![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amalthiaTitle: Survival of the Fittest
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
amothea
Fandom: X-Files
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Gen
Warnings: None.
Word Count: 1,600
Recipient:caitn
Request: Investigating rumors/sightings of signs of the Apocalypse.
Summary: While following a rumor Mulder and Scully end up in Texas just in time to witness the end of the world.
Author Notes: Written for the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
apocalyptothon challenge. Any and all errors are mine.
"Mulder, I don't see any signs of an apocalypse." Scully said pausing to rest her legs. They were in a field full of freshly cut hay some of it already bundled into large rolls dotted throughout the field. Her nose itched from all the grass and hay.
"Some signs are more hidden," he said stopping as well, they'd been all over these fields and found nothing except giant fire ant piles.
There were days she wished she could just strangle him. This case did not warrant the FBI's involvement, there were no deaths, and nothing terribly weird. All they had was the word of one of Mulder's informants, whom they've been unable to contact since they'd arrived in east Texas.
"And some people could have stayed in Washington," she pointed out, crossing her arms. At least in Washington, she wouldn't be sweating just standing outside this time of year.
"I'll make it up to you, I promise. Besides we still might find something dead."
His tone sounded doubtful and he gave her this look that somehow turned her brains into a puddle of goo because instead of saying, "I'm going back to the car." The words that came out of her mouth sounded more like. "Look, lets just check out the next field and then head back in."
Mulder smiled, "Lead the way, Agent Scully."
She just shook her head and walked past him, stepping over yet another ant pile.
In the next field they smelled something rotting long before they actually found the body. Her training took over, "Mulder, we're going to need the police out here and the paramedics."
He pulled out his cell phone and walked a few yards away, upwind, not that it helped much. The body was dead a few days at least. She took her backpack off and found her camera. At least she could take pictures of the scene just in case this was a crime and not an accidental death.
She took photos of the body from every angle and took care not to touch anything yet. This could be a break in their case. She tried not to get her hopes up this could also be a normal death. After taking as many pictures as possible she set her camera back inside her backpack and pulled on the set of latex gloves she carried with her. She'd just finished snapping the second glove on when Mulder came back to her side, "The authorities are on their way to assist us. We only have about ten minutes to look around before this place is crawling with people."
Right, that didn't give them much time to find anything. She studied the body more closely, it was her area of expertise. The width of the shoulders and style of clothing lead her to believe they were dealing with a male, age impossible to determine based on sight, not with all the skin on the side of the face she could see gone.
She gingerly felt for a wallet in the man's back pocket. She felt the familiar bulge and carefully eased it out, breathing through her mouth. No amount of training could quite get her over the smell. She didn't gag but it was close. She flicked the ants off the wallet and went to Mulder who was studying the ground more closely, squatting on his heels to avoid getting any dirt on his suit pant legs, he was poking at the ground with one latex covered finger.
"I got his wallet." She flipped the wallet open and looked at the unsmiling face of Robert Groven of 3289 Walnut Ave, Hillburg TX 77431 age 42. Her stomach sank, "Mulder, what was the name of your informer?" She already knew the answer but it never hurt to double check.
"Robert Groven, why?"
"I think we just found him." She handed him the wallet as he stood up.
He looked down at the wallet, flipped it closed with an angry snap. He didn't say anything, and he didn't need to, she'd seen that look on his face more than once anger and frustration mixed with a touch of regret. He never did like to lose people. Mulder turned and walked a few paces away, "He said he had something important to tell me, and that it was a matter of life and death for everyone on the planet, and we took our damned time getting here."
Mulder exaggerated, they couldn't drop everything they were doing just because someone called and said the end of the world was coming soon. Many people called with those predictions. The only reason, Robert Groven's dire warnings had warranted investigation was due the dead animals he'd found on his property and that he had a master's degree in biology, working towards a doctorate. Not exactly screwball criteria. They got here as fast as they could but obviously two or three days too late.
"Mulder, I'll autopsy his body myself, we'll figure it out."
Before Mulder could respond they heard sirens from the ambulance and she saw the county sheriff following close behind. "I'll go meet them and lead them up here." Not waiting for a response she headed down the hill. This was going to be a long day.
Meeting the sheriff and leading the paramedics to the body went like normal, though the ants were really starting to get on her nerves. People had mentioned Texas had ants but this was ridiculous. She had to keep moving her feet or they'd crawl up her shoe and bite her leg. The paramedics worked like a team setting the stretcher and getting the body bag ready outside the zone the sheriff and his men set up in order to take pictures and collect evidence, in case this did turn into a crime scene. Once the sheriff gave the go-head they got ready to flip the body, and that's where things went wrong.
"His shoulder's feel kind of funny," was about all the warning they got before the paramedics flipped Robert's body over to reveal a swarm of ants on Robert's face, chest, legs. They spilled out of the ground where Robert's body had lain until they disturbed it. The paramedic screamed and jumped back batting at his arms as ants crawled on him, the guy holding the boots dropped them and jumped away.
