Andy said dubiously, “That sounds like a lot of school to me.”
Gerry shrugged. “It was a lot of work, but the best thing about doing what you love for a living is that it doesn’t really feel like work.”
“How did you know that you wanted to be a scientist?” Andy asked.
“Well, like I said, I really was into animals when I was younger. I used to read about them all the time. I loved it.
“The thing was, my parents just didn’t understand my interest in science. They had other plans for me. My dad ran a carpet business, and my brothers and I were expected to get involved in the family business when we were old enough, and that included going to college and getting a business degree. But after a year in college, I was convinced that a business degree wasn’t right for me. I switched over to biology, and went from there.”
Andy looked at Gerry curiously. “Didn’t your parents care that you didn’t want to be a businessman?” Andy thought back to a time when he was very young and had wanted to become a fireman. His mother had taken him to a local fire station, and he had been able to see the massive ladder trucks. He wished he could call on his mother now.
“They were furious,” Gerry said ruefully. “They couldn’t believe I did it. My dad really blew a gasket. He wouldn’t speak to me for years. He thought I was crazy to get involved in a field that wasn’t a road to being rich. That’s all he knew. He’s right in that sense; nobody gets into science to get rich. But there’s nothing like exploring the world we live in to see how it all works. I’ve traveled to the Amazon, the deserts of Africa, and lots of other places in the world. My dad never went any farther than an hour’s drive from where he was born and raised. We were just two totally different people. That happens with families, sometimes.”
“Is he still mad at you?” Andy asked.
“He died a few years ago, but we were able to patch things over well enough. I think he realized that I would have been miserable if I’d been a carpet salesman, just like he’d have been miserable as a biologist. It all worked out okay.”
Andy was silent for the rest of the trek back to the ladder leading underground. He’d never met anyone like Gerry before, so excited about just learning things. His excitement was contagious. It made Andy want to help find out more about the deadly creatures, despite the danger they were in. Andy had never been all that interested in science before, but maybe with a teacher like Gerry, things might have been different.
They reached the ladder leading down to the lower-level sanctuary. Gerry herded them all into the “chemical room.”
“All right, guys,” Gerry began, “our little autopsy showed me a few things of interest. These creatures are some kind of mutated insect. They were built, or engineered, however you want to say it.”
Shields blurted out, “Built!? How … why?”
“I’m not really sure.” Gerry shrugged. “I suspect that this building was some kind of experimental genetic lab before it was turned into a school.
“The reason I think they have been … manufactured somehow is that they have precisely the kind of adaptations that would allow them to reach this huge size. Somebody designed these things. And they hoped to control them, to use them somehow.”
“What?” Pyro squeaked. “How could anyone possibly control those things?”
“Normal ants use chemical signals to communicate with one another. Their antennae pick up those chemical signals, which are laid down in trails. That’s why you always see ants following a narrow path back and forth when they find something to eat. The ants follow the chemical trail from their nest to the food and back. The creature I examined had well-developed antennae.
“That’s when I remembered these huge drums down here.” He patted the drum he was leaning against. It was labeled ROYALTY. “I believe that whoever made these things planned to use chemical signals to control them, possibly in battle, and to keep from being eaten themselves. Douse yourself with the ‘royalty’ chemical, and these creatures will not harm you. They’ll treat you like the queen bug.”
“How do you know it will work?” Joey demanded.
“I don’t,” Gerry admitted, “but it’s worth conducting a little experiment to find out.”
Andy insisted on coming along with Gerry to see if the chemicals would really have any effect on the creatures. Gerry had finally agreed, inwardly glad of the company.
The sun had dipped below the horizon, and the temperatures in the school started to cool down. As they made their way over the ceiling panels, Gerry muttered, “It’s still got to be about eighty-five degrees in here.”
They stopped for a water break, and as they rested, sweating out the water almost as they were drinking it, Andy asked, “I don’t understand how insects can pick up a chemical trail like you’re saying. How does that work?”
“Humans do it all the time,” Gerry replied. “We respond to smells, which are just chemicals carried through the air. That’s how perfume works. Or why your mouth starts watering when you smell a burger.”
Andy felt his stomach rumble hungrily at the mention of a burger.
“Ants use chemical trails as a kind of map to find food. The first ant to find a food source leaves a trail back to the nest. That trail is then followed by lots of other ants, each leaving their own chemical trail to the food, reinforcing the original trail. Their antennae can pick up the chemical trail as well as vibrations. Some ants make a sound, or stridulation, using parts of their bodies as a way of signaling to other ants.
“One important use for a chemical signal is to sound an alarm if an intruder enters the nest, or ants from an invading colony attack. That’s what I think this chemical is.” Gerry held up a small beaker of clear liquid with a rubber stopper in it. “If I’m right, we should see a definite reaction from any surrounding creatures.”
“Do you think you know what these things are?” Andy asked.
Gerry said thoughtfully, “I’m not entirely sure yet, but from the autopsy, I’d say that whoever made these things started with ant DNA. Then they manipulated the heck out of it. Some of them must have escaped before the original owners of this building left and they’ve been living underground, feeding on the local desert wildlife until that earthquake or explosion we had. It probably damaged the nest and forced the things to go looking for a new home.”
