Fungal Tide
Page 16
“These ancient hunters had the power to manipulate flesh at a genetic level. Just look around you to see the evidence. I believe that their three slave races must have revolted, hence the reason for their extinction.” He shrugged. “Makes perfect sense to me, and after all these years, we’re the only species that survived.”
“You’re mad, Jefferson. I didn’t cause this you did. You’ve killed this town.”
“People die all the time, Ryan. It’s the only outcome for all life. So events have been a little worse that I first imagined but it’s all containable.”
Ryan wanted to be sick. He found his hand sliding down his body, towards the cube in his pocket. Time was running out. He still needed to complete his task. Yet how the fuck would to be able to do that?
“Jefferson, will you listen to me? The only aggressive intelligent species are us. The ones who lived here before we came on the scene were peaceful, and they had been like that for thousands of years.”
“Am I to understand that you’re refusing my generous offer?”
Ryan stayed silent.
“You don’t owe these people anything and yet you’re perfectly willing to die with the rest of them?
“What do you mean?
You, like the rest of the population are infected, my friend.” He turned. “Anderson, how long before the launch?”
One of the technicians sitting in front of the computer turned on his seat. “We have about ten more minutes, sir.”
“Don’t fret, Ryan, I promise that you won’t feel a thing.” He grinned. “A device is about to detonate above the town, my friend, and every scrap of organic matter in the area is about to be turned into harmless compost. This is the gift that your so-called peace-loving people gave to us! It is the ultimate weapon, It’s…”
Ryan jumped on Anderson and pulled off his mask before dropping to the floor and rolling towards the nearest guard. He lashed out with his arm, catching the man between his legs. He grabbed the gun as it fell to the floor and raced to the door.
The door swung open to reveal a hastily constructed laboratory. He dropped to his knees when he saw that three armed men alerted to the shouts had already drawn their weapons. He stayed crouched and ran along the middle pew, while glass and plastic exploded above him as the men emptied their weapons. Ryan stopped behind the front wooden seat. He dropped to his knee, took careful aim and shot the first running man in the leg.
Directly in front of him were two large cages holding the three boys, Sierra and the others. He rolled to the front, laid down and fired again. He missed the next man but he did succeed in making him fall to the floor.
Ryan raced over to the cage and prepared to shoot the padlock.
“Go get the key,” shouted the man in the leather jacket. “Shoot that and the ricochet could kill us.” That guy on the floor has it. Ryan turned and saw the one who he’d winged had already started to change, his suit bulged like an over inflated balloon.
The other shooters had ran over to the other door. Ryan ground his teeth in frustration when he saw Jefferson strolling down the middle of the aisle. He raised his rifle.
“I don’t think so, Ryan. You see I know you, and there’s no way that you’d shoot me in cold blood.” He looked at his watch, “We still have a few more minutes. If you put that down, I’d still be willing to re-employ you.”
Through his visor, Ryan saw the wide grin. He shook his head and backed away.
“Now, come on, let’s be reasonable here. Okay, so you wish to end your existence. Fine. I find that disappointing but if that’s what you want. Just put down that weapon please. Face facts, it’s all over. Just surrender right now. I promise that you won’t feel a thing.”
“Fuck you and the horse you rode in on,” he snarled, passing the gun behind him and feeling one of the captors taking it out of his hand.
A single shot rang out and the soldier at the side of Jefferson fell to the floor. The remaining soldier grabbed Jefferson and pulled the man back into the makeshift office. Ryan raced up to the writhing creature, trying to escape from its suffocating yellow prison, snatched his keys and ran back to the cages, a little shocked to see that a middle aged woman in the other cage had been to one who taken the gun. Ryan pushed the key in the lock.
“Leave me, young man. I’m not important. Free the others first!”
He unlocked the other cage and opened the door.
“Give me the cube!” Sierra shouted.
He pulled out the matt black cube, his eyes widening as it glowed a bright blue as it touched her palm. She picked up the smallest boy and ran other to a vertical grey cylinder leaning against a stained glass window. The man in leathers and Jeanette helped her stand it upright.
