by Lee Wise
“I’m glad everyone’s okay.” I said.
“I heard that there is a pile of dead animals out here?” Rose asked.
“Yes there is. Over there.” I said pointing in the direction of the bodies.
“Wonderful!” Rose said sarcastically. She sighed. “There’s always something. I think I’ll go make us some coffee. It’s going to be a long night!”
“Thank you!” Mrs. Ford and I said. Rose went back inside.
We heard a howl from in the woods. It wasn’t an animal howl. Mrs. Ford and I stood up.
“Did you hear that?” John said over the walkie-talkie.
“We did.” I responded.
“Be alert.” John said.
“What’s going on?” Mike said on the walkie-talkie.
“I thought you were asleep.” John said.
“Not anymore. I’m coming down.” A couple minutes later Mike walked out. We told him about the howl.
“All right, let’s be ready.” Mike said. We looked in every direction. Then a howl came from a different location.
“Be ready.” John said. Angela must’ve heard everything also. She came outside.
“I’m going to help in the back. Are you guys all set?” She asked.
“Yes.” Mike said. “Be careful.” She nodded and ran to the back. We heard another howl from a different spot.
“There’s more than one!” I said.
“Yes. I think they are surrounding the house.” Mike agreed. He picked up his walkie-talkie. “Guys we have action up here!”
“What’s up? We heard you guys talking about something.” Ben responded.
Cathy came outside with Allison. “We’re here to help.” Cathy said.
“There’s eight of us up here.” Mike said. “That’s probably enough. I just wanted to give you the heads up that we think the house is surrounded. There’s howls all around. It might be a diversion to get you guys up here.” Mike said.
“I agree.” John said. “You guys stay put for now. Just in case.”
“Are you sure?” Robert asked.
“Yes.” John agreed.
Dr. Michaels came outside with Rose. “Can we do anything?” Rose asked.
“Can you get everyone, including Gavin, into the one room? Then we only have to worry about keeping that one room safe.” Mike asked.
Rose looked at Dr. Michaels. “Yes.” He said. “I’m sure Ethan can help us move his brother. We’ll make it happen.”
“I’m sure some of the teens can help also.” Rose said.
“Maybe Ethan can come out here after.” I said.
“I’ll try to get him out.” Rose said and hurried back inside with Dr. Michaels.
The howling began again. We heard hammering. “What the hell?” Mike said.
“Is that you hammering?” I asked the others.
“We decided to board up the back door. That way we could all concentrate on the front.” Angela said.
“But what if we need the back exit?” I asked.
“Just for tonight.” Jill said. “We’ll figure things out when the sun comes out.”
A little bit later Angela, John and Jill came to the front of the house. “Don’t shoot.” John said as I turned the gun in his direction. “You make me so nervous with that gun!”
A howl came from close behind them so they hustled to get near us as a chorus of howls rose from deep within the dark. Ethan came out of the house. “What is that?” He asked.
“Humans howling.” Angela murmured.
“Everyone be ready.” Mike said.
Rose came outside. “You can hear them inside. I figured you might need someone else.”
The howling was getting closer. All of a sudden there was excited yelping and people came charging out of the woods. Some were running all on all fours. We started shooting them. There were dozens. A car came speeding up the driveway and Robert, Gary, Jacob and Luke jumped out. They joined in on the gunfire. It only lasted a short while, but they didn’t stand a chance against our guns. We saw one last lone figure run back into the woods.
“What about that one?” Ethan asked.
“We’re going to let him go. It may be a trap.” John said.
“Everyone okay?” Robert shouted.
“Yes, we… look out!” John yelled. A maniac had jumped on Luke and was strangling him. Gary yanked the girl off of him and shot her in the head.
Luke was yelling and holding his shoulder. Ethan and Mike ran over to get Luke while we guarded the area. There was a lot of blood coming from him.
“She ripped my skin off!” Luke was yelling.
Mike and Rose helped Luke inside.
“Oh wow!” That was all I could say.
