Mandibles (12 page)

*-CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO-*
Dustin ran down the center of the highway. Since so many ants had been crushed under tires, he wasn't in nearly as much danger of being stung as he had been behind Seth's Quik-Stop. If they could get a few steamrollers out here, they might be in pretty good shape.
"Hey!" a voice behind him called out, though he could barely hear her over the ruckus the stopped cars were making with their horns. Dustin turned and saw a middle-aged woman in her rusty Volkswagen, the window rolled down a fraction of an inch. "Need a ride?"
An ant scurried over Dustin's foot. "No thanks!" he said, continuing his run. Locking himself in a car would keep him alive, probably, but it wouldn't take care of the ant problem. Of course, there was no guarantee that he'd be able to do anything even if he made it to the address on the note, but he at least had to try.
He ran alongside a semi truck and then saw the reason for the traffic standstill. There had been a six-car accident in the middle of the intersection. A body dangled out of the open door of one of the vehicles, ants crawling over every square inch of flesh, and a second driver lay slumped against the steering wheel, a splatter of blood on the inside of the cracked but not broken windshield. The other two cars were abandoned.
There were a hell of a lot of ants in the intersection.
Dustin hesitated. He'd have to find another way around. Running across that intersection wasn't certain death, but it looked pretty damn dangerous. He'd just have to take a detour down one of the side streets. If he could get a car, he could just circle around the block and that would put him ahead of the accident, and then he could --
He heard a baby cry.
The sound was coming from the intersection. Dustin couldn't be certain, but the car with the driver slumped against the steering wheel looked like it _might_ have a child safety seat in the backseat.
Dustin knew that running over there to save it was a bad idea. Somebody else would eventually get the baby out of there, right? There were children in danger all over the city. Risking his life to save this one baby could cost the lives of countless others.
A bad idea.
Unfortunately, while Dustin was far from the most courageous person he knew, he just wasn't the kind of guy who could leave a crying baby alone in a car to be devoured by ants. Call it a personality quirk.
He ran toward the car, reminding himself out loud that it was a really bad idea.
He took long strides, trying to keep his feet in the air as much as possible. The less time he spent touching the ground, the fewer opportunities there were for ants to get on him. This would've been the perfect time to be Michael Jordan.
Instead of running to the door, Dustin leapt up onto the rear of the vehicle. There were ants up there, but not as many as there were on the pavement. Maybe climbing was difficult for them. Though it would only take a few seconds to get the door open, that was a few seconds too long to be standing still. He could see through the rear windshield that there was in fact a real live baby in the backseat.
He did an impressive kick that sent an ant flying off the trunk of this car and onto the trunk of the car next to it. Then he crawled up onto the top of the car, reached down, and opened the back door on the driver's side, which was the opposite side from where the baby sat.
Without hesitation he leapt off the vehicle, ducked his head down, and leapt into the backseat. He slammed the door shut.
Not a single ant had gotten inside. Not bad for somebody who'd never gotten higher than a "C" in physical education.
Of course, he still had to get _out_ of the car.
He made various soothing noises at the crying baby, not that he really expected any of them to work. His only real experience with babies was cursing the people who brought screaming ones to movies, but he didn't have to be a good surrogate daddy here, he just had to get this one out of the car safely.
As he unfastened the seatbelt, he saw that the driver of the semi was frantically batting at something in his vehicle.
Not good.
Dustin took the baby out of the seat and held it against his chest. It was wearing a light blue Cookie Monster nightgown. A boy? He felt a pang of sadness knowing that the baby no longer had a mother, but forced that thought out of his mind. Get the baby safe, and then worry about its future.
He'd made it to the car without getting stung, but he couldn't count on that again. He needed something to distract the ants.
Such as a dead body.
He reached down and pulled the seat release lever, then brought the passenger seat down as far as it would go. Making sure not to the jostle the baby any more than absolutely necessary, he climbed over the seat into the front of the car. The passenger side door was blocked by one of the abandoned cars, but there was just enough room on the driver's side for Dustin to open the door and push the dead woman outside.
Dustin prayed that the baby would never remember what he did to its mother.
He leaned over, arm accidentally sliding across the woman's wet forehead, and reached for the door handle.
Then he noticed in the rear-view mirror that the semi was moving. A red Saturn in front of it was being pushed forward as the panicked passengers tried to escape from their vehicle. Dustin turned around to get a better look, and saw that the driver of the semi looked crazed, terrified, as if he'd decided that he was getting out of there, no matter what.
Dustin pulled his hand away from the door handle. No time for a distraction.
The front corner of the Saturn crashed into the car next to it, pushing the car up on its side as it struck the curb and the semi continued moving forward.
