by A H Alhaila
“Creatures?!”, said the old man. “Now I’m sure I’m in a mental hospital!”, he added.
The old man turned around trying to get out when Joanna grabbed his hand and said, “Why don’t you come and have tea with us and we’ll explain everything to you?”.
The old man agreed. He finally found someone he is able to talk and who could take care of him. “Okay but I don’t want this person talking to me.”, he said implying Steven.
“Don’t worry.”, said Joanna.
As soon as they got to the first floor, everyone started asking him questions. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? How did you do that?”, they asked among other questions.
The old man got very angry and said, “Have you lost your minds? I do have hands and legs you know! What is all this commotion?”.
The old man was furious because the creatures hadn’t replied back to him as he talked to them thinking they were normal people. He was also annoyed because of Steven pulling him harshly. He was in a cranky mood. The old man then said, “Where’s my tea?”.
“This way.”, said Joanna.
She took him by the hand and guided him and sat him down in a comfortable place. As she went to make him tea, some people went to Steven and asked, “Why is he speaking that way?”.
“He is blind, and he is unaware of what is going on.”, said Steven. “We’re going to explain everything to him when the right time comes.”.
Joanna brought back some of the tea she had made to the old man.
“Thank you.”, said the old man.
“We’re going to be serving lunch in a few.”, said Joanna.
“My name is William. And you are?”, said the old man.
“I’m Joanna.”, she replied.
“I’m only going to trust you and no one else. Not even that bastard who tugged me in.”, said William.
Joanna knew he mean Steven, but she did not say that he was her father. She did not want to lose his trust. “You can trust me. I’ll always be here! Excuse me.”, said Joanna.
Joanna went to her father who was in the middle of the group trying to find an explanation of what they had just seen. “Why didn’t they hurt him?!, said Max.
“Maybe because he’s blind?”, said Steven.
“Will they not hurt us if we act blind?”, said Victor.
“Who dares to even try?”, said Joseph.
“Yeah, who?!”, said others.
“The creature’s hair wrapped around me. Even though my eyes were shut, I felt it trying to open them. I don’t think the plan would work.”, said Max.
An artist named Sam was among them. He said, “I know that man!”.
He drew everyone’s attention. “What do you know about him?”, said Max.
Sam was nervous because what he was about to say may cause harm and dispute about William. “He lived in the area that I lived in. He … umm … He would harm and annoy people. He had a bad reputation. And … umm … he wasn’t blind!”, said Sam,
Everyone felt worried and anxious. Sam felt even more so, worrying about what would happen next. “When was the last time you saw him?”, asked Steven.
“Almost a week ago.”, replied Sam,
“Was he blind then?”, asked Steven.
“Honestly … No.”, replied Sam.
“Dear Lord! This is getting more and more complicated.”, said Max.
“Excuse me Max!”, said Joseph. “Do you not realize what this could mean?”, he added.
Max did not understand what he meant. Joseph continued saying, “This might be a side effects of the infection which is why they didn’t harm him.”.
Everyone felt horrified and made them doubt everything that they know. “Do you think those creatures are blind?”, said Max.
“Yes, I do!”, said Joseph. “But their hearing is very strong! The old man heard us loud and clear when we were on the roof calling him even though he was far away. Maybe that it another side effect.”, he added.
Everyone felt terrified. “We want our guns back.”, they said.
“Wait.”, said Steven. “He has to explain himself. Don’t worry, I’ll talk with him.”, he added.
They turned towards the old man and found him asleep on the floor. Joanna interrupted, replying to Joseph saying, “All of you saw how the creature wrapped its hair around Oliver’s head. I thought it was how the infection spread, but I was wrong. I too had my head wrapped around by hair. So did Max, and nothing happened to us. That means we still don’t know the infection’s side effects.”.
“I personally think that the infection is spread by wrapping their hair around heads like you said. “, said Joseph. “I’m not sure how it happens but I’m sure that if Steven didn’t save him on time, Oliver would have turned into one of them.”, he added. “Here’s a question for you … Did Steven free you and Max quickly or did he take a long time doing so? What I said makes sense. We saw it with our own eyes so why are we staling?”, he continued saying.
