr. Tomie asked, leaning against the wall with her crutch.

  “That’s a good idea,” Frank said. “Ryan, Isoba, help me drag some tables over to the doorway. Adanna and Dayo, see if you can find something to nail over that window. Ally, you better keep an eye on your brother.” Frank pointed to the long counter that separated the kitchen area from the dining tables. “We’ll use that for cover.”

  After dragging over a couple of tables to block the doorway, Isoba unlocked a side door that led into the adjacent gunroom. He grabbed a cloth sack and quickly filled it with boxes of ammunition. He snatched a couple more rifles off the gun rack and hurried back inside the mess hall.

  Adanna and Dayo boarded up the window with a sheet of plywood and some screws.

  There was a loud crash of breaking glass from the other side of the building. Frank could hear heavy bodies bustling down the hallway.

  “Everybody, get ready!”

  Frank moved around the partition and stood in the middle of the group with his rifle aimed at the sole entrance into the dining hall. Wanda was to his left, her good arm outstretched with the Beretta cocked; Adanna, and then her father, both armed with double barrel shotguns, were next to her. Ryan was on Frank’s right, the young man also with a hunting rifle. Celeste had a revolver. Dr. Tomie leaned across the counter with her gun pointed across the room.

  Ally and Dayo stood behind the shooters, their jobs to pass forward freshly loaded guns and reload the empty firearms; Dillon sat on the floor, waiting eagerly to pass up boxes of ammunition; Samson paced growling at the boy’s side, the large Anatolian shepherd’s hackles up.

  The ragtag group of survivors was in for the fight of their lives.

  Suddenly, the wall around the doorframe ripped open and a giant ant entered the room, followed by another and another. They scaled the barrier of tables and rushed across the floor.

  “Fire!” Frank yelled.

  The barrage of gunfire was deafening as the room began to fill with smoke and the bullets and buckshot blew gaping holes in the giant ants’ bodies and shot off their limbs, leaving twitching piles of severed legs.

  Frank emptied his rifle and passed it back. Ally slapped another rifle into his hand and he resumed firing.

  The gargantuan ants continued to scramble through the opening in the wall. Each time one wedged through, it broke off more of the drywall, until there was enough room for two ants to fit through at the same time.

  By now there were over twenty of the giant insects coming at them. Even tho
ugh the carcasses were piling up and the ants had to scale the bodies of their dead comrades, they still kept coming.

  Isoba handed his empty shotgun to Dayo, but she was having trouble opening the breech on the gun she was suppose to hand back to him. He reached down and grabbed a handful of cartridges.

  “There’s no way we can hold them off,” Wanda yelled. She looked down at Dillon. “Dilly, go hide in the pantry.”

  “But Mom...”

  “Do it!” Wanda turned and emptied six rounds into a giant ant as it clambered onto the serving counter. The creature fell back, but others pulled it out of the way with their mandibles and kept advancing.

  “Everyone, move back!” Frank yelled, even though there was nowhere for them to go. They were trapped and almost out of ammunition.

  Frank watched as the black horde continued to scrabble in.

  63

  Frank was the last to back into the small space just off the kitchen reserved for the open pantry and the walk-in refrigeration unit; neither one the ideal spot for a last defense. The only advantage was that the walkthrough was only wide enough for a single person, so they were able to keep the monstrous ants at bay, killing the ones foolish enough to try and squeeze through.

  As everyone was so clustered together, it was near impossible to fire a weapon without either deafening the next person or getting blinded by the gun blast.

  Frank aimed his rifle and pulled the trigger on the next bug to show itself.

  The hammer came down and clicked on the firing pin.

  “I’m out!”

  “Me too,” Wanda shouted, using her body to shield Ally and Dillon in the pantry.

  The others shook their heads and lowered their weapons.

  Frank saw a giant ant climbing up the far wall and another’s head protruding out of a chewed section of drywall.

  He looked over at the walk-in cooler.

  “Everyone inside,” he yelled and opened the heavy door.

  “But we’ll freeze in there,” Ryan said.

  “Better than to die out here,” Frank snapped.

  The interior of the unit was eight by twelve feet with generous headroom but as there were racks of shelves on two sides, the standing room was limited, especially for ten people and a big dog. The first thing they did was drag out the jumbled remains of the ant Frank had dissected and was keeping in cold storage so as to make more room.

  As soon as Frank pulled the door closed, he could hear a heavy thud up above.

  Dr. Tomie checked the thermostat and pushed a button. “The best I can do is set it at 40 degrees.”

  “If it gets too cold we can always push the safety release,” Ally said, pointing to the red knob by the locking handle.

  “And then what?” Ryan said. “Invite them in?”

  “Come on,” Wanda sniped. “Enough bickering. We’re going to make it out of this. Right, Frank?”

  Frank scowled then shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, but I wish I knew how.”

  “Hey, guys!” Celeste cried out. “Did you hear that?”

  Outside, the cumbersome ants were clambering all over the refrigeration unit, looking for a way in.

  “I don’t hear anything,” Ryan said.

  And then Frank heard rapid machinegun fire. He grabbed the handle and pushed the door open a crack. He gazed up but couldn’t see any ants.

  “Careful, Frank,” Wanda warned. “They may be waiting a trap.”

  Now that the door was open, the gunfire was extremely loud.

  Frank slipped out and edged over to the corner of the wall so he could see what was going on.

  Two helmeted soldiers in camouflage fatigues and heavy combat gear were firing high-tech assault rifles that looked like they had been conceived in a science fiction movie. Tracer bullets sliced through the ants like laser beams, each shot accurately targeted to follow the previous hit. Most of the ants were dead; those still alive were just twitching on the ground.

