Slugs: A Story

Chapter 4

The felshconsumius maxinmus was really large. That is what Wilson first thought.

Have you ever seen a tiger or really large cat? Well, it was about two thirds of that size. The beast was lime green and absolutely oozing slime. The very bottom was covered in so much slime that it appeared to be blue. Its feelers were gelatinous and balled at the top. If it was possible, they seemed to be a slight bit greener then the body.

The giant slug looked at Wilson's hand. Its beady feelers slowly squished back into its oozing carcass. Slowly, with its antennas only halfway out, it began to squish closer to him with a wet, slapping noise. At the speed of a tortoise Wilson reached into his pocket, so as not to alarm it.

His finger brushed against the letter S emblazoned on a smooth cylinder. Garth had given him this when he was assigned to study the slugs and do calculations on their behaviors. Wilson had been warned only to use it in emergencies, as there were limited slugs.

The beast was only inches away from Wilson now. He knew it was time to act. As the slug raised its slimy mass, preparing to strike, Wilson whipped the salt shaker out of his pocket. Startled, it lunged forward just as he threw off the cap, sending salt soaring through the air. Within moments the felshconsumius maxinmus was on the floor, writhing in pain. The slime dried out as the monster's rapidly wrinkling skin tried to absorb it. Wilson cringed as its last attempts at life slowly died out. Kicking the shriveled, lifeless lump of flesh aside, Wilson quickly recapped the shaker and ran down the metal stairs.

He pounded back up the other stairwell and ran past the dead guard. Wilson didn't stop running until he reached the door to the containment vessel. With a start he realized it was unlocked. He was actually stupid enough to leave it open when he walked through. Leading over the threshold and into the hallway beyond were three slimy trails.

That was bad. Three slugs had escaped into the world. Wilson quickly shut the door behind him and ran down the FLOWERS 'N' MORE hallway, bursting out the door on the other side.

What he found was not exactly better.

The police officer that he had been talking to about Garth's death was lying on the floor, dead as well, but something was different this time, and not in a good way. Instead of just being coated in slime he was torn up and eaten in various places.

A slug had decided to have a snack.

Dread washed over Wilson in a massive wave. This was all his own fault. He had left the door open. He had signed up for this job.

However, Wilson began to realize that something was not right. Leaving the door open did not explain how Garth Gannuna Garrison had been murdered. The fact that he was dead obviously meant that more slugs had escaped, and somehow gotten out of the containment facility. He had no clue how this had happened. Wilson was just hired today, anyways. Why should he know anything, or even help the felshconsumius dilemma? He was only a mathmetician.

Because if I don't they will all blame me and I'll never get a job, Wilson silently reminded himself.

He walked back down the main, white colored hallway and into the reception room, his feet squishing on the moldy green carpet. The receptionist was still asleep...

Looking closer, Wilson realized that she, too, was dead. The slugs had killed her and left her for no reason, apparently no longer hungry. That was when Wilson knew something was wrong. The slugs were supposed to kill and eat all of their prey. Three out of four were left unharmed in death. Wilson made a mental note to make a note of that. It could be useful in his calculations on their eating habits.

Wilson pushed open the door of Garth's Giddy Glue. He trudged over to his stupid convertible, opened the door, and got in. Very soon he was puffing along the road, trying to go home as fast as he could.

Just as he passed a SuperMarket brand supermarket Wilson remembered his car needed gas. Thankfully in the hovercar revolution no one had thought to remove the regular gas stations (not that the gas industrys would let them), so he was able to refuel when needed.

Wilson pulled into a Gas brand gas station. He climed out of his convertible (from 2015!) and took the gas nozzle.

After a few gallons Wilson began to notice something unusual. There was no noise coming from the gas station, which was suprising, because the area around it was forested, leaving only human noise.

At first Wilson thought he had pulled into an abandoned gas station. Rats. He had really wanted a few candy bars, which would not hurt his skinny waist. But if this gas station is abandoned, he wondered, where is that growling coming from?

Indeed, there was growling, deep and loud, reverberating around the area. Wilson began to wonder what it was. At first he had thought it was the highway, but there were no cars around. Then something else occured to him. Was it his car? It seemed to be coming from inside. He walked over to the door and pulled it open.

Suddenly he remembered what the growling was. "Slug!" he yelled, just as one burst free from his vehicle. It tackled Wilson in a Slug Hug and began to slime him up as it moved its razor sharp, rotating teeth towards him. Suddenly Wilson understood how it killed its victims. The slime was poisonous. Even now he could feel the venom creeping into his skin.

So that was how the others had died. The slugs had simply oozed over them, leaving the innocent people to die of poisoning. The felshconsumius maxinmuses had no intention of killing anyone except the police officer. Wilson was shocked down to the bone.

And he did mean that quite litterally, too. The poison was rattling him all over. He felt sort of like he was being shocked. He had no clue how he would escape being eaten, as he was clearly going to be. Wilson was terrified.

All of this went through his mind in an instant as the beast began to squish very, very close to his face. Wilson knew he would die now. He would fade and be reduced to nothing. The world would never get advance warning about the monster slugs.

The venom reached its mark. Wilson cried out in terror, spasms of pain rippling through his body. He recieved a splitting headache instantly. His features began to contort, and with a final gasp of pain, he shuddered to a stop.

Wilson felt no pain in the last few seconds of his life.