Mandible

by Ian Woodhead

  “What the fuck?” yelled Jason. He took one more look at the remains of Marty before pointing his own gun at Andrew. “What the fuck?”

  Andrew fired off another shot. This one passed within inches of Jason's head and smashed into the lattice behind him, igniting the wooden shell.

  “What? Are you honestly telling me that you weren’t aware that your pal was infected?” He raised the staff weapon a little higher. “You're still pointing that at me. See, the thing is, I heard the firefight,” said Andrew. “And I'm guessing that you're out of bullets.” He grinned. “Yes, I thought so. There goes the tell-tale facial flicker, soldier boy.” He fired again, igniting another stall. “I could do this all day. Unlike human guns, my gorgeous, little temptress will not run out. Now, do the right thing and drop the gun.”

  Jason sighed loudly before starting to lower his pistol. “Infected by the Mantil? How can you possibly know that?”

  Ellis darted her gaze to the side. The fire was spreading fast. It had already started to leap from stall to stall. The cocoons inside crackled and popped as the intense heat cooked their contents.

  “There's more of them!” screamed Lorraine. “Oh God, they're coming this way.”

  Three bright red beetles and over a dozen Mantil soldiers were heading straight for them. They were trying to escape the spreading fire. Andrew ran past her.

  “Go, get out of here. I'll hold them off as best I can”

  “Thank you.” Ellis tried to give the man a hug only for Jason to pull her away.

  “Come on, let’s get the hell out of here!”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  The fire was spreading faster than they could run! Ellis whimpered and gritted her teeth in pain after tripping over the hexagonal lattice which had decided to grow horizontal instead of vertical. She managed to stay upright. She knew full well that falling meant certain death. Both Jason and Lorraine were far too busy looking after themselves. Not that she blamed them. After all, she was the one who left them inside the nail bar while she ran off.

  In truth though, Ellis believed her running away had nothing to do with them two not looking out for her. They were just too busy trying to save their own lives. She whimpered again when a stall right next to her burst into flames. Oh God, it had already reached them; already, the tattered shirt on her back had started to smoulder.

  She cried out Jason's name. They both halted, turned, grabbed an arm each and carried Ellis. “I'm so sorry,” she whispered. “I didn't mean to leave you in there. I needed to say that before we die.”

  Jason told her to stop being silly. “That's not going to happen. Look at that!”

  “Is that your friend, Ellis?”

  They had reached the resin tunnel and Lorraine was right. The figure kneeling down and frantically urging them to hurry up really was Aroon! “He's still alive!”

  Jason reached the tunnel first. With Lorraine's help, they lifted her up. Aroon grabbed her hand. Once she was safe, Aroon reached down and pulled Lorraine into the tunnel. Jason managed to heave himself up. He glared at Aroon. “Me and you will be having words in a minute.” He glanced back. “Once we're safely away, that is.”

  He pulled the rest of his body into the tunnel, scrambled onto his feet and ran over to Ellis. “Come on!” he said. “Move those legs!” Jason pulled her through the tunnel. Aroon and Lorraine were right behind them.

  Aroon managed to get in front. He stopped beside the first junction they reached and told them they had to go this way.

  “Fine by me,” replied Jason. He helped Lorraine and Ellis inside. “Are you two okay?”

  Ellis nodded. “We're still alive, I guess. As for being okay?”

  Lorraine took her hand. “Just focus on the alive bit, honey. That's the most important bit. The rest will come in time.”

  Jason smiled at Ellis. “It's been a crazy ride, that's for sure.” He then turned his attention to Aroon. The soldier wrapped his fingers around his throat. “Care to explain why you, oh so conveniently, decided to fuck off and leave us all in the lurch?”

  Aroon's hands slapped at Jason's arm but it had no effect.

  “I don't think he can speak. You're holding him too tight,” replied Ellis. She leaned closer. “Let's hear what he has to say, Jason. Then you can throttle the bastard.”

  Jason eased his grip ever so slightly.

  “Look, I didn't run away. I know it looks like it but I didn't. You need to believe me.”