Ryan blinked in shock when Sierra pushed the cube against the featureless surface and it slowly sank into the tube. They all jumped back when three beds extruded from the base and the three boys each climbed upon each bed. Sierra smiled and kissed the young boy before running over to Ryan. She clasped his hand.
“Everything is going to be okay now. The four become one.”
He pulled his gaze away from the ancient machine and shuddered at the sight of what looked like snow drifting through the broken church window. “I wish I could believe you.” He pulled the woman tight against his body and waited for death.
A thousand new butterflies
David Cooper took his brood batch out of the chamber when he heard the mass calling. He lay on the receding white carpet, feeling his internal organs change and shift. It wasn’t a reversion. Although he and the brood batch were returning to a biped form, their new shape combined traces from all four species but enough of the ancient carnivore retained to deal with the small group of suited up humans, fleeing across the transforming landscape.
***
Carol opened her eyes, staring at the white ceiling. She blinked a couple of times, while listening to a familiar pop song. She turned to the side, spotting a bowl of fruit and plastic jug full of water.
“Why am I in hospital?”
She sat up and saw the radio on a table on the other side of the room. The song finished and a calming male voice announced that the evening news was about to start. Carol sat up, whilst absently scratching the side of her neck. Nothing made any sense to her.
Carol pulled the cord above her head and waited for a nurse to explain to her just what the hell was going on. Carol remembered something about wanting to meet that good for nothing ex-husband in a café, yet everything else was a blank.
The new announcer glossed over some continuing investigation of a huge fire that ripped through some research facility before moving onto the ongoing troubles in the Middle East.
The door opened and a middle aged woman walked into the ward. Carol frowned, sure that she’d seen this woman before. “Wait, shouldn’t you be in a uniform?”
“Honey, this is my uniform.” The woman chuckled. “All the nurses went with the first group, back to the old city.” She pulled out a syringe, full of amber liquid. “I’m Linda, by the way. I’m the one who made your tea when you popped into my café yesterday.”
Carol tried to move her legs, discovering in horror, leather straps tight across her ankles and thighs.
The woman pulled off the sheet. “You’re the last one, Carol. The others have already detonated.” She pushed the needle deep into Carol’s thigh and pushed the plunger down. “Thank you for this, honey.”
***
Linda dropped the needle, ran over to the window and opened it wide, before leaving the ward and shutting the door behind her. The woman on the bed expanded, her skin stretching like a balloon until there was a quiet pop, filling the room with a thick cloud of spores. They slowly blew out of the open window, the clam breeze sending them high into the atmosphere. Linda unbuttoned her blouse, sighing with relief as the constricting material allowed the hard shell below her breasts to breathe. It was time to go and join the others and let the spores do what they were designed to do.
Danny knew he shouldn’t giggle but the sight of his gran shouting at his new daddy was just too funny. It felt so good to watch his new family all smiling at each other. Oh, he knew that gran wasn’t really mad at Ryan, she was only playing. That was what made it even funnier.
Mummy slapped daddy’s hand, then kissed the affected part, after carefully brushing back his black and white fur. Danny giggled again; Ryan looked like a panda. He tilted his head back, enjoying the feel of the hot sun on his scales, after three weeks of travelling it felt so good to see the sky again.
“This is it,” whispered Ryan, stepping out of the dense jungle and into a small clearing. “Welcome to our new home.”
Danny hugged his mummy, watching as the rest of Radfield’s new people pour out from the trees. Would they be able to use the travel discs again? Oh, he so hoped so, they were fun.
He nodded in satisfaction before allowing his new guest access to his thoughts.
***
Del-Nisstar felt both sadness and joy. They had achieved their goal of returning to the original city, the humans now ruled their home but their time as apex predator would soon be over. Their founders prophesied that the human species would commit self-genocide. After a hundred thousand years, the humans were still here, infesting the planet like insects. Their new melded bodies gave them back the one ability lost to the three species eons ago. They could now fight back. They were few but their number would expand as the spores spread through the human population. Many of the humans and many of their new species would perish in the oncoming wars but peace would return as soon as every human was gone from this world.
His sadness came from knowing his wife had never made it, she gave up her life so he could live.
The Beginning?
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