Chapter 1, The Nest I have been watching her for days. Ever since that day at the lagoon just west of town. We were there on a whim, an idea that occurred to her last minute in our quest to find somewhere peaceful to have our nature walk. The area around the lagoon is marshy and teeming with bugs that bite and generally difficult to move around in. It was perfect. Armed to the teeth with bug repellents and rubber boots that go to the hip and netting for our heads and necks, we thought we had it all covered. Turns out we didn’t. How were we to know? Now she has one inside and neither of us know what it will do. Let me start at the beginning. It was a beautiful day, not too warm and not too cold. Sun was out but the fluffy white clouds kept a leash on the sunshine so it couldn’t get too out of hand. We set out to enter the marsh from the north where an old lane wound its way to the wetland’s edge. No indication why that road was there. No old rotting foundations to any buildings nor was there any utility structures that needed getting to. It was just a lane that ended nowhere for no apparent reason. We didn’t care too much why it was there so long as it got us where we wanted to go; Which it did. We went in and immediately found ourselves up to our hips in mud. It took alot of time and great care to pick out the shallowest spots to wade through. It proved to be a challenge, one we both were excited about straight away. The place was full of little life forms. Frogs and snakes swam and slithered all over the place. Some of them were quite large to. Neither one of us are squeamish about such things but a few of the big snakes did give us pause. There were birds flying around in the trees but not so many as I would have thought. Mostly crows and the like. The mosquitos could have been mistaken for small birds. They were huge! With the hip-waders and the nets and the full arm rubber gloves, the mosquitos had to look elsewhere for their blood fixes. The trek through the marsh to get to the lagoon was magnificent. Both my girlfriend and I were in heaven while we navigated out way through the marsh. The lagoon, let me tell you, was beautiful. Even if you are not one who may not normally link the words beautiful and lagoon together, you would have done so then. It was a small piece of time outside of time. The water was clear and smooth. No sounds but a few geese and ducks and the croaking of many frogs and toads. Nothing modern touched that place. The shore was lined with tall grasses and marsh plants and the occasional bunch of half-dead trees. We were able to walk around the lagoon’s perimeter as it was shallow enough to do so. It was when we were walking around the lagoon when we came across a small building that was well hidden in the tall grasses and grouping of dead trees. It wasn’t until we were practically on top of the thing before it was visible. What a prize! Or so we thought. The day was for exploring so exploring we did. We went in the building. I wish we never did. The building was old and decrepit. The rotting wood was dangerous to walk on. It was more of a shack then anything and it stood on stilts. Mold and moss grew on the walls and floor and ceiling. Many of the floor boards had already fallen away, chewed up by wood eating bugs. There was only one room and no windows. Light came in from the many holes in the walls and the sagging roof. You would expect to find spider webs strewn all around but there wasn’t a single silky thread that I could see. There was a number a fury mounds, left overs from some smallish dead animals. Probably rats but a couple were big enough to be beavers. We couldn’t move around much in the room because neither of us wanted to risk falling through the floor and potentially ripping a boot or worse. Without much to explore, we turned to leave and that is when she spotted a nest that was hidden to our eyes when we entered. It was a very unusual looking thing. Sort of like a wasp nest but wider and longer and it was green in color. It was in the corner behind the door and went from the ceiling down half way to the floor. It dripped a thick goo from the bottom where the opening was and left a puddle that coated the floor in that corner. She reached out to lay her hand on the outside of it. I told her not to touch it and she told me to relax and let her touch it. She took off her glove because she wanted to feel it on her skin. Oh man, I wish I insisted more that she didn’t take off that stupid glove. As soon as she touched it, it pulsed and twitched. From a small opening somewhere at the top, an opening we could not see, brownish-green substance spilled out and landed on her hand. She pulled away but not quick enough. Holding her hand out and up infront of us, we both plainly saw a fat red-veined slug in that mucus rear up and open a circular mouth full of what looked like teeth. Its head drove down on her wrist and her blood spurted out from the hole it bit in her. She cried out and I tried to swat it off her but it was fast. It wiggled into the hole in her wrist. She screamed, and I think I screamed to. She grabbed her wrist with her other hand above the hole to try to stop it from going in any further. I grabbed her open hand and started pounding my fist where I thought the slug was, hoping to crush it and kill it. She started to cry, both from the fear of the slug being in her arm and the pain of me beating her arm. At some point I stopped striking the area it entered