The Spread: Book 1 (The Hill) by Iain Rob Wright

Author:Iain Rob Wright [Wright, Iain Rob]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ulcerated Press
Published: 2020-08-19T06:00:00+00:00

Brett and Loobey were looking under the Stelvio’s hood when Ryan and Aaron returned. Brett was still clearly unnerved by the situation, but Loobey seemed focused on what he was doing. His forehead was sweaty and his expression grim as he prodded at the lifeless engine.

“See anything?” asked Brett, holding his glasses and chewing on one of the arms.

“Nah, it’s the same as last night, mate. I hoped I’d see something in the daylight, but it all looks fine – not that I would really know.”

“Still dead?” asked Ryan, the answer obvious.

Loobey dropped the bonnet down and wiped his hands on his tracksuit bottoms. “Dead as a donkey. To be honest, I only had a mooch because I was bored.”

Brett surprised Ryan by grabbing an open beer from the roof of the car. He took a swig and glared. “Don’t judge me, I’m on edge. Where the hell is Tom? It’s been almost two hours.”

“I’m sure he’ll be along soon,” said Ryan. “Anyway, we have something for you to look at. Show him, Aaron.”

Aaron approached Brett cautiously, the plastic bottle held up before him like some kind of offering. “Check this out.”

Brett squinted and leaned forward. “What is that?”

“We were hoping you could tell us,” said Ryan. “We found it up on the hill, coming out of the ground next to the corkscrew.”

“It only has four legs,” said Aaron, clearly savouring the reveal.

“Impossible. All insects have six legs. It must have lost a couple when you picked it up.”

Aaron shook his head. “There are a ton of them up there, and they all have four legs. They look just like this one.”

“He’s telling the truth,” said Ryan. “Four legs, every one.”

Brett moved his face right up to the bottle, but he didn’t reach out to take it. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Some kind of slug, maybe, but with appendages. How did the green oil get inside the bottle?”

“The insect squirted it,” said Aaron. “It’s the same stuff Sean got on his hands, right?”

“I couldn’t say. Possibly.”

“We should kill it,” said Loobey. “What if it’s dangerous?”

Brett shrugged. “It may well be, but having a live specimen will help Sean if it ends up being related to the substance all over him. If it’s some kind of toxin, this creature might help provide an antidote. Good job, Aaron.”

Aaron beamed, but Ryan saw nothing to be happy about. Brett was a vet, but he had no clue about what was inside the bottle. How could that be anything but bad? Suddenly, the thought of discovering a new species was unappealing. He imagined the first person to discover a lion hadn’t walked away to talk about it.

There was a noise from the cottage and everyone turned around. The front door had opened and Sean appeared on the front step. “Lads? What everyone doing out here?”

Brett moved away, holding his beer like he might use it as a weapon. Loobey moved away too, but Ryan was rooted to the spot. The sight of his friend was heartbreaking.

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