And Then the Trees Came Knocking

Chapter 11

Shit, I was type-O blood. What did that mean? I would get crunched up and turned? Like a glow stick made of bones?

My head swam. Air wheezed into my lungs.

Corwin and Leon were going back and forth in a heated argument. Corwin thought it wasn't safe for us to be here, specifically Emmett, Olivia, and I. We were prone to become one of those things. Who knows if we weren't already turning?

"It took my dad less than three hours," Emmett pleaded. Olivia shrunk behind him with her hand over her mouth, sobbing profusely. "If we were implanted, we'd have turned by now."

"And how do I know that's true?" Corwin snapped. "You could be lying. It could already have infected your mind, making you say bullshit to stall me."

"You sound crazy," Freddy intervened.

"This whole situation is crazy. I'm the only sane one."

"What are you proposing?" Leon asked. 

"We throw out all the O-types. Keep the rest of us safe."

"And how do we know you're not O-type?" Tatiana said. Her brows furrowed. "Any one of us could be."

"You're right. We don't know who else is O-type. But they confessed. We should take whatever methods we can." Corwin stood and pointed accusingly at Emmett and me.

Leon, Freddy, Ernestine, and Tatiana stood up as well, moving to block him from me.

The rest of us got up. While the others distanced themselves from the commotion, Emmett and I remained still. Jane pulled Olivia behind her, next to her son. The woman was a mother to the core.

Corwin suddenly made a dash for the taser plugged into the wall. Leon and Freddy went after him. They tackled him against the wall. The three men struggled in a pile of arms and legs. 

Leon and Freddy jumped away from Corwin with their arms raised.

Corwin had Leon's gun. He must've grabbed it in the struggle. Maybe that's what he was going for this whole time. 

Everyone moved back in shock. We raised our hands. Sweat tickled my skin. I shivered. 

Pointing the gun squarely at Leon, Corwin growled, "We do what I say, when I say it. You got that, geezer?"

Leon nodded. "You're right. You're in control here. Please, just put down the gun."

"Or else what?"

"We'll go," Emmett cried. "Dani and I will leave. Just please let Olivia stay."

"I'm okay with that," I said. 

Corwin stared at me for a moment. He then scratched his head with the butt of the gun. "Wait, no. If I send you out there, you'll just turn into one of those things and come back here. I have to end it here."

He swung the gun over to Emmett.

A shot rang out. BANG!

Blood poured onto the carpet.

Corwin dropped to his knees and his gun clattered. His entire body keeled over in a heavy splat. He was dead. 

They all looked back, right at me. I'd drawn the gun Leon gave me without even thinking about it. 

I'd fired. I'd killed a man.  Even if the man deserved it, I still killed him. I was a murderer. Air refused me now. I opened my mouth wider to breath but my lungs wouldnt move. A sob escaped my lips. Such a deep wave of sadness hit me then. It suffocated me. 

Freddy caught me when I fell. Leon kicked the gun from Corwin's body and took my gun from me. 

The sounds of thudding, crashing,  and scraping erupted from above us. The echoes went on throughout the many layers of floors.

The bloodwoods heard the gun shot. They were on their way.