Beyond the Stars

Infected - Part 4

Are you afraid of the dark?

Right up until the moment I stepped out of the faint circle of light that managed to reach the area where the tunnel levelled out, I would have said I wasn't. Not knowing if what lies beyond your line of sight will eat you alive, adds a whole new dimension to darkness.

Every other sense heightened to compensate for the lack of sight, so when someone touched the base of my spine to urge me forward, I jumped a foot in the air and smacked my head off the top of the tunnel. Thick goop dripped in long, slimy strands down my face and off the end of my chin. It smelled similar to the socks my son used to mop up milk he spilled on the kitchen floor. Trust me, they were nasty, especially when they'd been lying in the bottom of the laundry basket for a week before I found them.

"You okay?" he whispered, so close I could feel his warm breath fan across my cheek. Memories of years long past assaulted me, and with them came the memory of strong arms holding me upright in the aftermath of passion.

Just my luck. Out of a hundred soldiers, we end up with the one who could turn my knees to jelly.

"I'm fine, Mike. Or I will be when I can see where I'm going."

Light blinded me.

"Sorry," Mike said, barely suppressing his laughter. He placed the torch in my hand. "You'll have to stay up front with me."

"I'm fine where I am."

"Not if you have the torch. The rest of us need to see too, you know." Fear of returning to utter blackness superseded any desire I had to keep my distance.

It amazes me how light can factor in perception of time. I don't know how far we walked or for how long, but every second that passed while Mike changed the batteries in the torch, felt like an eternity.

By the time we reached an exit, night had fallen. Mike decided to make camp inside the tunnel mouth, lighting a small fire for warmth and light. He told us to get some rest; we'd need the energy for the following day.

I woke with a start, disorientated for a moment while my brain caught up with the reason for the sudden intrusion into a pleasant dream. Mike shook a few more awake and pointed to the tunnel mouth where a woman and child stood in stark silhouette against an unnatural, blue-white glow. The earth trembled again, bits of overhead soil raining down us.

Someone further back shouted, "Larvae's coming this way!"

We ran toward the exit. Mike stopped a few metres from the woman and raised his gun, glancing alternately between her and the way we came. When I drew up alongside him I realised why he'd stopped. The woman wasn't a woman. Not a human woman, I should say; her head and body were disproportionate and covered with iridescent scales that rippled through various tones of blue.

Jane screamed as the larvae broke through the tunnel wall, attracting its attention. But before we could do anything, the scaled woman raised her hand and shot a laser pulse. It vanished. One second it was heading for Jane with its mouth open in readiness of a meal, the next it's gone. Not even a steaming pile of ash to show for it.

Both the woman and child held their weapons out to Mike, who took them gratefully, before they turned and left.

I woke with a start, disorientated for a moment while my brain caught up with the reason for the sudden intrusion into a weird dream and had an inexplicable feeling of deja vous. Mike shook the others awake and pointed to a box at his feet. It was full of laser weapons.

"We've hit the jackpot! These will destroy the larvae without them being able to reproduce," Mike said excitedly.

"Huh?"

"The bees, Marie. When the larvae are dying they give birth to the bees. They don't sting, they inject eggs into people that hatch into tiny versions of larvae that eat them from the inside out. We have a way to break the cycle and end the war."