Envenonmate

4

Shelly screamed, blasted it with Raid, snatched the door closed and lost her balance. She fell with a spin to the right like an airplane with a lost wing and landed on her butt with a hard jar that sent an electric spark down her right leg to the tips of her toes. Her right elbow took a hard knock as well. She gasped, then groaned.

"Oww."

Something scratched the other side of the door. Black antenna poked underneath the door, almost tickling her left foot.

She yelped in fright and swept the gap between the door and the floor with Raid. The spray died just as the antennae retreated. Shelly shook the can, which was even lighter than before. Empty.

With a grunt, Shelly picked herself up with the crutch. She was shaking and now coughing from the Raid. She waited for the trembling to stop. Her bones felt hollow and as breakable as thin glass.

Had enough insecticide gotten in there to kill both hornets? She might kill one and irritate the other. Occasional wing-buzzes sounded from inside. Something—a bottle of nail polish, maybe?—clinked over on the dress. Ugh. All her cosmetics were tainted by that ugly insect.

Shelly hopped back to the living room, wanting to clear her lungs from the insecticide. The hornet was gone from the windowpane. Instead of relief, Shelly felt worried. Where had it gotten to now?

Does it matter? she thought. Once it stays outside.

Maybe the Farmers' Market, with all the fresh fruit and honey, had drawn the hornets from wherever they'd spawned. A big chunk of Tamville's population would have been present. Wasps and hornets could sting more than once because their abdomens didn't detach like a bee's. And these ugly monsters would be loaded with venom. Everyone outside would have either been stung or hid somewhere. People in their cars and houses would stay put, just like herself. Aunt Vic would have been exposed outside. Maybe there'd been gunshots but she'd been under the Paraflam at the time.

You can't do anything about this. Just sit tight. Help will get here. You're safe inside.

#

Aunt Vic owned a pair of pocket binoculars. Shelly took it from her closet and headed to the living room. She stopped to listen at her bedroom door. Silence. The windows were still open though, and that worried her.

She returned to the living room window and had a look at the town through the binoculars. Shelly watched through the parted drapes and she saw random hornets flying here and there above the town. She counted fifteen, and stopped, hairs raising on her arms.

She shifted the binoculars down. The extendable crane for the telecom guy's bucket came into view. She focused, found the control panel with the levers that operated the bucket. A gloved hand was weakly hooked around the bottom of one lever. The guy must have been trying to lower the bucket before he'd been stung.

A hornet crawled out of the bucket and sat on the rim, feelers twiddling. She felt sick.

Dry, scratchy noises came from the bedroom. They made her think of haystalks. Or like insects burrowing through a scarecrow.

Her leg and socket were pulsing from the fall. It was low-level stuff, but held a threat of getting much worse. Shelly considered the Paraflam, but it was too soon for another couple.

She sat down on a kitchen chair. It was 10:37. Her dad would be here soon. He might even reach Tamville by the time official help got here.

Or he might get here before. Then it would be just him and the hornets.

Panic stabbed inside her, cold as ice.

He'll be fine...once he stays in the car.

Her mind, informed by horror movies and the news, told her that Tamville's streets might be blocked with stalled cars, dead, distorted bodies behind the wheels. Her dad would find it difficult to get through. He'd stay in the car if he spotted any of the hornets...but what if he didn't? What if it were too late?

She grabbed for her phone. Still no wifi, but she still frantically called and texted her father. Nothing went through.

"No, come on," she said in a harsh whisper and grabbed the cordless phone. It still produced dumb silence.

She stood there with a racing, agonized heart and sweaty palms. Her dad was driving into a trap and she had no way to warn him.