Dustin put his hand over the baby's face, then raised his legs and slammed them against the cracked windshield. The glass held. He could see the semi headed straight for him in the rear-view mirror, the Saturn in front of it now turned sideways, slowing the semi's progress but not stopping it. Sparks flew as the Saturn scraped against the side of a truck in the intersection.
The windshield shattered as Dustin slammed it a second time. The sight of the semi and the helpless car it was pushing now filled the entire rear-view mirror.
Pressing the squirming and screaming baby to his chest with one hand, Dustin climbed out through the broken windshield, wincing as his leg tore against a chunk of glass still attached to the frame. A superficial wound, but painful. He crawled out onto the hood of the car as the semi barreled down upon them.
He jumped.
The Saturn smashed into the car just as Dustin leapt from the hood. The semi kept moving, partially crushing the Saturn between the two vehicles. Dustin landed, lost his balance, and stumbled forward.
Then he fell.
He twisted his body just in time, keeping himself from landing on the baby. He landed on his back, squishing several ants beneath him, and then realized that the semi was starting to tip.
Before he could even sit up, twenty or thirty ants crawled onto his body.
The driver, obviously too far gone to realize that he was going to topple his vehicle, didn't let up on the gas, and the semi continued to tilt toward Dustin.
At least having the semi come down on him would be a more merciful fate than being stung to death by the ants. He held the baby tightly against him.
Then a huge rush of cold water washed over him.
The semi was now at a forty-five degree angle, and began its downward descent.
As the ants were carried away by the water, Dustin frantically scooted back as the shadow of the falling semi covered him.
The side of the semi read "Hansen Pillow Factory."
Dustin's spine struck the curb.
He tightly pulled in his knees as the semi crashed onto its side, coming less than three inches from crushing his feet. The sound was almost deafening.
He just sat there for a moment, unable to believe he was actually alive. Then the baby was snatched out of his hands and he looked behind him to see a guy and a girl, both about eighteen or nineteen, standing by an open fire hydrant. A pair of motorcycles was parked on the sidewalk next to them.
"You can't hold a baby like that!" said the girl, cradling it. "But you did good saving it."
"Thanks."
"We need to _flood_ these things, man!" said the guy. "Open every fire hydrant in the city!"
Dustin got to his feet. That sure would have made getting the baby out of the car easier. He gave himself a mental kick in the rear for not thinking of that.
"Listen to me," he said. "I need to borrow one of your motorcycles."
"No way!"
"It's urgent! I think I know who caused this, and I need to find him as soon as possible."
"Yeah, right," said the guy. "We're not giving up our transportation. Get your own motorcycle."
Dustin considered offering them money, but he only had a few dollars in his wallet, and it was unlikely that they'd give up their motorcycles for any price. Wonderful. The kids had saved his life, and now he was going to have to turn into a mugger.
He took out Slash's gun and pointed it at them. "I need your motorcycle."
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!"
"I'm sorry, I just have to take it," Dustin said. "You can still share the other one. And I'll make it up to you." He looked at the girl. "You'll take the baby someplace safe, right?"
She nodded as she glared at him.
Keeping the gun pointed at them, Dustin mounted one of the motorcycles. He hadn't driven one of these things in years, but they were like a bicycle, right? A bicycle with the potential to smear your face across two blocks of pavement if you weren't careful.
"Try not to split your head open," said the guy in a bitter voice.
"I'm really sorry about this," said Dustin, starting up the engine. "Be careful out here."
"Kiss my ass."
Dustin drove down the sidewalk, wobbling a bit for the first few seconds and accidentally dropping the gun. He could hear the guy running toward the unloaded weapon so he sped off, wishing he'd been cruel enough to steal one of their helmets.

*-CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE-*
"Just what in the world is that guy doin'?" asked Zachary. Roberta leaned forward and watched as the semi smashed into the car in front of it. "This ain't a demolition derby!"
"Wish I was in one of those things," said Dave. The gauze he'd been holding to his nose was completely soaked with blood, so Roberta took it from him and gave him a new wad. "Plowing through this traffic might not be such a bad idea."
Hack nudged Dave in the side and pointed excitedly. "Look! It's him!"
"Who?" Roberta asked.
"Some guy we were with," said Dave. "He's an ant expert."
"We need to go pick him up!" Hack insisted.
"What for?" asked Zachary. "What's his expertise gonna tell us? Ants are bad?"
"Listen," Dave began, "if anybody knows how to get out of here without getting killed, it's that guy. He even knew the scientific name of these things. _Solenap Vicar_ or something. My friend is right, we need to go get him."
