Status Updates From Island Red

The light blue water was deceptively calm. It housed a terrible obstacle, one that wouldn’t be swayed by conventional bait. Its tastes, more refined now. Hannah’s heart rumbled as Hamilton’s house came into view down the shore. There was only one thing the shark responded to. One thing they were going to have to give it. Live bait.

The shot rang out, the boom lost in the immediate explosion. Four bodies flew outward, scattered limbs raining down. Manuel took off running for the trees as screeching cries shook the night. This was good. Now there was a burning house at the center of the island. A pyre for all to notice. They would come investigate. And when they got here, Manuel would be long gone. Because there was only one place left to go.

“They’re a plague,” Hannah said, shaking her head in frustration. For one quick, fleeting second, her face was vulnerable. “You need to drown those things,” Reggie said. “I have no idea how it managed to survive inside the shark, but they can’t handle saltwater on its own.” She looked at him and her chilly eyes sparkled with uncharacteristic warmth. “I have an idea,” she said.

The platform that held it in place slipped toward the ocean on groaning hinges. The fish looked from person-to-person, the bodies scrambling across the mission bay floor, assessing who was to be eaten first, its monstrous mouth becoming a yawning cavern. The pink tongue visible behind the rows of its forked teeth made Reggie’s eyes pop. It wasn’t a tongue.

“But—” “Argue with me again, Bradley, and I will strip you of command.” Bradley’s silence gave Reggie the confidence to pipe in. “That thing’s a monster,” he said. “Grabbed a girl right off her surfboard and seemed to enjoy squeezing the life out of her. If you all can kill it, please do.”

This was the trap. He’d shown them he was there. That would make them eager. That meant they’d come in after him. He glided further into darkness thinking that he would be ready when they came, and for once, the passenger agreed.

He was close enough now to sense humans moving across the ship’s deck, the hull sending their vibrations rippling down. Were he to swim all the way up, there would be many eyes with a single goal. Destroy him. The shark had no understanding of fear, just preservation. And the longer the ship remained, the longer his life was at risk. He swam on, eager to destroy it.

Earlier today, it had forced him to follow a smaller boat out of the harbor. It considered devouring the human body that had fallen into the Atlantic and floated out to sea, blood drizzling from a hole in the center of his face. The shark watched as the parasites inside that body abandoned their host, wiggling like seaweed, then withering immediately in the salt water. His passenger outraged by the sight.

He crashed to the floor in a crumpled husk while spilt blood pooled around him. Hannah watched his twitching body. Murder brought no pleasure, but its simplicity as a solution was perfect. She placed the gun down and hit the communicator button beside it. “Going to need clean-up.”

😮🫢🤢🤮

“I just showed my son how to fire a gun,” Dad said. “Another thing I promised I’d never do.” “Mom’ll understand.” “I know she will. Your Mom’s the smartest, toughest woman I ever met. If she were here, we’d be out of this mess already.” “So you can tell her yourself how you didn’t teach me how to shoot a gun,” Reggie said, “but showed me how to survive.”

“Swim, Bob!” Barbara’s voice cut through the commotion from somewhere above. In Manuel’s jumbled thoughts, he wondered if he was already dead. He wasn’t going to make it but fought against the weather harder than he’d ever fought against anything else. How was the beach still so far?

Friends and neighbors reached down, taking Taffy’s hands and legs and stretching him out. Worms slithered all along his body, some of them creating their own entrances. The one in his head seemed to look out from behind his eyes. The pain might’ve been blinding, but the chirring convinced his flailing limbs relax as his breathing lapsed into calm acceptance.

Maura threw the door aside and stepped into the whipping wind. Her body bristled, but she didn’t care. In a moment, Colby appeared on the empty street too, standing beside her, saying nothing. He didn’t have to. He was like her now. On the hunt for another host.