“I guess they found it,” Andy said.
They finished their bottles of water and started moving again. Dust from the crawl space covered them, and Andy’s nose was running. He sneezed.
Gerry started lifting ceiling panels to find a corridor in heavy use by the creatures. He had to brush several black ants from the panels to avoid getting stung. They knew they were getting close to the big bugs when that weird buzzing noise they made grew louder.
The third corridor they checked was alive with a stream of the giant creatures moving swiftly up and down the hallway. They climbed over one another, touching antennae as they passed. The buzzing was deafening.
“Jackpot,” Gerry said to himself grimly. A shiver ran up his back. Despite his intense interest in the giant bugs, he was petrified about actually standing face-to-antennae with them.
He poured a small amount of the liquid onto the back of an ant passing directly below.
Andy gasped at the speed and ferocity of the other bugs as they immediately turned on the unlucky “intruder.” The buzzing rose to a tortured shriek.
The creature was immobilized as the surrounding bugs clamped their serrated jaws on its legs.
Suddenly, a huge shadow fell over the unlucky bug as a massive head and mandibles came into view.
“Oh, man,” Gerry breathed. This creature was built differently. Its legs were shorter, but the size of the head and jaws was huge. Tiny eyes reflected pinpoints of light as the head moved back and forth, antennae touching the ground.
“I think that’s a soldier,” Gerry said above the noise.
One of the soldier’s spiny antennae touched the bug
drenched with the “intruder” chemical. The soldier jerked as if from an electric shock. The mandibles opened wide, and snapped shut, neatly slicing the captive’s body in two.
Andy felt a scream welling up inside him and clapped his hand over his mouth as it forced its way out.
The soldier’s antennae quivered, and it raised its massive head toward the ceiling, where Andy and Gerry watched. The head tilted this way and that as the soldier tried to sense their presence.
Gerry clamped his hand on Andy’s shoulder.
The soldier raised itself as high as it could, its jaws reaching within a couple of feet of Andy. It stood motionless for a few seconds. It seemed to know that they were there, but couldn’t pinpoint their presence.
It returned its attention to the dead bug in the hallway.
The rest of the creatures waded in and started cutting the unfortunate bug into smaller pieces.
Within a minute, the attackers carried off bits of the dismembered worker, and the excitement was over. The soldier left, and regular traffic in the corridor started up once again.
Gerry slowly lowered the ceiling panel and motioned for Andy to start making their way back to the others.
“I think that stuff works,” Andy said weakly.
By the time Gerry and Andy reached the coolness of the boys’ underground hideout, sweat was pouring off them, making dark spatters on the dusty cement floor.
Pyro leaped to his feet, his eyes wide. “So? So? How’d it go?”
“Yeah, did that stuff work?” Reilly asked.
Andy nodded tiredly. “Yeah, it worked. It was like a feeding frenzy.”
Hector looked at them. “Well, that’s good, right?”
“Yeah, it’s good,” Gerry said, wiping his glasses on his filthy shirt, “but I think there’s another problem.”
A burst of hysterical laughter bubbled up from Joey’s chest. “Another problem? Another one? You mean besides being stuck in this jail for kids in the middle of the desert? Besides the giant earthquake? Besides being chased by huge, mutant, man-eating bugs?”
“Hey, man … take it easy.” Shields put a hand on Joey’s shoulder.
Joey shook the hand off angrily. “You all think this college boy’s gonna get us out of here? Those things wiped out everyone at this school but us! This idiot” — he gestured toward Gerry — “wants us to just walk right through them!” He cackled madly. “Guess who’s coming for dinner?!”
Reilly stepped up to Joey and punched him in the face. He clenched his jaw tightly and said, “Shut up, Joey, or I’ll put your head through one of these crates.”
Joey had about thirty pounds on Reilly, and towered over him by a good five inches, but he backed down immediately, touching his reddening cheek, mouth trembling.
Reilly turned back to Gerry. “What kinda problem?”
Gerry said, “There seem to be different castes, or types, of bugs. The ones I had seen so far were workers. Andy and I saw one that had to be a soldier. From that observation, and what I saw in the autopsy, I think these things are based on some kind of ant. If that’s true, then it’s possible that they could spread from here very quickly.”
“I don’t get it,” Pyro said. “What do you mean, ‘other types’?”
Gerry replied, “Well, in a typical ant colony, you’ve got workers, soldiers, sentries, foragers, the queen … depending on the genus of ant, there could be seven or so different castes, each with a specialized body type and duties in the colony.
“I need to find out if that holds true for these gigantic bugs. I have to find out all I can before we get out of here. We have to understand them in order to deal with them.”
A small rain of dust fell from the ceiling.
“Hey, does anyone else hear that sound?” Hector asked, hesitantly.
The boys fell silent. A crunching sound could be heard faintly.
Gerry said, “They’re tunneling through the dirt, spreading the nest out underground. It’s possible that their mandibles are strong enough to cut through the concrete foundation.
“I need to go on a little reconnaissance mission to scope out this nest. I’ll soak myself with the royalty pheromone, and I should be able to walk around without being attacked.