  “Hey! We’re over here!” Frank shouted, trying to be heard over the din of the gunfire.

  Another soldier entered the room. He appeared to be the ranking officer because when he held up his hand the other two men ceased firing. He spotted Frank and immediately walked over.

  “Are you Frank Travis? Professor Frank Travis?”

  “Yes, that’s right.”

  “Lieutenant Riker, Fourth Platoon Infantry,” the man said and raised his visor so Frank could see his face. He was in his early twenties and already had a deep battle scar across his right cheek.

  “Can’t tell you how glad I am to see you fellows.” Frank shook the man’s gloved hand. He turned as Wanda and the others came over to join him.

  “Is Doctor Celeste Starr here?” Riker asked.

  “I am,” Celeste answered.

  “I have orders to take you both back to our bivouac where you’ll be transported back to the States.”

  “Are you serious?” Wanda asked.

  “Yes, ma’am, I’m quite serious,” Riker said with a stern face.

  “Why me?” Frank asked.

  “You were recommended as one of the top entomologists in your field by your university.”

  “So there have been other attacks?” Frank said, gesturing to the giant ants lying dead all around them. Even as he spoke, an ant raised its head and clacked its mandibles. A soldier waltzed up and killed it with a single shot.

  “It’s happening everywhere. In some of the cities, the swarms are so bad that they’re closing down the commercial airports. There have been reports of metropolitan areas being overrun by giant cockroaches. In parts of Australia, giant weta are decimating crops for hundreds of miles.”

  “What’s a weta?” Dillon asked as he wormed his way in front of Frank so he could get a closer look at the soldier’s armament.

  “It’s like a grasshopper,” Frank said, patting the boy on the head.

  “Tell him about London,” a soldier blurted.

  “Remember the rats and how they spread the bubonic plague?” Riker said.

  “Don’t tell me it’s gotten to that?” Frank said.

  “Well, not exactly. It seems that giant fleas are eating the rats.”

  “Oh my God,” Ally said.

  “That’s crazy,” Ryan piped in.

  “I take it the Astronomical Consortium has been asking for me?” Celeste asked Riker.

  “Yes, that is correct,” Riker said with a slight nod. “Something to do with a tracking station program that you have developed, I believe.”

  “What about my family?” Frank asked.

  “Well,” Riker said, pausing for a beat, “I wasn’t given orders to...”

  “They don’t go, I don’t go!”

  “Sir, you do realize that I have been instructed to take you by force if need be.”

  “I’d rather you didn’t. I’m sorry, but I can’t leave them.”

  “Very well. Your family can accompany you.”

  “What about Dr. Tomie, Isoba, and his daughters?” Wanda asked.

  “We’ll be fine,” Dr. Tomie said. “Don’t worry about us.”

  “As our bivouac is not far, I’ll have six of my men remain behind, just until I can retrieve them.”

  “I would really appreciate that,” Frank said. “Thanks, Lieutenant.”

  “You have twenty minutes before we leave.”

  “You heard the man,” Frank said with a grin. “Go pack your bags. We’re going home.”

  64

  The tandem-rotary Boeing CH-47 Chinook was the size of a city bus and had landed only fifty feet from the unmanned Beechcraft 10. Four soldiers kept a vigilant perimeter watch around the transport helicopter. The craft’s armament consisted of a M240 machinegun on the loading ramp and two similar weapons at each shoulder window behind the cockpit.

  Lieutenant Riker stood next to the ramp, his M4 carbine draped across his chest.

  Frank and Wanda were the first to come out of their cottage with their bags packed and ready to go. They wa
lked by the other two cottages and waited. Ally bounded out with her travel bag and raced over. Ryan ushered Dillon out the door of their cottage and was carrying both their luggage.

  The Chinook was firing up its engines.

  “Come on before we miss our ride,” Frank said, and they scurried down the pathway that led down to the edge of the dirt airstrip.

  As they approached, they ducked their heads as the downdraft of the whirling blades kicked up swirling dust all around them.

  Frank was passing one of the soldiers when he caught something out of the corner of his eye by the abandoned airplane. He shielded his eyes from the dirt blowing in his face hoping to get a better look.

  The trapdoor spider leapt out of its lair.

  Before Frank could yell a warning, the giant arachnid grabbed the soldier and yanked him off his feet.

  Another soldier turned and aimed his military shotgun but couldn’t get a clean shot without hitting the snared man who was unclipping an M84 from his vest while being dragged across the ground toward the raised lid above the spider’s den.

  As soon as the soldier was pulled inside, the lid started to fall.

  The stun grenade went off with a loud bang and a blinding flash of light.

  Riker rushed over and got down on his kneepads. He extended his hand and pulled the soldier out of the hole. The man staggered about, shaking his head like there were bees buzzing around inside his helmet.

  The lieutenant strafed the spider pit with his machinegun.

  Frank waited as Wanda and the kids scurried up the loading ramp.

  He glanced in the cargo hold and saw Celeste already strapped in a canvas seat in a long row of about twenty seats on either side of the fuselage.

  Frank started up the ramp and looked back. Lieutenant Riker made a motion with his right arm like he was twirling a lasso, signaling his men to get on board.

  Dr. Tomie, Isoba, Adanna, and Dayo were standing in front of the clinic and waving goodbye while the six soldiers left behind stood stoic with their weapons. One of the soldiers—a definite dog fancier—knelt and put his arm across Samson’s shoulder.

  Once everyone was safely on board and in their seats, the transport helicopter began to lift off.