Slither - Edward Lee [27]
"Huh?" she replied, aggravated.
Slydes lifted his leg, twitched a hip, and farted.
The brothers laughed uproariously.
What a pair of perfect assholes, she thought, humping the jugs out the back door. Too bad I'm in love with the both of them ...
CHAPTER FwE
(I)
The major looked up at the sergeant. "This is impressive, Sergeant."
The microscopic scans flashed on the viewing screen, displaying the rate of success before their eyes. A live birth through a test host, the sergeant realized. The sergeant wasn't a technician-he'd been trained in surveillance and covert security procedures-but he knew this was what the brass wanted. Previous births using people and higher mammals hadn't worked out; after the ova had matured, the-juvenile-had been dead.
As the sergeant understood it, the human element had been an accident. There weren't supposed to be any people on the island, he knew. Until now they'd been testing on birds, for their migratory assets. This made perfect sense, of course: The transfections could be used more effectively against a potential enemy. Yeah, the brass'll be shitting their pants over this. There's a big difference between the lab and the field.
"This is better than we could have ever hoped for." The major typed some notes into his operating report. "Try to find some other bodies," he said. "If the nodic dispersals are as successful as these, we've hit some serious paydirt. We'll all get promoted, even the field contingent such as yourself and the corporal."
"That's good to know, sir." But all the while the sergeant was thinking, I won't count on that. The brass will hog it all, like they always do.
It didn't matter, though. The sergeant liked being in the field. It was the only thing that made him feel real.
"So you were saying." The major kept typing, never looking up. "Four more people have come onto the island?"
"Yes, sir."
"And one of them is military?"
"Yes, sir. I think it's just some sort of escort assignment. He's showing some civilians around."
"A field trip." The major almost laughed. Almost. "That's amusing. And the other two groups of four?"
"Four are dead and have already been infected-the first group from several weeks ago. The second group's half gone."
"But this third group ... you're not worried about them?"
"Not at this point, sir. Nobody knows anything yet. I'm sure we'll have a positive infection rate in all of them soon. And by the time anyone from the mainland knows-" The sergeant shrugged. "We'll be gone."
"Good. Keep me posted. And I want you and the corporal to plant more cameras. Keep a close eye on this latest group."
"Yes, sir."
The major turned off the sampling screen. "Mean while, I'm going to go tell the news to the colonel. Good work, Sergeant." And then he left the lab.
The sergeant frowned. He was glad he'd never wanted to be an officer.
Bam, bam, bam! He slammed the metal locker in one of the rear utility rooms that they were using for their barracks.
"Come on, Sarge!" the corporal complained, leaning up in his bunk. "I thought I was going to get to sleep today."
.You thought wrong, so roust it. Four more people came onto the island today, three civilians ... and one officer."
"Damn it ..."
"You're telling me. And the major says you and me have to mount more cameras out in the woods, so get up and get the night-vision gear ready."
The corporal rubbed his eyes, muttering. "Why can't you get the gear?"
"Because I'm the sergeant."
The corporal dragged himself up.
"We'll wait till it's dark. Then we go out." The sergeant left and went down the hall, to the old office he'd set up as an ops room. His surveillance screens glowed.
"That's one." The sergeant indicated the screen. The colonel wants me to keep a close eye on this latest group. He switched around the various camera zones.
This latest group looked like it might be very interesting.
On the screen, the blonde was taking off her clothes.
(H)
Annabelle wasn't terribly inhibited about taking her clothes off in the woods. (She'd done that any number of times in high school.)