“That is so cool,” Jesse said.
“And so big,” Laura responded. “How are we going to find where they took the townsfolk?”
“If this even is where the ants took them,” Henderson said.
“Make up your mind,” Laura said. “First you say we went the wrong way, then you say we went the right way, and now you’re back to where you started?”
“I don’t know,” Henderson said. “This is amazing, but for all we know there’s hundreds of these city things down here.”
“Um, I think this is the right place,” Murky said. “Look down over there at that place that looks like it might be an entrance.”
She pointed, and the rest looked in that direction. It appeared to be a weird color in the cavern’s green glow, but there was a smear of something near the entrance that looked a lot like blood, and there were a few pieces that might have been torn-off human limbs, but thankfully they were too far into the shadows for them to see too many details.
Even in the cave’s weird green glow, it was still easy to see Laura turn pale. “Is… is it anyone we know?”
“Looks like there might be some torn pieces of camo, so I’m thinking it’s some of the soldiers that Agent Larson said they took before,” Henderson said.
“So this is where the soldiers were taken,” Jesse said. “But how do we know that the townsfolk were taken here as well?”
“And even if they were, where would we even begin to look?” Henderson asked. “This place is huge, and for all we know they stuffed everyone in a broom closet somewhere.”
“I don’t know,” Laura said. “We’re going to have to get in there and start searching for any clues.”
“Okay, but how?” Henderson asked. “We would have to get past the guards.”
“What guards?” Laura asked.
“Look right over there,” Henderson said, pointing at a spot not too far from the tattered camo. It was in a corner with less of the glowing fungus, so it was hard to see at first, but there was indeed one of the ant creatures standing there. Murky had thought she’d be prepared to see one after the description they’d heard from Agent Larson, but it was completely a different thing when she finally saw one with her own eyes. In her mind she’d suspected something kind of cartoony, not the brown-carapace six-foot monster that was doing something like a patrol near the door. In almost all ways it looked like any other ant, or it would if real ants were the size of a motocross bike. Just as Agent Larson had said though, it had eight appendages instead of six, and its oversize mandibles included spikes that looked like it could impale someone if it ran headfirst into them. At the end of its top two pairs of legs it had small, thin claws like two thumbs right next to each other. In two of its hands it was carrying something long that looked like some kind of organically made spear, except with a large number of wicked-looking barbs and hooks at the end. It wasn’t anything any one of them would want to face down, especially when they themselves didn’t have anything at all that could be used as weapons. Well, not unless their dinosaur counted.
“I don’t know if we would be able to get past that thing,” Laura said. “There’s also probably a lot more inside. This isn’t looking very good for us.”
Murky looked to Chicago. “What do you think? Do you have any ideas?”
Henderson gave an exaggerated sigh of exasperation. “Even if he was capable of having an idea, it’s not like he could tell us.”
Maybe not, but Murky couldn’t help but notice that something else farther away down the cavern had caught the velociraptor’s interest. She followed his gaze down what almost looked like it could have been a road to see a number of large, strangely shaped green insects coming down it at a steady pace in single file.
“Hey look,” Murky said, pointing at the line. “What’s that?”
They all turned to look. The beginning of the line was some distance away, but it looked like it went on for quite a long way. The insects were nearly three times the size of the ants, but like the ants they had eight legs instead of six, more like a spider than an insect. Everything else about them though, made them look like nothing more than gigantic versions of bugs Murky had seen plenty of times out in the world.
“Those look like they could be this place’s version of aphids,” Jesse said.
“Isn’t that what doctors call it when someone has a heart attack or something?” Henderson asked.
“That’s afib, genius,” Jesse said. “An aphid is an insect that has a symbiotic relationship with ants. Ants use them for nectar or something like that, and in turn the ants keep them safe from predators.”
“So, uh, they’re the ant version of dairy cows?” Murky asked.
“I, uh, I never thought of it that way,” Jesse said. “But I guess that’s kind of correct.”
“So if those are supposed to be this dimension’s version of aphids,” Laura said, “then what are they doing right now?”
“They’ve got to eat if they’re going to produce anything for the ants to feed on,” Jesse said. “So I assume they’re coming in from wherever the ants take them to graze. Like sheep or cows being let out into the pasture and then being taken back into the barn at night.” He stared at the distant bugs intently, and Murky could tell that an idea was coming to him.
“If they’re going to be heading into the city, maybe we can use them as cover to go inside as well,” he said.
“How exactly would we do that?” Henderson asked.
“I’m not sure, but if we’re going to try it, I think we have to get over by them now.”
“He’s right,” Laura said. “If we’re going to try to hide among them to get past that ant guard, we have to get among them before they’re in easy sight of the entrance, and it looks like it will be pretty soon.”
“There’s a slope over there we can use,” Henderson said. “Come on.”
“Yeah, let’s go,” Murky said. She was about to gesture for Chicago to follow her when Laura stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.
