The Bug: Complete Season One

by Barry J. Hutchison

  FRANKLIN, MASSACHUSETTS

  May 25th, 12:40 AM

  “…”

  The darkness shifted behind Amy’s eyes.

  “…dead?”

  “Check.”

  “You check.”

  Everything hurt. She knew she should open her eyes, but it felt like that would require a lot more effort than she was willing to commit right now. Going back to sleep seemed like a far more sensible option.

  Something poked her in the face.

  “…the Hell are you doing?”

  “Checking she’s alive. I don’t think she is.”

  “I don’t think that’s the standard checking someone’s alive technique.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  Something poked her in the face again. Amy made a noise she hoped would demonstrate her annoyance.

  “She moved. She’s alive!”

  “Face poking. Works every time.”

  Amy forced one eye to open, swiveled it around to look at the inside of the car, then closed it again.

  When she opened it a second time, she saw two guys leaning in through the hole where the windshield had been. One of them looked worried, while the other grinned from ear to ear.

  “Wh-who are you?” she croaked. “What happened?”

  “I’m Jaden, this is Col,” said the grinner. “I’m afraid we might have sort of hit you with our train.”

  “Oh.” Amy frowned. It hurt substantially more than it should. “Train?”

  “Yes! We have our own train. We’re extremely wealthy,” Jaden said.

  “We stole it,” said Col.

  “He has his version of events, I have mine,” Jaden said, his smile never fading.

  A concerned-looking face appeared at another window. “You OK, honey?” asked a short black woman with even shorter hair. “I am so sorry I hit you. I wasn’t watching where I was going. I feel terrible.”

  “Don’t feel so hot myself,” Amy groaned. She unclipped her belt and held a hand up to Jaden and Col. “Help me out.”

  “I’m not sure you should move,” said Col. “You might have hurt your back.”

  “Well I’m not staying here,” Amy said. She nodded at her hand, then gritted her teeth as Jaden took hold of her wrist. “OK, pull.”

  Jaden pulled. Amy screamed.

  “Stop, stop, stop!”

  “What is it? Is it your back?” asked Col. “It’s your back, isn’t it? You’re not supposed to move crash victims. I knew it.”

  “It’s not my back,” Amy said. “It’s my leg. It’s stuck.”

  “How stuck are we talking?” Amanda asked. She craned down to peer into the car, but Amy’s legs were hidden behind a wall of crumpled metal.

  Amy twisted, her face contorting with effort. “I think I can… wriggle it out. Just give me a minute.”

  They stood watching her try to wrestle her leg out from under the dash. “I feel like we should be waving pom-poms in support or something,” Jaden said. “Come on, car lady, she’s our gal, if she can’t do it…” Jaden’s smile flickered. “I can’t think of a rhyme for the end of that.”

  “Where’s Mike?” asked Col, glancing around. “Did he get off the train?”

  “I think so,” said Amanda. “He’ll be checking the place out. Making sure everything’s safe.”

  “I’d feel a lot safer if he gave us our guns back,” Jaden said.

  “I wouldn’t,” his mom replied.

  Amy let out a yelp of pain as her leg jerked free of the wreckage. She held her hand out to Jaden again. “Try now.”

  With a grunt, Jaden managed to pull Amy out through the windshield. He dragged her until she was out from under the hood, then let her arms drop. Amy lay flat on her back on the road, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath.

  “What’s happening?” she managed between gasps. “Everyone’s gone nuts.”

  “We’ll explain on the train,” said Amanda. “Help her up and let’s get her aboard.”

  Jaden and Col both leaned down and caught Amy under the arms. “What’s your name?” Col asked.

  “Amy.”

  “OK, Amy. You ready?” Col said.

  Amy nodded. Col turned to Jaden. “OK, on three. One, two, three.”

  As they started to lift, there was a sudden hiss from the train’s wheels. Metal creaked. All eyes went to the closest carriage, just as it began to roll forwards along the track.

  “What the fuck…?” Jaden spat, releasing his grip and straightening up. Amy yelped in pain as she fell back to the ground. “He’s taking the train,” Jaden realized. “He’s taking the damn train!”