her and turned my eyes to her eyes. She was staring at her wrist in fear and pain; Mostly fear. I asked if it hurt and could she feel it in her. If maybe it was dead from one of my strikes. She couldn’t tell me anything but how her arm was going numb. It took us two hours to get to that place and only twenty-seven minutes to get back out. We went to the clinic and told them what happened. They cleaned the wound and informed us the parasite would die in the body if it wasn’t already dead from my beating but to keep an eye on the arm to be sure an infection doesn’t set in. That was it. They helped us no more then that. Up until last night, whenever I close my eyes, I could still see the tail as it twitched from left to right while it was going inside her wrist. Now, I see worse when I close my eyes. I woke up during the night to her quiet moans. She didn’t wake up enough to know she had woken me. I pulled the covers back and saw a bulge in the skin over her lower back. The skin burst and the slug slid half way out. It was twice as long as it was when it dropped on her hand. It seem to look from left to right before making a sound. The sound was like a wet slurping sound and I will never forget it. I was held frozen in shock. It curled inward and ate through its own body. As it split in two, hordes of little squirming worms spewed out. They burrowed into my girlfriend wherever they landed until all that was left was the deflated corpse of the original slug. My girlfriend stopped moaning and seemed to fall back into a deep sleep. I got out of bed, went into the bathroom for a pair of tweezers, and pulled the remaining piece of slug from her back. I flushed both haves down the toilet and proceeded to clean the blood from her back. Her back look like a pin cushion there was so many little holes. I lied to her in the morning. She thought it was a rash on her back that she had woken to and I said nothing to make her think otherwise. I was too afraid to tell her the truth. My girlfriend sleeps more and more now. She is getting harder to wake as well. When she is asleep, I watch her to see if those baby slugs are doing anything noticeable. I think I should go and get a doctor to help her. It is just that I feel so fatigued lately. I fell asleep watching her last night and when I woke up this morning, I had a rash on my leg. It looked the same as the marks on her back that one night. I think the slug must have infected me at some point while I was sleeping and I didn’t notice it. We need help. I am getting more and more tired and don’t have the energy to go out and get help for us. I. . . not know. . . long it. . . has. . . been. In. . bed. She. . . has. . . green. . . growin. . all over. Think. . she. . dead. Nest. . . slugs. . . making us. . . nests. Thousands. . . of. . em. . . inside. Will. . infect. . all. God help. . . who. . finds. . us. Not. . . saf. . . . Chapter 2, Infestation Wednesday morning, 0910 hours, August 18th, 2009; Complaints made of unknown smell from apartment on Krug st. Emergency Services were dispatched to investigate. A top floor apartment in a six unit dwelling was confirmed by EMS to be the source of the obnoxious odor. The door was opened by the building attendant and EMS entered. Inside the unit was found what appeared to be two victims in the bedroom. The bedroom was found in a state of decay from mold and moss that had grown along the floors, walls and ceiling and a viscous slime coated much of the surfaces. Upon the bed, the victims were located. Both were covered from hairline to foot in what appeared as a green-colored cocoon. The cocoon merged in several spots and appeared as one cocoon. EMS did not enter room as it was deemed unsafe. Biohazard unit was called in at 0947 hours. At 1009 hours Biohazard arrived to site on Krug st. The building was quarantined. Four agents entered the room in Bio-suits to remove samples of mold and fluids. They were in constant contact through two-way communications. Two agents collected several samples that were sent to a lab. The remaining two agents then examined cocoon growth covering the victims. They described two openings near the feet of the victims where the viscous fluid dripped out and spread along the floor. Samples were taken from the openings. They reported no visible movement in or around the growth and that the growth looked similar to a nest made from bees or hornets but much larger and green in color. It was confirmed there was two shells joined at approximately hip and chest level of the victims. It was a female and a male victim based on the visible hair at the top of the growths. There was no indication anywhere as to what kind of creature or creatures made the cocoon. The two agents began preparations to have the victims moved to a secure location for autopsy. Great care was to be taken not to disturb the nest that encased the victims. Contact become erratic after the growth was touched. We have been able to determine that after physical contact with growth had occurred, the nests began to spasm and the viscous fluid began to spit from openings at the top and the bottom. The agents face shields were covered in the fluid and visual contact became difficult. The communications picked up a ripping sound as the agents began to scream. Both agents retreated from the building and at 1111 hours were placed in an isolated Bio-ward as both agents bio-suits were compromised. Both agents displayed unexplained rashes on several areas of their bodies but remain in stable condition. The building was locked down and further investigations were halted. 