“Murky, we can’t bring Chicago with us this time. In fact, maybe it would be a good idea if you didn’t come, either.”
“What?” Murky asked. “Why?”
“We can’t bring Chicago because he might scare the aphids,” Laura said. “Not to mention that, however we’re going to hide among them, Chicago’s going to stick out and get us caught.”
“That’s not true,” Murky said. “Chicago, you can pretend to be a bug, right?”
Chicago cocked his head at her. It didn’t seem likely that he would agree in any case.
“And if he’s going to stay behind, we probably need someone to keep an eye on him,” Jesse said. “If the ants see him running around out here, it might tip them off that something is going on.”
“You can do sentry duty,” Laura said. “Keep an eye out for when we come out with the others.”
“If we come out with the others,” Henderson said. “Or at all.”
Laura shook her head. “You’re not helping, Henderson.”
“Sentry duty,” Murky said contemplatively. “That sounds pretty important. Is it?”
“Sure,” Laura said. “Definitely.”
“And you’re not just trying to make me stay behind because of how dangerous it might be in there?”
“Of course not,” Laura said. Something about the look on her face made Murky think she wasn’t telling the truth, but she didn’t mind. If it meant she got to stay here with Chicago, then she was fine with all of it.
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
“Good,” Laura said. She hugged her little sister. “We’ll be back as quick as we can, and hopefully with everyone from Kettle Hollow behind us.”
The three of them snuck off down the nearest slope as quickly as they could. Murky turned to Chicago with a smile on her face.
“Sentry duty, Chicago!” she said. “This ought to be fun, right?”
Chicago’s only response was to yawn.
Chapter Eleven
“Be honest,” Henderson said to Laura as they quietly went down a path that they hoped would intercept the oncoming line of aphids while staying out of the view of the guards. “The reason you told Murky to stay behind is because you’re not entirely sure we’re going to make it in.”
“No, that’s not true,” Laura said, then, softly added, “It’s because I’m not sure we’re going to make it out.”
“At least I’m finally not the only pessimist here,” Henderson said.
They met up with the line of aphids right around a corner from the colossal city, a perfect place to plan to set up their stealthy entrance without being seen. The only problem though, was they didn’t have any idea what to do from here. There were no ants or anything like that herding the aphids back to the city; they seemed to be doing that on their own purely out of instinct. But there was no doubt that any ants guarding the front gate would see them if they just walked with or crouched among the line of giant bugs. They didn’t have a lot of time to come up with a plan, and Laura, who was tired and hungry and practically ready to collapse (and very much wishing she had grabbed a few of Murky’s marshmallows before Chicago had consumed them all), found her thinking was getting muddy. Jesse, however, seemed to have a second wind.
“I wonder,” he said aloud, then crouched down low to look at something underneath the bugs. “Yeah. Maybe that could work, if we can all hold on long enough.”
“What do you mean?” Henderson asked.
Jesse gestured for the two others to stoop down along with him. “Take a look.”
Laura got down on her hands and knees to look, but at first she wasn’t sure what Jesse saw that had him so excited. “All I see are giant bug legs and giant bug bellies.”
“Yeah, but look at their exoskeletons on the underside.”
Laura stared for a long time before she finally got it. “Those segments in the hard shell parts. We can use those as hand and footholds to hang from!”
“You want us to ride in underneath these things?” Henderson asked incredulously.
“One of these aphids by itself should be big enough to hold all three of us without us being easy to see from someone at normal eye height. Or abnormal ant height. Whatever.”
“I think maybe we can do it,” Laura said.
Henderson sighed and then shrugged. “What the hell. Why not. There could be worse ways to try to get in, right?”
He was singing a different tune, however, after the three of them had wriggled between one aphid’s legs and positioned themselves to dangling from its underside. The line of aphids was getting very close to the gate now, but Henderson couldn’t keep himself from getting his two cents in.
“These things totally smell like butt,” he said. “Once we get back to Kettle Hollow, I’m going to have to burn these clothes. I’ll never get the stink out.”
“And yet it still smells better than your gym shirt,” Jesse whispered.
“Shh!” Laura said. “Not so loud. One of the guards might hear you.”
As if on cue, one of the ant-men made a chittering noise and started moving towards their particular insect. Jesse started murmuring curse words quietly to himself.
“They’re going to find us,” he whispered. “This was a stupid idea!”
“It was your idea!” Henderson said.
“And it was a stupid one,” Jesse said. “You two are the leaders. You’re supposed to tell me when my ideas are stupid.”
“Hey, I’m not the leader,” Henderson said. “Blame that on Laura!”
“Who said I was the leader? Both of you just shut up or it will find us.”
The guard came up around the outside of the giant bug, but Jesse noticed something about the way the ant creature was moving. “I don’t think it can actually hear us,” he said.
