And Then the Trees Came Knocking

Chapter 9

We found another survivor, an old man named Leon. He sought us out after hearing the commotion on the 7th floor. 

His apartment was mostly untouched, other than survival preparations. He taped blankets and pillows to his front door as a sound muffler and taped all his blinds shut. 

Leon was a war vet and widower who rarely left his apartment. Because of that, he had boxes of food in his kitchen. Fortunately for us, he was also a conspiracy theorist.

"I knew something like this would happen," Leon said as we sat on his couches. "The government always dumping waste out in the oceans and forests."

"I think it's aliens," Emmett added. "Or demons."

Leon waved him away. "No, no. They are too... biological to be demons. From what you told me about them turning people, it's best to make conclusions after speaking with the others."

"So you're coming with us to the community room?" I asked.

"Of course. Better than sitting here waiting to die."

I understood all too well what he meant.

"Besides," Leon stated, "this place is like a mouse trap. And we're the mice. Now rest up. We will head out in a few hours."

Though it felt impossible, Emmett and I slept on the couches. I felt bad for the boy. I didn't have any siblings so I couldn't relate to how he was feeling. 

Leon woke us up seven hours later. It was near dawn again. Leon packed a duffel bag full of food and medical supplies. He didn't have tasers, but he did have two guns from his war days.

He gave me a gun and kept the other one. It felt heavy in my hands. He showed me how to change the magazine and turn off the safety.

"Try not to fire it," he said. "It will draw them."

I nodded and put the gun in the holster at my hip. Leon took one last look at his apartment and we headed out.

It did not take us long to make it to the first floor again. We headed straight down.

Shuffling sounds echoed from the stairwell above us. There were about two bloodwoods there with us, but they were too far up to detect us it seemed. Leon led the way. Emmett took the middle position and I covered the rear. 

Sweat dripped from my forehead and my stomach churned. 

Leon opened the door to the first floor.  This was the back stairwell, not the one I took when I first came here. This door led to a long wide hallway of what looked like conference rooms. A vending machine buzzed absently, its glass broken and snacks missing.

We crept down the hall towards the set of double-doors at the end. Once there, Emmett gently knocked on the door and whispered, "It's Emmett. I'm back."

Seconds ticked by. Silence.

Emmett knocked again, a little harder this time. He tried the knob. It was locked.

The sound of scraping resonated from the other side of the door. Shuffling. Furniture moving. I unbuckled the holster of the gun but I did not draw it.

The door opened a crack and a man's face came into view. It was Freddy. 

I let out a sharp relieved sigh as he snatched me up in a firm embrace. I barely knew Freddy but this experience made him into a friend. Ernestine came up behind him and joined the embrace. They saved my life. I was happy they were okay.

We hustled inside the community room, where two people began moving furniture back in front of the door to barricade it. There were two entrances to the room, opposite of each other.

About fifteen people occupied the community room, excluding us. Emmett ran over to a girl almost as tall as him and hugged her. That must've been his sister Olivia.

Jane and her son Junior were in the community room too, sitting on the floor next to an empty stainless steel water dispenser. For some reason, Jane jumped up and hugged me too. And I hugged her back as if I knew her for many years. Jane's face was puffy from crying.

Honestly I was shocked she was still alive.

"We didn't mean to leave you there," Ernestine said to me. "We heard a family getting attacked and tried to help with the taser. But it ran out of juice and we had no choice but to run."

"I tried to go back for you but there were so many of those things," Freddy said, on the verge of tears. His eyes spoke of the horrors he'd witnessed. "So many people were getting attacked."

I nodded. "I understand." I thought about Jade, how I couldn't save her. How Emmett chose to stop me, to keep me safe instead. We all had made hard choices. And we had many more to make.