1200 hours, lab reports indicate fluid from unknown nest was comprised of amino acids, proteins, lactic acids and small amounts of narcotics. It was determined the fluid may be an external digestive fluid and is able to to store nutrients. 1240 hours, first barrage of medical tests completed on compromised agents. No irregularities found. Agents suffer from minor fatigue. 1700 hours a robot unit deployed in room to take pictures and samples from within the cocoons. Live feed showed both cocoons have been ruptured at mid-point, opening from the inside out. The fluid discharge was present in greater quantities. The ruptured cocoons moved in regular pulses. The victims within the cocoon, were visible, were in a state of decay. Their flesh had been eaten away exposing bone. At 1712 hours, the robot was in position to collect samples inside rupture. Upon contact with nest, the fluid was ejected from the cocoon engulfing the robot. Visual contact was compromised but audio systems revealed the sound of something repeatedly striking the robot. The robot was pulled from the room and was discovered to have damage to several exposed electrical harnesses. Robot system failure occurred shortly after retrieval. 1745 hours robot was disinfected with liquid helium. 1800 hours two environmentally secured cameras were positioned in infected room in positions furthest from nests. A second robot was then deployed to agitate cocoon so that recording would be possible. At 1822 hours, cameras recorded the cocoon spraying its fluid, coating the second robot. At 1823 a number of large worm like creatures, red veined and light green in color and with a large orifice at the head, sprung from the nest to attack the robot. The worms were about three inches in length and approximately two centimeters in diameter. The attack lasted for several seconds before worms retreated back into the cocoon. The second robot was retrieved and sterilized. Both robots were sent for further decontamination. Thursday 0800 hours, a large robotic unit made from stainless steel was maneuvered into infected room. The unit was radio controlled and was modified to scoop and seal the cocoon nest in a jaw-like chamber. At 0808 hours three-quarters of cocoon was secured in chamber. The unit was attacked as expected from remaining part of cocoon worms. The attack lasted approximately the same duration of time as observed on second robot used in room. The unit was removed from room and placed within a second uncontaminated chamber. The chamber was taken to lab for further investigation of cocoon and worms. 0930 hours the condemned building and all its contents was burnt to the ground in a control burn by local fire department. 1030 hours, two lab technicians in lab where robots were sent were admitted to medical containment as they both developed rashes on several areas of their bodies. The two agents under observation remain stable. An increasing quantity of narcotics was found in blood samples from both agents. Fatigue remains the only complaint. 1200 hours a firefighter was admitted to medical containment with an unexplained rash. 1600 hours the chamber containing cocoon was opened in sealed room. The shell was damaged considerably during collection and the broken decayed bodies were plainly visible. The worms had burrowed into the bone of the victims leaving many holes in visible skeletal remains. The worms moved in and out of these burrows in slow, lethargic motions. Using a mechanical arm, a single worm was removed as it emerged from a burrow. It was quickly frozen with liquid nitrogen  and examined. The orifice used as a mouth was observed to contain several rows of sharp teeth. Within the body of the worm was present fifty to a hundred offspring. They were contained in a pouch located half the length of the worm. Not all the infant worms had died when mother worm was doused in liquid nitrogen. A second spray of liquid nitrogen was needed during autopsy to ensure subject was no danger. 1900 hours, another lab employee was admitted to medical containment with rashes. 1920 hours, worms discovered in robot used in infected room. The worms had infiltrated units and survived the sterilization efforts. Seven other lab employees placed under acute observation for signs of infection. !928 hours, land lord from infected building was admitted to medical containment with rashes. It was determined his pet cat may have been infected and passed infection to its owner. The cat is currently at large and efforts are being made to locate and contain cat ASAP. 1931 orders issued to humane society, police, and fire fighters to locate infected cat. Orders are to kill and contain animal and to make zero contact it, alive or dead. A grid pattern was established at site of building remains. Concern for infection spreading to other animals and finally, to other people, force an emergency broadcast to city residence to keep pets and themselves in doors. A description of what the rash was given and an emergency phone number was listed for immediate help if rash is discovered. This message was repeated every two minutes on every station. Friday 0600 hours, fifty calls reported of unexplained rashes. Twenty-seven confirmed as infection. The Center of Infectious Disease declared an epidemic outbreak and all inbound and outbound road traffic and air-traffic were halted. The military was ordered to set up around city perimeter to ensure no one or no animal may leave or enter contaminated zone. 0900 hours, original infected agents still stable but are sleeping fifteen hours a day now. Levels of narcotics in blood samples have become alarming. Several tests have been attempted to try to locate worms in their system and have come up negative. Efforts continue to devise a test that can see the parasites in the body. Anti-Parasite medications have not shown any effect on parasites. 