Laura looked for a moment like she was going to freak out at how loudly he said, but as the seconds passed, she and Henderson realized he was correct. From their current position they couldn’t see much more than the ant creature’s lower four legs, but it hadn’t moved or reacted at all to Jesse’s voice.
“Do ants even have ears?” Henderson asked.
“I don’t think normal ants do, but these guys definitely don’t,” Jesse said.
“Then why is it investigating like it thinks something’s wrong?” Laura asked.
They didn’t dare move as the ant creature walked alongside the insect, moving back and forth as if it were agitated by something but not sure what. Finally, Jesse thought he had an answer. “It’s the smell.”
“Jesse, enough,” Laura said. “Jokes about Henderson’s gym shirt are just getting old now.”
“No, I’m serious. I think that it can kind of detect we’re here. But it can’t be sure because these aphid things are that smelly.”
The ant continued to pace back and forth in an agitated fashion. It never looked under the belly of the giant insect, but neither did it appear to be giving up on the idea that something was wrong. The aphid kept moving, but the attentions of the ant guard were slowing it down and causing the ones behind it to bump into it, jostling the three of them and threatening to make them lose their precarious grip on the creature’s underbelly. If they didn’t figure something out, they would be discovered long before the aphid got them through the entrance to the city.
“You said they can’t hear,” Laura said. “Are you sure that’s true?”
“I mean, kind of,” Jesse said. “I don’t think they really hear. It’s more like they can sense vibrations. He’s probably not sensing the vibrations of us talking because it’s being hidden by the vibrations of the bug’s legs on the stone.”
“Then I think I’ve got an idea,” Laura said. Being careful to keep her feet and one hand braced against the bug’s scaly underside, she reached over to Jesse and started to unzip his backpack. He started to protest but stopped when she carefully, without letting anything else fall out, pulled out his math textbook.
“What are you doing?” Henderson said to her. He didn’t seem to realize he was still whispering, regardless of whether or not the ant guard could hear him.
“Creating vibrations, and doing it away from us,” Laura said. She hefted the textbook a couple of times in her hand, testing to see its weight, and then flung it like a really heavy frisbee out in a direction behind them, away from the current position of the guard. The throw was awkward from her upside-down angle, but the book flew far enough to hit one of the walls with a hefty thumping noise.
It worked far better than any of them could have imagined. At the sound, the ant ran off after it, leaving their aphid to go back on its path with no more interruptions. The ant that had been investigating them wasn’t the only one who went after the sound, either. Several other guards that they hadn’t seen came scurrying from various shadowed places and jumped on the math book with savage ferocity. It seemed that none of them were now paying any attention to the aphids as the bugs marched through the gate, including the one with its three intruders hanging from its underside.
Jesse stared back at the guards ripping his math book to shreds, then looked at Laura. “Do you think she’ll believe me?”
“Do I think who will believe what?” Laura asked.
“My math teacher. Do you think she’ll believe me when I tell her that ants ate my homework?”
Henderson snickered and Laura had to hold back a laugh of her own. It might have been easier to appreciate the humor if they weren’t riding on the underside of a giant insect on their way into a hostile nest of human-sized killer ants.
The inside of the structure had the kind of waxy, papery texture to the walls that Laura associated with a wasp’s nest, although the material looked like it might be more durable. At regular intervals along the walls there were concentrated patches of the glowing fungus, obviously grown there on purpose to provide light like torches in sconces in a medieval castle.
“Okay, so now we’re in,” Henderson said. “What are we supposed to do from h
ere?”
“Well, first we’re probably going to have to ditch our ride,” Laura said. “I don’t know where exactly these things are going in here, but it’s probably not going to be the same place we want to go.”
Henderson let go of the aphid’s underside first and rolled out from between the legs before they could trample all over him. Laura and Jesse went at the same time but weren’t as graceful. While they didn’t end up getting trod on by the bug, they did trip it a little and cause it to walk slightly off the path that the others were following. As if suddenly confused, it stepped aside to let the other aphids pass and began to turn in a circle like it wasn’t sure where to go next.
“I think you guys broke it,” Henderson said.
“It doesn’t matter,” Laura said. “We need to get moving.”
They started to make their way down the various halls and found that the bug, very much like Chicago had done, was now following them. However, whereas Chicago had almost seemed to be doing it with a true sense of purpose, the aphid appeared to be doing because it had no idea what else it was supposed to do.
“Okay, so now where are we supposed to go?” Henderson asked. “The whole ‘follow the glowing fungus’ thing worked to get us here, but I don’t think that would be the best way to find our way around inside this place.”
“Well, I’m going to start by heading toward the noise,” Laura said. “Don’t you hear that? It sounds like there’s a bunch of those ant things in one place.”
“Somehow that does not reassure me,” Jesse said. “Under normal circumstances, I would say that wherever there are a large number of giant mutant ants from another dimension, that would be some place that I don’t want to be.”
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