Pest

I always have hated bugs. Doesn't matter what they do, or what they look like. I hate them. When my college biology class found out about this, everyone voted to go to some place for insect experimentation for our field trip.

I sat in the bus, staring out the window. Why was this place in the middle of a desert anyway? As the bus drove on, a large facility appeared on the horizon. As we got closer, we passed several different fences guarded by men armed with military-grade weaponry. They would stop us, ask for our pass, and we would be on our way.
Eventually, we arrived at the actual facility. A few people in white lab coats came out and greeted us, obviously in a rush. We stepped out of the bus, and followed the beckoning scientists. They took our group through a special route through the facility especially for visitors. I didn't listen to the chattering scientists very much, too sickened by the sight of thousands of different insects, all in their own cage.

"...his is our biggest accomplishment yet. As you can see..." We walked into a large observation deck, overlooking a massive room filled with people in white lab coats and computers. In the center of the room was a singular enclosure, in which I could barely make out a small, white larva like thing. At that moment, a scientist walked over to the enclosure with a few mice in a clear container. He stepped inside, opened the container, and dumped the mice out. He began to walk away when the larva slithered over to the mice faster than I thought possible. It engulfed them in a flash, then turned to the scientist. A few others outside the enclosure shouting a warning, but it was too late. The larva sped over to the scientist's leg, and burrowed into his calf. He screamed in pain and blood poured out of the gaping hole, which was obviously getting deeper by the second. The girls in my group began to scream, and the guys backed away in horror. The victim's co-workers raced over to the enclosure to help their friend, but by that time the scientist had stopped screaming. I was frozen in fear, too shocked to move. One of the other scientists grabbed the victim's arm to pull him away, but just like that the arm came off. What was more disgusting was the thousands of wiggling larva that had replaced the muscle, fat, and bone. Finally breaking free of the shock, our tour leader ripped a CB radio out of her pocket, telling whoever was on the other end what had happened.

Almost instantly an alarm went off, and a red light started flashing in the large room where the breakout had happened. I looked back to the room, and saw thousands of larva slithering after fleeing scientists. One poor man had one burrow into his foot, making him collapse in pain. Instantly, hundreds more burrowed into him, finally exploding his body in thousands of the white pests.

The tour guide commanded us to follow her, and she began running down the hallway. As we ran after her, I could hear the screams of dying people behind me. Other scientists began joining us in the escape. A voice came from an intercom above us saying the parasites had broken out of the holding room, followed by a scream. We all redoubled out pace, sprinting to the exit of the facility. I began to hear hisses far behind us. Now it seemed the whole facility was running with us.

We finally made it to the exit, where there were guards armed with flamethrowers, yelling at us to get out. The line to get out was slow because of the sheer amount of people, but it kept moving like a flood. A mass of helicopters began to land outside for our escape.

And then we heard it. A scream sounded from the end of the line. People began to push, and I finally got out of the facility. People poured out of doorway, and finally the last one to get out raced out of the facility with a literal wave of the larva chasing her. She jumped out of the way as the guards bathed the entryway in fire, bringing dying hisses from the mass of larva. The people outside ran to the helicopters, since it seemed more and more larvae were coming.

One of the guard's flamethrowers ran out, making him draw his sidearm, firing recklessly into the mass. They soon overwhelmed him, literally dissolving his body. They then flanked the other guard, killing him as well. Almost everyone had gotten into the helicopters, but I had ended up being the last one. I jumped into the last of the them just as they were taking off.

I panted, thinking I had made it, but then had a sharp pain in my hand. I screamed, seeing the hole in my hand. I grabbed the knife from a guard next to me, and without a second thought sliced my hand clean off, and threw it to the wind. Thankfully, the parasite hadn't gotten past my wrist. The guard whose knife I had taken laid me down on the floor of the helicopter, and quickly started bandaging my wound. I laid there is shock at what had happened. Everything then went black.

I would be in the hospital for a week, but I was okay. As for the parasite, the American government sent dozens of airstrikes to make sure the parasite was eradicated.

Through the whole experience, I still hate bugs. But now, I'm no longer alone.