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Matt Hayward

The February Selected Writer is Matt Hayward

You can email Matt at: matt@sundancecrow.com

Matt Hayward

CORDYCEPS
by Matt Hayward

“Annie Lee? What’s she doing out and about?”

Sam cut off the bandsaw. “What’d you say, Leonard?”

The air was thick with floating sawdust. It drifted out of the gloomy garage that served as the Grey Wood Carpentry workspace and into the bright sunlight of Mayfair Street. The screeching bandsaw settled down as Sam lowered his protective goggles and exhaled. It was too hot a day to be cutting timber.

“Annie Lee just walked by. Haven’t seen her in months. Ain’t she got cancer?”

Sam nodded. “Last I heard, yeah. I need to get some air, come on. Smoke break.”

Leonard followed Sam out of the clammy garage and into the clear day. Up on Mayfair Street, the carbon copy homes were bathed in sunlight. It seemed as if Leonard’s Garage was the only building in town that sat in the shadow of Harrison, the mountain that made up this side of the valley. The Harrison Trail was the only pull factor to the small town, and each year during the summer months, families would flock to walk the twelve miles to the top of the mountain and back. Why in the world that passed as a recreation to them, Sam wasn’t sure.

Leonard pointed up the street, his old, weather-worn hand shaking. “See? Annie Lee. She’s outside.”

Sam was more concerned about the shaking in Leonard’s hands. He worried about how much time they had left to run the garage together. At sixty-nine, Leonard should by all means have stayed in retirement and left the shop to Sam, who still had a good twenty years before he threw in the towel. But Leonard was stubborn, and hard times called for desperate measures, he said. They’d play it by ear until they couldn't anymore. Sam was thankful either way, because without Leonard, he’d still be unemployed and trying to find life’s answers at the bottom of a bottle.

Sam fished a cigarette from his pocket and sat on a cinder block by the garage door. “She’s going for a walk, I’m guessing. What’s the big deal?”

“She hasn’t been out in months, Sammy. I’m telling you, it’s strange. Lillian, her caretaker? She pops by now and then to chew the fat with me, and I just saw her last week. Said that old Annie was just about ready to kick the bucket, couldn’t even get out of bed anymore. It’s just peculiar. Don’t you find that peculiar?”

Sam lit his cigarette. “Things might have taken a turn for the better, who knows?”

“Yeah. Yeah, maybe.”

Folding his arms, Leonard watched Annie shuffle further down the street. His liver-spotted brow wrinkled in concentration. “It’s peculiar, all right. I mean, it looks like she’s going for the Harrison Trail. That’s a twelve mile hike up and back. What’s she thinking?” He shifted his weight to his other foot. “Do you mind if I pop over to Lillian to see what the deal is?”

“We’re due a lunch break anyway…I’ll come with you.”

Flicking his cigarette butt into the yard, Sam stood and slipped his dirty baseball cap onto his sweat-slicked hair. He remembered when that cap used to be red, but now it was so oil-stained it was nearly jet black. No point to try and clean it at this stage either, he thought. It would only be black again within a month due to the many hours that he and Leonard were putting in lately. Grey Wood Carpentry was the gift that just kept on giving, Sam joked to himself. But in all honesty, he couldn’t complain.

Following Leonard down Mayfair Street, Sam lit another cigarette. They passed by the quiet, identical homes, the only difference each one being the color of the front doors. The air was as thick as a soup, but it was fresh. It was always fresh in this part of North Carolina. It was one of the main reasons Sam moved here from Seattle two years ago. The city life was getting too much, and since he was let go from the factory, he needed a change of scenery. Back to his family roots in North Carolina seemed as good a place as any. Leonard had welcomed him to town with open arms. And a new job. Sam was forever grateful.

They climbed Annie’s porch and Leonard rapped on the door melodically as Sam flicked away his second smoke.

The door slowly opened on its own. No one was on the other side.

“Lillian?” Sam pushed the door open wide. “You here?”

No reply. Somewhere out on the street, a dog barked relentlessly.

“She’s not here, Leo. We can always phone her.”

“Just a minute.” Leonard stepped into the house, his index finger raised. “I just need to make sure everything’s okay.”