  “Mike!” Amanda shouted. “Mike, what are you doing?”

  Jaden and Col broke into a sprint, running alongside the train as it picked up speed. Col reached up and hammered a fist against the side. “Stop! Mike! You can’t just leave us here. Stop!”

  The train continued to accelerate and swept ahead along the tracks. Jaden stopped running and bent double, his hands on his thighs. Col ran on for a few more seconds, before stumbling to a stop. They stood in silence, watching as the train clattered around a bend and vanished out of sight.

  “You know,” said Jaden, once the train had disappeared into the darkness. “I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that Mike is something of an asshole.”

  EPISODE FIVE

  HIGHBRIDGE, BY FORT WILLIAM, SCOTLAND

  May 25th, 8:26 AM

  Martin Marshall turned into the driveway, pulled on the brake, then screamed as a Golden Retriever exploded just off to the right of the car, spattering the window in speckles of red.

  “What the fuck was that?” Marshall yelped, jerking his body away from the glass.

  Daniel leaned over from the passenger seat and peered past him. Out in the garden, Moira was swinging around with a shotgun, just as a German Shepherd hurled itself through the air towards her.

  Boom! Fire spat from the end of the barrel and the dog changed direction, mid-flight. “Jesus Christ! What’s she doing?” Marshall cried.

  “Shooting those dogs,” said Daniel.

  “I can see that! By why’s she doing it?”

  “How should I know?” asked Daniel. “I’m seeing the same thing you are!”

  They watched the pensioner step over the trembling remains of the German Shepherd. Moira spun her shotgun around and slammed the butt down on the dog’s head. The crack made Marshall throw up in his mouth, just a little, and he grimaced as he swallowed it back down.

  “She’s lost it,” he whispered. “She’s completely fucking lost it!” He crunched the gearstick into reverse, but Daniel stopped him.

  “Wait. Look at the little one,” he said, pointing out through the blood-streaked glass at a small grey Scotty dog that was scampering across the grass towards Moira. Its mouth was drawn up in a snarl, the fur on its back all standing on end. “It looks really angry.”

  “So would I be!” said Marshall. “She’s just killed all his mates. I’d be fucking furious.”

  “No, but look at it,” Daniel urged.

  Marshall ducked left and right, trying to get a clear view of the dog through the hundreds of red blobs that were now dribbling down the outside of the glass. Sure enough, the mutt didn’t just look angry, it looked full-blown, foaming-at-the-mouth deranged.

  It made a lunge for Moira, its teeth bared all the way past the gums. Like a striking cobra, she bent and snatched the dog from the air, her fingers bunched up on the scruff of its neck. Flipping it over, she caught both its front legs in one hand and both back legs in another. Daniel and Marshall both drew back in horror as she violently forced the legs apart, bending the dog’s back until—

  Snap.

  The dog stopped fighting. Moira let the limp body fall onto the grass, then wiped her hands on the front of her cardigan. She turned to the car and smiled, then beckoned for Marshall and Daniel to come out.

  “You’re OK. It’s safe now,” she said. “In you come. I’ve got the kettle on.” />
  With a final glance around the garden, Ms Hoon trudged back into the house, leaving the door open. Daniel and Martin sat perfectly still, staring at the door. A wisp of golden fur floated towards the windshield, then got itself stuck in a splodge of blood. Daniel swallowed, then smiled weakly at Marshall.

  “After you,” he urged.

  “Gee, thanks,” Marshall muttered. He opened the door, stepped out, then almost screamed again as a battered Ford came within spitting distance of knocking him over as it turned sharply into the driveway.

  Daniel clambered out of the other door. They both stood watching as the driver’s door of the Ford flew open, and a hulking shape in a brown overcoat emerged.

  “The fuck are you staring at me like that for?” demanded DCI Hoon. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  FRANKLIN, MASSACHUSETTS

  May 25th, 1:07 AM

  Jaden stretched on his tiptoes and peered in through the darkened window of what he sincerely hoped was an empty house.

  After Mike had made off with the train, Jaden, Col, the new girl, Amy, and Jaden’s mom, Amanda, had spent several minutes arguing over the best course of action, before deciding by a majority vote that they should find somewhere to hole up for the night.

