5
Ianto was driving when something flashed past at the side of the road and he slowed to glance over, expecting it to be a Bug or something, but instead he saw a man running. Right. So a Bug was not far away.
"Wake up" he said softly to his sleeping mate as he hit the horn and the man jumped, clearly not having noticed the transporter crawling along. Then the man looked back and ran quickly to clamber in.
"Shit, turn right and head for the water" the man panted.
"Water?" Jack asked.
"They don't like it" the man turned to look behind them "Fuck, it didn't follow me. Bugger, do you think it can see the path I took? Fuck, I was going to spray the bleach on the way back."
"Bugger" Ianto agreed, glancing at Jack before asking "I take it there are people at your base?"
"Yeah."
"Right. Bugger. Jack has a bad ankle. Jack, can you drive still? I will have to be the decoy I think" Ianto said as he took in the exhausted state of the man beside them who would not have made it much further.
Bugger.
Bugs.
In the two months since it all happened, the invasion, things moved slowly. Ianto and Jack soon discovered that the Bugs were adapting to their environment and no longer needed the night to move, just shadow. So the best time for the humans to move was now. Midday. From about eleven in the morning to about two in the afternoon. Anything after that was dicey as the things came out to rampage. Seems they slept during this time.
Not all.
Hence Jack's twisted ankle from the unexpected Bug that had appeared behind him while he was relieving himself on the side of the road. In the open. At midday. So, clearly some were rogue.
The other thing they had decided between them is that the things were Hive. One saw you, many would come without any noise or seeming call to them, like they just knew. One sees you, all in the area sees you and you are suddenly being herded like a rat in a maze, these things in sync.
The map beside them on the seat had many scribble son it, the pathway back toward Ianto's home revised on a daily basis at the moment as they had to go around a hive, had to reconsider what was hoped to be a safe place but clearly everyone else had thought so too, boosting the numbers and making them a target.
That's the thing ya see. Numbers.
It looks like the more people, the more heat signatures, the more likely Bugs will come seeking. This made Ianto believe that a Mother Ship was up there somewhere scanning and feeding the bugs information. Drone Bugs would then head out and if they found signs of humans, the other Bugs came.
They had not considered water, clearly this man had. This is something that sounded promising so he drove to the creek and with faith in the high wheel base, he drove into the water. They then watched the bug reach the water's edge and hesitate, then back off slightly.
"So what now?" Jack asked as he watched out the passenger window "Does it fuck off eventually?"
"When the Down Time happens, sure" came the bland reply.
"Well… fuck that" Ianto said as he fired up the vehicle and drove to the other side of the creek and along the grass verge until he saw a road and then casually drove across the field to it. Inside the vehicle the man had started to laugh, admitting that he had not thought of doing that, had stood like a fuckwit in the water until it left each time.
"Well when you get to know us you will discover that Yan is a tad impatient" Jack laughed as he grabbed for the suicide strap, the transporter slamming though a barrier.
"Are we on the right track for where you want to go?" Ianto asked finally.
"A bridge up ahead to get us back to that side of the creek, we will see if that Bugger was following us or not" the man said, then added "I'm Owen."
"Ianto and I'm Jack" Jack answered "Ianto doesn't talk much."
"I noticed that too" came the reply, the three men traveling in compatible silence for a while.
Not much else to say really.