SHE’D BEEN ACTING a little strange over the last few days, and he assumed that it was simply something to do with work. Everyone eventually burned out when working day after day, and everyone needed something to take their minds off things. He had treated himself to a massage only a few days before, but she had refused any kind of relaxation activity, and so he needed to take matters into his own hands.
He smiled over at her as he turned the wheel and slid into a parking space. She didn’t make a sound and only stared forward. ‘We’re here.’
She nodded but said nothing else.
He tried to maintain his smile, but it was difficult to do so. Maintaining a happy appearance was difficult in the face of someone who clearly didn’t want to be happy. He tried to suppress his sigh, but it was difficult to do so. He threw another glance her way, but she did not appear to have heard it. He nodded to himself and re-stuck a grin on his lips. ‘Let’s go! It’s a short hike to the spot!’
‘Okay.’
She got out of the car but didn’t say anything else. He climbed out too and headed for the back. He grabbed the backpack that would serve as their picnic basket. Every few moments, he gave her a quick look. She was staring out into space and didn’t appear to notice anything he was doing.
They had both experienced depression in their lives, but this kind of dissociation was unusual. He hoped that nothing had happened to her that was out of the ordinary. He threw the backpack over his shoulders and sauntered over to her. Her fingers were cold and clammy, but he grasped them. She hardly reacted. ‘Come on, it’s not very far, okay? You’ll like it.’
‘Okay.’
They started walking. They hadn’t been to this particular spot before, and he had scouted it out ahead of time. He’d discovered it a few weeks before and was looking for the perfect time to take her to it, and he hoped it would lift her spirits a little. He turned to face forward and led her through the pathway flanked by trees. It truly was a stunning sight.
The tunnel created by the overhanging foliage provided shade as the occasional twig or leaf fell from above them and landed on their path. The sound of trickling water made its way through those trees; a stream was nearby. The aroma of the trees and the stream, the natural landscape, entered his nostrils, and he took in one deep breath. He noticed that she did not do the same.
‘So…’ She said nothing.
‘What do you think of this little place I found?’
Nothing.
‘It’s pretty cute, isn’t it? I mean, I found it a while ago. I thought it would be nice. Plus, I brought some nice things for the picnic.’
‘Okay.’
He nodded a few more times and barely repressed another sigh. They walked in silence for a while. She occasionally stumbled over uneven paving but always managed to regain her footing on her own. She strode with her eyes dead ahead. She never glanced in any other direction, and her mouth never uttered a single sound. Even when she stumbled, she made no noise whatsoever.
They proceeded through the greenery and towards the spot. They usually chatted away with one another while they hiked anywhere, and it hurt him to see her like this, but he wasn’t sure what to do. He cleared his throat. ‘Um, are you okay?’
‘I’m fine.’
‘Just asking because you don’t-’
‘I’m fine,’ she didn’t raise her voice.
There was silence between them again, and it remained that way until they reached the clearing. He indicated it, and she followed as she always did. Her unblinking eyes led her to the spot he pointed at, and she sat when he said she could sit. The blanket was soon out, and the few snacks and bottle of bubbly were at the ready.
He tried to bring himself to smile again, but he couldn’t do it. He gazed at her. ‘What do you think?’
‘I think…’ she closed her eyes for a moment and groaned. ‘I think that… there’s something… I don’t know. It…’
‘Babe?’
She looked up at him. Her eyes were bright as she stared into his eyes. ‘I think something’s wrong.’
‘What’s wrong?’ he jumped to his knees and approached her, but she pushed him away, and he fell onto his back and stared at her. ‘Let me help you!’
‘Oh, god, I can… I can feel it. I can feel them inside. I can…’ she stopped, and her eyes went blank. They became glassy as she glared into his eyes. ‘We are here now. This body was slower to convert than the others.’
‘What are you-’
‘Do not speak,’ the head turned and watched him. ‘You have provided us with nourishment. Perhaps you can be kept as a servant.’
‘Babe, are you okay? You sound-’
‘Your “babe” is no longer here,’ she pulled herself to her feet and nearly stumbled as she did so. ‘This body is still unfamiliar to us.’
He rose to his feet to stand level with her. ‘I think I should get you to a hospital, babe.’
‘No,’ she took one step back. ‘Do you submit to us, or must we colonise another host? We have multiplied to the point where we can, but it would not be preferable at this point. Your service would be far more preferable. Those who submit will be spared. Do you submit?’
‘Okay, I think something is seriously wrong, so-’ he grasped her hand and tried to pull, but she didn’t budge. Instead, her hand grasped his and dug into his flesh. He hissed as she did so. Her nails cracked through skin. ‘Babe, babe, that hurts. Let go! That hurts!’
‘You will not submit. We must colonise yet another,’ her mouth opened, and it creaked as it did. It widened as the jaw itself cracked and disconnected. The lower jaw hung and shivered as something crawled out of her. They were small and black. They cascaded out of her mouth as they slipped down her face and along her shoulder. They were making their way towards her arm.
He tried to pull away. He tried to scream. She wouldn’t release him. The things slithered closer and closer. Hairy feet tickled along his bare arm and made their way toward his face. He could see them. So many of them. Thousands of them. Their many legs crackling their way over his skin. Their bulbous masses quivered as they made their way toward him. He used his other hand to beat at them, and some fell, but she grabbed his other hand and forced him to his knees.
She still said nothing as the many legs of the wave of tiny creatures crept their way onto him. He shook his head as fast as he could when they started to climb their way up his neck, and he screamed for a few more moments, but when they reached his face, he shut his mouth. He couldn’t let them in. He couldn’t let them climb into him. But it didn’t matter.
His mouth may have been shut, but their small and terrible feet led them through his nostrils, and it made him snort and wheeze. Others had found his ears, and they were invading through that open orifice. He tried to shake his head and blow through his nose, and that was when he saw them. They had reached his eyes, and they burrowed their way into the tear ducts. He could feel them inside.
He could no longer take it as he let out a massive scream. It pierced the stillness of the natural landscape as the many-legged things hiked through him. The main path was open, and they poured through his mouth and clustered over his tongue and gums. It didn’t take long for them to enter him completely, and he soon felt his hands being released as he collapsed to the ground.
He spasmed aimlessly. The feeling of them inside him built and built, and then… it stopped. There was nothing. He couldn’t feel anything. He pressed his hands into his face. He tried to find them. He reached into his mouth and shook his head. There was nothing. He turned to stare at his girlfriend.
She held a sandwich to her mouth as the moving and morphing mass of creatures tore it to pieces and pulled it down her maw as if it were a new tongue. He stared at her as they did so, and he tried to move away from her, but she only lowered the sandwich and smiled as the creepy-crawlies swarmed her eyes and stamped their way across her face. ‘Everything will be fine. Don’t worry.’
‘Everything will be fine? Everything will be fine? I don’t know what-’ he stopped and shook his head. He took a sharp breath and looked around. ‘What’s… I don’t know what’s… what’s happening?’
He looked at her as she nibbled at her sandwich. She smiled. ‘Nothing’s wrong, babe, but this picnic you prepared sure is pretty. Come on, let’s have some foodies. Everything’s fine.’
He nodded a few times and tried to smile. He couldn’t remember walking to the picnic spot, but he could remember that she hadn’t been okay for a while. It was good to see that she was better. It wasn’t worth looking a gift spider in the mouth. He stopped as he thought that thought, shrugged, and grabbed his own sandwich. ‘It really is a pretty picnic, isn’t it?’
