And Then the Trees Came Knocking

Chapter 2

As soon as I dashed out of the bus, my side vision caught the movement of something coming at me. It was branches. Another one of those creatures had appeared, this time near the back of the bus. 

Without thinking, I swung my skateboard as hard as I could towards the branches. The impact smashed my board into splinters, but knocked the branches away enough for me to evade the creature.

I sprinted around it and onto the sidewalk before veering down a side street. My heartbeat pounded in my ears. My lungs burned. 

Footsteps pattered close behind me, along with the sound of hastened cracking, almost like bones breaking. I pumped my legs harder, turning from street to street under blind fear.

A high-rise came into view beyond an empty parking lot. I finally took a moment to look back. The homeless man, mother, and son were behind me, panting and sweating. No trees. We outran them. I gazed at the people from the bus again. Why did they follow me?

"I'm going in there to get help," I said.

The homeless guy grabbed my arm. I jerked away from him. After witnessing the bus driver get eaten, there was no way I could stand being touched.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. "I'm Freddy."

"Dani."

"I'm Jane," the mother said. She grabbed her son's shoulders. The kid was no more than eight years old. "This is Junior."

"I think we should stick together," Freddy said. His voice shook.

I nodded. "Do whatever you want."

And they did. They came with me. 

Though there were no signs of the tree creatures near the building, I kept my guard up. I took my taser out of my back pocket and held onto it for dear life. This was an apartment high-rise. A few of the apartment lights were still on. No sounds of alarm so far.

Surrounding the apartment high-rise was a metal gate.  It was a pretty pricey-looking gate. The other side of the high-rise was where I saw a bulk of the cars. There was also a driveway for underground parking as well. I wish I knew how to hot-wire a car.

I climbed over the gate, and then waited impatiently for Freddy to help Jane and Junior over. Still no monsters nearby. No people either. 

We jogged over to the building and pulled one of the massive doors open. It was set to an automatic system, but it must have not been working. Once inside, we walked into the spacious lobby. This part looked more like the entrance to an exclusive office building rather than for apartments.

No one sat at the front desk counter. 

I went over to the desk and grabbed the phone. Freddy removed his dingy tan jacket and tied the handles to the entry doors together. Jane and Junior stood near the desk with their phones in their hands, probably trying to call the cops, same as me.

I dialed 911. 

Ringing. Ringing. Ringing. 

Nothing.

I dialed again. Same.

"No one is answering," Jane cried. She dialed another number. Her hands shook so much, I thought she might drop her phone.

"Can you try on your phone?" I asked Freddy. 

"I don't have one."

I sighed and ran my hands through my cropped kinky hair. This night was becoming too strange.

"There are people here," Junior said.  "Let's ask them for help."

Freddy and I nodded in agreement. "I'll check on this level," Freddy said.

"I'll check upstairs," I said.

"I'll stick with Freddy," Jane said. "I think I saw a bathroom over there. We'll be right out." She pulled Junior with her. I had a mind to go to the bathroom too, but I wasn't even sure I would be able to pee.

Freddy and I split up. I went over to the stairs beside the elevator and pushed the door open. The stairway was all metal and concrete. The air was cool here. For a moment, I felt as though I could breathe.

A sob choked out of my throat for a moment. Tears fell. Pain tensed in my jaw from holding in my cry. I wiped my eyes with my shirt and ran up the stairs. Now was not the time to break down. 

I entered the second floor. It was intimidating suddenly, needing to start banging on doors to find someone, anyone, that could help us. I went up to the nearest door and raised my fist.

The sound of shuffling stopped me in my tracks. Around the corner a few doors down, something was moving on the carpet. I inched over to the corner. 

Before I could peer out, someone slapped down over my mouth and snatched me back. 

"Callate," Freddy whispered in Spanish. That's one of the few words I remembered from all those years of Spanish in high school. If not for the sound of his voice, I would have bitten down on his fingers. I nodded and he let me go.

"What?" I whispered back, turning halfway to face him.

His light brown skin was now ashen. Sweat pebbled at his forehead. His eyes even trembled. "They're here. They're in the building."