Hunger consumed him again, but his strength was returning. More than returning, surging. Felix got to his feet feeling sticky but whole. The angle of the light now infiltrated the cave opening, illuminating the interior. Several ants worked at cleaning the remains of the opened cocoons, ignoring felix. One was drinking from the liquid hanging at the feet of one enveloped organism.
Felix approached. The ants did not respond. He walked closer to the rows of cocoons. The ants did not respond. A nearby cocoon appeared to have a human encapsulated, again with a liquid secretion suspended from the toes. He approached to investigate. The ants continued their work.
Felix peered inside, and could clearly see the shapes of a human, writhing in gestation, or maybe pupation. He couldn’t tell. He reached out to touch the surface of the container. Without hesitation, the brood of ants hissed and ratcheted in angry protest. He dropped to his knees in supplication, and though they continued to watch him, seemed accepting of his surrender. He reached for the dewy droplet and drank. The vital substance charged him further and Felix could feel his vitality strengthened. The ants, seeming content with his intentions, returned to their work.
Felix stood, backing away from the captive. He spotted the open cocoon that he assumed had been his containment. The ants were busy deconstructing and carrying away the silk-like structure. Carefully, Felix approached. The ants did not respond. He reached out and touched the empty shell. No response. Assessing his luck, Felix grabbed onto a section of the ligament that secured it to the wall of the cave and pulled. Like a thick spiderweb, glued to the wall at one end. The ant closest to him approached, and Felix shrunk back. In a single motion, the ant severed the ropes connection to the wall, then returned to its chewing of the cocoon body. Felix slowly got to his feet, feeling ahead for the loosened strand, eyes fixed on the ant.
Seeing that his actions were not garnering attention, Feilx pulled on the rope, and after some effort it gave in a tearing release. Felix took the material to the far side of the cave, near the small stream that rippled through the cavern, then returned for more.
In the light of day, worker ants began departing and returning through the cave mouth. On their return, each had some form of debris. Leaves, insect parts, liquid. They carried the material in, past the cocoon rows, and up into a corner corridor leading further into the darkened depths.
At one point, Felix saw what looked like an insect leg clutched in the mandibles of an incoming worker. He reached out and grabbed the spiky foot of the dead extremity, expecting hostility, ready to release at the slightest sign of disapproval, but none came. The ant dropped the leg, turned and left the cave for more resources. Felix was shocked at the submissiveness, not sure what to make of the encounter.
He moved to the opening, keeping tight to one wall as ants filtered in and out. The scene shook Felix to his core.
A vast forest of pines spread for kilometers. The sun hung just over the horizon directly perpendicular to the cave’s opening. Felix did a quick calculation. Less than an hour ago, or so he thought, not being sure how long he was unconscious, the cave was dark. It would be reasonable to assume that the sun was rising, making his facing direction East. He leaned out, looking off to the distance of the Southeast, finding a great plain with a large winding series of rivers and tributaries. To the Northeast The topography grew with mountain ranges and jagged cliff faces.
Felix made a mental map of what he assumed was a large river flowing from the mountains in the Northwest, down into an open valley. That would mean that he was in the hills at the foot of a mountain range. He scanned the treetops, searching for pathways, or any signs of navigational landmarks. He wondered if going into that dense pine canopy without navigational equipment would mean lost. He leaned out a little further to look upward. Large roots spread across the face of the cliff like ancient veins. The canopy of a massive tree-like structure could be seen far overhead, but what would be the base of it was much closer, maybe 30 meters up.
A scent caught his attention. Fire. Felix sharpened his focus, sensing the slight drift of breeze in the morning temperature inversion. There to the ESE, approximately 4 kilometers, a tiny whisp of smoke could be seen immersed in the canopy like an isolated cloud drifting towards him.
He scanned the skies and surfaces for evidence of a storm that may have created the spark, but the sky was clear, although an odd shade of greenish purple.
A commotion erupted inside of the cave. He turned to find another of the cocoons that had opened. A naked female, pale, adult, covered in a gelatinous material all-to -familiar lay helpless on the cave floor. Ants immediately moved towards her. Fear for her took over Felix and he yelled out to her.
“Don’t Panic”
She panicked
“Try to open the area around your mouth”, He moved towards her. Instantly, one of the ants that was tending to the cocoons turned to face Felix, mandibles open, hissing in fury.
Felix tried to sidestep, hoping to aid the other person, but the ant blocked and seemed ready to defend.
She writhed and flopped on the ground, tearing at her face, unable to gain purchase.
“Push your fingers into your mouth!” Felix yelled. And for a split second, she paused, seeming to have heard him. Felix watched in hopeful terror, still unable to get to her as she did what he had instructed.
She gasped in terrified delight, reveling in the oxygen entering her lungs. On hands and knees, she peeled at the substance, ripping it over her bald head like doffing a hoodie.
Felix instinctively felt his own head, surprised to find that he was also completely bald. He glanced at his arms and pubic area. No hair anywhere. But it was the absence of fingernails that was strangest.
Her scream brought him back to the situation. She had seen her captors and was crawling away from them. The brood swarmed her weak body.
“Don’t Fight! Do not Fight! They are cleaning you!” He yelled, but the clattering of carapace against carapace drown out his pleas. She screamed and fought, but to no avail.
The ants backed away from her, and she meekly rose to one hand. Felix’s stomach grew tight. He knew what was coming next.
One ant approached her, as her eyes filled with terror, wildly searching for purchase on the situation. It produced the droplet of liquid as before. She limply struck at the ant. Unfazed, it went to another cocoon and retrieved another drop. Drank from it, then returned to her, mandibles dripping with offer. The Human female struck at it again, but Felix could see from her emaciated form that there was no force behind the blow. The ants shrieked in defiance, and one surged at her, pinning her to the wall, mandibles forcing her chin towards the nearest drop of secretion. She begged, cried, became limp as the drop encased her face.
“Noooo!” Felix screamed and tried to advance. “Drink!”
His guard took a defensive stance, clearly ready to engage if needed. Felix knew he was no match in his current state, but he leered back at the thing. “Move!”. It did not.
“Please… Drink!”
She coughed, clearing her airway and blasting the liquid from her face. She turned her eyes and met Felix’s. Terror stuck her deeper still. Tears streaming from her eyes, she turned her gaze up, and froze, all blood rushing from her face, expression blank.
He thought. The scene she must be trying to rationalize is nothing less than a nightmare, and I am right at the center. “Please, drink!” He tried again.
The ant advanced with a droplet, pressing it on her face. With the last of her strength, she fought. Kicking and punching at anything in her radius. The ants wasted no time dissecting her.
Felix stood in disbelief, horror, as they removed her arms, legs, head, one ant pinning the body into place as another removed components. No emotion or malice, just clinical efficiency. One ant remained, lapping at the blood pool on the floor.
Felix gathered his insect leg and silks, and left the cave.
Artavus Quill 