Invasion of the Tongue Bugs

“It was some kind of explosion," said Ollie Park while scanning the jerky wrapper.

“Nothing to worry about," said Sheriff Portilla with the jerky hanging out of his mouth. “Must have been a gas bubble or something."

The bell rang above the door. Ollie and the sheriff looked to the entrance of the gas station and saw a man wearing a fishing vest and waders. He had vacant eyes and he was soaking wet. “Water?” he said. They both pointed at the coolers in the back.

The sheriff peered around the corner of the aisle and watched the man fall to the ground and chug a gallon of water. “You alright there, son?” asked the sheriff.

The stranger opened a bag of chips and shoved a pastry into his mouth, “Food.”

“You have to pay for that!” shouted Ollie from over the sheriff’s shoulder. Sheriff Portilla held his hand up for silence.

“Where are you coming from, friend?” asked the sheriff.

“I don’t remember,” said the fisher while he crammed handfuls of potato chips into his mouth. I woke up on the bank of the river in the back.” Ollie and the sheriff looked at each other. “I was fishing… and, yea… there was some sort of explosion– ah!” the stranger dropped the chips and water and held his head between his knees. He looked up and screamed.

“What is it? What?!” Ollie grabbed a broom and pointed it at the stranger.

The sheriff put one hand on his gun and his other on the stranger's shoulder, “Calm down!”

The stranger stopped wincing and appeared normal, “Just a headache.” He continued to eat the chips and drink the water.

Ollie flipped a Zippo and lit a cigarette.

“Isn't it bad luck to smoke in a gas station?" said the sheriff.

“It's good luck if you don't blow up."

Sheriff Portilla grabbed another stick of meat from the shelf. “Maybe we better find where that explosion came from.”

“Maybe we better get this guy to the hospital. He doesn't look too good.”

“He’ll be fine. Let’s get up there before he doesn’t remember anything.” Sheriff Portilla turned to the stranger, “Come on now, show us where you were fishing.”

“Gib is the name.” He jumped to his feet, “I’ll show you where. It’s coming back to me. Not far, we can walk.”

Ollie took the flashlight and shotgun from behind the register. The three of them walked upstream through the woods. It was dark when they came upon Gib’s tackle box. “Over here!” The sheriff waved to the others. They discovered a small crater with a pill-shaped object at the center. The sheriff climbed into the crater and held the object in his hand. White gas shot out of the sides and the front of the object cracked open.

Another explosion shook the woods from up the river. They looked back at Sheriff Portilla and the object crumbled to dust in his hands.

Ollie ran upstream to find another crater with smoke pouring from the center. She propped her shotgun at the edge of the crater. Hydraulic steam bursted out of the sides of the pill-shaped craft and the cockpit opened. A creature fell out of the craft. It had the organic armor of a crustacean and a row of at least twenty pincers on both sides of its body. Its mouth was full of quill-like teeth and it moaned.

Ollie’s eyes widened and she moved backward with the shotgun still aimed at the creature. “Where are you!” Sheriff Portilla’s voice called from behind her. The creature sniffed the air with its tubular nostrils and turned to Ollie. When it floated toward her, she pulled the trigger and blasted the creature in half.

The sheriff and Gib ran up to Ollie at the crater. “What have you done!?” The sheriff slid down the crater and gathered the creature in his hands. He whispered to it like it was a wounded friend. When Ollie turned to Gib, he grabbed her arms and she dropped the shotgun.

“Get off of me! What are you doing?!” She yelled as the sheriff approached her.

“Open your mouth.” Sheriff Portilla held the wounded creature up to her face, “He will survive if he bonds now. Open her mouth.”

As Gib reached to grab her jaw, Ollie kicked his knee and they fell to the ground. Ollie grabbed her shotgun and pulled the trigger. The shot tore off a piece of the sheriff’s hand. As the sheriff screamed, Ollie ran toward the gas station. Explosions from all sides followed her as she made her way through the woods.

She locked the front doors of the gas station and ran behind the counter to reload. Gib knocked on the front door and pulled on the handle. “We’re not here to hurt you. We need you.”

A key jiggled the lock of the door behind the register. As the door began to open she shoved a stool under the knob. The sheriff peaked his nose through the crack, “It won’t hurt, we only need a host to bond with until we mate.” The sheriff’s voice was different, like doubled radio chatter.

Ollie grabbed the box of shotgun shells from under the counter, “Oh that sounds like a blast, I’ll be right there.” She rolled her eyes and loaded the gun with two more shells. “Come on in, I won’t bite.”

The sheriff's mouth was wide open when he spoke again. Ollie looked closer at the sheriff through the crack. The creature attached to his tongue was the one speaking. “We will live with you.”

“Oh great, so what’s in it for me?” She aimed at the creature.

“Total bliss. While we inhabit our host, we provide happiness and pleasure to the mind.”

“Oh, so you brainwash us so you can eat our food and shit in our mouths? You have all the fun and we do all the work. I'd rather be dead."

“After we mate, we move on. It’s the least you can do for destroying our planet.” One creature crawled through the door crack. Ollie blasted it with her shotgun and kicked the door shut, "I didn't destroy your planet." She pushed over the live bait refrigerator to block the door.

Gib knocked again at the front door. “We need you, Ollie,” he said as more creatures crawled into the parking lights behind him.

Ollie pointed the shotgun at Gib, “Then come and get it.” She blasted him through the glass door and the stranger fell to the ground covered in blood. His head vibrated and then a creature exploded out from his mouth and began to float toward Ollie. The other creatures on the ground all began to float into the gas station. She climbed the ladder up to the roof and slammed the latch behind her. She heard the distorted voices from within, “We need you,” and, “We’ll make you happy.”

Ollie landed in the grass in the back of the gas station and reloaded her shotgun. The front lot was empty. She ran to the gas pump and swiped her employee card through the reader. The pump beeped and she aimed the stream of gas through the hole in the front door. She poured gas into the gas station until a whack on the back of her head knocked her to the ground. The sheriff shut off the pump.

“It’s a win-win, Ollie,” the sheriff paced in front of the front door, stepping over Gib's body. “We get to survive, and you will be cleansed of all the torture you humans do to your minds.” He laughs, “We will live together in peace.”

Ollie sat up and aimed her shotgun at the sheriff. “Not in this body.” She blasted the sheriff with both shells and he smashed through the front door. The creature inside of Sheriff Portilla exploded out of his mouth and floated toward Ollie. As the other creatures hovered toward her, she lit a cigarette and tossed the lit Zippo through the door. The station erupted in flames and the creatures screamed.

After watching the creatures burn in the fire, Ollie Park walked home. Explosions from all sides followed her on the dark, tree-lined road.