"Holy shit!"
"What the fuck!"
They all backed away from the body as more and more ants spilled out of the ground, the ground split open and suddenly larger ants were scurrying out, climbing over their smaller brethren. "We better get out of here," Scully managed to say though her throat was completely dry. Mulder grabbed her arm and dragged her back as the ground continued to split and thousands more ants appeared.
The ants were coming towards them unbelievably fast, which would make sense for the kitten sized ants, she turned and began to run for the car, Mulder grabbed one of the paramedics that hadn't quite grasped now was the time to start running. She was sweating and out of breath by the time they got to the cars. The swarm of ants was coming down the hill towards them like a rolling mass of man-eating critters. She pulled her handgun out and began to fire at the larger ants because it was taking Mulder too damned long to open the fucking doors. The sheriff loaded the paramedics into his vehicle and he peeled rubber turning the car around and jumping back into gear, headed straight back towards town.
"Get in!" Mulder shouted.
She opened the back door and slammed it closed, "Mulder, follow them!" Scully yelled pointlessly, because Mulder already had the car turned around and was picking up speed following the sheriff. She turned and looked out the back window, the swarm covered the roadway and began to spread out.
It took her five minutes to calm down she didn't even care about Mulder's intent expression as he drove recklessly fast. All of a sudden death by car accident sounded more appealing than being eaten alive by ants. She put the safety back on her gun and climbed back into the front seat, seat belted herself in, and tried to catch her breath.
"You saw that right!" Mulder was grinning, which only proved what she'd known for months now, her partner was crazy.
Her mind raced faster than her pulse. "Yes, it was unbelievable, where the hell did all those ants come from? They couldn’t have been hiding underground this whole time, and who do we call, the CDC or the National Guard? Oh my god, Mulder, the town could be at risk. You saw those maps of all the locations of the weird animal deaths. Those ants have probably surrounded the town." She had a mental image of those huge ants coming to town for the all you can eat human buffet.
Mulder's grin faded. "I think maybe those were a science experience that went very very wrong. Get your cell phone, call what's his name from the CDC." She didn't bother to correct Mulder this time, she scrolled through her phone numbers for her study partner in med school Scott Hempstead, he'd know the right people to contact.
They definitely had to stop this before it spread any further. She looked at hills and road signs passing by and realized if they couldn't stop this those ants would keep on spreading and this really would be the beginning of the end of the world.
-end-
Author:
amotheaFandom: X-Files
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Gen
Warnings: None.
Word Count: 1,600
Recipient:
caitnRequest: Investigating rumors/sightings of signs of the Apocalypse.
Summary: While following a rumor Mulder and Scully end up in Texas just in time to witness the end of the world.
Author Notes: Written for the
apocalyptothon challenge. Any and all errors are mine. "Mulder, I don't see any signs of an apocalypse." Scully said pausing to rest her legs. They were in a field full of freshly cut hay some of it already bundled into large rolls dotted throughout the field. Her nose itched from all the grass and hay.
"Some signs are more hidden," he said stopping as well, they'd been all over these fields and found nothing except giant fire ant piles.
There were days she wished she could just strangle him. This case did not warrant the FBI's involvement, there were no deaths, and nothing terribly weird. All they had was the word of one of Mulder's informants, whom they've been unable to contact since they'd arrived in east Texas.
"And some people could have stayed in Washington," she pointed out, crossing her arms. At least in Washington, she wouldn't be sweating just standing outside this time of year.
"I'll make it up to you, I promise. Besides we still might find something dead."
His tone sounded doubtful and he gave her this look that somehow turned her brains into a puddle of goo because instead of saying, "I'm going back to the car." The words that came out of her mouth sounded more like. "Look, lets just check out the next field and then head back in."
Mulder smiled, "Lead the way, Agent Scully."
She just shook her head and walked past him, stepping over yet another ant pile.
In the next field they smelled something rotting long before they actually found the body. Her training took over, "Mulder, we're going to need the police out here and the paramedics."
He pulled out his cell phone and walked a few yards away, upwind, not that it helped much. The body was dead a few days at least. She took her backpack off and found her camera. At least she could take pictures of the scene just in case this was a crime and not an accidental death.
She took photos of the body from every angle and took care not to touch anything yet. This could be a break in their case. She tried not to get her hopes up this could also be a normal death. After taking as many pictures as possible she set her camera back inside her backpack and pulled on the set of latex gloves she carried with her. She'd just finished snapping the second glove on when Mulder came back to her side, "The authorities are on their way to assist us. We only have about ten minutes to look around before this place is crawling with people."
Right, that didn't give them much time to find anything. She studied the body more closely, it was her area of expertise. The width of the shoulders and style of clothing lead her to believe they were dealing with a male, age impossible to determine based on sight, not with all the skin on the side of the face she could see gone.
