: Kress successfully hatches the eggs, which grow into insect-like creatures he calls "Sandkings". He observes them splitting into two warring colonies—red and white—and building elaborate sand structures.

: When his former supervisor, Dave Stockley, discovers the illegal lab and threatens to report him, a deranged Kress murders Stockley by feeding him to the starving creatures.

: Kress becomes obsessed as he realizes the creatures are sentient and view him as a deity. When the white colony carves a face into their castle that resembles his own, he begins to crave their worship.

: The Sandkings eventually escape their enclosure and trap Kress in the basement. Realizing the horror he has unleashed, Kress stays behind to trigger a massive gas explosion in an attempt to destroy the colony while his family escapes.