  Col’s arm was bleeding from where he’d been bitten back in Boston, Amy was still dazed from having her car smashed to pieces by the train, and Amanda… well, Amanda’s legs weren’t what they used to be, and walking through the night wasn’t something that really appealed to her, if she were being honest.

  Only Jaden had been keen to keep moving, yet here he was, drawing the short straw again, being forced to check the house wasn’t filled with zombies – yes, he still saw no reason to call them anything else, despite Col’s protests – and make sure it was safe for them to take shelter in.

  Still, Amy – the girl they’d pulled from the wreckage – was fairly hot, and bravely taking the lead like this was bound to make him look pretty damned desirable, he reckoned.

  “Looks OK,” he said. He rapped his knuckles loudly on the glass. Behind him, he heard Col hiss in shock.

  “What are you doing? If someone’s inside, they’ll hear you.”

  “That’s pretty much the point,” Jaden said. “If they start trying to smash the window with their face, we’ll know not to go in.”

  Half-hidden behind the garden shed, Col opened his mouth to argue, realized he couldn’t really fault Jaden’s logic, and so closed it again.

  Inside the house, the darkness remained perfectly still.

  “I think we’re OK,” Jaden said. He tossed a brightly-colored garden gnome from one hand to the other, getting used to the weight of it. As weapons went, it wasn’t great. That asshole Mike had taken their guns, though, so they had to make do with what was available, and what was available right now was a grinning garden ornament with a cheerful red hat.

  Holding the gnome poised and ready to swing in his right hand, Jaden slowly reached for the door handle with his left.

  “Careful,” said his mom.

  Jaden jumped. “Fuck. Don’t do that,” he snapped. He shot Amanda an accusing glare, waited for her to nod her understanding, then reached for the handle again.

  He pressed it down quickly, then jumped back, gnome raised. The door remained closed.

  He tried the handle again. “Locked,” he announced.

  “Damn,” said Col. “What do we do? Try a different house?”

  “Break the glass,” Amy suggested, pointing to the door.

  Jaden looked the frost-effect window up and down. With a shrug, he hurled the gnome at it. The gnome shattered instantly, then fell in pieces onto the step. The glass, however, remained completely intact.

  “Well, so much for that plan,” said Jaden, then he ducked, avoiding a rock that whistled past him. The glass shattered, and Amy thrust her hand in through the gap it left. With a clunk, the door unlocked. Amy pulled it open, peered briefly into the gloom, then stepped inside.

  Jaden hesitated, then smoothed down the front of his shirt. “Mom, be on the lookout for a new hat,” he said. “I’m going to marry that girl.”

  “No, you’re not,” came the reply from inside.

  Jaden nodded smugly. “Totally am,” he mouthed, silently, then he followed Amy inside.

  ***

  Col flexed his fingers. The wound on his forearm smarted, but it looked worse than it actually was. At least, that’s what he kept insisting.

  “It isn’t infected,” he said. “It’s just a bite. Just a normal, non-zombie bite. I’m not going to turn into anything.”

  Jaden and Amy leaned over the table where Col’s arm was resting. Jaden bent low to peer more closely at the wound. “Jesus. What’s that green stuff?” he asked.

  “What green stuff?” Col gasped, pulling his arm up to look. He caught Jaden’s grin and had to fight the urge to punch him. “You asshole!”

  “Still reckon we should amputate,” Jaden said. “Better safe than sorry.”

  “You’re not cutting my arm off,” Col sighed.

  Jaden put his hands on his hips. “Well, that is a very selfish attitude,” he said. “If you turn, you’ll put every one of us in danger. The least you could do is let me chop your arm off.”

  “No.”

  “Below the elbow, I mean. We’re not talking shoulder. I’m not a monster.”

  “Shut up, Jaden,” Col said.

  Jaden shrugged. “Suit yourself, but I still think you’re being very selfish, Columbo.”

  Amy raised an eyebrow. “Columbo?”

  Col sagged in his chair as Jaden’s eyes lit up. “Oh yes!” Jaden crowed. He cleared his throat, like a great orator preparing to deliver a speech. “You’d be forgiven for thinking that ‘Col’ stood for ‘Colin’ or… I don’t know, ‘Colchester’ or something…”

  “Colchester?” said Amy.

