65 Entanglemen (1/2)

2034

Waste Pit, W.A.R.T.S

When she swivels her head to the left, and to the right, she realizes there are more and more of them surrounding her. Their grimy pale bodies squirm through the sand and over scum without any sign of exertion. They don't seem to be attacking her...yet, but the maggot she'd pushed off her back has been interested.

The limbless, segmented body felt damp and cool sliding against her side.At any moment they could all converge on her. She has to move.

”Oh god...oh god,” Her elbows sink into the earth with the force she uses to drag herself forward. Her fingers dig into the soil, her stomach clenches, and with each bit of progress, it gets a bit easier to control her body.

Ahead of her appears to be clear of the creatures and she scrambles through the scum and dirt to get away from the enormous larvae.

'Wait...calm...down.'

”Get....out...of...my...head,” She barely registers the sting of pain as something sticking out of the ground rubs up against her chin, its sharp edge grazes the skin, leaving another scratch upon her face.

'Wait.'

”Get out!”

'Sia....watch out!'

The area absent of maggots lacked land as well, and Sia tips forward off the edge face first. The fall is cushioned by the back of a dung beetle the size of a small automobile. Sia bounces off its shell and rolls into a pile of sun-dried human waste.

*********************

A small shed sits at the edge of the toilet pit. Several people wait outside the shed for a chance to use the bathroom. The toilet kids are late. Usually, they bring along the water buckets needed to flush waste down the tubes into the pit below.

Beside the shed, a shovel is stuck into the earth with half of its metal blade buried deep enough to keep the wooden handle standing at attention. Beside the shovel, stands four people squinting into the distance. One of the four is holding a hand to their crotch, shifting their weight from foot to foot while dancing to an unheard song of needed release.

”What the heck is that?” the dancer asks before knocking on the wooden shed door.

”Still occupied!” an annoyed woman shouts from within the shed. The dancer huffs and wiggles a step away from the door before continuing to shuffle in place.

The three other people waiting to use the bathroom ignore him. The sounds they can hear in the distance are coming from nearby, but the many masses within the other pit make it hard to pinpoint from where. Are the maggots feasting on an animal while it's still alive?

One of them becomes annoyed with the inefficiency of holding a hand to their brow. ”Yo, you have a pair of binoculars?” the frustrated woman turns to the other two mercenaries.

One of the men beside her shakes his head, while the other man pauses to think then shrugs absentmindedly. ”I think so,” he brings up a hand to slide his backpack strap off of his shoulder. He refuses to take his eyes away from the other waste pit. The sounds stop for a moment then begin once again.

”No, wait,” she places her hand on the strap to keep it on his shoulder. ”I'll grab it.”

The man nods and allows her to unzip his bag. Her tanned arm dives in and feels around for a few seconds before her fingers tap against the smooth, wide lenses of the binoculars. She wrenches her arm out of the backpack before placing the large, forest green binoculars against her face. At first, she is looking far off in the wrong direction, but with a step to the left and a turn of her head, she is zooming into the waste pit. Her mouth goes slack as she focuses on the distance, a finger rolls along the little dial on the side of the binoculars to zoom in further.

”Do you see anything? I bet it's a-,” The man with the open backpack contemplates a scenario while taking a step closer to the edge of the toilet pit. ” -a baby animal or something...something furry.”