Sam waited on the porch. A cold turkey sandwich was back at the garage and his stomach called for it angrily. Missing breakfast was a stupid mistake but he’d overslept and had to rush. A nice tall glass of cold water wouldn’t be a bad idea either now that he thought about it.

“Oh Jesus!”

Sam had never heard Leonard’s voice sound like that before. Fear licked across his stomach in a cold wave. He made his way into the shadows of the house, his boot heels clicking on the hardwood. His heart punched at his ribcage. “Leo? Where are you?”

“Kitchen.”

Sam pushed open the swing door. And stopped.

The thing that lay on the kitchen floor was once Lillian Palmer…the thick, wavy brunette hair gave that away. But that was the only recognizable piece. The rest was appalling. A horror show.

Thick white cords that looked like bone sprouted from her pink blouse, the fabric left shredded. They spiraled upward from her chest to neck-height, like crooked tree branches. At the root they were a deep red, fading to the whitest white by the tip.

The largest one grew from Lillian’s forehead. The skin around it lay in tattered ribbons.

The older man’s voice croaked, “Oh sweet Jesus, Sam. What’s happened here?”

The room seemed to spin just then, and Sam held onto the breakfast counter for support. He had never seen anything like it. He noticed the mushroom scent of decay in the air. It churned his stomach. How long had she been here? And what in God’s name were those bone-like appendages spiking through her flesh? He couldn’t speak.

“Should I call Dr. Philips? I should, shouldn’t I?” Leonard was rubbing his hands together nervously.

Sam finally found his voice. “Yeah. That would be a good idea. Call Dr. Philips, and if he’s not available, call 911.”

As Leonard pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, Sam continued to lean against the counter and tried to control his breathing. Easy now, he thought. You’re okay. Maybe some water might help. That’s it. Get some water.

Sam’s legs were jelly as he made his way to the kitchen sink. They trembled with each step. His skin quivered at the very idea of having his back turned to the abomination that lay on the floor, but he needed to do something to calm down. Water. He needed water.

Sam stopped.

A brown paper bag lay open beside the kitchen sink. Inside of it was a white powder. Sam lifted the bag gingerly, cringing at the weight. There must have been kilos of the stuff. The bag crinkled as he turned it over in his hands, some of the powder spilling out.

There was writing on one side. Somebody’s handwriting.

Cordyceps

It was a childish scroll, as if a five-year-old had written it. Or else somebody very old, Sam thought.

Suddenly Leonard was beside him and peered into the open bag. “Cordyceps?”

“Yeah,” Sam said. “What is it?”

“It’s a fungus. Some people think it’s a kind of medicine.”

“How the hell do you know that?”

“I pay attention to things. I know pharmaceutical companies sell it all over, like supplements in tablet form and powders and all else, all FDA approved, you know?”

Sam turned the bag over. The childish scrawl fell into view. “Well, this one is hardly FDA approved now, is it? Leo, is it ever used to treat cancer?”

“Maybe.”

They looked to the body on the floor, if it could still be called a body. The arrangement of spiky bones poking from her flesh looked like a miniature forest growing from her torso. It was disgusting.

There was a knock at the door, and Leonard called, “Dr. Philips, come in. We’re in the kitchen.”

Terry Philips appeared in the kitchen. He was a quiet man at the best of times, a characteristic everyone in town was used to. The doctor’s knees popped as he knelt beside the body. He unzipped his bag and muttered something to Leonard that Sam couldn’t quite make out.

Sam heard his own heartbeat in his ears. There was silence from the kitchen. A clock ticked away somewhere in the house. Then something smashed the silence.

One time, when Sam was fifteen, he'd slashed the car tires of a man he knew was sleeping with his mother. He knew it was an affair, and that his dad knew nothing of it. The oxygen had bled from the tires in an airy gust. The sound he was hearing now sounded an awful lot like that.

“Out!” Dr. Philips commanded. Sam didn’t need to be told twice.

The three men raced together to the front lawn of Annie Lee’s house, looking back at the home like it was a snarling wild animal. Sam swallowed. A lump the size of a tennis ball seemed to be lodged there. He eyed Dr. Philips up and down. The man was caked in a white powder.

Terry Philips spluttered and pulled at his clothes, sending the dust away in a dancing white cloud. He blinked quickly, getting it off of his eyes. It was everywhere.

