"Naphys pulex, Acinonyx jubatus, and Heterocephalus glaber."
There was no response to the redhead's revelation and after a moments silence Casey glanced up to see her audience staring at her silently. Remembering their lack of scientific education she smiled and translated, "North American jumping spider, cheetah, and naked mole rat. That's the makeup of the sample Burt brought in."
"And this one's mostly the same," Roger added over the large specimen he had grabbed from the garage after Burt's call. "Except the spider DNA is wolf spider instead."
"There's also something else we have been unable to identify," Cletus said, squinting at a computer screen. "Although...it looks...very familiar."
"Two different spiders?" Burt asked, puzzled.
"Actually, about three dozen spiders," Roger corrected. "But each creature has one specific species that's more concentrated than the others. It's...kinda like the fur colour of a Black Labrador. It has the genes for brown fur, black fur, and white fur, but the black is more dominant."
Casey nodded. "It's quite fascinating, really. Because of the cheetah DNA the inside of the spider body is actually built a lot like that of a cheetah, giving them the ability to run at incredible speeds."
"Not to mention the random snout," Tyler put in.
"Yes, and strangely enough, that houses the naked mole rat's olfactory system, which is much more sensitive to smell than the cheetah's since they live underground most of the time."
"Don't they also have poor eyesight?" Burt asked. "Is that why it couldn't see Tyler when he wasn't moving?"
"Say it like that, it sounds like a T-Rex," Tyler commented.
Cletus shook his head. "Completely incorrect assumption. A T-Rex's vision was, actually, quite good. But, it is possible for vision to be based on movement like our new friends here. Because of their bad sight anything that stands still is more likely to go unnoticed. Where as something that moves is easier to notice."
And what about the acid?" Burt frowned as he remembered how easily it ate through the freezer door.
"Combination of each spiders' digestive fluids," Casey explained. "Contrary to popular belief, most spiders don't just suck out their prey's bodily juices or blood. They vomits their digestive fluid on the prey so it breaks down outside the stomach before being ingested. That's what these do except they can also melt down a metal door. The combination makes the fluid much more concentrated and stronger."
"So far I'm not liking the odds," Burt said irritably.
"Oh, it gets better," Casey assured him. She tapped the table the creature was laying on. "These guys actually have a completely new and fairly efficient way of reproducing. We're not sure exactly how it works yet, but one thing's for sure. They can have a hell of a lot of kids."
Tyler raised an eyebrow. "How much is a lot?"
"Well," Cletus sighed. "A normal, medium-sized spider can lay about, oh, a hundred or so eggs at a time. Larger spiders, about a thousand or two. But these guys..." he shook his head.
"Great," Burt readjusted his hat angrily. "Can you find a way to kill 'em?"
"We're working on it. Should have something soon."
"Just one more question," Tyler cut in, looking confused. "How exactly did it find the mole rat and cheetah DNA? We don't have either of those around here."
"The scientists probably had some in the lab," Cletus replied. "Or samples of the DNA anyway."
Burt sighed and turned to Tyler. "I'm gonna run back to the bunker, check on the others and grab a few things. You wait here, let me know if anything comes up."
"Sure. Just, one thing before you go."
"What?"
Tyler took off his hat and whacked Burt on the head with it.
"Hey!" Burt ducked and glared at him. "What was that for?"
"Saying spiders."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
After Burt left the lab was fairly silent, everyone minus the tour guide working to find a weakness in the creatures. It was nearly half an hour later before they hit a breakthrough.
"Hey guys, I think I found something!" Roger called.
Casey, Cletus, and Tyler poked their heads up from their respective places in the lab.
"Is it a good something or a bad something?" Tyler asked.
"Good, I think. Here look," Roger pointed to a strand of DNA on the computer screen in front of him. "I was going through a list of poisons and testing them against the creatures' DNA. This is the only one that had any effect."
"CHBNO3. Aerophobia extirpatus?" Casey stared at the screen in amazement.
"Aero...?" Tyler glanced at Cletus. "Isn't that the stuff that was supposed to kill the ghost?"
Cletus nodded. "I guess some of the original bacteria survived and mixed with the spider. Must be the DNA I thought looked familiar."
"Lucky us."
"Yeah, no kidding. According to these tests the spiders have absolutely no protection against the poison," Casey turned away from the computer and smiled triumphantly. "All we have to do is figure out how to spread the poison to each spider and our problem's solved!"
"Easier said than done," Tyler cautioned. "We still have no idea where those things are hiding. The tracks we followed yesterday disappeared into thin air."
"Well, hopefully with the number there were today they won't disappear this time," Roger said.
A slamming car door alerted them to Burt's return and they looked up as he came through the door, followed by Lupe, Alex, and Rosalita.
"Pick up a few strays, Burt?" Tyler joked.
"They wouldn't take no for an answer," Burt replied wearily.
Rosalita smiled sweetly, "Hey, you never know. You might need us."
Burt just grunted. "Please tell me you found a way to get rid of the creatures."
"As a matter a fact, we did," Cletus grinned. "Aerophobia extirpatus."
"You're kidding."
"Nope. Ran the test myself, several times," Roger assured him. "Only poison I found that worked."