  Jason looked at Ellis who nodded.

  “Throttle the weasel.”

  “Wait!” he cried. “I know a way out. I mean past that energy barrier. It isn't as impenetrable as the insects think.”

  Jason lowered his arm. “You better not be lying.”

  “Why do you think I came back? Okay, so I'll admit it. When I saw those insect soldiers coming my way, I absolutely shit myself and ran away. There. Satisfied, Mr. fucking hero of the hour? I could have left you all in here. You know that don't you? I didn't though. I returned, only for you to act all pissy because I did what most people would probably do.”

  Jason backed off.

  “I should think so too,” mumbled Aroon. “Come on then, time's wasting.”

  He took off down the tunnel, not giving the others any time to catch up.

  “Are you going to be alright? I mean with your leg.”

  “I'll be fine,” replied Ellis. “You stay with Aroon and make sure he doesn't try anything.”

  “Oh, don't you worry about that score.”

  “It's okay,” said Lorraine. “I'll help her.” She put Ellis's arm over her shoulder. “Go, Jason. For crying out loud, before you lose him.”

  With Lorraine's help, she managed to cover quite a lot of ground. They didn't catch up to the other two but as the tunnel only split into two sections the one time, they were able to keep going the right way. At the split, Jason had thoughtfully dropped a couple of spent rounds to indicate which direction to choose.

  “I hope he is telling the truth, Ellis. I really do. I'm not sure how much of this insanity I can take.”

  “I can't even answer that,” she replied. “I mean, I want to believe him. Believe me, I really do, but after all the shit we've been through, my faith is shot to shit.”

  The pair slowed down as daylight filtered through the tunnel. Lorraine picked up the pace, apparently forgetting she was still helping an injured woman. Not that Ellis minded. Feeling the sun on her skin after spending Christ knows how much time away was a pleasure worth the pain.

  They came out in front of the town's main car park. Jason and Aroon were waiting for them. Ellis kept her gaze on the heavy, grey clouds now obscuring the sun. She didn't want to look at the extensive damage caused by that hexagonal, coral-like stuff. It was worse here than the market, much worse. The pale blue lattice had already climbed up to the third floor of most of the buildings. It totally changed the appearance of her town. It wouldn't be long before the stuff covered over every human built structure in the town.

  The energy dome had not shifted. Just beyond the barrier were dozens of soldiers, armoured vehicles, even a couple of tanks. Behind them was a wire fence, holding back hundreds of people. If Aroon was right then, with luck, she and her friends would be back in the company of real people real soon. If this escape tunnel went both ways, then it would give those soldiers time to strike back and give those insect bastards a bloody nose.

  “We're nearly there,” said Aroon. “Come on, we have to hurry. It's not safe out in the open. There's still a lot of the flying insects around. The soldiers didn’t get all of them.” He ran along the car park and stopped directly outside the old cinema. “Come on, don't dawdle.”

  Lorraine and Jason followed him. Ellis struggled to keep up. She didn't blame them being so eager to get out of this nightmare. Jason had already told her that as soon as he got back, his first task would be to lead a squad of soldiers back in here and wipe out every single one of the bastards. Lorraine just wanted to go and visit her
mum.

  By the time she reached the cinema, the other three had used the alleyway beside the building. That took them to the town square. She followed them, noting that unlike the rest of the town, this area was relatively untouched. She did spot the occasional piece of honeycomb lattice precariously clinging to the damp walls. Ellis guessed that perhaps the stuff wasn't too keen on growing where hundreds of late-night pub goers had been using this alleyway as a toilet for Christ knows how many decades.

  Ellis stopped at the exit, her thoughts that perhaps they might have found another weapon against the insects vanished when her eyes fell upon a new structure, right in the middle of the town square.

  It stood at about four levels high, shaped like a concave spike and, from what she could tell, composed entirely of the hexagonal lattice. Unlike the other stuff, this was a deep red.

  Aroon and the others stood in front of it. He waved at her, and telling Ellis to hurry up.