1200 hours, infected cat located in tree in nearby park. Searchers missed the cat in the initial search as it had succumbed to the infection and was in the early stages of a cocoon in tree foliage.   The nest was soaked with gas and burned on the spot. 1340 hours, medical containment facility at max capacity. There are two-hundred and thirteen confirmed infected victims. Several of those victims are the doctors and nurses in facility. Several community centers throughout city are being converted to serve as infection control units. !600 hours, the first bird, a crow, was discovered contaminated. Concern the infection is being carried past the containment zone is raised. Saturday 0940 hours, the first confirmed infection in next township to the north is discovered. There are now fourteen thousand infected peoples in community centers and still no treatment has been discovered. The World Health Organization IHR is alerted has been issued and all air-travel has been suspended. Fears a pandemic will occur are being realized and emergency measures are enabled in attempts to isolate spreading infection. Sunday 1200 hours, one of initially infected agents falls into coma. 1225 hours, evasive medical intervention is mandated and agent is placed in a sealed operating room where mechanical arm equipped with laser cutting apparatus will investigate how worm lives in its host. The procedure lasted ninety-five minutes, the agent did not survive. Examiners did determine the worm, once inside the body, was able to elongate its body to a diameter of twenty-five microns, forty-seven inches in length and swim along blood vessels in the host. This ability rendered the worm invisible to medical examiners, leaving them unsuccessful in their attempts to locate the parasite thus far. In addition to the parasite’s plastic abilities, it showed evidence of adapting to the host’s biochemical makeup, using the host’s own immune system to protect itself from pharmaceutical assaults. No cure has been determined and infection was deemed fatal. Wednesday 1200 hours, one week after initial contact with infected victims on Krug st. , forty-seven million people infected. Small animals have already succumbed to infection and thousands of nests are in existence in both urban and rural locations. Riots began in urban centers but were short lived as the nature of the infection robs the infected of their energy, leaving them in a lethargic sate. Black outs are wide spread as there are few people remaining to operate powers stations. Military law is in effect and uninfected people begin to suffer from clean water shortages and food shortages. All efforts to control the infection have been frivolous. ?Saturday 1200 hours, many infected peoples began to cocoon in their homes. It is now estimated that over five-hundred million people are infected with parasite. Martial law has failed as few military personal are left to impose it. All contact with the peoples of the infected continent has ceased as all life has been compromised by the parasite infestation. The remaining continents seem to be free of contamination and remain diligent in their coastal patrols. The use of satellite and high flying surveillance crafts have been employed to track living animals and peoples, determining when the remaining nations of the world would implement Flash-Fire Sterilization, a phrase that meant dropping two-hundred tones of nuclear bombs in key locations across continent to destroy all traces of parasite nests and potential hosts that may eventually carry infection across the world’s oceans. Wednesday 0800 hours, all the once great and bustling cities have gone silent. The world executed project Flash-Fire. The entire infected continent is set a blaze and all life is destroyed therein. Over five-hundred and twenty-five million people are dead as are every animal and piece of vegetation that once thrived there. Friday 1100 hours, a whale is found washed up on the shore in the UK. It has a greenish beehive like growth around half of its body. . . . Chapter 3, The Beginning King of the castle. . . At rest beneath the stars. Alone and undisturbed. This is nice. My days are filled with endless hours of chaos and mayhem. I have no choice but to listen to people talk endlessly about empty problems and drama. I live for these precious few moments of solitude and silence. It is the only bit of living that is truly mine. The only thing about these moments I don’t like is the fact that they end. At some point I will have to go back to the maddening chatter of the world. But I will not give that another thought. Not until the very moment I must leave my little piece of undisturbed world. I don’t know who built this shack here, in the middle of this place. There is no easy way to get here. The shack is old. It has no windows but there are holes in the walls and the roof sags. I can easily see the night sky if I sit in the back corner. I don’t mind that this shack