My Empire of Dirt [Pt 4]

July 4th, 2017

Matt Roiland, Jay Jannette, and Carter Lee (the boy in flannel) sat upon a dock on the opposite side of the Ashley River to the place Doctor Harlan stood seven years prior, gazing out at the fireworks booming far and above them. Matt took two puffs on one of their pipes, and passed it to his left. Jay took a much longer hit, and passed it along to Carter. Carter held it in his hand for a while before indulging in old Aunt Jane. Stoned out of their wits, their immediate surroundings took a back seat to the spectacle of fireworks in the distance.

They sat for over an hour, Matt sometimes dumping and packing their bowl, Carter sometimes forgetting to hit it and lulling them into a motionless serenity, until Jay urged him to hurry up again.

The finale was beginning as they finished their second-to-last bowl.

“Hey Carter, wouldjya mind hurrying up over there? Some of us are trying to enjoy our night, y’know,” Jay called.

Carter had set the bowl down, paying little attention to it; they were, after all, higher than satellites, and so it was no surprise that they failed to notice the creature clinging to the rails behind them. Carter picked up the pipe, and held it up to his lips-

Only for Matt to smack it from his hands in one swift motion, sending the thing skittering across the dock. Carter stared after it, and then turned his attention back to his friends.

“What the fuck didjya do that for, Matty?”

“W-wuh-worm…?” Matt replied.

“W-wuh-worm? What are you, high?” Jay teased.

“No! I mean, yes, but, look!” Matt snatched the pipe from where it lay, and held it bowl-first for them to gaze at. A small white thing slithered and writhed, barely noticeable under the ash.

A splash from behind them drew their attention. Jay and Matt rushed to the rail, gazed down into the water on that side, but Carter moved in the other direction. His reddened eyes locked on the thing, and widened. His heart thrummed in his chest as it, and a dozen more of it, retreated into the murky depths.

The trio left immediately, and disposed of their paraphanelia in a trash can on the trail leading back to their car. For the length of their walk, they found themselves jumping at shadows. Halfway down the trail, Carter came to a dead stop, his heart thumping loudly. Matt and Jay held hands tightly, and continued several paces forward before noticing their friend was lagging behind. Jay turned to look for him, and her breath caught in her throat.

They tell me that there were more of those things, the worms, hanging from the trees. Thousands of them, strung across branches and dangling from leaves like some sick, twisted confetti. Matt refused to turn, gripped Jay’s hand tighter. “We have to go,” he told her, and tugged. Carter, however, was transfixed by the writhing horrors overhead, and Jay was not one to leave a friend behind. She let go of Matt’s hand and rushed back to Carter, gripping him by his sleeve and yanking him forward. It was a struggle- one step, then two, but finally, he started moving. A thick mist was rolling in, breaching the tree line, obscuring their vision. Jay and Carter moved with greater urgency, and soon caught back up to Matt, who had waited, still as stone, for his girlfriend to return to him. He gripped her right hand tight, and Carter gripped her left just as tightly. She squeezed both hands back. The three began running, even as the fog closed in, even as the worms began to rain down on them, even as they swore they saw figures moving on the edge of the trail, figures not unlike those they’d glimpsed swimming in the river.

They came barreling out of the mist, and into the trail’s parking lot. They broke contact, Matt sliding across the hood of Jay’s car, Jay quickly fishing her keys from her pocket and jamming her finger against the unlock button.

Beep beep, the car sounded with a click. Carter was the first to try the door, but it didn’t open. His heart thumped.

“Wrong button!”

“Fuck!”

“Damn it, Jay, I love you, but hurry the hell up!”

Jay fumbled with the keys, nearly dropping them, but managed to slam the correct button twice. The car clicked and beeped again, and now the doors gave, swinging outward in response to the trio’s prying hands. Carter was the first in, then Jay, then Matt. Without buckling up, without turning on the lights, without making sure the doors were even fully closed, Jay jammed her key into the ignition, twisted it, and tore out of the driveway. None of them looked back this time. Only when they reached the highway did they, one by one, buckle up and make sure their doors were shut. Jay locked them, and drove in silence. They did not return home or stop driving until late the next day- because they contacted and met me at my house that same night. I rode with them as they recounted their tale, offered them what comforts I could, fed them, refilled their gas tank, and saw the boys home. Jay dropped me off at my house at 12 PM. Much has happened since then- much is still to come. There are only a handful of weeks left before September 21st, and still so much more to recount to you. But, I suppose, it’s best to conclude a chapter, before starting another.

When we pulled back into my driveway, a chilling thought crawled up my spine and into my mind. “Jay,” I said, just before I shut the passenger side door behind me, “get out of your car.” She stared at me quizzically, and then complied. I joined her on the driver’s side, and then crouched down, gazing under her seat.

A single worm was crawling towards the bag of leftovers we’d brought back from breakfast. The leftovers were mine, thankfully; the boys had finished eating in the diner, and Jay had refused to eat at all. Nose crinkling in disgust, I snatched the paper bag, marched to the end of my driveway, and dropped it into the trash bin. I could hear the garbage truck a block or so over; I’d stand outside and watch to make sure there were no escapees.

When the truck finally came, I returned to Jay, who had simply stood, face pallid and eyes wide. “You told me that you hit the wrong button- you accidentally locked the car and couldn’t get in, right?”

She nodded.

“Well… You must’ve left it unlocked in the first place.”

We spent three hours combing her car for any stragglers, cleaning it as thoroughly as we could, before she finally felt comfortable getting in and driving off. I took special care to burn the clothes I’d worn that morning, and to thoroughly rinse and bleach the bin I’d dumped that bag into.

Be careful what you bring into your home, reader. You never know what might be infested.

Good night, Reader.

And, soon, I fear, Goodbye.