Amoeba (The Experiments)

by Jacqueline Druga

  “Christ.” Aldo had a snicker to his voice. “That’s an answer you give quite a bit. If you always work this hard, I want you working somewhere for me.”

  “Dr. Haynes.” Barb called his attention.

  “Yes Barb?” Greg had a pleasant smile. “What’s up?”

  “Look.” Barb pointed to the screen that had been designated to monitor the news.

  A farm house was on the screen, under it the word ‘Honolulu’, and the male newscaster with Central News Network was peering at the camera. “The word ‘serial’ is now being attached to the acid-style slayings now said to have claimed its tenth through fifteenth victims. The bodies of a family of six were found this morning dead in their home west of Honolulu. With this being the fourth finding this week, authorities are now following a murderous trail that seems to be leading straight to the Koolau Range . . .”

  When the newscaster switched stories, Greg hit the volume button. “Mountains.”

  Colin looked at Greg. “Caves.”

  “Nesting.” Greg raised his eyebrows.

  “We have to stop them.” Colin peered at the news. “Before we have another Carrington on our hands.”

  Aldo stepped between the two of them. “You really believe they’re in Honolulu now? Christ. What are you gonna do?”

  Greg took a breath, slowly releasing it through the hand that ran down his face. “Maybe now it’s time to pull a Cal.” He saw the confused looks on the faces of those who listened to him. “Time to face the music and confess.”

  I-S.E. Thirteen - The Island

  August 8th - 9:15 a.m.

  Jake’s eyes rose to the ceiling from his watching an amoeba when he heard the rattling of glasses. He waded through the trembling ground then blew on his cold hands and returned to work. “That thing is gonna blow again.”

  “Probably.” Stan set a clipboard down in front of Jake. “But we’re safe.”

  “Hell, maybe we’ll get lucky and burn out half the amoebas,” Richard commented.

  Jake cringed when he heard the shrieks coming from down the hall, followed by the laughter. “Or maybe we’ll just burn out the energy of one Iso-stasis beastly boy.”

  “No dudes, wait.” Rickie ran after Cal, Billy, and Lou. “You have to, like, do this.”

  “I hate zombies, Rickie,” Cal stated. “No.”

  “They’re, like, dead Cal-babe.” Rickie pulled her arm. “Come on. I’ve never known you to be . . . afraid.”

  “Well, I’m with child. I’m afraid for my child.”

  “Me, too,” Billy added.

  “Me, too,” Lou said.

  “Aw.” Rickie whined. “Please. I’ve been practicing.”

  Cal hesitated, looked at Lou and Billy, and then reluctantly followed Rickie. “All right. But if they’re still there, I’m killing you.”

  “Cal-babe, we’ll just feed them to the amoebas.” Rickie led them down the long corridor. “Like, pretend it’s Halloween and you’re at your favorite haunted house.” Rickie reached for the doors. “Ready?”

  They all nodded.

  Rickie softened his voice to a story telling one. “Not long ago, they lived here. Chomping on the flesh of a dude called Cliff. They got the taste of blood and wanted more. What began as a Wes Craven tale grew into an Iso-Stasis nightmare. Prepare to visit the Rickie-Meister world of people under the stairs.” Rickie opened the door. “Go on. It’s dark. But be afraid. Be very afraid.” Rickie snickered.

  Cal led the way with Lou and Billy behind her. “Rickie, don’t shut the door, okay?”

  “Wouldn’t do it, Cal-babe.”

  “That’s what you said last time.” Cal stepped down the step, feeling Billy and Lou both holding on to her shirt. “It’s really dark. Please don’t shut the . . .”

  Bang.

  “Door!” Cal shrieked and bolted to the closed door.

  Rickie, hunching his shoulders, backed up laughing as they pounded and screamed to be let out. He looked at his watch figuring he’d give them some time. After all, they did want to be entertained.

  Caldwell Research Center - Los Angeles, CA

  August 8th - 10:33 a.m.

  It was a round table discussion. Eight investors. Greg and Colin stood before them.