"Well, I hate to disappoint you, but there's no way we're gettin' through this traffic to pick him up. You're welcome to run out there and invite him to join us, if you'd like."
Roberta noticed that Dr. Ruiz wasn't moving. She reached over the seat and patted him on the shoulder. "Dr. Ruiz? Are you okay?"
Dr. Ruiz nodded and continued staring out the window.
"Are you sure?"
He didn't respond.
"Oh my God. Zachary, make sure he's okay."
"I'm kind of tryin' to drive."
"Zachary, _please_!"
Zachary stopped the car and tapped Dr. Ruiz on the cheek. "Hey, you still with us?"
"I'm fine," said Dr. Ruiz in a weak voice. "My leg."
"What about your leg?"
"Hurts."
"Which one?"
Dr. Ruiz lifted his right leg a bit. As Zachary leaned over to examine it, Roberta saw the semi start to topple.
"Hey, Zach, you may want to see this," said Hack.
Zachary looked over the dashboard just as the semi fell onto its side. "Sweet Jesus!"
"Did it get him?" asked Hack. "Did the ant expert get crushed?"
"I don't know!" said Dave. "Looks like it got his legs!"
"Jesus!" Zachary repeated, and then he leaned back down. Roberta watched as he pulled up Dr. Ruiz's pant leg, revealing a red welt. "Oh, cripes, one of them got him."
Roberta felt a sudden influx of tears, but remained calm. "Are there any more stings?"
Zachary lifted his pant leg higher. "I don't see any." He looked at Dr. Ruiz. "Does it hurt anyplace else?"
Dr. Ruiz shook his head.
Outside, the guy Dave and Hack were concerned about got up and started talking to a couple of people on the sidewalk. Zachary sat back up. "I have no idea how bad the venom from just one ant is, but I think we should get him to a hospital. He's not looking good."
"Forget the hospital," said Dave. "We -- "
Zachary cut him off. "Did anybody ask for your opinion?"
"Let me finish. The insect expert, he's got some kind of antidote. I got stung myself and he just pricked me with some little thing and said it would take care of the poison."
"Where's the sting?" asked Zachary.
Dave pointed to his bloody shoulder. "Not a good day for this part of my body, is it? We need to follow that guy. Look, he's getting on a motorcycle, we've got to hurry!"
"What do you think?" Zachary asked Roberta.
"Follow him."
Zachary nodded and resumed driving across the parking lot, weaving around the other cars that were doing the same thing.
"You're going to be fine," said Roberta, gently rubbing the back of Dr. Ruiz's neck. "One little ant sting isn't going to hurt anybody. We'll find the ant expert, and he'll fix you right up, okay?"
"Maybe I'll ... trade him a..." Dr. Ruiz trailed off, apparently unable to think of a punch line for what was certainly going to be one of his usual jokes.
"Hey, you need to stay awake," said Roberta, shaking him just a bit. "You don't want to miss any of the excitement, do you? What about your grandchildren? You want to see your grandchildren again, don't you?"
"Yes."
"Then you need to stay alert, try to fight off whatever's in your system. Your grandkids could do it. Didn't you tell me that one of them could climb any tree you put in front of her?"
"Maria," Dr. Ruiz said.
"Maria, right. Maria wouldn't let some little ant sting keeping her from climbing trees, would she? Not a chance. You don't want her to think her grandfather is just some big sissy, do you? You still want to take her on the roller coasters, don't you? You need to stay awake so you can listen to her scream as you go down that first hill."
"Is staying awake really going to change anything?" asked Hack.
Roberta shot him an incredibly dirty look. "Shut up."
"No problem."
Ahead, the guy on the motorcycle turned right onto one of the side streets. Hack pointed at the turn. "Don't lose him!"
"I'm not gonna lose him," said Zachary.
"Dr. Ruiz?" Roberta asked. "Dr. Ruiz? Talk to me!"
There was no answer.
"Check his pulse," said Zachary, bouncing everyone in the jeep as he drove over a concrete divider.
Roberta grabbed Dr. Ruiz's arm and pressed her thumb to his wrist. "I can't tell ... wait, it's there but it's weak."
"He'll die if we don't catch up to the ant expert," Dave pointed out.
"Do you think you could drive any better?" Zachary asked. "I could've just left you two to bleed to death by the dentist's office, or to get devoured by those ants."
"I was just making an observation!"
"Well keep your observations to yourself in my jeep."
"I'll do that. But if he dies, I think everybody will know whose fault it is."
"Shut up, both of you!" Roberta snapped. "It doesn't do any good to argue! But Zachary, _please_ catch up to him. I'm not sure how much time Dr. Ruiz has left."
Hack snorted. "Way to keep up the doc's morale."