isn’t weather proof. I bring my own stuff with me if it rains and I need cover. Not a thing around here to hurt me either. Just frogs and some bugs and the occasional snake. I think there is a family of beavers living at the one end of the lagoon. I used to carry a backpack when I came to this place. Now I stash my stuff underneath the shack, where I was able to hang a net. I can easily get at it through a hole in the floor boards. The water never gets so high as to get my stuff wet. Atleast, it hasn’t happened yet. A shack it may be, but I have come to think of this place as my castle. ********************************************** Mad scientist. . . . The world is too full of people. It doesn’t take a genius to see that. Most people are a waste of time living on this crowded planet anyways. I for one am tired of waiting for some natural disaster to come along and wipe the planet clean of the overpopulated growth of people. We are the cancer of the earth, surely the earth must have an immune system that will kick in to fight the cancer. War doesn’t help keep the numbers down. It adds to the problem. The governments of the world are all power hungry predators that feed their own people to the machines of conquest to get more and more power. Everyone knows power corrupts.   Question is, how can I cripple so many powerful bodies of people that are supported by mindless people who keep them in power? I am only one person. There must be a way. I have taken many courses on biology over the internet. I have learned how many creatures work. That is how their systems operate and how life can be present in them. I have also learned a thing or two about chemistry. I have a plan. A plan that will hopefully wipe out a great number of peoples form the planet. I want to create a life form that will prey upon people. Something small that no one will see coming. It must be a creature that can spawn quickly and move from prey to prey before anyone can figure out what it is and come up with a way to stop it. The power of governments will be absolutely futile against it. The brainless sheep that are the worlds populations will be mowed down and the earth will be free of it’s cancer. I have spent every penny I have on equipment that will make possible this little predator. I have had to start from the beginning more times then I care to admit to. Failure after failure has given me direction towards success. There have been times when the money ran out and I had to put things on hold. That was incredible frustrating. But now I stand on the cusp of succeeding and I am so excited by it I can barely contain myself. The only thing that bothers me is no one will know it was me that figured out how to save the world. ***************************************************King of the castle. . . I met a fellow the other day who, to my surprise, I liked. He may be the first person I have ever met who doesn’t like people just as much as I. He said he was stuck working a job he hated because he had to associate with people that were as dumb as stones. A feeling I know all too well. We got to talking and we both discovered how much we had in common regarding the world of people and a friendship of sorts became eminent. I discovered he was working to finance some sort of master plan that would some how make the world better. Meaning, a plan to rid the world of stupid people. Naturally I was intrigued and wanted to hear more. He seemed like he wanted to tell me, it was almost bursting out of him, but he said it was best he kept it to himself for the time being. I didn’t press him. I think he will tell me soon enough. If its good, maybe I will help with the finances. That would be money well spent. *************************************************** Mad scientist. . . . I was in town working, I ran out of money and needed some expensive equipment to splice and dice some genes. I happened across a fellow who I believe dislikes humanity nearly as much as I do. What are the chances of that I wonder. I warmed up to him quickly and, after talking for a while, almost spilled my plan. It is better not to tell too much. Just incase I am wrong about him and he somehow wrecks everything. That would certainly undo me. To fail at this point, when I am so close, simply because of a mouth too lose, well, that would be too much to bare. He seemed very keen about my plan and I would be a liar if I didn’t see the benefits of having a partner in this. I seriously doubt he could be of any use in my lab but he could be useful in other way; Money not being the least. I think I will test the waters and visit him again. To get a better sense of the quality of his character. I know people, and I am rarely wrong about them. I can’t help but feel this guy may be important in my success in implementing my plan. *************************************************** King of the castle. . . I have met with ‘The Mad Scientist’ several times now. I have come to calling him that not out of disrespect. Quite the opposite. The name is comical in its imagery and dubious meaning. He is mad about the world same as I and the fellow knows his stuff in the world of science. Science is not my forte but I still appreciate the complexities of it. At any rate, we have become good friends and, after learning of his master plan to rid the world of it’s cancer, I have become his greatest supporter. Well, truth be told, I am his only supporter because no one else knows about him and his