Savage by Thomas E. Sniegoski Page A

and saw the remains of a pretty large spider.
    â€œThat’s it,” he said, turning for the stairs. The beam of his light briefly touched the floor, where in every inch of dirt crawled some kind of disgusting bug.
    He didn’t understand what it was that he was seeing, telling himself that maybe the storm had something to do with it, the foul weather somehow stirring up the bugs that lived beneath his house. Before reaching the stairs, he glanced up to the ceiling and saw that it wasn’t just the floor that was crawling with life.
    Spiders. There were spiders everywhere that the light of the flashlight touched, and they all seemed to be heading toward him.
    Rich ran for the stairs. He could feel the bodies of the harder-shelled insects crunching beneath his sneakers as he ran across them, but that was nothing compared to the absolute horror that he experienced as he saw the spiders dropping down on their silken lines, some landing upon him and crawling up toward his face at incredible speeds.
    Crying out, he flailed his arms crazily, slapping at his body, diving for the first step, and nearly smashing his face as he fell, sprawling across the ascending stairs.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” Sidney asked, appearing in the doorway above. He had dropped the flashlight and had no intention of looking for it.
    â€œGet out of the way,” he said, trying to keep the panic from his voice as he got his feet beneath him and sprinted up the steps.
    â€œRich, what is it?” she asked, obviously concerned. He gripped her by the shoulders and moved her out of the way as he slammed the cellar door closed.
    Cody was smiling nervously by the granite island. “What?” he asked. “I thought you said you found food?”
    He was about to tell Cody what he could do with the food when he felt movement just beneath his hairline, followed by sudden pain.
    â€œDamn it!” he screamed, slapping at the back of his neck.
    â€œWhat the hell is going on?” Sidney asked.
    A spider the size of a quarter landed on the floor and started to crawl toward Rich’s sneakered foot. He stomped on it, grinding it into the tile floor.
    â€œGross,” Sidney said. “That was huge.”
    â€œThey’re all over the cellar,” he managed, his voice sounding raspy and out of breath.
    â€œSpiders?” Cody asked.
    â€œEverything!” Rich shouted.
    He thought he felt more movement and reacted violently, tearing his shirt up and over his head and shaking it out.
    â€œAre you all right?” Sidney asked.
    He could see that she was smiling, trying not to laugh.
    Cody didn’t have that willpower. “Dude, you should see yourself.”
    â€œYou should see what it’s like down there,” Rich said. “The place is infested.”
    â€œInfested?” Sidney asked. “Did you ever have a bug problem before?”
    Rich shook his head. “No, nothing like this.” He was starting to calm down a bit but still shook his shirt some more just in case.
    Cody was really laughing now, and it was taking just about everything Rich had not to go over and smack him, but Sidney was laughing as well, even though she tried to hide it by covering her mouth with her hand.
    â€œYeah, laugh it up you two,” he said, angrily. “I’d like to see the two of you go down there and . . .”
    Sidney was looking around him to the cellar door, and he turned to see that Snowy was pawing at something.
    â€œWhat have you got, girl?” Sidney asked, going over to the dog to see.
    The white shepherd had her nose close to the bottom of the cellar door and had started to whine, backing away with a growl.
    â€œWhat is it, Snowy?”
    There was suddenly a steady flow of insects coming from beneath the door.
    â€œShit,” Sidney exclaimed, reaching for her dog to pull her away. “Do you see this?”
    â€œI told you,” Rich said, watching in horror as