“While I’m gone, I need you guys to map a route out of here. You all know the layout of this place better than I do.”
Gerry poured out some of the royalty chemical into a small flask and sprinkled it liberally on his arms, head, and clothing. “I’ll be back soon, guys. Hang tight.” He left the room, and Andy heard him climbing the ladder that led to the classrooms.
The boys looked at each other silently. Their faces reflected the fear and exhaustion they’d been immersed in since the earthquake.
Andy made his way to the wall and hesitantly placed his ear against it.
The crunching sound was getting steadily louder.
GERRY GINGERLY PICKED UP THE CEILING panel and moved it over to the side.
The corridor was empty. He lowered himself down to the floor, dropping the last couple of feet. He looked back up at the hole in the ceiling. It was too high for him to jump. The only way back up would be to have something to stand on.
Hopefully, he’d find that while he was looking around. Don’t forget to look before you leap, Rachel always said. She would have been right again; this was not a good idea. If anything happened to him, those boys would be on their own again.
The chemical he’d splashed on his shirt and pants had dried to a sticky consistency. Trickles of sweat, either from the heat or the state of fear he was in, plastered his grubby T-shirt to his skin. He needed a hot shower and about a month of sleep.
A shadow played across the end of the hallway, in the beams of a working emergency generator light. Something was coming around the corner.
He stood still, fighting the urge to run screaming in the other direction.
The shadow stopped for a moment. A ratcheting buzz echoed in the hall.
Gerry could hear the clattering of the thing’s clawed feet as it came toward him.
It was a soldier. The thing was huge, the size of a large tiger. Its bulk took up most of the width of the corridor.
Something was different about this one, Gerry noticed. There was another bug on top of the massive head with its curved, spiky jaws. The rider was a smaller bug, about the size of a small dog. This creature had a spindly body, with sticklike legs. Large, faceted eyes studied him.
Just like the sentries in a leaf-cutter ant nest, he thought excitedly.
The sentry’s head and antennae twitched quickly. It was getting ready to move.
He took a step back without thinking.
The smaller bug vaulted from its perch on the soldier’s head to land on Gerry’s chest, attack limbs flexed, knocking him down to the tiled floor.
He screamed and clenched his eyes shut, sure that the next thing he would feel would be his guts being sliced out of him.
Instead, the creature’s antennae flicked over him, touching here and there.
Then it was gone. It had leaped back to its post on the soldier’s head. The sentry and soldier touched antennae. The soldier lumbered past Gerry down the corridor.
Gerry sat up and watched the pair stalk down the hallway and disappear around a corner. He removed his glasses and wiped them on his shirt. They were still spotted with grime and sweat. He continued farther in toward the creatures’ nest, his heart pounding.
Reilly and Shields were making more slingshots out of metal brackets bent into shape, with rubber tubing stretched between the “arms” of the bracket.
“Hey, Shields. Where did you learn to make a slingshot out of spare parts like this?” Reilly asked as they worked.
“My dad,” replied Shields. “He’s a sniper in the Marines. He spent some time in Afghanistan, and picked up some things from the locals.” He grinned. “He showed me how to do a few things. I never thought it would come in handy, though.”
“Wow, awesome,” Rei
lly said. “My old man works in a chop shop. All I learned how to do is hot-wire cars.”
Andy, Pyro, and Hector were making sodium grenades by filling glass tubes with a little chunk of sodium and strapping them to other small glass vials filled with water. A small ball bearing taped to the two vials would smash both on impact, mixing the water with the sodium and resulting in an explosion.
Joey was supposed to be gathering food and water for the journey once they left the school, but he sat staring at the walls until one of the other boys reminded him to get back on task.
“What’s up with Joey?” Hector whispered, as Joey once again stopped packing and just sat facing away from them.
Andy shook his head. “I don’t know. He’s lost it, freaked out, I guess.”
Pyro snorted, “He was a tough guy when he was the biggest thing around, but now, when the tables are turned, he’s just a huge wuss.”
“He’ll be all right when we get out of here,” Andy said. He frowned. “That chemical stuff Gerry is using is great and everything, but I think we need a nice big distraction to tie these bugs up while we’re trying to get away. I have an idea, but I’m not sure how to make it work. That intruder chemical really made the bugs go nuts. If we could douse half of the bugs with that stuff, the other half would attack them. We’d be fine, because we’d have the royalty stuff on us. Both groups would recognize us as … I don’t know, queen bugs, I guess. It might make it easier to get out.”
“Yeah, yeah! That makes sense,” Hector exclaimed.
Andy grimaced. “The only part I can’t figure out is how to douse a bunch of the ants all at once.”
“Hmmm, yeah. I don’t know how we could do that.” Hector frowned.
Pyro stopped taping a grenade together. He got a faraway look in his eyes.
“Pyro, you okay?” Hector asked.
Pyro looked up at the ceiling and pointed. “I think I know how we can do it.”
Andy and Hector looked where he indicated. All they could see were ceiling panels, light fixtures, and some cobwebs. Hector shrugged at Andy.
Infestation Page 6