Joanna became quiet knowing that she wasn’t in a position to calm people down with regards to Mr. William. “We’ll kill him.”, said some of them uncontrollably.
Some of them went towards him and said, “Will you wait for him to kill us one by one?”.
Joanna courageously and toughly stood in front of them. “I will cut whoever lays a finger on him into tiny pieces.”, shouted Joanna, drawing her sword and holding it in her hand.
No one dared to take one more step. “What will happen if he transforms into a creature?”, said someone.
“I’ll stay by his side and if he does, I will kill him without hesitation.”, replied Joanna.
They group felt somewhat reassured as they trusted Joanna. “You will be held responsible for anything he does.”, said Joseph.
“Yes, I will.”, said Joanna.
“I’ll also watch the old man with her.”, Said Steven.
They felt even more relieved and each went their own way. Steven and his daughter went towards the old man to watch him. During that time, Steven proudly said, “That’s my brave and courageous girl.”.
“Did you see how that so-called Joseph incite them to kill an old man in his sleep based on assumptions?”, said Joanna.
“I didn’t expect him to say that.”, said Steven. “He had helped by bringing his weapons and he was behind the idea of distracting the creatures when we were driving back here. He might just be very concerned about us.”, he added.
“Too concerned!”, said Joanna.
They finally reached the old man and sat. Steven continued saying, “You’re right.”
Steven turned around and found Joseph coming towards them and told Joanna, “Joseph is coming.”.
Joseph greeted them when he got to them. Steven replied but Joanna did not. Joseph started the conversation in a very low voice in order to not wake the old man up and said, “Why don’t we wake up him and ask if his head was wrapped with the creature’s hair or not?”.
“I appreciate you lowering your voice to not wake him up even though you just provoked everyone to kill him in his sleep!”, whispered Joanna.
“Let’s not make a big deal out of this”, said Steven.
“It’s just a question! He can them go back to sleep.”, said Joseph.
Joanna replied by saying, “Logically, if he lost his sight after being wrapped by their hair that means he would have saw them. However, the way he hit the creature’s head today clearly shows that he has now idea of what is happening. He wasn’t afraid of anything which shows he never saw the creatures!”.
“That makes perfect sense!”, said Steven agreeing with Joanna.
Joanna continued saying, “You said we’re only going to ask if his head was wrapped with hair or not. I’m sure he doesn’t know anything about what had happened. His condition doesn’t allow him to give a detailed and elaborate explanation to your question. He is tired and won’t comprehend much of what you’re saying.”.
“I think you’re right. Sorry for making a big fuss.”, said
Joseph.
“Don’t worry about it. Thank you for your concern.”, said Steven.
“They will give out dinner in a few. Should I get you your shares?”, said Joseph.
“I’m getting it myself.”, replied Joanna.
“Fine. As you wish.”, said Joseph.
When Joseph left, Steven looked at his daughter and said, “You can’t beat a woman in an argument.”.
“That’s nonsense. You can if they are wrong.”, replied Joanna.
“Oh Lord! Now you’ve beaten me too!”, said Steven jokingly.
Joanna smiled and patted her father’s shoulder. “I’ll bring you and Mr. William your meals.”.
“Hmm … His name is William?”, said Steven. “Okay. I’ll wait here.”, he added.
After getting her shares, Joanna took the meals back and gave one to her father and sat beside him to eat. “They’re still complaining about the food shortage!”, said Joanna.
“You know, before you came I was thinking of using Mr. William.’, said Steven.
“To bring us food from places around us?”, asked Joanna.
“Yeah.”, said Steven.
“But he’s old. He won’t be able to carry a lot of things!”, said Joanna.
“Something is better than nothing. We’ll ask and see what he says”, said Steven.
“Why don’t we use the car?”, said Joanna.
