Slugs: A Story

Chapter 3

The containment unit guard walked down the steel walkway above the generator. The generator powered the fences of the containment unit, keeping the security guards relatively safe.

His shift was waiting for him near an overhang. "They're getting unusually violent today. Seems like they want to get somewhere. I mean more than usual," he mused.

"Yeah, well, it's my turn to deal with the beasts," said the guard gruffly. "You can leave now."

He waited until the other guard had left before looking into the cage below. They really were violent today. The creatures kept on slamming themselves into the south wall, their impacts softened by moss and foliage.

There was a metallic grinding and they suddenly turned still. The door at the end of the cage was well hidden from view, but they still knew where it was and what it meant.

Feeding time.

The guard heard a nervous goat bleat and they moved into the forest swiftly. He turned his head as the slugs began to tear it to pieces.

. . .

Wilson burst into his apartment. He looked around furiously and pounced on a suitcase. He vorasciously threw all his clothes, toiletries, and other nessecities into it. Garth had told Wilson he would need to stay the night. Wilson understood why now. What he was about to undertake was a lot more than he had first expected.

He threw on a coat, put some food in his hampster's cage, and ran out the door, down the stairs, and into his old cars.

Wilson jammed his keys into the ignition and was off. If he had a hovercar he could have taken the SkyWay, but no. Of course, once he was finished with this job that would all change. Anyways, for now he had to take the almost entirely deserted highways.

Even though he didn't realize it at the time, Wilson broke the speed limit by a lot, although it didn't really matter. The highway was deserted today.

He dashed down the road as fast as his old piece of car junk would take him, which was not really that fast. Wilson screeched to a halt infront of the door into Garth's Giddy Glue.

Panting, Wilson burst out of the car and threw himself through the door. The room inside was empty, but he did not really register that in his mind. He just tore past the desk thing and down the hallway to Garth's office.

Wilson shoved the door open, and froze in shock.

Garth Gannuna Garrison was lying on the floor, dead.

. . .

The police officer pushed under the caution tape on the door. He stepped over to where the body was lying. Garth was on the floor with no visible wounds except for an excess of mucus-like slime covering his body.

"Well," he told the sort of Chinese looking man who claimed to be employed by Garth. "We have no evidence of how this... accident... happened. Unless of course you were holding back something from us, but..."

"Are you suggesting that I murdered him?" exclaimed Wilson fretfully. "I was just employed ten or twenty minutes ago! I was gathering my stuff to stay overnight while it happened. There's no way!"

"And if you were to tell us why you were staying overnight we might have reason to believe that," shot back the police officer. "As of now, we still have no clue how you are involved with this company."

Wilson was tempted to, but he knew better. If the police found out what had killed Garth... he shuddered. That would mean the end of Wilson's quest for a decent salary end forever, and not in the I-have-a-good-job-to-settle-down-with-now kind of way. It was for the best not to tell them.

Wilson came to the grim realization that with or without Garth he would have to finish the company's work.

. . .

Once the police officer cleared out, warning Wilson not to EVER go to the crime scene NO MATTER WHAT, Wilson walked out of the head of weddings room and into a spazmatically decorated hall, labeled FLOWERS 'N' MORE. It looked as if it had once been a room, but it had clearly been expanded on and turned into a hallway. It seemed to lead to a... religious pebbles, was that a high security containment vault?!

Very much intrigued, Wilson walked past paintings hanging astray on the wall, some with holes in them and very many with drawn-on mustaches. The hall was so dimly lit that he almost didn't notice the giant Dora the Explorer balloon until he nearly walked into it. Dead flowers were randomly scattered everywhere; a grim backdrop for the aquamarine room.

Just then he came to the door.

With a sense of purpose he opened it, pulling down and around on the handle as indicated. With a pssssh it opened, billowing out steam. Wilson walked inside and onto a steel walkway above a... generator. A huge, throbbing generator.

A little further on the walkway ended on an overhang. Wilson peered over the edge into a vast, forested cage. This must be where they were kept.

His foot planted itself on a warm, fleshy mass. Wilson steeled his nerves and looked down.

A guard was dead on the floor.

Suddenly feeling the urge to throw up, Wilson decided to begin the first part if the job and get out as fast as possible. He needed to observe the slugs eat their prey. Speaking of which...

Creeeeeeak. The metal feeding door opened with a grinding noise. Wilson heard a nervous oink? But there was nothing else. No rustling in the forest, no ripping and tearing noises.

Just then he noticed a huge hole in the wall directly below his feet, and trails of slime leading out through the wall, and... up a steel girder, onto the overhang. Looking down at his feet, Wilson realized he was standing in some of the stuff, too. As a matter of fact, the guard was coated in it.

Dread began to settle in Wilson's stomach. With a chill he realized that every single slug had either escaped or was very much capable of leaving without permission.

So, of course, he turned and ran deeper into the containment facility. His boots clacked on the metal as he ran down a flight over stairs next to the overhang. No... the slugs would be on the ground. Wilson turned and dashed up a staircase parallel to the one he was standing on. It led to a dead end. He cursed under his breath.

He heard the metal creak behind him. Wilson turned around very slowly.

Wilson gasped and nearly fell off of the platform. A primordial growl reverberated through the room.

It was one of the slugs.