Gareth stood still and watched the bug disappear. Once he was sure it wasn’t going to jump at him, he carefully continued on his way. At the bottom of the steps, he looked down at the thermos and examined the other creatures that had spilled from it. He heard an animal squeaking from around the corner; it was likely his rat in its cage. He ignored it for now.
Seven of the things were scattered on the floor, none of them glowing or appearing to move. Gareth noticed that one of them was missing several little pieces and realized the one living bug must have cannibalized another so it could survive.
He was moderately pleased by that discovery, as a living one would likely be more useful than a dead one. Then he realized that if he had not dropped them and seen this, he would likely have one of these things in him right about now.
I need to tread carefully and pay attention to where it may be. I have no idea what it might do once it burrows in. Why did I think this was a good idea?
Gareth thought back to the scene.
A big glowing rock fell from the sky. Bugs sloughed from it and attacked living people. It was either a biological weapon or some sort of alien life. Either way, the government will almost certainly be trying to hide whatever it was. It was foolish to take something that is likely highly dangerous with no real protection, but I must hope it will pay off.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
He carefully brushed the bugs back into the thermos and replaced the lid, then stood and crept forward toward the unlit light in the center of the room, glancing around to make sure the bug hadn’t doubled back or somehow gotten in front of him. Reaching the center of the basement, Gareth grabbed at the dangling chain under the light.
The thing glows. It will be easier to see it if I leave this off.
Sighing, he committed himself to stumbling around in the dark, the only light coming from the stairwell. He turned back toward where the bug had gone, looking toward the still-squeaking rat. Keeping an eye out for any hint of a glow, Gareth slinked forward. Luckily, his basement was not overly cluttered. Next to the stairs, just around the corner where it went, was largely empty space. There were closed boxes that it could be hiding behind, or perhaps in, but nothing other than that. Past those, at the corner where two walls met, there were small, neatly organized shelves and toolboxes. Unfortunately, directly across from the boxes was a workbench that was absolutely inundated with various tools, scraps, and small devices. Amidst all of those was a cage with a rat inside, surrounded by petri dishes and small needles.
Gareth kicked one of the boxes and jumped back, waiting to see if the bug emerged. All he got for his effort was a plume of dust and a small spider that skittered across the wall.
If only it was that easy.
He waited a beat longer, then grabbed the box and slid it behind him. He repeated the process with the second box, and when that had similar results, he moved to the shelf. Over the following minutes, he methodically checked and moved everything he could to the stairwell, continuously peering around himself in case the bug got any bright ideas.
About halfway through clearing it, Gareth heard the rat begin wildly thrashing around and squealing wildly.
He turned just in time to see a bit of orange disappear into the rat’s stomach.