Slither - Edward Lee [72]
Then he looked down into the water and saw some inch-long worms crawling about.
The worms were pink.
If he'd had anything in his stomach, he would've vomited. Instead, he trudged away, revolted.
This island's a pile of shit .. .
Slydes's heart almost burst when a hand grabbed his wrist.
"Aw, brother, we are seriously fucked," the low, guttural voice told him. Slydes jerked away from the clammy hand.
It was Jonas.
Jesus...
Jonas stood leaning against a tree, his skin yellow like a bruised banana, but dotted with brilliant red spots.
"What-" Slydes gulped back some nausea. "What happened to you?"
"Them things, you know? Them little yellow buggers. Some of them, when they bite you, they change your insides. And some of 'em are just ... eggs."
"Eggs? What the hell are you talking about, Jonas? You're talking crazy." Slyde's power of cognition was on a rough track. "Where you been? You left the boat a night and a half ago, and we haven't seen you since."
Jonas kept on the subject. "They're eggs for the worms."
Worms, Slydes thought in the back of his head. Worms...
"You've seen 'em."
Slydes's eyes widened in thought. The skinny chick, with the pink worm ...
"One fell on Ruth the other night, and then we saw that smaller one near my plants." Jonas's watery eyes looked like wads of phlegm. "They're using us, Slydes. We're the subjects for their experiment."
"You're not talkin' sense!" Slydes yelled hard. "Experiments? Subjects? Man, we gotta get off this island! It's all fucked up, brother!"
"There were two parties of college kids who got here before us." Jonas scratched at the red dots on his arms. "They're all toast now-except for the big one. Usually a host'll kick the bucket after a couple of days, a week, maybe. But that big one's still walkin' around here. So just remember that, Slydes. The big one."
"The fuck you talkin' about? Big one?"
"Big, big guy. Like a football player. I guess he adapted better than most. Shit, maybe he changed over completely, ain't gonna die at all. He's a big guy. Watch out for him. He's trompin' around here like a fuckin' zombie."
The words dragged Slydes's memory back like something on a hook. Big guy. Like a zombie. Ruth had said the same exact thing. And she'd also said a bunch of shit about-
"Tell me about the worms ...'
"They're the whole experiment, Slydes. And like I said-we're the subjects. Any poor fucker who's dumb enough to come to this island ... becomes part of the experiment them guys are doing."
Slydes's voice ground like gravel. "What guys?"
"You ain't see 'em? They sneak out every now and then to check on things. Military guys. Army, navy, I ain't sure. They're wearin' these camouflage rubber suits, and gas masks."
Slydes just stared at the information his brother had given him. "Shit, man-" Jonas's knees shook, and sweat made his yellowed face shine like baby oil. With difficulty, he sat down at the base of the tree. "Ahh, yeah, that's better. You gotta get your ass out of here now, Slydes. Get out of here before I turn over."
"What do you mean, turn over?"
"I been infected by those yellow things. They look like fat ticks, and they got red spots on 'em."
Slydes suddenly felt like he had a belly full of spoiled meat. He knew what his brother was talking about. Dread nearly closed his throat off. "Jonas, I picked a couple of the selfsame things off my body the other night. Am-am-am ... I infected too?"
"You ain't turning yellow so probably not. Maybe you got 'em off before they could bite. When they bite they inject this shit in your blood ... that changes you. Changes you yellow. Changes your insides ... so the worms can grow in you better."
Slydes looked at his arms, saw no signs of the insane infection that had stricken his brother.
"But it also changes your brain, too, after enough time's passed. I ain't there yet, but I will be. It's almost like you start