She gingerly felt for a wallet in the man's back pocket. She felt the familiar bulge and carefully eased it out, breathing through her mouth. No amount of training could quite get her over the smell. She didn't gag but it was close. She flicked the ants off the wallet and went to Mulder who was studying the ground more closely, squatting on his heels to avoid getting any dirt on his suit pant legs, he was poking at the ground with one latex covered finger.
"I got his wallet." She flipped the wallet open and looked at the unsmiling face of Robert Groven of 3289 Walnut Ave, Hillburg TX 77431 age 42. Her stomach sank, "Mulder, what was the name of your informer?" She already knew the answer but it never hurt to double check.
"Robert Groven, why?"
"I think we just found him." She handed him the wallet as he stood up.
He looked down at the wallet, flipped it closed with an angry snap. He didn't say anything, and he didn't need to, she'd seen that look on his face more than once anger and frustration mixed with a touch of regret. He never did like to lose people. Mulder turned and walked a few paces away, "He said he had something important to tell me, and that it was a matter of life and death for everyone on the planet, and we took our damned time getting here."
Mulder exaggerated, they couldn't drop everything they were doing just because someone called and said the end of the world was coming soon. Many people called with those predictions. The only reason, Robert Groven's dire warnings had warranted investigation was due the dead animals he'd found on his property and that he had a master's degree in biology, working towards a doctorate. Not exactly screwball criteria. They got here as fast as they could but obviously two or three days too late.
"Mulder, I'll autopsy his body myself, we'll figure it out."
Before Mulder could respond they heard sirens from the ambulance and she saw the county sheriff following close behind. "I'll go meet them and lead them up here." Not waiting for a response she headed down the hill. This was going to be a long day.
Meeting the sheriff and leading the paramedics to the body went like normal, though the ants were really starting to get on her nerves. People had mentioned Texas had ants but this was ridiculous. She had to keep moving her feet or they'd crawl up her shoe and bite her leg. The paramedics worked like a team setting the stretcher and getting the body bag ready outside the zone the sheriff and his men set up in order to take pictures and collect evidence, in case this did turn into a crime scene. Once the sheriff gave the go-head they got ready to flip the body, and that's where things went wrong.
"His shoulder's feel kind of funny," was about all the warning they got before the paramedics flipped Robert's body over to reveal a swarm of ants on Robert's face, chest, legs. They spilled out of the ground where Robert's body had lain until they disturbed it. The paramedic screamed and jumped back batting at his arms as ants crawled on him, the guy holding the boots dropped them and jumped away.
"Holy shit!"
"What the fuck!"
They all backed away from the body as more and more ants spilled out of the ground, the ground split open and suddenly larger ants were scurrying out, climbing over their smaller brethren. "We better get out of here," Scully managed to say though her throat was completely dry. Mulder grabbed her arm and dragged her back as the ground continued to split and thousands more ants appeared.
The ants were coming towards them unbelievably fast, which would make sense for the kitten sized ants, she turned and began to run for the car, Mulder grabbed one of the paramedics that hadn't quite grasped now was the time to start running. She was sweating and out of breath by the time they got to the cars. The swarm of ants was coming down the hill towards them like a rolling mass of man-eating critters. She pulled her handgun out and began to fire at the larger ants because it was taking Mulder too damned long to open the fucking doors. The sheriff loaded the paramedics into his vehicle and he peeled rubber turning the car around and jumping back into gear, headed straight back towards town.
"Get in!" Mulder shouted.
She opened the back door and slammed it closed, "Mulder, follow them!" Scully yelled pointlessly, because Mulder already had the car turned around and was picking up speed following the sheriff. She turned and looked out the back window, the swarm covered the roadway and began to spread out.
It took her five minutes to calm down she didn't even care about Mulder's intent expression as he drove recklessly fast. All of a sudden death by car accident sounded more appealing than being eaten alive by ants. She put the safety back on her gun and climbed back into the front seat, seat belted herself in, and tried to catch her breath.
"You saw that right!" Mulder was grinning, which only proved what she'd known for months now, her partner was crazy.
Her mind raced faster than her pulse. "Yes, it was unbelievable, where the hell did all those ants come from? They couldn’t have been hiding underground this whole time, and who do we call, the CDC or the National Guard? Oh my god, Mulder, the town could be at risk. You saw those maps of all the locations of the weird animal deaths. Those ants have probably surrounded the town." She had a mental image of those huge ants coming to town for the all you can eat human buffet.
Mulder's grin faded. "I think maybe those were a science experience that went very very wrong. Get your cell phone, call what's his name from the CDC." She didn't bother to correct Mulder this time, she scrolled through her phone numbers for her study partner in med school Scott Hempstead, he'd know the right people to contact.
They definitely had to stop this before it spread any further. She looked at hills and road signs passing by and realized if they couldn't stop this those ants would keep on spreading and this really would be the beginning of the end of the world.
-end-