The Mistake [Norman Reedus] Book One {{COMPLETED}}

Chapter 35

"SEAN!" Norman yelled, his body tensing.

I listened to the clomps of Sean running down the stairs, and when he saw the things at the window, he began to freak out.  Norman did his best to explain what was happening, why, where it started, what he needed him to do, and how to do those things.  Sean's breathing was heavy and he was doing his very best to process all of that.

"So those aren't humans?" Sean asked.

Norman shook his head.  "And you need to go take care of them." Norman ordered, gesturing his head towards the door.

Sean hesitated thinking about the consequences; thinking about if these were real men and women, and thinking about what they could do to you.  After his pause of consideration, he nodded and grabbed a knife from the kitchen.  Norman nodded in agreement, seeing that a knife would do the job just as well as a rock.

Sean approached the door and reached for it.  But after he swung it open, all I heard was a terrifying scream that sent chills down my spine.

"Oh my God!!" Sean jumped back, slamming the door.

"Norman," I winced at the sound of the scratches that sounded like they were getting louder.  Norman folded his arm over me and tried to figure out what just happened with Sean.

"Grace's neighbor was outside.  One of those things," Sean pointed to the window with the knife, "just took her down and bit her arm.  Another followed.  Norman, what do we do?!" Sean yelled, horrified and scarred by what he just saw.

"Board the door." Norman said.

"That would help?" Sean asked, trying to slow his breathing.

Norman pointed to the television.  "That's what they said."

 Sean paused to watch the TV for a moment, but as soon as his eyes landed on it, it shut off.  

"What was that?" Sean asked, looking at Norman worryingly.

"Hello?  Hello?  Christa?!" Auntie Beth came down he stairs, yelling into her phone.  "What happened to my phone? It just shut off." She sighed, looking down at the blank screen.  "And what is that?" She yelled, seeing the scratching things at the window.

"It's alright!  We just have to board the doors and windows.  I don't think they'll get in." Norman said, a high level of intensity in his voice.

"Why don't we want them to get in?!" Beth began to shake.

"Listen.  I saw what they can do.  They're not human.  Norman explained to me that these things managed to emerge out of Georgia and wander through the states.  Somehow, the disease they're all carrying spread.  It got to Montana, and now we have these Scratchy things to worry about.  Multiple Scratchers just took down your neighbor, and all I saw was blood.  I'm sorry, but that's what happened.  I think that for now, we should stay away from them.  Try not to interact at all with them.  Stay quiet around them.  Before we know what they do, we're considering them dangerous.  Even deadly." Sean took control, surprising us all.

Beth tried to take deep breathes, but when we heard a new thump on the window, we all looked up.

There, in the middle of the small crowd, was our neighbor.  The one that was just taken down.  And on her arm was a large bite mark.

"Oh God," Auntie Beth cried.

"Deadly." Sean clarified, walking back into the kitchen.  

"Grace do you have any wood in your basement?" Sean asked, rummaging through the drawers for a hammer and nails.

I remained still, but after a moment, let go of Norman.  "You alright?" he whispered.  I nodded and got up.  Walking past the window, I avoided any eye-contact with any part of them, and when I got to the kitchen, Sean had already found a hammer and some nails.

"Follow." I ordered, walking to the door of the basement.  Sean trailed behind me and we walked down the stairs and switched the light on.  The chair that Beth was tied to was the first thing I saw, but I walked to the very back of the room.

"This was my dad's old storage compartment thing." I said, jiggling the doorknob.  But as soon as I lifted it up, the brass knob broke right off the door.  I moaned, throwing the broken piece to the ground.

"Here," Sean suggested, gently nudging me out of the way.  He brought his leg up and harshly kicked the door.  It swung open and I smiled.  "Nice." 

The smell of wood hit me and it reminded me of my father.   I could feel sadness coming along, but I quickly shook of the memory and breathed through my mouth.

Me and Sean gathered up armfuls of wood and carried them upstairs.  We probably took five trips just to get enough for the main floor's windows and doors.  Norman had been nailing it to the door and we helped him attach some to the windows, as well.

I felt like I was in a book or movie, since in all the apocalypse movies, they would nail wood to the door to strengthen it.

"What about food?" I asked when we were halfway down with the last door.

"Won't we have enough?" Norman asked through his teeth that were holding a couple nails.

"For four adults?" I asked.  

"Good point.  Alright, then, this door will be for runs out to get food, but we won't use it unless we have to." Norman said, undoing the nails and pulling off a piece of wood.

I figured I could go help my Aunt to calm herself, so I walked away to the living room.  My Aunt was rocking in her rocking chair, her eyes flitting around the room.

"It'll be okay." I said, sitting down on the floor in front of her. 

Just then-not helping my case with trying to calm her- the television switched back on.  The sound pulled Norman and Sean back into the room, and we all watched with fear as the lady spoke.

"The government has just issued their input on what's happening across America.  

     We are not currently sure if this is a Pandemic or Epidemic yet, but we do know that it's deadly.  Due to seeing what Demoxim is doing, and due to the failed attempts at clearing these creatures, we've decided to shut down for the moment.  My advice to you is to stay calm.  We cannot list all reasons why this is our decision, but we can tell you that we are now allowing you to take them down.  With the power of man, you are allowed to kill them.  Since they go against us and kill, and since they are so dangerous, you may all fight back.

That's the last we've heard from Mr. President." She said.  

I know I should have been watching the lady, but my eyes were too fixed on a crack in between the wood.  At what, exactly?  At the black horizon.  And I knew why it was black.  It wasn't fog.  It wasn't mountains.  It wasn't houses. 

It was millions of Scratchers.  Heading for us.

(A/N: Hey guys, I know this was a short chapter, but I hope you liked it!  If my fingers weren't hurting from playing guitar, I would've typed more, but they hurt.  D: So anyway, I'll update soon!  Thanks for reading!) -Writingslayer