  She stayed put and shook her head. No, no way was she going anywhere near that thing. It was difficult to tell from where she stood but it appeared that Jason was having second thoughts as well.

  What was she going to do? Ellis moved forward, knowing that whatever Aroon was up to, she couldn't stay here.

  Her movement away from the building saved her life as three giant black beetles and a yellow mantis emerged out of the dark shop. They saw her straight away.

  Ellis screamed and ran as fast as she could towards the group. Jason ran towards her. He kept shouting but she couldn't work out what he was saying. It's only when he reached Ellis and pulled her back to the tower that she saw just how close those insects were getting.

  “We're not going to make it!” She tore her gaze off the advancing armada of death and looked over to Lorraine. Aroon already had the door open. Her friend was at the doorway, urging her to hurry.

  “Wait, that's not right. The insects are slowing down.”

  Ellis heard the words but she had no intentions of staying out here. The tower might send her guts into free-fall for some inexplicable reason but what alternative did they have?

  She reached the doorway. Lorraine pulled her inside then shut the door when Jason had thrown himself through. “Where's he gone?”

  “There's only one direction,” she replied.

  "We had better hurry,” said Jason. He set off down the narrow passageway.

  They travelled for less than a minute before they caught up with Aroon. He stood next to another archway. The device had already been activated. Ellis moaned softly. There was no way through the energy barrier! Jason tightened his grip. He obviously felt the same way.

  “Well?” said the grinning Aroon. “Don't just stand there like a trio of imbeciles. In you go. Oh, there’s no point even thinking about going back the way you came. I've already remotely opened the door. Several beetles are currently examining the doorway, probably wondering if there's any food in here.”

  Tears ran down her eyes. He was right. What other choice did they have? “Are you ready?”

  Lorraine nodded. Jason bent down and kissed her before nodding too. Ellis kept her grip on his hand then closed her eyes and stepped through.

  “Oh, you have got to be joking!”

  Ellis snapped her eyes open. The first sight that greeted her was her friend standing next to Aroon wearing a huge smug smile. She looked away, already aware of the ramifications.

  They were in the middle of a huge auditorium. Thousands of Mantil eyes were watching them. Ellis then saw the two open cocoons “Oh no. Please. Not that!”

  Lorraine grabbed her while Aroon took Jason. She tried to fight but, just like her boyfriend, their efforts had absolutely no effect.

  “Lorraine. What the fuck is wrong with you? Let me go!”

  “Sorry, honey,” she replied. “I'm no longer Lorraine. The other human was right about Marty. He infected and changed me, back in that DIY shop.” She pushed Ellis into the open cocoon and as soon as her arms and legs were inside, pale, wet webbing burst out from the cocoon 's green flesh and wrapped over the limbs, fastening her in place. Jason was still fighting Aroon, struggling and shouting. He soon stopped when more webbing wrapped over his limbs, including a thick strip curling over his mouth.

  Aroon leaned inside Ellis's open cocoon, “Out of the thousands of humans in this town, who could have possibly believed that you could be one of the two survivors? If I wore a hat, I'd take it off to you.”

  “Let us go, Aroon!” she sobbed. “How can we be of use to you?”

  Aroon giggled. “Strange choice of words there. Your little friend here said the exact phrase right after I ate his father's brain. I stood over the shivering individual back in his dad's restaurant while wondering what to do about killing the few human survivors still in the town. In a way, his words are the reason why you're in this mess, Ellis. The burning of my other infected humans and Andrew's refusal to join me had something to do with it but that's beside the point.”

  The lid began to close.

  “Oh God. Please. I don't want to die!”

  “Who said anything about dying? You two are going to help us infect and alter the rest of your species. You're obviously of good genetic stock.”

  The lid closed. Ellis screamed and shrieked, only stopping when freezing gelatinous fluid rapidly filled up the interior and poured down her throat.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  The Final Act

  He didn’t ask why a beautiful woman's supple fingers were massaging his thighs. His mouth stayed shut. It felt like the right thing to do. She kinda reminded him of a gentle deer. Granted, a gentle deer with long auburn hair, full sensual lips and a chest he could lose himself in.

