Chapter 1
’There is something very strange and different about these roaches.’ Thinking the same thing for the umpteenth time, Jacob crushes another with his shoe. He scrapes the remains of the bug off of his shoe into the garbage bin near his desk, then turns back to his keyboard and taps a few more keys. It seems like this has been going on for hours. He would type a few words then stop, to kill another bug.
It was as if the bugs were coming for him, some charging straight at him. Earlier today he washed his dishes from breakfast, cleaned the area and rung out the dish towel; just like mom taught him. The place was clean. Nothing left around or laid out for the disgusting little burglars to use for proliferation. Jacob was confident that the routine he’d been taught since childhood wasn’t the cause of his current bug problem.
It started out small at first, as does anything dealing with bugs. One tiny offender scurried across the shelf where Jacob normally places his keys. He was shocked at first, recoiling in revulsion at the sight of the tiny trespasser before he quickly recovered and smacked down the creature with whatever he had in his hand at the time. It was one of those store coupon books, so Jacob didn’t feel any real loss. “You have to get rid of the carcass or it will attract more.” The voice of his mother rang in his head as he tossed the periodical in the trash can. He works over and turns on the kitchen light. Several more of the tiny diseases scurry away in every direction.
“What the hell?” Jacob yells as he rushes in, stepping on as many as he can before they disappear into their dark, cold hiding areas in the kitchen. Thinking quickly Jacob grabs a can of bug spray from one of the cabinets in the kitchen. He began to spray the areas where he was sure he last saw the roaches that he didn’t have time to step on. Feeling confident in his work Jacob began to clean everything.
After he was done cleaning the entire kitchen and dousing it with a liberal spray of bug deterrent, Jacob went to his room to clean up and change clothes for the evening. He tried placing the dirty clothes from the day in the dryer but several bugs came rushing out of the washer when he opened the lid. Jacob yelped then slammed the lid as he dropped the clothes and rushed for the bug spray. The lid began to clatter as bugs of all sizes came rushing out of the washer. Jacob returned with the bug spray just in time to see the mass migration. He screamed again then released a torrent of bug spray. He squashed as many bugs as he could and sprayed the bugs he missed.
When Jacob finished dealing with the bugs that ran from the washing machine, he wiped away their white, gooey remains with a towel. He placed his dirty clothing and the disgusting towel in the washer then set it to wash. Jacob was walking toward his office when the sensation of something crawling up his neck caused him to smack that area. He was dizzy for a moment from the smack but when his vision cleared the remains of a bug lay crushed in his hand. Jacob ran to the bathroom and wiped his hand with a few pieces of tissue then washed his hands roughly before returning to his office.
‘I need to order an exterminator.’ Jacob thinks as he takes a seat at the desk in his office. He takes a quick look around his office before pulling up the yellow pages on his laptop. He searches for a reputable exterminator in the long list of technicians, then settles on a 24-hour business that’s only a few blocks away. Jacob opens another page and begins a search on bugs, cockroaches in particular. The search list is endless, there is so much information on roaches that Jacob doesn’t know where to begin. He narrows his search by filtering for causes, then selects a page that looks promising. He scrolls through the information, crushing bugs as they appear.
It didn’t take long for the exterminator to come after the call. The guy sprayed the entire place but no bugs appeared while he went around opening cabinets and searching dark places. Jacob couldn’t explain why the exterminator wasn’t able to see signs of the bugs but felt more than a little vindication when the exterminator was about to leave. A large cockroach slowly made its way from under Jacobs’s couch towards them. Its large body slid across the hard wood floor while the six legs clicked under such laborious work.
“Do you see that?” Jacob screamed, while pointing at the monstrosity. The feeling of it’s small, spindly legs crawling across his body, sent chills down his spine. The roach’s large antennae moved around sensing the air, seconds before the bug picked up speed, charging towards Jacob. “No!” Jacob screamed tripping over his own feet in an attempt to back up. The bug stopped, antennae searching, then charged forward again.
