Chapter 3 – Chap 3

Mark and I went outside to grab the bikes and load them up in the car. I still couldn’t get used to how eerily silent it was in our neighborhood. No cars going by. No one going for walks. No kids shouting and playing in the yards. For a while it seemed that more people were out each day. With a lot more people working from home, people had extra time to spend with their families and go for walks or bike rides. It was really nice to see…too bad it had to end so quickly.

As we grabbed the bikes, I looked around the calm, quiet street. A slight breeze was blowing and the sun was shining. It wouldn’t be long before the weather turned cold and the sun began making less frequent appearances. I wondered how the cold would affect this and if I would even still be around. And if I was around, would I still be myself.

“Hey, look over there,” Mark said and pointed down the road. There was an older couple walking down the road holding hands.

“Are they part of your group?” I asked.

“No. I’ve seen them before, but never met them,” he replied.

We waved to them when they got closer and walked down the yard to the street. “Hi,” said Mark, “I haven’t seen you two in a while.  Are you aware of what is happening here?”

“We just got back from Petoskey,” the man said.  “The only thing I’ve seen is a bunch of lazy neighbors and landscapers,” he said. “These yards look terrible. I’ve already called our company three times with no answer. I thought Mexicans were supposed to be hard workers!”

“George, that’s not a nice thing to say. They’ve done a good job with our yard for a few years now,” his wife interjected.

“Well it’s true. They should just go back to their own country if they aren’t going to work,” the man continued.

This was not how I anticipated this interaction going, but Mark tried to get it back on track.

“It isn’t safe out here,” he started before being cut-off.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah…I know. I see your masks. And I’m sure you have your little B-L-M stickers on your car. Listen. We were up north all summer. We didn’t wear a mask once and we are just fine. Go bother someone else with your alarmist b.s.” he said and started walking away.

“Wait, that’s not it,” Mark tried, “there’s something else going on. The people and animals are changing!”

“Stop trying to scare us,” the woman said. “You and your partner disgust me. Just go back inside and leave us alone!”

Mark looked at me and shrugged his shoulders. While these two apparently had some backwards views, I still thought we should try to save them. It was something that I’ve tried to instill in Allie. Be kind to others, and give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they have some crazy viewpoints, buy maybe, just maybe there is a chance that you can help them see things from a new and better view. If we never engage with those who think differently, then how can we make progress and move forward. I understand some people are beyond saving and helping, but you at least have to try to find a way to get through to them.

“Hold on…we’re not trying to scare you. We were just attacked by some animals…they probably have rabies and we just wanted to warn you to be careful. You really should just go back inside,” I yelled out to them as one last attempt to get them to listen.

The woman raised her arm and flipped me off. I guess they do fall into the type you just can’t help. We watched them walk around the corner and out of view.

“I guess it’s good that I never talked with them before,” Mark said, shaking his head.

“I always wonder what happened in their lives that made them turn out this way. Reacting with anger or hate when someone is trying to help,” I said.

We walked the bikes to the garage and loaded them in the back of his SUV. “I’ll go get Allie and then we can go to my house.”

“Hey, I don’t have a car seat or booster seat, but it is a short drive so I hope you’re okay with that,” Mark said.

He must have seen my surprised look because he continued before I could answer. “I didn’t get to finish my story earlier…Anna is not our daughter. She lived next door to us. I had been watching from upstairs every night once I learned what was happening.” He paused and collected himself. “I warned them and told them exactly what to do, but they didn’t listen. Her dad was outside smoking a cigarette around one in the morning when I saw him get attacked. It all happened so quick. I ran over there as fast as I could. They were just getting back up when I got over there so I ran in the house through their garage. Luckily they didn’t see me, but I heard the door open shortly after I went in. Anna’s room was on the first floor across from the master bedroom. She was asleep in her crib until the screams started. She started crying and I picked her up. We had babysat for them a few times so she was comfortable with me. I carried her to the window and pushed out the screen. The door burst open as I climbed out the window with her. Looking back I saw her older twin brothers smiling at me.” He cleared his throat and seemed to be holding back tears. “They were only eight years old. She was the only one I could save.”

“If you hadn’t been on guard and acted so quickly, she would’ve been lost too,” I said.

Mark nodded and hopefully realized that there was nothing else he could’ve done. We went inside and Allie ran over to me. We said goodbye to Stacy and Anna and went back outside with Mark.