Fear crawled up Sam’s spine. “What happened?”

“She exploded.” The doctors eyes were wide, his voice panicked. “No one goes back inside of that house. Understood?”

The doctor ripped his tweed overcoat from his back and threw it. It hit the lawn in a puff of dust. The wind carried the cloud away down the street. Sam watched it drift away up into the air until it disappeared.

“I need to get to the hospital,” Dr. Philips said. “Call an ambulance.”

Sam was stunned, but Leonard said, “I know what cordyceps is. I know it infects ants. Imagine it was to infect a single ant, fellas. Which it has done, by the way, many, many times. It’s a parasite. Once infected, that ant’s mind then belongs to the fungi. Its infected mind makes the ant climb upwards, and if any of the other ants in the colony spot any signs of odd behavior, they’ll carry that infected ant far away. As quick as possible…”

“Why do they do that?”

“Because…” Leonard looked uncomfortable. “The cordyceps needs to grow…it erupts from the host ant…when it grows to its full height, those deadly spores will burst from its tip and infect more ants. Ants know this somehow and remove the infected member. Otherwise, the infected ant will climb high enough so that the spores will rain down upon the colony and infect them all.”

Sam felt lightheaded. His brain wouldn't allow him to process what his ears were hearing. “Can it infect human beings?”

“Well, you saw Lillian…” Leonard’s voice trailed off as he punched 911 into his cell phone.

Suddenly Dr. Phillips spoke. “Yes.” The doctor’s voice was dreamy.

Sam’s stomach dropped at the sudden change in the man. Like someone had flicked a switch, the doctor now appeared to be as high as a kite. “Excuse me, gentleman. I need to go,” the doctor said.

“Go?” Sam asked. “You mean, when the ambulance arrives?

But the doctor ignored Sam. “Up,” he said. “I’ll go up. It seems so much nicer up there, don’t you think? It’s a beautiful day for a walk up the Harrison trail.”

The doctor lurched down Mayfair Street, his eyes glazed and a smile splitting his lips. Sam and Leonard watched him go without a word. Sam was too afraid to move, too afraid to stop the man. Instead, he turned to Leonard. “You don’t think…you don’t think he’s acting like those ants you talked about do you?”

They turned their heads upwards to the handrail at the top of Harrison’s trail. Annie Lee rounded the corner. From down here, looking up, she looked tiny. Her hunched over gait told Sam who it was.

Annie stumbled towards the wooden handrail, as if she were admiring the tiny town from her beautiful vantage point, and on any other day it would have been a wonderful sight to see. But now, it made Sam’s heart flutter and his stomach lurch. He knew why she was there. She had climbed up high, just as the infected ants do. If she’d done that much, she’d do the rest.

Soon enough, the cordyceps would register that she was up high enough, its position was set, and then it would grow from her skin. It would burst from its host shell like something on the set of a science fiction movie. It would grow and grow, until it couldn't grow any more. And then it would burst.

It would burst and rain down onto Mayfair Street.

It would infect the colony.

Sam’s legs turned to jelly. He kept his eyes on the old woman, perched up high. He half ran, half lurched down the street, trying to find his voice. Eventually he managed to speak. “Leo, come on…we can’t wait for the ambulance. Run!”

“I can’t run, I’m old.”

“I’ll help you.” They made their way for their workspace, the Grey Wood Carpentry garage. “We need to get inside the garage, Leo, now.”

Sam kept his eyes on Annie as he spoke, her figure silhouetted by the high sun behind her. It sat in the sky above the mountain like a raging white ball. Annie Lee was a black outline, and for now, a normal person from afar. But that soon changed.

From Annie’s head grew a long, thin appendage. It moved with creepy speed. It reminded Sam of stop-motion animation. The thing looked like a curling, spindly tree branch. It continued to grow, twisting as it went.

Sam bolted for the garage, pulling Leonard behind him. He thought: Mask. Mask. Mask.

Entering the garage, Sam made for the protective masks. He threw one back to Leonard without a word and quickly fasted his own onto his face. His breathing was amplified inside of it, and it smelled like sawdust. But if it kept him alive, he’d never take it off again.

“Do we have any more of these?” Leonard’s voice was a muffle.

