And Then the Trees Came Knocking

Chapter 5

I pushed my body against the door as hard as I could as the bloodwood bashed into it. Even with the combined weight of Freddy and I, the frame was still bouncing off the wall with every bang.

One more ram, and the door flew off the hinges. Freddy and I were thrown back into the laundry room. 

A bloodwood grabbed the door frame with its thick branches and pulled two chunks of the wall right off. This bloodwood was huge. Double the size of the last one I saw. Its trunk hunched from it being taller than the ceiling.

Freddy scrambled to his feet and removed the gun. He fired three shots at it. The bullets knocked the bloodwood back a few feet. 

Guns work, but only a little, I thought, making a mental note for later.

Ernestine bolted for the door. There was a small opening and she took it. 

But she was too slow. The bloodwood grabbed her in a cage of branches. I rushed forward with Freddy at my heels. He fired off a few more shots into the trunk, missing the eye by inches. I grabbed a hold of the branches and tried prying Ernestine free.

It was no use. The bloodwood's grip was too strong. I couldn't even move the smallest, thinnest of the branches. I couldn't give up. I retrieved my taser from my back pocket.

As soon as I zapped the tree, Ernestine dropped to the floor. 

The bloodwood's branches squirmed grotesquely. Its roots pushed it away from me, but I pressed forward until it was fully clear of the door. 

The electricity was hurting it. Wildly, the bloodwood thrashed backwards, unable to focus on one single action.

It was working! I was--

Pain burst against the side of my head. My body flew hard into the wall. I then dropped to the floor. The bloodwood had struck me. I was too close. 

Blood blurred my right eye. Dizziness spun my vision into sickness. I raised my arms, but could not tell which direction they moved in, up or down. My skull throbbed. 

Freddy appeared beside me, lifting me up off the ground. Heaviness dragged at my limbs. Ernestine appeared on the other side. I was surprised she was still here, helping us. She did just try to make a run for it, alone.

Blackness blinked into view and then we were in the stairs. Freddy's face was close to mine. His mouth was moving but all sound was muffled. I could make out the word, "Awake," but everything else was jumbled.

We moved downwards, down the drab concrete stairwell. I felt the pressure of walking, but my skin was numb all over.

Through long black blinks, images of blood coated walls and severed body parts flashed before my eyes. Behind one door, there was a naked woman being half eaten. In the hallway behind another, four or five bloodwoods were collected. 

Before I knew it, we were inside an apartment somewhere. I fell against something soft. Ernestine was then over me with a towel. She smiled at me and nodded. Her tears dropped on my face.

I let myself fade into blackness. 

Sound awoke me. Shouting. A boom -- maybe an explosion.

I am not sure how much time passed, but the pain was still mostly unbearable. I forced my eyes open, but not by much. Energy drained from every pore. The throbbing at my temple intensified. 

Suddenly Freddy was over me. Darkness inched in from my peripheral, framing his face. 

"I will be right back," he said. His voice echoed into the darkness. 

I reached for the sounds, but I fell deeper into my own mind, where there was no pain. Everything faded away.