work. I have given him my life savings to aid in his project, that is how much I believe in him. I have shown him my castle in the lagoon as well. I thought it might be useful when it comes time to try out his new predator. Remote and quiet, there is no better a place to kick off the end of the world. *************************************************** Mad scientist. . . . My feelings served me well once again. The fellow I met in town has proven to be a kindred soul and I have shared my work with him. He was as excited about it as me. Fantastic! Not only was he on board with the direction I move in, he volunteered financial support to move things along quicker. I didn’t even need to ask him. He hasn’t any aptitude for science but is full of energy that I must admit, gives me extra drive and pride in what I do. He showed me a isolated shack in a lagoon outside of town. He calls it his castle. A perfect setting for trial runs with my new predator. I don’t know how he found the place, but he assures me no one else goes out there to it. Judging by the look and feel of the place, I believe that to be so. My predator is exceeding my hopes in its abilities. I started with a simple leach and made some improvements to it. My pet human eater is equipped with many teeth and excretes a chemical that numbs pain. The saliva of my leach is very similar to the make up of narcotics. I have tinkered with its genes a little so that it feeds on red and white blood cells and can metabolize its food and adjust its own composition accordingly. Thereby using the antibodies of its host to keep it from harm once in the body. I also rigged my leach so that it was a-sexual and would literally split in the middle of its body to spawn its many off-spring. The life expectancy is directly correlated to its food supply. The more it feeds, the quicker it moves through its life cycle. The beauty of this predator is in its ability to constrict and elongate its body so that it may freely swim within the very body of its prey. Hopefully this helps keep it from detection long enough to spread from host to host. I figure, once it is released into the general public, it will be only a matter of a week or two to spread across the country. An accidental bonus, it builds a nest in its victim. I am not sure why or how this has happened but I see it as gift. I won’t kick that gift horse in the mouth. The nest is derived from the mucus it secrets. It is green and looks like a hive in construction. I am not certain how the nest works but it seems to act as a cannon if prodded, shooting out the leaches stored saliva as well as the leach and its offspring. An added bonus in ability to spread to other hosts. This is pure genius and it is all my doing. I don’t imagine I will be awarded for my work by anyone, as there won’t be anyone to present it. That will be reward enough I should think. I am ready to try my little predator outside of my lab. The structure in the lagoon is the next step. ************************************************* King of the castle. . . He has succeeded! This is the moment I have always waited for. A chance to finally rid the world of stupid chaos and meaninglessness. We are to set out tonight and test it at my castle in the lagoon. I have collected some rats from the pet shop to do the tests on. This is so exciting it is hard to wait for. I don’t remember ever feeling like this. Not even a christmas when I was a stupid kid. We are to meet where the old lane ends near the marsh before the sun sets. I will be there prompt with the payload of dinner for his little predator. *************************************************The prelude to the end. . . . A large rat was hung by a thin rope secured to a needle that was inserted through its body above its legs. The other two rats were nailed to the floor by their tails and forelegs. The two men, after completing the stage for their predator to begin its infestation, released the enhanced leach into the shack. It would only be a matter of minutes before the leach would sense and infect the half dead victims left for it to feed on. Both men retreated from the shack intending to return in a few days time to check in on the progress of the leach. In that time, the nest should be formed and, providing they did not disturb the nest, there would be little danger of they themselves becoming infected. At that time, they could begin exposing the predator to the general public. The plan was to provide the leach with a host that would deliver it to the world of people. Once that was implemented, they would make for the coast and to set sail in an old, fully stocked tugboat the mad scientist had inherited years ago. From there, they would safely observe the end of man from afar. Unknown to them, a couple out for a nature walk would stumble across there predator before they would return to the site. Thereby beginning a plague unlike the world has ever seen. A fatal flaw in the grand plan to cleanse the earth of her cancer, both men would fall prey to their own creation within a week after the leach spread to the general public. There was no way out of town as the town would be surrounded by the military and no one was permitted out without risking being shot trying to escape. The irony, in both men’s dreams of cleansing the world of people so they might live a happier life, ended with their own monster destroying them. No freedom or peace to be found for the king of the castle and the mad scientist.