The Bug: Complete Season One by Barry J. Hutchison Read Free Book Online

hurt,” Jaden said. “Did you see the way he hit the glass? He’s going to be in a coma for, like, a month!”
    “He’s moving,” Col said, fumbling the key in the lock. He was about to turn it and slide open the doors when Wayne rolled over onto his back. Blood gushed from his nose and a gash on his forehead, but it was his eyes that stopped Col turning the key. Something about Wayne’s eyes told Col that turning that key would be a very bad idea.
    “Hey, buddy, you OK?” said Jaden, stepping up to join Col at the glass. He had his phone out and was filming the supervisor lying on the ground. “You wanna look this way for a sec?” He grinned. “Oh, man. I’m totally going to add, like, stars and little tweeting birds round his head before I upload this.”
    Wayne scrambled to his feet, and both Jaden and Col jumped in surprise at how fast he moved.
    “Open!” Wayne hissed, his blood bubbling on his lips and flowing down his chin. He thumped his open hand against the red-streaked glass. His crumpled face twisted into a furious sneer. “Open!” he screamed.
    Jaden glanced sideways at Col. “Does Wayne seem, I don’t know, different to you?”
    Wayne screamed and threw himself at the glass. His nose exploded. He slammed his face forward again, this time busting open his bottom lip. “Open!” he demanded, his voice slurred. “Open, open, open door!”
    Jaden and Col both retreated back past the checkouts. “What the fuck is he doing?” Col gasped, as Wayne smashed his face against the glass yet again. “Should we let him in?”
    “Of course we shouldn’t!” said Jaden. “Look at him.”
    “Maybe he’s just trying to get help.”
    Jaden snorted. “Or maybe he’s trying to feast on our tender young flesh,” he said, “because that bitch right there? That, my friend, is a zombie.”
    “Shut the fuck up. Zombies aren’t real.”
    “Correction. Zombies weren’t real,” Jaden said. Wayne hurled himself at the door again, his fingernails trying to scratch right through the glass. “Until now.”

 
     
     
    EPISODE TWO

DELTA AIRLINES, FLIGHT 2174  
     
24th May, 8:18 PM
     
     
    This flight feels like it has taken forever! The gentleman next to me has gone to the bathroom – thank goodness - so I take a minute to stretch and fidget, and console myself with the fact that we’re almost there. Half an hour left. Maybe a little more. Then I get to see Mike and the kids for the first time in nearly a week.
    My seat tray is still folded down, the half-eaten remains of what they had the nerve to call a meal still sitting on top of it. Thought they’d have tidied everything away by now, but now that I think about it, I haven’t seen a stewardess in a while. I heard something about a passenger getting sick about an hour back. Maybe that’s it.
    I feel for the person, don’t get me wrong, but come on. We’ve all been sitting here with our trays in front of us for way too long now. How many cabin crew does it take to look after one sick person? I wanted to get some writing done, but I can’t with this plate of mashed-up… whatever it’s supposed to be sitting there.
    I’m halfway through hating myself for thinking about eating some more of the potatoes when I see something crawling on the back of the chair. It’s shiny and black and, and big – maybe the size of a chocolate bar. Bigger, even. It’s the biggest, ugliest bug I’ve ever seen.
    I hear myself letting out a yelp and a few heads turn my way. I glance round, embarrassed, then look back to find that the bug has gone. I’m about to jump up from my seat to try to find where it went, but all of a sudden it’s like I don’t even care. The bug was there, and then it wasn’t, and it already feels like a lifetime ago.
    The guy from the seat beside me comes back from the bathroom, and I have to step right out into the aisle to let him squash his fat ass past. He grunts as he squeezes in past the tray, huffing and sweating like a damn