Steven said, “We’ll need the petrol in case we run out of food later on and if we ever need to move somewhere else.”, said Steven. “Petrol stations aren’t working. Come to think of it, we can ask him to get petrol too.”, he added.
“He can’t handle that!”, said Joanna.
“We’re not going to force him. We’ll explain everything to him and he can decide on his own.”, said Steven.
“Everything will be clear once he’s awake.”, said Joanna.
“Exactly. I’ll go train them now.”, replied Steven.
“Wait.”, said Joanna. “I’ll go bring a book to read. Keep an eye on Mr. William.”, she added.
“Okay, I’ll wait.”, said Steven.
“Okay, you can go now. Thanks for your help.”, said Joanna after fetching the book and coming back.
“No problem. Be careful Joanna!”, said Steven.
“I will.”, replied Joanna.
Chapter Twelve
Stupidity that Pays Off!
Steven was stopped by Alexander’s sons as he was heading towards the group. They carried a piece of paper in their hands. “We’ve drawn some ideas for weapons to make.”, said Brian.
“Sam and his girlfriend, Elma, drew them.”, said Daniel.
“We drew them. They just made the drawings look better!”, said Brian.
“Doesn’t matter who drew them. Let me see.”, said Steven.
Steven took the papers and started looking at them with amazement. “Can you really do all these?”, he asked.
“Yes.”, said Brian.
“Piece of cake.”, said Daniel confidently.
“That’s great. Hope you can pull it off.”, said Steven.
“But we need our father’s car keys.”, said Brian.
Steven remembered that he had given the keys to their father before his death! “Oh Lord! They are in your father’s pocket outside.”, said Steven.
“How will we get the keys?”, asked Daniel.
Steven thought for few moments. He then decided to leave this matter to the hands of Mr. William. “Don’t worry.”, he replied. “We will have them by the end of the day. Come. Let’s go train and after that, try to get whatever is necessary to retrieve those keys.”, he added.
“Okay.”, they replied.
They all went to start training. Steven gathered everyone and started. Adam walked up behind Joanna with Oliver is his hands. He sat directly behind her and sat Oliver on his lap. Joanna heard a sound come from behind. She turned and saw Adam and Oliver putting on a show. Adam held Oliver’s hands, controlling him like a puppet. He also changed his voice and moved Oliver’s hands around saying, “Hi … I’m Oliver the puppet. What are you looking at! I’m talking to you!”.
Oliver was laughing and enjoying his time. Joanna left her book and started interacting with them. “Oh, I’m sorry Oliver. I was looking at the bear behind you.”, said Joanna.
Adam laughed and resumed the show, turning Oliver’s head backwards saying, “Where? I don’t see a bear!”.
“He’s right behind you.”, said Joanna.
Adam pointed Oliver’s hand at himself and said, “Do you mean him?”.
“Yeah.”, replied Joanna.
Adam put Oliver’s hands on his cheeks and said, “But he’s a tamed bear. He even gets scared of the horror stories.”.
Joanna laughed. Adam joking around and said, “What a wonderful scene.”.
“It really was! Thanks for making me laugh.”, said Joanna.
“Let’s continue the game, please.”, said Oliver.
“I have to go train so that your bear becomes stronger and fearless.”, said Adam making Joanna and Oliver laugh.
“I’ll leave Oliver with you.”, said Adam.
“Okay.”, said Joanna.
Adam went to train as Joanna started playing with Oliver, remembering the times she used to play with her siblings as a child. After almost an hour of training, Steven and Adam came. Oliver ran towards Adam to carry him and play with him. Adam carried him and started throwing him up and catching him. Oliver loved that very much. Steven went to his daughter to sit with her. Adam then came and joined them. Oliver was playing nearby.
“We might send Mr. William to do something for us.”, said Steven.
“Do what?”, asked Joanna.
“Alexander’s keys are in his pockets outside!”, replied Steven.
“That’s ok. There are other cars that we can use.”, said Joanna.
“Alexander’s car has some tools that can help Brian and Daniel make the weapons.”, said Steven.
“Why don’t you break the car window?”, said Adam.