Gary and John were talking at the car. Gary got in with Jacob and they went back down the driveway. Ethan went back inside to check on his brother.
“Are you sure we don’t need them?” I asked.
“I think it’s over for now.” John said. “There’s plenty of us up here and we can always talk to them on the walkie-talkie.”
“14.” Angela said.
“What?” I asked.
“There were 14 of them.” She replied.
“Felt like dozens to me.” I said. It had seemed like they came from every angle! I couldn’t believe that there were only 14.
“How did they get here?” I asked.
“The back way.” John said. “Right through the neighbor’s land.”
“Then, what’s the point of guarding the front of the driveway if they’re coming the back way?” Jill asked.
None of us really had an answer for her. “I guess it’s more for the people who aren’t maniacs who are scavenging.” John replied finally.
I sighed. “This is crazy.” I said. “Two attacks in one night. How many of these things are out there?”
“People.” Angela said.
“What?” I asked.
“They’re people.” She sighed.
“Yes, I’m sorry. I meant people.” I said quietly. I hadn’t thought of Sammie in a little while.
“No worries.” Angela responded. “I’m not going back to bed though. It’s 3:00 AM, but I am wired.”
Mrs. Ford yawned. “Sorry! I could use some coffee. I think Rose made some. Would anyone else like some coffee?”
“Sure.” A few of us said.
Mrs. Ford went in the house and we started to discuss what to do with the bodies. It was decided that there was just too many to bury. So, we would bring them across the street in the morning with the dead animals and burn them. Mrs. Ford came back outside without the coffee. We all looked at her.
She smiled. “What’s going on?”
“No problem.” Cathy said. “You just mentioned that you were going to get coffee.”
Mrs. Ford laughed. “Yes. Sorry. I’m not losing my mind. I went in to get the coffee but unfortunately the pot was broken.”
“Really?” Angela asked.
We heard screaming upstairs and a gunshot. Mike and Angela ran inside. We could hear some heated talking. Mrs. Ford, Jill and I stayed outside while the others went to make sure everything was okay.
Angela came back downstairs. “Jill, Aleisha, they need you upstairs. I’ll stay down here with Mrs. Ford.”
Jill and I looked at each other and ran upstairs fearing the worst. “What’s going on?” I asked charging into the room.
I saw a body on the floor. It was Gavin. Dr. Michaels was feeling his pulse. Ethan was sitting on the floor in the corner with his head in his hand crying. His other hand was holding a gun.
Bill and Naomi were hugging the children I ran over to my girls. “Are you okay?” I asked.
“Cathy, Jill, Aleisha, get the kids in the other room please.” John said.
We brought the kids into the other room with Bill . “Let me show you a card trick. Piper can you be my assistant?” Piper was crying, but she agreed with her Pépère to help out. The kids were crying, but watched Bill fumble with cards. Naomi motioned to
the rest of us to talk near the door.
“Gavin got up and howled like the others that were outside. Ethan was trying to stop him but he started attacking Ethan and then he started to speak gibberish. Ethan had no choice but to shoot him.” Naomi said crying.
We were shocked. “He just changed like that?” I asked.
“Ethan said that he was talking nonsense the other day, but he thought it was because of everything happening around them.” Naomi cried.
Dr. Michaels came into the room. “Is everyone okay in here?”
We all said we were. He left the room again and John came in. He sighed. “I hate to say it, but we need more people outside still. Mike and I will put Gavin’s body outside for now with the other bodies, but…”
“I’ll help.” Ethan said from behind John.
“Are you sure?” Cathy asked Ethan. “You can stay in here and…”
“No. I want to help carry my brother.” Ethan said. “And, I want to bury him.”
John nodded. “Okay then. You can.” They left the room.
Cathy looked at her watch. “The sun will be out in a couple hours.”
“This has been the longest night ever!” I said.
“It definitely has.” Cathy agreed.
“Naomi, Bill, you guys have everything under control up here?” I asked.