"And works well," Casey added.
"Whoa whoa whoa. Aero-whatius?" Rosalita asked.
"Phobia extirpatus," Casey repeated. "It's the poison that was supposed to kill the bacteria cloud from the mine."
"Oh. And we have that?"
"Well, no, but it shouldn't take long to get it."
"The more pressing matter would be how to deliver it to all the spiders," Cletus said. "Otherwise, this would all be for naught."
"Well the good news is we'll only have to expose a handful of the creatures," Casey drummed her fingers against the table thoughtfully. "Because of the bacteria's DNA, they're extremely succeptable to the poison, it'll spread through them quickly."
"Can we spray 'em with the poison, like the EPA guys did?" Tyler asked.
"But how would you get close enough?" Lupe protested, speaking for the first time. "Sure they can't see you that good if you move slow, but you yourself said they sniff as good as a bloodhound. There's no way you could get that close without being noticed."
"Not to mention the venom stuff," Alex added.
Casey perked up then as she remembered something. "Actually, we do have a way to protect against that."
"A long distance sprayer?" Lupe suggested.
"Unfortunately, no," Casey smiled at the not-quite-hidden look of disappointment on Tyler's face. "We do however, have a new hazmat suit."
"And how's that supposed to help us?" Burt asked.
"It's a new design a friend of ours was working on," Roger explained, disappearing into the back and reappearing a moment later with a dark blue protective suit. "He gave us this one to test, it's supposed to be much tougher than most suits. It might just work against the spider's spit, at least for awhile."
"Great. So all we have to do is get Tyler close enough to spray the things, hope the suit's strong enough, and then make a fast get-a-way," Rosalita shrugged. "Sounds easy enough."
Tyler gave her a shocked look. "Who says I'm doin' it?"
"Aren't you always the one doing daredevil stunts like this?" Rosalita asked with a small smirk.
The tour guide shook his head adamantly. "No thanks, not this time. I've already had my near death experience with those things, I don't want another one. Let Burt do it."
Burt frowned but before he could say anything, Roger chuckled. "I'm afraid you don't have a choice in this one, bud."
Tyler turned a suspicious glare towards him. "Why not?"
"Well, we only have one suit," Roger held it up against the survivalist. "And Burt's just a liiittle too tall for it."
For a moment Tyler just stood there, feeling just as annoyingly surprised and faintly betrayed as he had when the lighter didn't work the first time in the garage. Finally he crossed his arms dejectedly and glared at Burt.
"I'm blaming you for this."
Burt rolled his eyes while Casey laughed. "Don't worry Tyler. It'll be just as Rosalita said. We go in, you spray a few, then we make a quick get-a-way. Plus, Burt'll be there with his guns if anything goes wrong. Besides, you have this uncanny ability to survive against all odds."
"Thanks," Tyler muttered, not at all pleased.
"Shouldn't they have a name?" Lupe asked suddenly. The others looked at her. "Larry was telling me about it needing a name," she said innocently. "'Cause they're not really spiders, right? More like spiders with a kick."
The adults exchanged glances, having forgotten that their two young visitors knew nothing of Mixmaster or the jumble of DNA in the creatures.
"How were they even created, anyway?" Alex added to the tension.
Tyler finally came to the rescue. "Factory spill. Idiots didn't know how to dispose of their chemicals properly, they ended up here. Some of our wildlife mutated because of it, we're still cleaning up."
Lupe grumbled something about "inconsiderate morons" under her breath.
"As for the name, we can ask Larry when we get back," Rosalita said. "It's pretty much his job anyway."
"Right," Burt turned back to the scientists, now that they had averted one crisis. "So when can we expect to attack?"
"Day after tomorrow," Roger answered from the back of the lab. "Called to see when we could get the poison, it'll take longer than I thought. Won't be in 'til late tomorrow night and by then it'll be too dark to do anything."
"Guess it gives us time to find the nest," Tyler said, although the look on his face suggested he was more interested in finding someone else to do the dirty job.
"Yeah, but we'll do that tomorrow," Burt glanced out at the late afternoon sky. "It's too late to start scouting today. Do you guys want to stay here?" he asked Casey. "Those things may attack. You'd be safer at my bunker."
"We'll take our chances," Casey said. "And we've got our own little arsenal here if we need it."
Burt gave a curt nod. "Call if you need anything."
With that the small group of visitors left, the cousins riding in the cab of Burt's truck while Tyler and Rosalita rode in the back. They kept an eye out for any of the creatures while they drove, but there was no sign until they got to the survivalist's home.
Burt stopped the vehicle and grumbled in annoyance as he watched the spider creatures crawl around the hill his home resided under. "They came back."
"What now?" Rosalita asked, eyeing the animals nervously.
"Guess we're stayin' at the lab," Burt replied, turning the truck around.
"What about the others?" Alex asked.
"Place is fortified, there's no way they're getting in. They're fine."
Tyler gave a small, nervous cough. "Yeah, but I don't think we are."
Before Burt could ask what he meant a piercing shriek answered him as the creatures noticed their audience. He hit the gas and cursed as the entire cluster started after them.