The Hogarth Experiment Part 5

Peter levelled the shotgun at the insect as big as a sheep and pulled the trigger and again. The blast knocked the beast away from his father. He quickly reloaded as another giant insect came close to his father. The creature spun sideways as the shot hit it. Both creatures rose to their feet. His father picked up the pitchfork and jammed it deep into the first insects head. The insect wobbled on its legs before collapsing dead. The other moved giant insect towards the fallen insect. Peter had reloaded the shotgun and fired both barrels at the head of the advancing insect. The head of it seemed to explode. Peter reloaded the shotgun again. His father ran towards him pushing out of the way of another giant insect. They scrambled to their feet and ran to the farmhouse. They bolted the door and moved to the window. What they saw astonished them. More and more giant insects landed and seem to examine the fallen ones. They then lifted them into the air and flew off. John looked at his son. Their battle was over. All the giant insects disappeared along with the two they had killed. John went across to the phone and telephoned the police. He told them what had happened, half expecting them to laugh. They asked for his address and said they would be sending some people out to him. They told him to remain inside with his family and keep the windows and doors locked until they arrived. An hour passed and several armoured personnel carriers stopped in the farmyard. A dozen or more troops emerged from the vehicles. The Officer in charge deployed them around the vehicles before he and a short spectacled man came to the door of the farmhouse. John Fairchild let them in. The short spectacled man introduced himself as Raymond Constantine from Cambridge University where he taught about insects. The reason why they took so long to get there was that he had to be flown down from Cambridge. He asked if they could describe the insects that they had battled with. As they old him, Constantine frowned. He then asked how many did they see? John wasn’t sure, but he estimated over twenty. Constantine face grew paler. He knew what kind of insects had attacked them and that very thought of that worried him. He then asked what size they were. John’s answer frightened Constantine even more when he told him they were as large as sheep. Constantine turned to the Captain and said they must get back to HQ. He then turned to John and warned him that he must not go out in the daytime. Evenings and at night were Ok, but not during the day. Constantine and the Captain then left. On he journey back to HQ Constantine kept his eyes on the skies. The insect John Fairchild had told him about were social insects and lived in nests of up to ten thousand workers. Their nests were in a hole the ground. The problem was going to be to locate the nest and kill all the occupants, but mainly the queen. She would have to be destroyed. Several times, he thought he saw something, but they were merely birds. As the continued, deeper into the valley a humming sound arose around them, slowly getting louder and louder. Constantine turned to the driver and shouted at him to stop. The sky turned from blue to black as a mass of insects flew overhead. Constantine’s face turned ashen with horror at what he saw. Several of the insects seemed to be carrying human bodies. Others had small animals. Several of the soldiers left the armoured vehicles and were firing at the insects. Sudden they swarmed them. To be continued…