Worm bags¶

Worm bags are the late-stage human and animal hosts of the Marblehead worm parasite: bloated, hairless, translucent bodies that shrug off bullets and burst into worms.


Type	Monster / infected hosts
Aliases	Infected townspeople; infected hosts
Abilities	Bullet resistance; keep moving after losing the head; burst into worms; some can still speak
Weaknesses	Heat and fire; salt; vodka; the anti-worm agent
Status	A convoy was shot up at the nuclear plant; survivors are being dewormed (as of Summer Service 06)
First appearance	Early stage seen in Summer Service 04; full form in Summer Service 05

Description¶

"Worm bags" is the radio contact's term in the finale, and it echoes the drawings in the EPA field journal of fish that are essentially bags of worms (Summer Service 03; Summer Service 06). The infection progresses from the "glow" of vigor to bloating and then to pale, near-translucent skin. At the selectmen's meeting the mayor, the chief of police and a few others are swollen and nearly translucent, the priest has started to bloat, and the banker Horace Cromwell looks more bloated than most, tense and struggling not to vomit (Summer Service 04).

In the fully developed form seen in Summer Service 05, hosts are hairless and very soft, with "the texture like overcooked vegetables or like a rotting pumpkin," and leak dark fluid (Summer Service 05).

Abilities¶

Bullet resistance. A shot through the forehead does nothing to Puddles (Summer Service 05). In the finale a handful of infected townspeople ignore machine-gun fire and rush into the nuclear plant, howling (Summer Service 06).
Survive losing the head. Puddles' headless body stands up in the pantry. Arnold Weathers's head comes off on the bathroom sink and the body collapses into worms (Summer Service 05).
Burst into worms. Arnold ruptures when Andrew Howard tackles him, spilling worms and gore down Andrew's suit; the worms try to burrow into flesh (Summer Service 05).
Behavior varies. Puddles attacks. Arnold, soaking in a tub of black liquid with broken handcuffs cutting into his wrist, tries to get past the team rather than fight (Summer Service 05).

Weaknesses¶

Fire (the flashlight weapon), salt, vodka and the anti-worm agent; see the worms. Once the team takes the deworming agent, the effects of the infection fade and a fever sets in, and the Guard officer says that some patients will not pull through (Summer Service 06).

History¶

The Summer Service¶

Early signs. At the selectmen's meeting the party sees that the town leaders are visibly swollen (Summer Service 04).

Arnold's house. The first full hosts are Puddles and Arnold. The armed church members and police who gather at the team's hotel around 4 a.m. are not described as late-stage hosts (Summer Service 05).

The convoy. In the finale a convoy of infected townspeople, including the team's stolen FBI car, crosses marshland toward the nuclear power plant. The radio contact warns the team not to soften up the convoy because "they got like eight" worm bags. The stolen car, driven alone by Jester, sticks in a water-filled dip and falls behind; when the team pulls up he dives through their window and sinks his teeth into Huell's neck, Andrew scrapes him off against the stuck car and backs over him, and he dies gushing blood, bile and worms. When the convoy rams the perimeter fence, the ground beyond drops six inches and dozens of tires pop. Pop-up machine guns shred the convoy, though a handful of howling infected run past the bullets into the facility and one gun stops firing (Summer Service 06).

Aftermath. The Guard takes the town and distributes deworming medicine. The older Guard officer relays his medics' reports of "profoundly wild things" (Summer Service 06).

What remains unknown¶

How many townspeople are infected, how many survive deworming, and what became of the infected who reached the plant interior (Summer Service 06).