“What’s wrong with you guys?”, said Steven. “We might need to use the cars we have. Also, I think they didn’t attack us when we were driving around in Alexander’s car was because his windows were tinted! It is the only car with fully tinted windows. I won’t risk breaking the window until we’re sure that’s why they didn’t attack us.”, he added.
“You’re right.”, said Joanna. “That’s a good point. When Mr. William wakes up, we will discuss this matter with him.”, she added.
“Yes, we will!”, said Steven.
Dad, can you watch Mr. William for a while?”, said Joanna.
“Sure.”, said Steven.
“Thanks.”, replied Joanna.
Steven knew why she left after seeing her go into the restroom. As he started discussing some matters with Adam, Joanna snuck out and followed Brian and Daniel after seeing them head towards the stairs. When she had reached the staircase and entered, she couldn’t find them. She didn’t know if they had headed to the roof or to the basement. Joanna took a wild guess and went to the basement; however, they were not there. Knowing that they were probably on the roof, Joanna headed upstairs and saw something unexpected. She saw Daniel holding a rope tightly as the rope’s other end was hanging on the side of the center. On her right, she saw Sam shouting as if trying to draw the creatures towards him, while his girlfriend, Elma, was doing the same on the left. Joanna took a quick look searching for Brian, but he was nowhere to be found. She realized that he was the one hanging from the rope. She ran towards roof’s fence and found that she was right. Brian was hanging up-side-down from the rope by his leg, facing his father’s body. She then realized what they were trying to do. She looked at the creatures and found them directly below, Sam and Elma, looking upwards towards them. Brian had become very close to his father’s body when Joanna told Daniel, “Stop! He’s reached the body and is looking for they keys.”
Elma thought that they had succeeded. She turned towards them, j
oyfully saying, “He did it… He did it.”.
This was where things went fatally wrong. When Elma expressed her happiness, she had failed in distracting the creatures. The creatures below her looked towards Sam as he was now the only source of sound that was distracting the creatures. Brian was smack in the middle of them! The creatures started running towards Sam, getting closer to Brian, as Joanna screamed while trying to help Daniel pull the rope. “Daniel! Your brother is in trouble.”.
“Brian!!”, shouted Daniel as he pulled the rope with all his might.
Realizing the dire situation Brian was in, Sam ran towards Daniel to help pull the rope while Elma froze still realizing that it was all her fault.
At that time, someone inside the building heard their screaming. He ran towards Steven and said, “There’s someone screaming outside!”.
Adam and Steven were startled. They ran quickly towards the window to find out who was screaming. Word spread quickly as everyone ran towards the windows watching and talking amongst themselves. Only when Steven asked them to be silent was he able to hear Daniel’s voice shouting, “Brian!!”.
“They’re on the roof!”, said Steven.
They all ran towards the roof. Brian was being raised quickly. They knew that they could save him. All of a sudden, the weight on the rope became heavier. Elma looked to see what was happening and he screamed, “Dear Lord! They wrapped their hairs around his head.”.
“Impossible!”, shouted Daniel as he pulled the rope even stronger.
Elma saw that Brian was fighting the creature and trying to set loose from its hair. He was finally able to do so but he still held on to the creature’s hair, hitting it against the wall shouting, “I will torture you as I have been tortured!”.
“He freed himself!”, said Elma joyfully.
“Then why is the rope still heavy?”, asked Sam.
“He’s fighting the creature!”, replied Elma.
Realizing that the rope was gradually being torn and the creatures below Brian have increased in number, Elma shouted, “Let the creature go … The rope is about to be cut!”.
Brian was deafened by rage. The rope suddenly cut, and Brian fell to the ground and the one pulling the rope fell backwards. Elma was crying as she kept looking at Brian. Danial was also crying as he got up to look at his brother. The rest of the group finally arrived on the roof to see what happening. Steven looked at Danial as he was looking down, calling out his brother’s name. Steven then ran towards the fence to see what was going on and was only able to see the creatures looking directly at him. “Where’s Brian?”, he asked.