 We took turns kicking at the old man's shoe and watched his leg shake for a second before it went limp again Yeah, I think this one's done said my partner Clarkson I reached towards the man's neck for a pulse and covered my nose to guard against the smell of rotten meat Left out in the sun for too long. I found nothing there But stillness and the odd sensation of cold skin I patted his pockets for a wallet something that might have been identification, but didn't find anything Clarkson reached for his walkie and called it in Dispatched can we get an EMS on scene? We're in the alleyway by East 4th and Drake across from O'Grady's We both took a step back and look the man over He was sitting on the ground with his back to the wall like he'd fallen and decided to remain there I noticed his shirt was unbuttoned and through the opening between the buttons I could see some swelling along his stomach. I reasoned it might be bloating from the body decomposing Nobody ever said that death had dignity I took a closer look and noticed dime sized holes littered across the flesh of his stomach What do you think that is? I asked Clarkson track marks or something Clarkson shrugged and rubbed his neck a few feet away cicadas chirped from a cluster of trees near the park Geez Remarked Clarkson those are so loud. I can't hear myself think that's a big 10 for I said We were both starting to sweat standing in the encroaching heat of the summer with our full gear on We were both tired and eager to go home as we'd been patrolling all night We were just about to close shop when someone called in about an unresponsive person Did you know cicadas basically wait for 17 years underground sucking on tree sap until they emerge? Clarkson said They wait for the soil to get warm enough for some bullshit like that Kind of creepy to think they're just waiting all that time so they can ruin our day with their annoying screeching and screwing I thought about the last time I'd seen the cicadas surface How they littered the sidewalks with their crunchy shells and mounds and piles I dreaded seeing it again and hope that they had the manners to avoid my front ports this year Some people actually eat them. I said wrinkling my nose and disgust They're supposed to be related to crustaceans and taste like asparagus You couldn't pay me to do that said Clarkson. I won't even eat asparagus normally I laughed and shook my head Come on man. What are you five? I'll eat beans peas lettuce spinach other greens like that But I don't screw with asparagus or kale or brussel sprouts for that matter It's all about the preparation. I said your roast the sprouts and some salt and butter add in some nice bacon or pancetta And you'll have a good time trust me Clarkson shrugged we were both tired and trying to keep our energy up Just as we started to get restless EMS arrived on the scene Two paramedics shuffled out of the ambulance carrying bags We exchanged some nods and motioned over to our guest They checked him over listened for a heartbeat and reached the same conclusion we had You know Said one of the medics Those cicadas are so loud. I thought I could hear them through my stethoscope Yep, they are loud as hell remarked Clarkson as he dug his hands into the neck of his vest Is hayward on duty? I asked he was our primary medical examiner The guy we called out to scenes when we couldn't be sure about what killed someone and the guy that transported the bodies to the morgue Well, not always directly Sometimes he had aids that would show up in a black van to ferry them away like the caron across the river sticks Clarkson shook his head Don't know I grabbed my phone and called up hayward. He answered after a few rings Yeah, I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment But if you don't think the guy was murdered You could just have the paramedics move him to the morgue and I'll swing by later to do an exam I looked over to our mystery person I knew the proper protocol was for hayward to come to the scene and look the body over before it was moved That someone should document the scene and take photos In case we missed something But I was so tired For all I knew the guy was homeless and died from heat exhaustion I turned to the two paramedics who were getting ready to leave Listen, I know this isn't what you normally do But could you bring this guy to the morgue? It's hot as hell out here and he's just going to decompose if he sits out here They exchanged looks between each other somewhat skeptical of the proposition If there's any blowback you can blame hayward. He's the one who suggested it I guess that was enough They brought out a stretcher from the ambulance and set it down next to the man All right, help me move him over one of the medics said and got into position One of them grabbed the guy by the shoulders and the other one grabbed the legs What happened next? I'll never forget in all my life Two paramedics Lifting a decomposing corpse from the ground were the only thing keeping the body together Was the pressure of the wall which prevented the body's innards from spilling out in a heaping meat stew Because you see All the skin tissue and muscle had been mostly removed from the body's lower back It had been chewed through to the point that there were two Substantial entry points around the sides of their exposed spine Like a fishbone with the head still attached Oh my god Said one of the paramedics He dropped the body and took a giant step back The body slumped against the ground with a grotesque splat The other medic ripped her gloves off in revulsion and threw them on top of the dead body I gagged Clarkson vomited and that wasn't even the worst part not by a damn mile The same cacophony of chirping in buzzing we'd heard from the park was now emanating From within the body like it was a human cello I wasn't sure what the hell was going on. It seemed like the guy's whole body was vibrating And that's when his engorged stomach popped like a balloon or exploded rather And a swirling black mass of gore covered insects took