A Bug's Life: The Ant Queen

Chapter 8

The Narrow Escape (Part I)

As the winds wailed through the twisted twigs of the charred bushes and the branches of the long-faced tree, the hornet drones continued with their daily patrols, flying around the tree and marching in front of the short tubed entrance, leading to the Hornet's Nest housed within.

Inside, the workers were surely but slowly bringing the food up to the top floor of the nest, where Thistle's throne was located and the banquet to be held, while having to deal with being jabbed in their bottoms by the tips of the drones' spears, and being snapped at by their supposed protectors to quicken their snail-like pace. Despite bearing venomous stingers as their advantageous means of defence, they had been mistreated so much, they had become undermined and depressed by Thistle's reign, brainwashed by their tyrannical queen's propaganda: the nest's protection always came first, whereas its labour was secondary.

Somewhere in Thistle's private floor, hanging down from the ceiling, holed with hexagon combs, were Dot in her stick cage and Flik tied up with grass blades; the silent latter was looking down at the ground in despair, whereas the former struggled to get herself out of the cage, hoping in vain that she'd find a loose stick to twist it and then break it off, so she could untie her best friend and escape the nest together.

"It's no use, Dot," Flik reminded, making Dot snap towards him, "There's no escape." "Sure there is! We just have to keep-" her sentence was cut short, as Flik wasn't buying into her desperate ounce of optimism one bit. "Just... Forget it, alright Dot?" Flik chided, causing Dot's expression to falter slightly, "Let's face it, we're doomed to become Thistle's dinner. And before we know it, the colony, everyone we know will be gone. All because of me..."

Noticing his fallen face and antennas, Dot asserted, "Don't talk that way! The "Flik" I know and love would never talk down to himself like this!" Flik snapped back at her rather angrily, "Well, the "Flik" you know is not here right now! Alright?!"

Dot shrunk in her cage, startled by Flik's sudden temper, never having him take his anger out on her before. Seeing how he frightened her with his frustration had stricken Flik to the core, causing him to soften his expression and tone, giving out a mild sigh.

"Look, me making weapons for her wasn't part of our deal. She stated that if I were to help her swarm with my inventions, I'd finally get the appreciation I feel I deserved," as Dot listened to his explanation intently, the more she felt at ease, realising how Flik didn't mean to get furious with her, only was he venting out his frustration with everything that had happened up until this point.

Flik continued, "But once I'd found out her true plans, it was already too late; I created the nutcracker, she had it tested on one of her workers, and then I was tossed aside like trash, like how I felt almost my entire life!" All Dot could do was watch him with silent sympathy, as Flik got more emotional with his monologue. What would shake her to her core, however, was what he'd said last, "Maybe I should give up inventing and go back to picking food... It'd probably be better for everyone."

Just seeing her hero, her best friend, so given up and in such despair, brought nothing but feelings of sorrow and pity that daunted her tiny heart; if only there was something she could do to free his cheerful self from the internal prison where Flik had locked him in, behind the bars of regret and melancholy. After a moment of silence between the two ants, Dot felt as if a bright idea had shined into that little mind of hers, dilating her eyes and her expression shifting slightly. "You know, I was once told we're like tiny little seeds," Flik's antennas piqued, as he slowly turned towards Dot, "And with the help of sunshine, rain and time, we'd become giant trees. I didn't understand it at the time. But now? Now I do."

"Dot..?" said Flik, as his eyebrow raised in befuddlement of Dot bringing up his seed-to-tree metaphor at random. In spite of his befuddled self, Dot persisted, "Don't you see?You taught me that no matter how small one may feel, they'll grow into something big one day, like you! You also started out as that seed, and now you became that great tree, Flik." Still puzzled, Flik enquired further, "Okay, what are you getting at?"

"Well, all I'm saying is... Although you might feel like you aren't appreciated by everybody, just know that you still did great things, even saving my mum and the colony from Hopper. So... I don't see why you should stop doing more great things," after having her sentiment said, Flik was left reflecting upon her words, before his eyes widened with finally understanding the point Dot was trying to get across, taken aback by the words he had been yearning to hear from anybody.

She was wise beyond her age, Flik thought, as despite being taken for granted, he indeed did do so much for the colony; he, along with the circus bugs' help, rescued the Queen from being squished by Hopper's foot, and all the iron from his fist, in which he had the colony at his mercy, had been molten away by Flik's inspiring speech, that reminded the ants there were more of them than there were grasshoppers, and were not meant to serve them: only to each other.

"Dot... I... Thank you," a small smile was plastered onto Dot's face, replying back, "Anything for a pal." "Best pal," added Flik, which broadened Dot's smile from cheek to cheek, feeling her heart warming with bliss upon hearing him considering her his best friend, just as she saw him.

"You know what? I'm going to think us a way out," Flik reassured Dot, reverting back to his old personality before he left the colony. "There's the "Flik" I know and love!" chuckled Dot, glad to see Flik's happy self was finally freed from his miserable prison, "So, any ideas, pal?"