“Yes. We’ll lock the door after you go.” Naomi said putting a pacifier in Dylan’s mouth. “Allison will soon have to feed Dylan though.”
“I’ll tell her.” I said. Cathy and I went out of the room.
“Now I’m nervous to leave my kids.” Cathy said. “You never know who’s going to change.”
I paused on the stairs. “Just two hours, then we can all get rest!”
“That’s true.” Cathy agreed.
“Longest night ever!” I mumbled again. Cathy smiled and we continued downstairs. We went outside.
John came over. “So, I guess we are just going to continue guarding like before. In the morning when the sun finally comes out, we will have a meeting and figure things out.” He sighed. “This is just getting really overwhelming.” He said as he ran his hands through his hair and looked over all the bodies. Someone had piled them up to the side. Gavin’s body was by itself to another side. Ethan was sitting near it.
Luckily, the next two hours were uneventful. I actually caught myself dozing a couple times. Mrs. Ford just laughed about it and said that she wished she had her knitting materials.
Mike, Ethan and Gary stayed at the end of the road while we had our meeting. Everything would be relayed to them after. Naomi and Bill stayed inside with the kids and Allison stayed in a different room to feed Dylan.
CHAPTER 11
“Well, that was a crazy night.” Ben said.
Dr. Michaels, who was now making sure everyone called him Jeremy, laughed. “I thought that it would be safer here than in the city!”
“This is worse than it has ever been.” John said.
“I think it has something to do with the second round of maniacs.” Jacob said. That did make sense. We all agreed with him.
“So, now what?” Cathy asked.
“Maybe we should be more proactive during the day. It looks like they might have figured out that nighttime is our weakness.” Ben said.
“So, what can we do?” I asked.
“We have to figure out where they came from.” Jacob said.
“I agree.” John said. “So, we have three people stay at the end of the driveway and a few guard the house. The others will search.”
“When is this going to happen?” Rose asked. “I’m exhausted.” Most of us agreed.
John sighed. “That’s true. So, we sleep until noon. We have lunch and then go out looking for them for a few hours. We come home, make the outdoors safer, have supper and nap for a few hours.”
“That’s a good plan.” Ben agreed. “We need to relieve those at the end of the driveway though.”
“That’s easy enough, we…” Robert began.
Piper burst out the door. “Come quickly! It’s my Pépère.”
Rose and Jeremy ran into the house. Cathy and I followed. We could hear coughing upstairs. Naomi was waiting for us at the bedroom door. “Hurry!” She begged. We went through the doorway.
“Mama, what’s wrong?” Sarah asked.
“Um, kids let’s go downstairs and get a snack.” Jenny said. “We can, right?” She asked her mom.
“That’s perfect.” Cathy said. All the kids followed Jenny out the door except Piper.
“I want to stay.” Piper said.
Allison came into the room with Dylan. “Piper, can you help me with Dylan?” Piper had tears in her eyes, but she left with her aunt.
“There’s not much I can do.” Jeremy said walking over to us. “He could really use some rest and more fluids. He probably shouldn’t be playing with the kids right now.”
“I told him no horsing around.” Naomi said. “He never listens to me.”
“Well, he is not coughing as bad right now. Why don’t we let him rest for a while?” Rose said. We all agreed. Naomi left the room reluctantly with us. We all went downstairs. It smelled delicious in the kitchen.
“Yum!” I said as we walked into the room.
“It’s just about ready.” Mrs. Ford said.
“I can’t wait. I’m starving.” Nate said.
“Your hands are filthy.” Jill said to her son. “Go wash up before breakfast.”
“Mom!” Nate argued.
“Yup, Mary you too. In fact, all of you go wash those dirty hands right now!” Jill said. I laughed and agreed with her when I saw Sarah and Megan’s hands. Unfortunately, cleanliness had not been as important lately as it used to be.
A stench seeped into the kitchen. “What is that smell?” Naomi asked.