  Colin tossed photographs onto the table. “The island of Oahu. Our island. We brought our island up to scale to Oahu to show you in comparison the infestation of the amoebas on both bodies of land.”

  Greg’s finger pointed to a single small spot. “As you can see, our satellites are picking up this one section on Oahu that is still within control.”

  Aldo had to question. “Whitney, are you absolutely sure that we can’t just lift our people off this island and let these things just die out?”

  “They don’t die on their own, Mr. Connilucci,” Colin said you. “I assure, if that was the case, they would never have regenerated after they were pulled from the freezer and released.”

  Barb stepped up to the meeting level, clearing her throat with a look of shock on her face. “Dr. Haynes. You . . . you have a phone call.”

  “Tell them I’ll call them back.” Greg overlooked the photos.

  “I think you should take this call. It’s . . . it’s the President, sir.”

  Greg immediately sprang up. He looked at Colin, then bolted by him and Barb down to the bottom floor of the control room. “Lyle, put him on the speaker phone.” Greg straightened his appearance as if the President could see him. Slowly the investors and Colin trickled down to hear. “Mr. President.”

  “Greg. How are you?”

  “I’m fine, sir.”

  “I got your message, Greg. Had it not come from you, I probably would have laughed. What is this about some sort of national emergency?”

  “Yes sir.” Greg nodded. “We believe . . . we believe right now, in Honolulu, you have the start to what could end up being our gravest national emergency.”

  “Honolulu?” President Wilson questioned. “What’s going on there that could be of national importance?”

  “These killings, sir.”

  “The acid slayings?” President Wilson chuckled. “Now Greg, come on . . .”

  “They’re amoebas, sir.” Greg interrupted. “Not acid. Amoebas. They drill in through the skin, devour you from within, multiply and move on.”

  Silence came from the president.

  “Sir, are you still there?”

  “You’re joking.”

  “I wished to God I was, sir.” Greg shook his head.

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because right now on an island where we’re experimenting, we are dealing with them. Many of them. They’ve killed every form of animal life on that island and some of our people. We discovered them by accident.”

  “You said ‘dealing with them’.”

  “Yes.” Greg spoke. “They are out of control. Right now we’re trying to figure a way to safely get our people off that island and destroy the amoebas. That’s why we contacted you. We feel that something has to be done now to stop the same thing from happening in Hawaii.”

  “How do you know Honolulu has the same problem?” President Wilson asked.

  “Death. Deterioration. Reports from the coroner stating protoplasm was found in the body. Aerial photographs from our satellite showing a grouping of them west of Honolulu.”

  “So they’re all in one spot?”

  “Hard to say,” Greg explained. “Right now with what we see, a simple ground explosion would kill that grouping. But that’s not to say they haven’t attached themselves to a car, boat, or anything else for that matter.”

  “If this is really happening . . .”

  “Oh it is.”

  “Then what do you suggest we do?”

  Greg hesitated before answering the President. “First and foremost, you will have to stop all incoming and outgoing traffic off that island, air and sea. These things multiply so fast that they can spread like wild fire. You cannot take a chance that they leave t
his island.”

  “Then we burn that grouping out?”

  Greg hesitated before he answered. “No. You’re going to have to burn the surface of that entire island.”

  His laughter carried through the speaker phone. “Burn out Oahu. Yes, Greg, sure. We’ll just do that.”

  Greg held his hand out to Aldo to silence him after his ‘fuckin idiot’ comment. “President Wilson, this really isn’t a joke.”

  “Yes it is. Do you hear what you’re suggesting? Burn out the entire Island of Oahu on some sci-fi theory? If we would do that, do you have a clue how long it would take to evacuate?”

  “Evacuate? No, sir. No evacuation. Like I said, nothing goes in, nothing goes out. Burn it.”

  “Are you out of your goddamn mind? What in God’s name would make you think I would agree to destroy millions of lives, let alone entertain the notion?”