  Opening his mouth and coming out with some stupid wise crack might make her run off. Oh, those fingers really were the business. All the tension built up since this bollock-fest fell on him slowly eased away. Leaving more relaxed than he'd felt even before those bastards put him inside for his last post office job.

  “Andrew, change is now inevitable, but for better or worse is now in your hands alone.” The woman pulled her fingers back.

  He wanted to beg for this adoring female to continue. It didn't matter that he'd just figured out who she was. All Andrew wanted right now was to feel those expert hands upon his flesh.

  Is this how she used to look? Did the essence of his staff weapon once possess a human body, or was this just how she wanted him to believe she looked?

  “You have allies. Ones you have already met and ones still in the shadows. You have to act now or everything will be lost!”

  The woman sat up. Andrew tried to scramble backwards but his legs refused to function. The woman's shape altered. It lengthened and lost mass.

  “You have got to be shitting me,” he growled, when armoured sections of dark-green shell grew rapidly over the creature's body. “A Mantil.”

  It spoke something in an unknown tongue, then raised one of its serrated arms, then slammed it into Andrew's guts...

  He sat up, screaming in agony. There was no Mantil anywhere near and his guts were intact. Andrew managed to turn his head and saw exactly why the excruciating pain threatened to make him go insane.

  [It's best you don't look at it.]

  “How the fuck can I not?” he screamed. “My arm is now a blackened stump!” The scorched meat reminded Andrew of burnt pork. He was going to throw up any second. The market blazed away some distance from where he lay. Andrew didn't have a clue how he had got here. Nor did he care. “The pain!” he shouted. “I can't fucking stand it any more.”

  [There's a chrysalis next to your undamaged arm, Andrew. I want you to sit up, stop whining like a big baby and push your fingers through the thick flesh.]

  “What? What are you going on about?”

  [Just fucking do it!] screamed the voice. [We're fast running out of time.]

  He did as the voice commanded, even though moving just a millimetre caused the agony to treble. His fingertips touched the surface, then
while holding his breath, he pushed through the outer coating.

  Just for a brief moment, Andrew's mind filled with billions more voices. He sighed in ecstasy. He shook his head. The pain had gone. “What the hell just happened then?”

  [We had your first connection. Don't let it bother you. Look at your arm, Andrew.]

  Thick cream fluid had travelled from the hole he'd torn through the surface, down his arm, across his chest and covered the affected, blackened area. Through the glaze, he saw spots of baby pink skin peppering the burnt arm.

  [Come on. Up you get. It'll heal as you move.]

  “Where am I supposed to go?” He found that question didn’t need an answer once Andrew had spotted the huge red tower. Several giant insects congregated around the door but they quickly scarpered when he fired a single blast of energy.

  Andrew raced through the doorway and down a narrow corridor. He skidded to a stop when he saw an activated archway at the end of the passageway. “What's through there?”

  [Your future,] she answered.

  “Oh very helpful.” Andrew counted to three then ran into the swirling blue energy vortex.

  He emerged inside an arena of some sort. There were two pulsating cocoons lying on the low platform while two humans, a man and a woman, stood beside them. Thousands of Mantil stood around the platform, chanting. The noise stopped moments after they all became aware of a new arrival.

  [Shoot the two cocoons,] shouted the voice. [Please, hurry!]

  Andrew took aim and fired off two shots. The human female got a little too close and the plasma energy turned her into a blazing statue.

  Two wet naked figures fell onto the platform. Even from where he stood, Andrew could see the drastic changes that the enzymes inside the cocoons had caused to the bodies. They did not even resemble humans.

  The remaining human clicked his fingers and one of the Mantil warriors ran over to him. The human slowly approached Andrew and as he neared, the face changed into Nelson.

  “A nice entrance, Andrew,” he said. “Very dramatic. A bit pointless though. They might not be fully ready for flight but give it a few more minutes to allow the changes to complete and each one will explode into billions of spores. The invasion will continue.”