  “Or something,” said Jaden. “But you’d be wrong.”

  He made a show of presenting Col, like a gameshow host showing off the star prize. “Introdcing the one and only Columbo TJ Quincy Swanson.”

  Col gave a sheepish wave. “Hi.”

  “His mom was addicted to TV cop shows of the late 70s and early 80s,” Jaden explained.

  Amy frowned. “Jesus,” she said, shooting Col a look of pity usually reserved for people with terminal cancer. “But hold on, Quincy wasn’t a cop, he was a doctor or something. Wasn’t he?”

  “A Forensic Pathologist,” Jaden said. “But solved more cases than all the cops who appeared on the show combined, so same difference, far as Ma Swanson’s concerned. Mind you, it’s his sisters you have to feel really sorry for.”

  “Oh?”

  Jaden nodded. “Cagney and Lacey.”

  “Shut the Hell up,” said Amy.

  “Don’t listen to him,” said Col. “I don’t have any sisters. He makes that joke every time.”

  “Because it’s an excellent joke,” said Jaden.

  “Oh. Right. So you’re name’s not Columbo, then?” Amy asked.

  Col shifted on the hard kitchen chair. “Well, I mean, yeah, that part’s true. I just don’t have sisters. He made that part up.”

  Amy nodded. “Columbo,” she said, rolling the word around in her mouth as if she were tasting it. “Col-um-bo.” Eventually, she smiled down at Col, and Col instinctively smiled back. “I like it. It’s cool.”

  “It’s Coolumbo,” said Jaden. “Boom!” He held up a hand for a high-five, but no-one was forthcoming with one. “No?” He shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

  He turned away from the table and headed for the refrigerator, blinking as the glow of the light cast an orange sheen across the kitchen. “Anyone hungry?” he asked.

  “Yeah, starving,” said Col.

  Amy nodded. “I could eat.”

  “Then you’re shit out of luck,” said Jaden, pushing the door wide to reveal shelves that were almost bare. “Bitch’s fridge is like Old Mother Hubbard’s cupboard.”

  “Wel
l, what about the cupboards? Check those,” Amy suggested.

  “Hey, lady, you’re not the boss of me,” Jaden said, but he turned and started searching through the kitchen cabinets anyway.

  Amy sat on the chair across the table from Col. He was trying without much luck to wrap his bandage back over his wound. “Want a hand with that?” Amy asked.

  Col looked up at her in surprise. “Uh, yeah. That’d be great. It’s pretty gross, though.”

  “I have a little brother, I’m pretty used to gross,” Amy said, then the significance of what she’d said hit her. She took both ends of Col’s soiled bandage in her suddenly trembling hands. “Had,” she whispered.

  “Oh. Sorry,” said Col. “Want to, you know, like talk about it?”

  Amy shook her head. “Definitely not,” she said.

  Col blew out his cheeks. “That’s a relief. No idea what you’re meant to say in those situations.”

  Amy smiled half-heartedly, then took a moment to compose herself. “Do you know what’s happening? What’s making everyone act so crazy?”

  “Noodles,” announced Jaden. Amy wasn’t sure what answer she’d been expecting, but it definitely wasn’t that one. She and Col looked round to find Jaden holding up two packs of instant noodles. “Curry or Bacon flavor. Any preference?”

  Amy stuck her tongue out in disgust. “Neither, really,” she said.

  Jaden studied the packets. “Yeah. The best before is, like, two years ago.” He tossed the packets onto the counter. “I’ll keep looking.”

  Amy returned to tying up Col’s bandage. “It’s going to sound really crazy,” Col said. “But we think everyone’s being turned into…”

  “Zombies,” chimed Jaden.

  “Whatever they are,” said Col, “by these sort of…”

  “Bugs?” Amy asked.

  Col nodded. “Yeah. Exactly. By bugs.”

  “I saw them,” said Amy. “My dad… he mentioned seeing them, too, right before he started to act… You know, to act…”

  “On Broadway?” Jaden suggested.