  Greg closed his eyes. “We’ve already faxed data to the Congressional scientific team, sir. They should have them as we speak, along with photographs. Take a good look at what we are sending you.” Greg drew up a serious tone to his voice as he spoke with an edge to the President. “Then after you look, you tell me if you still want to laugh. I guarantee you’ll get back to me with questions on when and how. I guarantee you will stop laughing. You’ll want to end this thing with the urgency and the suggestions that I implore you with. No one goes to Oahu. No one gets off. Destroy it. Because if one of those amoebas gets to the mainland, it’s the end of the world as we know it.”

  I-S.E. Thirteen - The Island

  August 8th - 12:02 p.m.

  ‘All work and no play makes Billy a very dull boy’ was typed over and over on the three sheets of paper Jake read from.

  “See, Jake.” Cal folded her arms. “I had to share my concern. You were right. Billy is becoming Jack from The Shining.”

  “Nice Cal. Very nice.” He handed them back to her. “Are you done playing games?”

  Cal snickered. “Just thought I’d lighten your day.”

  “Lighten my day? You don’t think I’m having a fuckin blast now? I’m stuck in a lab with Stan the rambling man, Richard the paranoid man, I have to deal with mutant fuckin slugs, you and the gang running around screaming, and now you make fun of an observation I very seriously made.”

  “Sorry. I was joking. Lighten up.”

  Jake raised his eyebrow. “Lighten up? Cal, I am not in the mood for practical jokes right now, babe. Okay? With Rickie running around scaring everyone, and Stan instigating me every chance he gets, I’ve had it up to here. I just want to finish up and get some sleep, which I haven’t gotten in two days. And I swear if I get bothered one more time for something really fuckin stupid, I’m going to march out of this lab and fuckin scream.”

  “Jake,” Stan called to him.

  Jake held out his hand. “Here it is. Yes, Stan.”

  Stan held the phone to him. “The President would like to speak to you about the amoebas.”

  Jake kissed Cal on her cheek. “Excuse me.” He walked by her, out of the lab, down the hall, and then Jake screamed loudly.

  Caldwell Research Center - Los Angeles, CA

  August 8th - 8:45 p.m.

  “It’s frightening.” President Wilson’s solemn voice reverberated over the speaker in the control room that contained only Greg and Colin.

  “Yes it is,” Greg stated.

  “Well . . .” The President exhaled loudly over the phone. “My panel has reviewed your findings. We’re going to go along with your suggestion. We’re going to destroy them.”

  Greg looked at Colin with relief.

  “I’ll seek Congressional approval,” the President said. “Which I shouldn’t have trouble getting. We’ll set off several ground missiles and a small nuclear detonation in Oahu. Then we’ll hit that island of yours.”

  Colin lost his look of ‘pleased’. “You can’t do that, Mr. President

  “We have to destroy them.”

  “But blowing up the surface of our island will only pause the situation, it won’t stop it. It’ll start all over again. The island is infested, and it’s infested from underneath.”

  “Can we draw them out?” The President asked. “Perhaps drop bait?”

  Greg chuckled. “Bait them? No, sir. Begging your pardon, but you could drop the whole entire Cleveland fuckin zoo on that island and they all won’t come out. They are in the ground. Deep and nesting. We have to destroy them from underneath.”

  “How is that done?” President Wilson inquired.

  “We’re uh . . .” Colin cleared his throat. “Working on that.”

  “Working?” President Wilson took on an edge. “You stressed time is of importance. We have no time. Do you know for sure they are underneath?”

  “Pretty sure,” Colin answered. “Thermal graphics indicate . . .”

  “Pretty sure?” President Wilson asked with sarcasm. “Son, we can’t go on pretty sure with a situation like this. Unless you show me that these things are under the island, that nuking that island won’t stop them, then we go as planned. Hawaii first, then your island.”

  Aldo shook his head in disgust, and he now knew for sure why he hadn’t voted for Wilson last election. Quietly he slipped from the control room where he wasn’t supposed to be. Cringing at the creaking door, he stepped out into the hall and closed it. The other investors stood there.

  “Well?” Douglass asked.

