Chapter 5 – Chap 5

Mark was bathed in the bright LED from the motion sensor light as he walked up to the door. Stacy ran over to open it up, but was stopped by Mr. Wilson.

“We have to let him in!” she yelled struggling to get free.

“Hold on,” I said. “We need to make sure it is safe to let him in first.”

Mark stood in front of the door without a shirt on and held his hand up to wave. His hair was matted to his head and he looked to be covered in blood.

“Let me in,” he said. “They’re going to get me.”

The nurse’s mom chimed in, “What if he is one of them?”

“What if he’s not one of them?” the nurse shot back. “We can’t just leave him out there.” She looked around the room at a bunch of scared people, myself included.

“Mark, go around the house to the garage,” Mr. Wilson said. “You can get cleaned up there and then tell us where you’ve been.”

“There might be more of those animals there. Can’t you just let me in here?” he asked.

“Sorry Mark. We have to protect everyone and do what’s best for the group,” Mr. Wilson said.

Mark seemed to hesitate for a bit and then went around the house and out of view.

I went upstairs with Stacy and Mr. Wilson. He opened the door to the garage and dropped a towel and blanket in there for Mark. Then he locked the screen door. It was thin metal with glass and I’m sure it wouldn’t hold long if something had changed in Mark.

After a few moments, Mark walked into the garage. Mr. Wilson closed the garage door behind him. Mark seemed to be moving around fine and didn’t look hurt.

“Are you okay?” Stacy asked.

“I’m not injured,” he said. “I didn’t think I was going to make it back.” He found a chair and brought it a few feet behind the door. He wiped his face and hair with the towel and then wrapped the blanket around him and sat down.

“What happened, why did you leave your car?” Stacy asked through tears.

Mark said.  “I shouldn’t have left the car.  But I saw a kid in the Clarks’ backyard. He ran into the woods when I got out of my car. I couldn’t tell who it was, but he looked around ten years old.”

Mark leaned forward in his chair and put his head in his hands. “I called for him to wait and shouted that I could help him…I shouldn’t have done that.  Why didn’t I just stay in my car.”

He took a few moments to collect himself and then continued. “The boy slowed down and looked back at me. He tripped and fell down. Then I heard him scream. I ran over to him as fast as I could. He was kicking his legs and swinging his arms at the ground. I finally made it to him and saw what he had been fighting off. There were a bunch of mice crawling all over him and biting him. I pulled him up and started knocking them off and stomping on them. There were so many and they just kept crawling up his legs. It took too long to get all of them.” He paused again. “Could I please have some water?”

Mr. Wilson left and came back shortly with a bottle of water that he placed on the step after the door. Mark waited for him to close and lock the door before getting up to get it.

After a giant gulp of water, Mark continued his story. “He was…he was just bleeding everywhere. None of the cuts looked deep, but there were a lot of bites and blood. I tried to stop the bleeding as best I could with my shirt. I tried talking to him and asked his name. He was crying and sniffling, but wouldn’t say anything. I told him I would bring him to our meeting and we’d find his parents. I was able to get him to start heading back through the woods towards my car. He was moving very slowly because of all the bites and was crying.”

He took another drink of water and then poured some over his head, drying it off with the towel. “When we made it back to the Clarks’ yard and my car came into view, I grabbed the boy’s shoulder to stop him. A few coyotes were exploring my car. One of them sat down next to the door and the rest were just hovering around it.

The boy still wouldn’t talk no matter how much I pressed him. We moved back behind some bushes and waited a few minutes to see if the coyotes would leave.  When it was clear they weren’t leaving, I told the boy to follow me back behind the house. We ran back there and cut through the woods to try to make it over here. We were only one street away when I saw a bunch of raccoons and opposums blocking our way forward.

I stopped to figure out a safer route, but the boy kept going. I called to him to stop and then grabbed his arm. He just shook my hand off and kept going. I was about to go after him until he started laughing. There was no emotion in the laughter, it was very odd. He continued to walk toward the animals until he was about halfway between me and them…then he turned around to look at me and raised his arms. All the animals froze for a moment and then took off running towards him.

I had no choice except to run for it.  I ran towards the nearest house and looked back as the animals ran past the boy and towards me.”

