Chapter 4
347words
The "Ark" rested beneath an abandoned water tower.
Inside the vehicle, Lila used tweezers to examine a glowing fish scale. "These scales contain silicon crystals, like tiny solar cells... the fungi are repurposing them."
Kay didn't respond.
He was pouring industrial silica gel desiccant into the vehicle's leaking seams.
The white particles expanded on contact with water, instantly sealing the cracks. "Damn sight better than a welding torch," he muttered, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Protein crisis!" Buck rapped his knuckles against the cricket breeding box.
Hundreds of black insects scurried through wheat bran, their wing cases creating a buzzing chorus throughout the sealed cabin. "If we don't eat these soon, I'll start sampling human flesh!"
Lila snatched the breeding box away. "This is a genetically edited population! They metabolize fungal toxins!"
"I only care if they can break down my goddamn hunger!" Buck yanked out his 1911 and slammed it on the table.
Kay suddenly raised his hand. "Quiet."
A sticky, slithering sound came from outside.
Countless fungal hyphae spread along the water tower's outer wall like living white veins.
Under moonlight, the hyphae sprayed misty spores from their tips. The jasmine fragrance suddenly intensified.
"Seal internal circulation!" Kay lunged for the control panel.
The air filter emitted a dull roar as neodymium magnet arrays trapped spores sneaking through the ventilation.
Lila suddenly screamed.
The USB drive in her arms burned hot, its screen displaying chaotic code. "Electromagnetic pulse! They're interfering—"
Before she could finish, something heavy crashed onto the roof.
A parasitized vulture had slammed into the solar panel, golden threads writhing in its rotting eye sockets.
Buck grabbed the ethylene oxide canister. "Open the door! I'll treat our friend to a barbecue!"
"No!" Kay restrained him. "An ethylene oxide leak would suffocate us before it gets them!"
In the breeding box, crickets frantically hurled themselves against the walls as if possessed.
Through the 45-decibel chirping, Kay watched the oxygen readings plummet on the central display.
The fungal mass on the roof thickened like a writhing white tumor.