“We have a new venue for our daily meetings,” said Mark. “The Wilson’s have a huge finished basement with lots of room for us to space out and they’ve agreed to host the meetings from now on. I just texted you their address. We will be meeting at six.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I said, getting into the backseat of the car with Allie, “Thanks for being our chauffeur.”

Mark smiled and backed out of the driveway into the street. We started heading back towards my house. We headed around the corner and on to the street connecting our neighborhoods.

“Oh no!” Mark yelled and began laying on the horn.

The horn did little to mask the screams that pierced the quiet summer day. And it also did little to make the animals move away. I told Allie to cover her eyes and put her head down.

The man was screaming and trying in vain to defend against a pack of coyotes chomping at his arms and legs. He went to the ground in the couple seconds it took to stop the car. His screams then went silent as they went after his neck.

The woman had run over to one of the houses while the coyotes were attacking and now eating her husband. She was pounding on the door and yelling to be let in. The lawn and bushes in front of the house were really overgrown.

I looked back to the street and there was not much left of the man. The coyotes then turned their attention to the woman pounding and screaming at the door. Not sure what else to do, Mark beeped the horn again. The coyotes stopped to look at us, but then went right back towards the woman.

Mark said,”Hold on tight,” and stepped on the gas pedal. The tires squealed and we shot forward hitting a couple of the coyotes and rolling over them. Through the back window I saw them get back up and limp towards the woman.

The other coyotes continued their advance until finally the door opened and the woman disappeared inside. A different woman now stood in the doorway. She held her hand up towards the coyotes and they sat down and turned to look at us.

Then I noticed something else. “Hey Mark. This doesn’t look good,” I said gesturing to the other houses around us. The front doors were opening up and at least one person moved into the doorway and stood there watching us.

“Let’s get out of here,”Mark said and we drove away passing house after house of people standing in their doorways watching us. There were a few houses here and there with no one, but I only counted twelve of those. This continued all the way to my house and I discussed with Mark what this meant.

“They must have some way to commute with each other,” I said.

“That’s not cool,” said Mark. “We’ll have to discuss this with everyone at the meeting tonight.” He pulled into the driveway and then helped me unload the bikes.

“We’re going to get organized here and try to board up the windows on the main floor,” I said.

“Good idea,” said Mark. “I’m going to stop and knock on the doors of the houses that look safe and see if I can gather more people.”

“Be safe,” I said. Allie and I watched him leave and then went into our house.

I grabbed a couple backpacks and told Allie to fill hers with extra clothes, a toothbrush, a flashlight and anything else important she could fit in there. We needed to get adequately prepared in the event we would be forced the leave quickly. I grabbed some nonperishable food and a first aid kit to include in my backpack. After packing some clothes and flashlights, I went back into the kitchen and grabbed a couple sharp knives.

I wondered if my changed neighbors had gone back in their houses or if they were still standing there. Looking out my living room windows and seeing the door closed across the street made me feel slightly better.

Next, I checked the basement and garage for weapons. There weren’t that many options, but I came up with a baseball bat and a couple cans of long distance yellow jacket spray.

Finally, I looked around the house for things to barricade the windows with. I found a few wood boards that were here when I moved in and then gathered some other things that might help. The headboards and footboards from the beds and the kitchen table seemed like they would work.

It took a few hours and almost all of my energy to get the windows decently covered. Allie helped by handing me my tools and screws and nails.

After I was finally done, we quickly cleaned up. My watch showed that it was 5:15 so there was just enough time for a quick dinner before the meeting.

Allie and I sat together at the table. I wanted to make her feel safe, but didn’t really know what to say. She broke the initial silence with a question. “Are you scared dad?

I liked to be honest with her, but I wanted her to feel safe as well. “I am a little scared since this is something I’ve never experienced before…I want you to know that It is okay to be scared, sometimes it is good to be scared. But it is important to not let that fear control you or stop you from doing what you need to do. I’m using my fear to help me be careful and take the right precautions to keep us safe.”

Allie said, “I’m scared too. I want this to be over.”

“Me too,” I said. “But we will get through this together.”

After dinner was over, we loaded our things in the car and headed off towards the address that Mark gave me. I wondered how many people he had been able to locate.

We turned from our street and drove towards the Wilsons’ house.  We rounded a corner and I saw something that made me slam on the breaks…Mark’s SUV was sitting idle in the middle of the street with his door hanging open.