For The Queen

For The Queen

"This is the worst day of my life." Arik thought as he marched in ranks with his fellow soldiers. His belly rumbled and his feet felt like lead as he dragged himself along.

"It just isn't fair." he moaned.

"Silence! There will be order in the ranks. Eyes forward and march!" Roared a big black ant at the head of his company.

Arik gulped, and his cheeks reddened. He clenched his fists and muttered something under his breath as he glared around him.

"Psst! Hey Arik!" whispered a voice next to him.

Arik glanced to his left. A black ant of medium height marched beside him.

"What?" he grumbled.

"Why are you always pissing off Marcus? Haven't you had enough of latrine duty?" the soldier ant grinned.

"Oh shut up, Louie. I'm tired of that loud mouthed oaf. He's always ordering me around. He's just a sergeant, but the way he struts about, you'd think he was a general of the colony."

"Yeah, but he's our superior you know? We're soldiers, and we got to obey orders. I'm not saying I like Marcus, but that's just the way it is." Louie said.

Arik felt a wave of heat rush through him. He rolled his eyes and glanced at his friend again.

"So if Sergeant Marcus ordered you to single-handily charge a bee hive, you would do it?"

"Well yeah, I guess. We all have a duty for Queen and colony."

"Then you'd be an idiot." Arik said. "You would get yourself killed. And for what? The glory of the Queen?"

Louie's eyes widened and he shuddered. "Hush, will you?" he looked around at the other soldiers before returning his gaze to Arik. "That kind of defeatist talk is treason. I don't want to be thrown in prison and die disgraced like some common thug. I love my Queen and colony and would gladly die for it. I'm not a rebel like some ants." he stared at Arik, and a hostile light shone in them for a second.

Arik fell silent under his friend's withering gaze and looked away. He forced his eyes on the path ahead of him as he marched with the other ants. But he felt a whirlwind of thoughts race through him, each more troubling than the next.

"Am I really a rebel at heart?" he thought. "Louie got me all wrong. I love my colony, but the Queen is cold and cruel. How can I love someone who wastes the youth of the colony in pointless wars? If it wasn't for this draft, I would still be at home with my family instead of wandering this forest looking for the red ant colony.

But am I right or wrong to think such things? Do we ants have a right to rebel against an unjust Queen? To dream of a better life without endless wars? Or am I just a traitor?" he sighed and shook his head.

Up ahead, the other ant formations ground to a halt. A grim silence filled the air as the ant general strode to the front of the army. He surveyed his soldiers with a sense of satisfaction as his eyes wandered among the troops. Then he roared in a booming voice:

"Soldiers of the colony! The Queen has tasked us with securing food for our home. Our task is simple: we will storm the red ant hill and take what they have. Show no mercy! Destroy all within. It is our right by might. Onward, soldiers! For the Queen!"

"For the Queen!" the cry rang out from ten thousand blood thirsty voices. Like a rumbling storm, the army surged forward.

And Arik charged with them.

tornado

an army

of black ants