Jacob was trying to get his feet under him but they were wobbly and he didn’t feel he could trust them. He watched the speed of the roaches legs entranced in their movements. The crunch of the exterminator’s boot caused an explosion of pink and white intestines to splatter the surrounding area and broke Jacob out of the fog of confusion. Adding insult to injury, the exterminator scraped the bug’s remains off his shoe with the boot of his other foot and left without a word.
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“Then, why the hell am I talking to you?” Jacob yelled into the phone. He was trying to contain his anger while talking to the customer service representative for the exterminator, but things weren’t going too well. ‘Useless mother.’ Jacob said as he hung up the phone. He squashed another bug before going to his room to change out of his ruined, mutant roach soiled, clothes. ’I’ll go to the store, get some bait and spray, to kill them myself.’ Jacob thought, changing into a pair of sweats and a shirt.
Jacob tossed the destroyed clothes in the trash in his garage and left his home in search of a store that would help him get rid of his bug problem. He didn’t know how he would deal with another mutant roach but he could always buy a shovel for them.
Several stores later, Jacob held everything he felt would work best to get rid of the invaders in several plastic bags. He felt good about the items he got and decided to listen to some music as he drove home. He looked down at the power button for the radio and saw a bug crawling across the car console. Jacob almost swerved into oncoming traffic but righted his course before returning his eyes to the radio. The roach had vanished and couldn’t be found while driving, Jacob continued on his way home, now unsure of what he could do to get rid of the bugs in his car, not just his home.
The shock of what awaited Jacob when he attempted to park his car in the garage was immediate. Roaches dripped off the garage door like droplets of rain, when it was lifted. The crunch of them was audible as the door settled in the upright position. They did not swarm the car but Jacob felt like it could happen so he backed the car up and parked it on the street in front of his house. Jacob kept sneaking glances at the house as he got his purchases out of the car. The house looked dark from the outside, each room appeared calm but something about the darkness made Jacob feel like giving the house up as a loss. Just move on to something new and hope for the best, but he couldn’t do that. Jacob walked to the front door of his house, prepared with a spray can in one hand, the shopping bags dangling with the door key ready in the other.
Jacob pushed the door open hard, expecting bugs to come cascading out of the door. He realized that he was just spraying an empty space in front of the door and released the nozzle on the can of bug spray. There were no bugs running around in the foyer, or any area visible from the front door. Jacob took a cautious step into the room before entering completely. He closed the door and saw that the back of the door was completely covered in bugs. Jacob yelled as the very scope of his infestation came into view.
The roaches were everywhere. They covered every inch of the house, leaving no space clear from what Jacob could see. ‘What the hell is this?’ Jacob asked. He spun around in place to get a view of all the bugs. “Enough, I have had it.” Jacob yelled at the multitude invading his home. The roaches seemed to stop moving, Jacob could swear they were listening to him. “Stop!” Surprisingly the roaches did stop. They all seemed to regard Jacob, each focusing on the place where he stood. Jacob laughed. The bugs jittered. Jacob moved left. The bugs followed suit.
Jacob turned away from the creatures mimicking his movements and ran smack into a towering mass of bugs that begun collecting behind him. The bugs crawled all over his body, leaving small bites at first. The stings from the bites were immediate, causing Jacob to smack himself in that area. More bugs rushed toward him every second, biting and crawling over Jacob until he was covered in a horde of darkness. Jacob tried to control the bugs but it wasn’t working like before. The bugs continued to crawl. They crawled all over Jacob’s body, biting him in the areas that were bare. Jacob fell on his side unable to withstand the weight of the multitude of bugs and the rush was immediate. More bugs swarmed over the mound of human flesh, biting at open areas. Crawling to get into a better position to feed.
The sounds from Jacob were mumbles at first, then became gurgles, before silence. The bugs ate every part of the flesh that was Jacob before disappearing into the walls of the house.