Flik looked around his surroundings, furrowing his eyebrows deep into thought, before catching glimpse of the grass blades holding the cage Dot was in together with widened eyes. "Hey, maybe try chewing the grass blades off?" Flik suggested, leaving Dot dumbfounded, as she looked back and forth between the grass blades and him.

Regardless, Dot proceeded to bite into the grass blades and with enough force, soon tore them off, much to her surprise. "Hey! It's-" Flik quickly hushed her, worried that she could alert any hornet drone passing by, "Shh! The hornets will hear!" Dot instantly slapped a hand over her mouth, hindering her gasp, as she offered him a nod.

She resumed gnawing the grass blades off, until all were torn, and the stick cage dismantled, dropping Dot onto the floor below. Free at last, she looked up at him and said, "Hang on. I'll get you down." Dot flew up to Flik, chewed off the grass blades binding him and helped him down. Flik then took a moment to properly regain movement of his arms and hands, after being tied for a good while.

"Thanks Dot," he suddenly had his neck wrapped with Dot's arms and her face crashed into his chest, knocking him back a little bit. Noting how she refused to let go, afraid that he'd leave her again, Flik returned the embrace warmly, comforting her with a silent promise that from then on, wherever he was, she'd be there too. The two ants hugged for what seemed like a long while, before Flik whispered to Dot's antenna, "Let's get out of here." As Dot pulled back from his embrace in response, Flik scanned his eyes all around, barely making out his surroundings through the darkness; he could faintly see the hexagonal cells up in the ceiling and the columned pillars, dimly lit by mushrooms growing out of them, illuminating light green. "Alright, Dot. I'm going to need you to be my eyes from behind, okay?" Dot nodded in reply, holding out her arms to be picked up by Flik.

Because he was around much of the Hornets' Nest, Flik knew where to go; he eyed the front, whereas his eyes from the rear were Dot's, both keeping an eye out for any patrolling hornet drones. The eerie silence of the dark and gritty place that was the Hornets' Nest sent chills crawling down the sneaking ants' backs; although the thought of the hornets catching them was frightening enough, the thought of not knowing where and when they'd pounce upon them was what made it all the more terrifying. Using the darkness as cover, they also ensured to stay away from the glowing mushrooms, knowing that they'd be given away by their luminous glow.

Feeling vibrations with his feet, Flik knew footsteps were approaching his way, so he and Dot swiftly hid behind the pillar, as they each looked in their respective direction to see anyone coming.

Peeping from the column's sides, they saw a group of hornet drones doing their patrol around the nest; they were walking in a manner as if they were a bunch of mindless drones. Even though they could feel their hearts racing and breaths leaving their mouths more than they should, both ants knew they had to stay quiet, otherwise being caught would spell doom for them both.

Sensing they were about to turn around the pillar, the two ants moved along against it, staying out of the hornets' sight. Just as they left the scene, Dot instinctively let out an audible sigh of relief, before being hushed when Flik's hand concealed her mouth, once the drones halted dead in their path. As two of the hornets decided to check out the noise, Flik and Dot frantically flickered their eyes everywhere for a place to hide, before staring up at the hexagon holes with wondering looks.

With spears raised, both drones split off from one another, taking their own side of the pillar. Giving each other an affirming nod, they closed in and much to their confusion, nothing was there. After a moment of searching, the two drones grunted, shrugging their shoulders, as they headed their way back in the direction with the rest of their patrol. With Dot on his back, Flik crawled back down the pillar from the ceiling.

After checking the coast was clear, Flik turned towards Dot with a stern expression and put his finger on his lips, shushing, reminding her to keep quiet, to which she nodded without hesitation.

As they pressed on, however, the two ants heard familiar voices not too far away; it sounded like there was an argument taking place. Overcome with curiosity, Flik and Dot quickly sneaked over to one of the thicker pillars and hid behind it. Remaining invisible, they could hear Thistle having a quarrel with her daughter, Nettle. What could they possibly be arguing about? Their inquisitive antennas listened in to find out...

To be continued...

Quick Author's Note:

Hey guys, FireAntKing2311 here. The first part of chapter 8 has come at last. Apologies for what seemed like a bit of a wait, but I had to take the time to properly think about this part of the story, as it's pretty long (I did say this is going to be the longest chapter yet, and the second part is yet to come).

But what really added to the pile of needing the time to properly plan out and write this chapter, was that I also had to deal with college work and moving houses to put the cherry on top; basically, had to deal with college life and life changes. Now that I've moved and have very little college work left to do, I can now write the rest of the chapter and the remainder of the story.

I hope you're all looking forward to what's coming next in the story, as there's alot coming. After the second part of this chapter is finished, the next one is gonna focus on Atta and Charlie and how they're planning on getting out of the bullfrog's stomach alive. Also, once this entire chapter is done, only four chapters left to go! So we're nearing the third and final act of the story; it's all going to focus on Atta, Flik, Dot and how they're going to rescue the rest of the ants and defeat Thistle and her swarm, along with the help of the Circus Bugs and Charlie.

Stay tuned guys.

FireAntKing2311, out.