“Just our two. Never saw a need to buy more.” Sam thought it over. To stay in here would do no good because eventually they would have to leave. They couldn’t stay in the garage forever. And if the masks were going to work, then they were going to work. There was no way of finding out other than to go outside. Another idea hit him.

“Look, I think we need to get up the Harrison trail. I need to know if…” Sam swallowed. “If what you told us about the ants is happening here. I need to know.”

Leonard nodded, his eyes glistening. “I’m really scared, Sammy. But I need to know, too.”

“Good. Then let’s not waste any more time. Come on.”

Outside, Mr. and Mrs. Roberts were making their way up Mayfair Street. Sammy stopped on the lawn. They weren’t walking. They were shuffling. The sight of them gave Sam the chills.

“Come on,” Sam spoke from inside his mask, “let’s catch up to them.”

They called to the couple, but the Roberts never turned. Instead, they lumbered slowly onwards. Sam moved in from of them and looked at their faces. His stomach dropped. Both their mouths hung open stupidly. Their eyes were glazed and unfocused. It was as if their legs were carrying the rest of their bodies like deadweight cargo.

That’s pretty much what’s happening, Sam thought. Cordyceps can infect humans.

Further down the street, more figures were approaching. The sound of doors opening up and down Mayfair filled the air. The people made their way towards Harrison Mountain. Sam knew what had happened. Lillian's spores from the doctor's coat had drifted down in that direction. It had infected them.

“We need to get up there, Leo. Come on. If one of them bursts, we’re going to get it for sure. We need to get up higher than they get so we don’t catch the spores.”

Leonard nodded. His head was swinging from person to person as they shuffled up Mayfair Street. Sam knew that Leonard had lived here for the past twenty years. These people were his neighbors, his friends. “That’s Donny Edmond,” he said. “and Earl Jones. And there’s Mrs. Fetcher.”

Sam shook his head. “I’m sorry, but they’re different now.”

He began to jog slowly, turning every so often to make sure that Leonard was keeping up. The old man was crying now, but he was keeping his pace. For a man in his sixties, Leonard was doing very well. Sam quickened his pace.

They made their way up the dirt trail, passing beneath the tall pines, their branches rustling in the wind. Birds chirped from their nests, and Sam wondered if the animals would be infected by this too…just how bad could it be?

It took a half hour to reach where Annie Lee stood. They hadn’t stopped to break once, even though a stitch was gnawing at Sam’s side and the mask was making him sweat profusely. He badly needed water. He couldn’t imagine how Leonard was faring.

They rounded a corner and Sam pointed. “Look, there!”

Dr. Philips stood beside Annie Lee, looking out over their picturesque town. They looked like a pair of statues, grotesque statues. Their eyes drooped and their mouths hung wide open. Dr Philips looked as if he had recently had a lobotomy. They looked like a couple enjoying a break on their evening stroll—if it weren’t for the thing that was growing from Annie Lee.

“Higher!” Sam shouted, grabbing Leonard. “We need to climb above her!”

Pulling his friend by the jacket sleeve, Sam raced up the trail. He had to study the trail to make sure he wouldn’t trip over a rock or root. Finally he felt high enough to stop and turn around…and look.

The cordyceps had broken through Annie’s forehead, a bony spear reaching nearly five feet in length. It looked like a white and red tree branch had sprouted. A wave of nausea rolled up Sam’s stomach and he fought to keep it down.

Leonard gasped. “Oh sweet Jesus H. Christ!”

He didn’t need to say anything else. Sam could see for himself.

They came from the city like an inky wave, moving ever so slowly. The townspeople made their way to the foot of Harrison Mountain, where they disappeared into the sea of pines below. There were hundreds of them, and they were making their way to the top of the mountain.

From below where Sam and Leonard stood, Annie Lee exploded.

Matt Hayward is an Irish, Wicklow-based author and musician. His band, Lace Weeper, has become a staple on the Irish rock scene and have toured with many notable bands and musicians.

His two new novels, The Faithful, and What do Monsters Fear? are due for release in 2015. When not writing, touring or recording, Matt can be found far up the Wicklow Mountains, wondering the woods, drinking beer and playing guitar. Not all at the same time of course.

Matt can be reached on Twitter @matthaywardIRE or through his personal website: www.sundancecrow.com

You can find out more about Matt HERE