  “It’s time to move our families out.” Aldo looked at them. “Wilson goes to Congress tomorrow. When it gets out to them, it won’t be long before it gets out all over. And I don’t want our families around when the mass hysteria begins. Let’s get a move on it now.” Leading the way, Aldo walked the group of investors down the hall.

  CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE

  I-S.E. Thirteen - The Island

  August 10th - 1:00 p.m.

  The ground shook for thirty seconds, and they all held on until the tremor had ended. Their views then returned to the screen in the monitoring room.

  “We’re gonna die!” Richard screamed loudly. “It’s the end of the world. We’re all gonna die!”

  Jake, annoyed, spun his head to him. “We’re not gonna fuckin die. And it isn’t the end of the world. Now will you shut the fuck up so we can hear this?” Just as Jake turned, the ground shook again. “Fuck.” He raised his hand up. “Will that thing just blow its wad and get it over with. Christ.”

  Protesters with signs, angry and shouting, were the background for the tall thin male reporter standing in the rain on the streets of Washington, D.C. He held a microphone. “No nukes, save our land, and baby killers are just some of the things being shouted at the capitol today as protestors gather in desperation for their voices to be heard, trying to stop the unthinkable. The destruction of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands. Though it is some comfort to know that scientists around the world are working on a solution to stop the microorganism virus that has swept across Oahu claiming now close to seventeen hundred lives, it is frightening to think that such desperate measures may have to be taken. As Congressmen Walters told me, ‘Just like America awoke this morning to the Hawaiian Island quarantine, this may be the only way the American people, the people of the world, will be able to go to bed tomorrow night knowing that it is over’. From Washington, this is Brett Stone, Central News Network.”

  “Hey.” Billy smiled and pointed to the screen. “I know him. Wow. He’s doing good.” He tilted his head. “Cal, do you think he’s better than me?”

  “No way.” Cal waved her hand at Billy. “Jake, what do you think?”

  “I think the institute is really going to a lot of trouble to make this real.”

  Cal emerged from the group who moaned at Jake again. She walked up behind him. “Jake? This is the news.”

  “Yeah.” Jake started to walk from the room.

  “You still aren’t buying it?”

  “No.”

  “Really? Because Jake, I’m a little scared. They’re talking about b
lowing us up, too.”

  “Cal.” Jake stopped walking. “We’re not blowing up. Bet me something happens and we don’t get hit. Don’t worry about it.” He kissed her. “It’s not good for the babies.”

  “If you say so.”

  “I say so.” Jake grabbed her hand and started to walk. Cal took his hand and words in comfort. She was trusting Jake, like she had always done, to not be wrong. And this was one of the times she prayed he really wasn’t.

  Caldwell Research Center - Los Angeles, CA

  August 10th - 2:10 p.m.

  “Find the central nesting location,” Colin explained to Greg. “Set a small nuclear device. The underground volcanic caverns will carry the blast and destroy anything that moves under there.”

  Greg shook his head. “The President still isn’t buying it. He wants proof that they’re nesting there, not that we can destroy the nest, which we’re still not sure we can do.”

  “Sure we can.” Colin was confident. “I just told you how.”

  Greg tossed his hands in the air, turned, and pointed to the monitor. “Look at our island, Colin. Now it may not look that big, but it is. You want to find the central nesting point, bury a nuke, lay surface fire to destroy the ones on the ground, then detonate the bomb to get the ones underneath. Even if we find the central nesting point, even if we figure a way to drop the nuke in the ground, how the hell are we gonna get close enough to do that? We can’t just put the amoebas on pause, we can’t just tell them freeze while we . . .” Greg’s serious face flashed a smile. “Or . . .” He snapped his finger. “Maybe we can.”

  Colin stood up. “Freeze them?”

  “Yes.”

  “The amoebas.”

  “Not just the amoebas.” Greg peered at the screen. “The whole entire island.” Greg began a dash across the control room.

  “Where are you going?” Colin called out.

  “I’m getting on the phone. I have to get together a top cryogenics team to figure out how we can freeze this body of land.”