I stopped him here, immediately worried about Tim. “How long after the mouse bites was it when he started laughing?”

“I don’t know. Maybe 15 or 20 minutes I guess?” said Mark.

“We have to check in Tim,” I said to Stacey and Mr. Wilson. “Mark seems okay, just make sure he doesn’t have any bites.”

Stacey asked him about the bites as I hurried back towards the basement. I nearly tripped on my way down when the sudden laughter began. Tim stood up when I made it down the last step. He continued to laugh while walking over to the sliding glass door. Instead of opening it, he smashed his arms into it cracking the glass and splintering the wood. He slammed into it a few more times until it broke off the tracks and fell outside. The motion light came on and he walked out into the night.

“We have to go upstairs!” I yelled to everyone. I ran over and picked up Anna and grabbed Allie’s hand. The laughter continued, but was soon joined with howls.

Most people started heading for the stairs. I sent Allie ahead with them so I could make sure the rest were coming. The nurse’s parents moved pretty slow, but she was helping move them along. I ran up the stairs and gave Anna to Stacey.

After the nurse made it up with her parents, I slammed the door shut. “We need to block it,” I said looking around for something close and heavy.

Mr. Wilson said, “The dining room table. It’s solid wood.”

The kid and I ran over to the dining room and quickly moved the chairs out of the way. The nurse and Mr. Wilson soon joined us. We ripped the table over and navigated it through the doorway and down the hall. It felt heavy even with four of us holding it. We made it in front of the basement door after knocking the walls many times. The tabletop was laid against the door.

I heard some noises from the basement and wasn’t sure if there would just be animals or Tim too. “Let’s grab the couch and throw it on top for good measure,” I said.

The four of us hustled to the living room and grabbed the couch. There was pounding against the door from the basement when we entered the hallway. It was a challenge getting the couch on top of the tipped over table, but we eventually got it. The pounding continued against the door along with a lot of growling. The table and couch weren’t moving much and looked like they would hold.

I checked on Allie who was holding Anna’s hand. Stacey had gone into the garage and was giving Mark a big hug when I made it to the door to the garage.

“Mark, you’re sure you don’t have any bites?” I asked.

“I was lucky that nothing got me,” he said.

Stacey chimed in, “I gave him a once over to be sure and he is in the clear.”

“That’s great to hear, we’re glad to have you back,” I said. “So, what do we do know?”

“The garage might be the safest place,” Stacey said.

“I think you’re right. I’ll try to gather everyone and some supplies and get them in here,” I said.

Some people were sitting on the remaining furniture in the living room and others had gone into the kitchen. I convinced almost everyone to go in the garage. Mr Wilson gathered help for bringing water, food, and chairs into the garage.

When I went into the living room, I saw the nurse’s parents sitting in the loveseat. “Everyone is going to gather in the garage. It should be safer in there,'” I said.

“I’m not going in there,” the nurse’s mother said.

“Mom, come on, let’s go join everyone else. What if they make it through the basement door,” the nurse said.

“We’re safe here and besides it is a lot more comfortable,” the nurse’s mom said.

I looked over at the nurse and her dad. “Being behind the heavier door will give us more time if the animals get through. And we can try to escape in Mr. Wilson’s SUV if we need to,” I said.

The nurse replied this time. “My mom has a bad back and needs to sit somewhere comfortable. I’ll have my gun ready in case anything gets in.”

I didn’t think I could convince them no matter what else I tried and I wanted to get back to Allie. “We’re going to try to tie the door closed. If you need to come in, knock twice and then wait a couple seconds and then knock three times so we know it’s you.”

“Got it,” said the nurse.

“Be safe,” I said and then went to join everyone else in the garage. I found Allie and gave her a big hug.

Mr. Wilson had just filled in Mark about what happened to Tim and his dad.

“Those gunshots saved me…I had been running away and was nearly surrounded by the animals. They took off in your direction after the loud noises.” Mark lowered his head. “I’m sorry about Tim and his dad.”

We were all silent for a minute and I was trying to think of what we should do next when we heard a loud crash from inside the house. This was followed by screams and then gunshots. I got my bat ready and the others prepared their weapons as well.