Mindless Beasts

By the time they realized the danger was far from over it was already too late.

The ground violently trembles.

The noise from the explosions above ground had already triggered an adverse reaction below ground.

Vibrations from the detonated grenade signaled a threat of danger to the remainder of the Yellow Jacket colony that had its nest underground.

Topsoil cracks open wide exposing hundreds of these mutated wasps that pour rapidly out of several, inconspicuous holes in the ground.

They form a thick, buzzing cloud low to the earth, immediately targeting the group.

Deep beneath the forest floor, the Queen of the Yellowjackets awakens from her slumber.

For months, she has gestated in the dark, fed on decay, until the parasite escaped from the lab and took over her body forcing her physique to swell to monstrous proportions.

Now, she emerged swollen and bitter to seek vengeance on those vile humans that killed her beloved wasps.

Infuriated by the death of her loyal followers she signals to the rest of the colony to attack.

While the fight above was ongoing the ones below had already plotted how to divide the group.

The Queen released a unique pheromone that went unnoticed by the humans.

She selected a prey that all her followers were to avoid, this same chemical scent that marks her victim, also triggered a frenzied, coordinated assault from the rest of the colony.

Avoiding Sly they chased each member of the squad until they fell onto traps.

The earth opened up beneath their feet and they fell into underground tunnels dug out by the wasps.

It was the Queen that told the others to take out the rest she wanted Sly all to herself.

Even though her guards vehemently protested she had the last word and chased after Sly alone.

Sly had been marked by the unique pheromones of the Queen wasp so no matter how far or fast he ran she would track him to the ends of the earth.

Parasite, sensing an ancient rival from the days of his youth made a deal with Mimosa that he would take out his enemy.

Since an enemy of Sly was also detrimental to him in his weakened state.

Mimosa complied fearing for Sly’s life.

In no time at all the Queen caught up with Sly and blocked off his escape from the tunnel with no choice but to take a stand and confront the Queen, Sly turned to face her.

That’s when Parasite took possession of Sly’s body once more.

Using Sly’s voice he called out to the Queen, "ancient evil that resides in the Queen show yourself."

The face of the Queen contorted and the alien parasite that infected its host, spoke through her mouth.

Even though it was the language of wasps, the alien parasite that infected Sly could understand completely.

The Queen said, "you are kindred. Why not pledge yourself to me and help me take over this planet."

Parasite in Sly scoffed, "I didn’t flee my homeland to become a slave to another, it’s anyone taking over this planet it’s me."

After that declaration Sly’s hand was outstretched and a black mist filled with miniscule baby parasites emanated from his palm.

Sly’s distorted voice shouted, "attack!"

A violent struggle ensued between the queen and the horde of tiny parasites, it drained all of Sly’s spirit energy, he lost consciousness instantly and collapsed in the underground tunnel.

Above ground, the fierce battle between the wasps and the humans ensued.

Some the team managed to meet up and exhausted and running low on fire power, they clung to each other thinking they were about to meet their doom.

At first it seemed like the Yellow Jackets were winning but then the wasps sensed that their Queen had died and lost all their vitality.

When a yellow jacket colony loses its queen during a violent conflict or attack.

the defenders experience an immediate surge of panic alarm pheromones.

The loss of the Queen escalated their defensive aggression into a chaotic frenzy before the social structure of the nest ultimately broke down.

Instead of the humans they were now attacking themselves as the battle to replace the Queen became internal.

The humans took advantage of the turmoil to cut down and burn the remaining mutant wasps to a crisp.

As without the Queen to maintain unified cooperation and order among the work chaos reigned.

When Sly finally awoke he was still all alone and not even the bones of the dead Queen remained; the parasites had consumed all of her remains.

Not wanting to remain underground, Sly continued to walk to where he saw light.

When he finally climbed out and was on the surface again he found himself all alone in a fruit orchard.

He called out, "anyone here?"

No response.

Sly’s stomach let out a loud growl and he was in an orchard filled with fruit that lay rotting on the ground.

Without thinking twice Sly suddenly reached out and plucked the fruit his eyes greedily fixated on.

From a tree which was heavily ladened with plump, overripe fruit and within half a second of plucking it, the ripened fruit went straight to Sly’s mouth.

A huge bite mark revealed the pulp and fleshy color of the fruit, juice dripped down the side of Sly’s lips.

What Sly didn’t know was that this appetizingly sweet fruit was the much maligned manchineel fruit.

Which grows on the manchineel tree is the most dangerous tree on Earth.

Eating the fruit of the manchineel tree tears up the digestive tract, and every part of the plant contains caustic, milky-white sap that burns human skin on contact.

This was why the mutants didn’t follow Sly into the manchineel orchard, only eyeing and growling at him in outrage from the borders of the orchard.

Often called the little apple of death, the tiny fruit resembles a small, innocent yellow green crabapple, roughly 1 to 2 inches wide.

Shaped just like a golf ball, this deceptive yellow greenish tropical berry looked and smelled sweet like an apple.

But a single bite would land the average human in the hospital because it causes severe throat blistering, intense agony, and potential death.

When the mutated hybrid pests saw Sly take the first bite they all collectively gasped in shock. Thinking he was going to die before their eyes, they mourned the loss of a delicious meal.

That they couldn’t touch much less devour his corpse since his body was now filled with the poison from the manchineel fruit.

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