flight into the air Not a damn person fully understood what was happening Not until one of the paramedics hightailed it to the ambulance The other one raised her hands to protect herself They swarmed around one of her hands and at first I couldn't tell what they were doing Not until I heard the paramedic start shrieking I'd never once heard about cicadas ever hurting a person And here they were tearing the flesh off a person's arms like it was a turkey leg The only thing I could think of is that in those 17 years they decided on a new source of sustenance Us we stood with our guns drawn but helpless What would a few bullets do to a swarming mob of insects? They wouldn't even comprehend that we were a threat It had never occurred to me just how much we relied on the image of a gun To intimidate a person into cooperating There was no reasoning or understanding here Just a hardwired instinct to consume and destroy We fired wide aiming at the edges of the swarm In case it would be enough to scare them off the poor paramedic who was getting shredded I could have sworn that I saw some of my bullets hit some of the swarm and ricochet As if while they were modeling inside of the human tree They developed a much harder exoskeleton There came a beeping sound from the ambulance likely from the other medic colliding with the wheel and his desperation to escape The cicadas swirled away from the medic they'd been feasting on and flew to the ambulance door that was still hanging open He tried to close it but he was too late The whole brood squeezed into the crack of the door and all we could hear were muffled screams and yells The ambulance took off and crashed into the wall We ran over unsure if we could even do anything to help Blood splattered on the windows and we could see his bloody hand banging on the windshield Before long it was mostly bone I sprinted over to the door that was still partially open and threw my weight into it slamming it closed Clarkson took aim at the window Don't I grunted we'll just make holes for them to escape if we shoot The ambulance's horn blared likely because the medic had collapsed onto the wheel I felt guilty but if we tried to rescue him the same thing would have happened to us Clarkson and I turned to the medic that had been attacked first She was still breathing but gravely injured We carefully dragged her to the police car then lifted her into the back seat Her arm was a mess and blood was pouring from tiny wounds all over her body We climbed into the police cruiser and tried to catch our breath Tried to make sense of what had just happened So what they're just eating people now? Said Clarkson his voice shaking I shook my head unable to explain any of it We were both completely in the dark I leaned back in my seat calling to the medic You still with us pal Though her face was white and ashen She nodded her head and blinked tears from her eyes What the hell was that? She asked clutching her torn up hand I guess some of the cicadas decided to show up a little different this time I said and wiped the sweat from my forehead Chuckling a bit in my delirium This was insane I just watched cicadas rip a person apart And here I'd been worried about a bunch of dead ones piling up on my doorstep Across the way from us I could see little cracks forming in the windows of the ambulance Oh my god, I breathe I think they're trying to break the glass How strong are these things man? Do you know what it would take for an insect to be able to do that? Clarkson said I shook my head Wondering how nature had developed something so screwed up that an idea came to me I got a really crazy idea I told Clarkson If we do it There'll be no way to explain what we witnessed here I don't give a shit He said We can't let those things go free Not when there's kids outside man Not when this swirling ball of death could appear anywhere Try to cover me I said It wasn't entirely lost on me How dubious of a proposition this was What exactly was Clarkson going to do Since our bullets didn't work Yell at them I hopped out of the cruiser and rolled up on the side of the ambulance Popping open the flap for the gas tank I ripped a strip of cloth from my pant leg And stuffed it into the opening I grabbed a lighter from my pocket And lit the corner of the cloth Then ran back to our cruiser and slammed the door closed Might want to back up I said Oh shit Remarked Clarkson He threw the car into reverse We backed out of the alley And watched as the flame grew larger Until it was curling up the side of the ambulance In a cloud of black Whispy smoke What's the old adage About anything to do with insects? Kill it With fire The ambulance erupted in a cacophony of Wining metal and shattered glass The windshield blew out And I could see the fire rolling over the swarm inside Whatever resistance they developed Didn't seem to handle heat well Their gossamer wings burned up And they crashed down into the fire I blew out a sigh of relief But then a lone straggler flew out of the flaming car I held my breath, hoping the bug would crash into the ground like the others had It didn't It dipped into the air and took off I knew that cicadas had a short lifespan I could only hope that the fire had done enough damage to it That it wouldn't be able to breed We took the remaining paramedic to the hospital And heard that she would be able to recover from her injuries After that, there were several people that interviewed us back at the PD Many of which never gave us an actual name or form of identification But the way they spoke seemed to indicate That this wasn't an isolated incident We saw them later taking flame throwers to the trees in the park The one that had been by the alleyway They turned the ground over and covered it in cement They took care of the burning ambulance and our mystery guest We never found out who he was either I can't say what it all means But I think one thing is for sure I hate cicadas Mind yourselves out there It's probably going to be a rough couple of weeks I'm not working And neither is Clarkson