Slithers

*Buzz, Buzz, Buzz*

Alarms blared and red lights flickered. Explosions in the underground research facility went off in someplace, causing quakes and dust to fall from the cracks in the ceiling.

Two figures ran down the hallway to a small lab with a capsule big enough to fit one person. One of the two, the 17-year-old boy entered the capsule while the 60-year-old scientist started typing on a computer a few metres before the capsule.

The researcher had a bleeding bruise on his forehead. The dizziness caused him to enter a few wrong keys, forcing him to fix them and waste time. His lab coat was bloodied and tattered.

Screams sounded nearby made the old man flinch. He didn't have much time left. When he finally entered the codes, he activated the capsule. It began powering up and dim white lights slowly got brighter with every second.

"Remember our plan!"

"Yes, Doctor! How could I forget? You gave me a perfect memory." The boy smiled, trying to comfort him as much as possible as he was leaving the doctor. Despite the gravity of the situation, he tried to make light of it.

The boy saw a pink-fleshed monster walk into the intersection of the passageway from the left. It was an infected called the blind monk. Its skin looked like ones from a burn victim. Dry, hard and severely scarred and wrinkled skin.

It wasn't actually a monk but it was blind, but more precisely, it was made that way.

The common "blinder" is a human-shaped alien that has a blade coming out on each arm. When it was born from the hive or when an infected human turned, the first thing it would do was slice its eyes out with its blade. After the cut heals, it would close off with a hideous scar. The scar would cover up the eyes making it look like it was born without them.

Then it would cut off its ears and a pointy long elf-like ear would grow in its place.

It would sacrifice its eyes and gain sensitive hearing which it uses to find prey and move around. That's why it was called a monk because its metamorphosis looked like an act of faith.

It also wasn't necessary because an autopsy had shown that the blinders were already blind before cutting their eyes and already had sensitive hearing when the ears grew on their own accord.

Baffling. The doctor wondered if it was a genetically programmed behaviour and why, but it does give credit to his clone theory.

The monster stopped still in the middle of the intersection. There was a 50% chance it would continue walking forward or turn right to where they were.

*Whir whir*

The machine got louder and brighter.

The blinder turned its head to "look" in their direction as if God was cruel. It began walking to them.

It was a nightmare.

The boy gestured to the doctor to be quiet and that there was something behind him. He turned back and saw what it was. He looked to the boy and forced a thin smile.

"It's okay. I won't get out here anyways."

"Doctor no! Please!"

"My beloved granddaughter... is dead. I have nothing left to live for."

"KIEEEEEEEH" The blind monk heard them. It charged with its arms flailing on its sides.

"I always thought of you as my own son."

"Then live for me!"

The doctor smiled. It was serene, which should be impossible to do in this situation. Even the world's best liar couldn't fake a smile when his life was about to end. Unless... the doctor really was content.

"Save the world, save-"

Two blades pierced through his chest from behind. Blood ran down his lips.

"DOCTOR!!!" The boy wailed.

"save Hokona..."

The two blades sliced from the centre outwards, bisecting the rest of his body from his chest. The blind monk could be seen in its entirety.

The whirring of the machine reached its peak and electricity rippled from it.

"KIEEEEEEEH"

The bright and blinding light consumed the capsule but the blinder was unaffected.

It sliced with both of its blades and the glass shattered. The light and the whirring of the machine died down. The boy had vanished.

"Aghhh!"

It quickly lost interest in the boy and chased after a man's scream.

***

On a distant planet, strange cicada-like noises were called out on swampland.

These swamps were infested with Slithers which were amphibious nematode endoparasites that would hide and wait in the water for prey to come to the swamps where it would drill its way into the host and dominate its mind. However, there's been a lack of prey recently.

Many slithers were laying on the bottom of the swamp bored. Once in a while, they would come up near the surface to watch for any hosts before coming back down to rest. No slithers would dare swim around to keep themself company as they were saving energy.

One slither hanged on a piece of submerged wood. The wood would be floating on the surface of the water but the slither's weight brought it down to near the surface. This slither had tested other pieces of floating debris and found this one which had the perfect altitude.

This way it could always be near the surface to look for prey, without needing to move, it would conserve a lot of energy.

"!"

The slither ducked in a vertical circle as it sensed something approaching through the vibrations in the water. Something shot past it and split in three directions. The wood was cut into three pieces. Floated in front of it were three slithers. All grinning with their mandibles.

***

On a street in Aobe ward, a distortion in space appeared several metres above. The warp grew bigger until it flashed a light in the centre where a boy fell out of it and then it disappeared as if it never existed.

He was crouched on the ground on one kneecap and supported himself with a hand on his other leg. He slowly stood up and surveyed his surroundings with a heads-up display in his vision.

He saw a jogger running in his direction along the footpath and went over to the 40-year-old man.

"Excuse me!"

"Yes?" He said as he took his earphones out.

"What date is it?"

"Umm March 11th"

"And the year?"

"... Huh?"