“Your grandson.” Allison responded walking in with Dylan. Piper was following and plugging her nose. “I’m really low on diapers.”
“We’ll have to use cloth ones.” Naomi said.
“Yeah. I’m not excited about that.” Allison sighed.
“I always used cloth diapers when you were kids.” Naomi informed Allison.
“Yeah, but that was in the time of electricity. This is going to be using a lot of water and hand cleaning. That’s definitely not one my favorite things.” Allison sighed.
“Well, let’s go change that diaper now. I don’t think I can take the smell any longer!” Naomi said. We all laughed as they left the room.
“Hopefully that smell is gone before my food is ready!” Mrs. Ford said.
John came into the house and then the kitchen. “So much for our plan.” He sighed.
“What do you… oh!” I said noticing he was soaked. “I didn’t even see it was raining.”
“It’s pouring out there and Ethan is digging a hole to bury his brother. I wanted to help but he insisted on doing it himself. Robert and Jacob loaded the bodies into the truck and drove them down the road. They’ll be right back, we’ll eat and then try to get some sleep. Hopefully the rain will be done by then.” He said.
“It’s much needed rain though.” Angela said coming into the kitchen. “My garden definitely needed it and so did the well.”
“That’s true.” John agreed.
“Breakfast is ready.” Mrs. Ford said.
We all sat down and ate. There wasn’t much talk since we were all exhausted. Even the kids were quiet. After breakfast a majority of people went upstairs to sleep. Allison, Mrs. Ford and I cleaned up the kitchen.
“I wish my dad would realize that he’s not in his 30’s anymore!” Allison complained.
“That’s what grandfathers do though!” I said. “John’s dad would act like a child and play all the games the kids requested.”
“What happened to him?” Allison asked.
“John’s parents died in a car crash two years ago.” I explained. “My parents live in Florida. I tried reaching them the day after the maniacs first showed up, but no one answ
ered. I tell the kids they are safe, but I wish I knew.”
“A lot of people have missing family members. It’s so sad. My aunt was supposed to visit us two days after the maniacs first showed up, but never arrived.” Allison said. “What about you Mrs. Ford?”
“Well, I’ve always been a parent to the hundreds of kids at school. I never met a man I thought was for me, I always figured one day. My only companion, my cat Fluffy, died a week before everything happened. I was supposed to get a dog from a friend, but then all this happened. I consider all of you my family now.” Mrs. Ford replied.
“That’s so sweet.” Allison said. “We consider you as family also!”
“Well, thank you.” Mrs. Ford yawned. “Now, I think it’s time for some sleep.”
We went upstairs to sleep. I walked into the room and John and Robert were snoring away. Cathy was covering up Jenny, who was cuddling with Sarah and Megan. Cathy walked over to me. “I’m not sure how much sleeping I will get with those two snoring!” She whispered to me.
“It’s really loud!” I agreed. “But I’m exhausted!” We laid down and I don’t know how long it took her to go to sleep, but for me it only took a few minutes!
When I woke up, there was only Sarah in the room cuddling up with me. I smiled. It had been a long time since I had been able to cuddle with my girls. Sarah must’ve felt me move. She looked at me and smiled. “Mommy, I miss cuddling with you.”
Tears came to my eyes. “Me too.” I said. “I’m sorry we haven’t gotten to spend that much time together lately.”
Sarah shrugged her shoulders. “It’s been really crazy lately. I wish things could go back to the way they were.”
“Me too.” I agreed.
“I’m hungry.” Sarah commented and stood up.
“Let’s get some lunch.” I said. We changed our clothes and went downstairs. I could really use a shower, but it had been too hectic lately and I had to see what was going on first.
We walked into the kitchen. Naomi was sitting at the table knitting and Allison was feeding Dylan.
“How was your sleep?” Naomi asked.
“Better than I have had for a while.” I responded.
“No one wanted to wake you. You two were sleeping so peacefully.” Naomi said.
“Thanks.” I said putting my arm around Sarah. “I really appreciate it.”