Chapter 44: When plants attack

Ember walked out of the room with everyone, leading them into the living room. She decided to make something for everyone to eat. Although she was sure they might not be ableto eat it.

However, regardless of them eating, she needed to eat.

The three people huddled in the living room, not saying anything. They were too stunned to speak. They kept thinking about what they had just seen. Usually, they would think it was some kind of movie they weren’t told about, but knowing what was actually happening and seeing it for themselves, they needed to take things in stride.

Ember was in the kitchen. She decided she wanted something quick. She cracked a number of eggs into a bowl. She did enough that all five people would be able to eat. Then she fried some sausage and made some toast.

If they didn’t want it, she would eat them herself. She didn’t understand why she woke up this hungry. She held her stomach as she cooked.

Not long after she finished cooking, Aiden came into the kitchen.

She didn’t look back as she said, “There’s coffee in the machine, juice in the fridge, and hot water if you want tea.”

Aiden didn’t say anything. Simply wrapped his hands around Ember’s waist. He pressed his face into her neck and inhaled deeply. He turned to the food on the counter, telling her he would bring it out.

He brought it to the living room. There was a table in the center with couches surrounding it. They had set it up this way when they realized they were spending a lot of time here during the last few weeks. The food was placed on the table.

As she was eating, she spoke to the others, “So, what are you planning to do now? When do you want to leave?”

“Can you give me some time to catch my breath?” Ivan asked.

“Nope, the end of the world won’t wait for you to catch your breath,” Ember spoke as she inhaled the food.

Aiden walked into the living room, carrying a tray. One with coffee and the other with tea. He sat beside Ember and started eating.

His eyes scanned the three people. “You can get yourselves something to drink if you want it.”

He reached for the remote and turned on the television. The news feeds had all gone static. The only thing on the screen was the emergency warning to remain at home.

They stared at the television in disbelief. It had only been a few hours. Can a few hours bring down the TV stations so quickly? What exactly is happening outside?

Adrienne, Alex, and Ivan looked at Aiden and Ember eating as if they didn’t have a care in the world. They didn’t feel the need to eat, but watching them, they thought they should get something. They put a little on their plates symbolically and took small bites.

When everyone was finished eating, symbolically or not. Aiden spoke up, “Now that everyone’s full, let’s talk.” A domineering aura filled the room, snapping people to attention. “Panicking isn’t a luxury we have. We knew what was going to come. Now we need to adapt, quickly. We have the car ready; all we need to do is leave. Whether we leave now or later is what we need to discuss.”

Alex, who hadn’t spoken all morning, finally spoke, “Can we leave? Based on the plants outside, I don’t see us being able to leave any time soon. We would need to weed them away.”

“If that’s what it takes, that’s what we need to do,” Aiden replied. “But we don’t need to do anything to them. I believe once we leave the area, to a place where there aren’t as many plants, closer to the city, we won’t have this problem.”

Alex nodded, showing his understanding.

“Then what do we do about the zombies? They are close.” Adrienne’s hands trembled and her eyes watered slightly.

“Everything needs to be taken in stride. We cannot solve everything at once. We can only deal with them one at a time. The vehicles have been retrofitted. Unless it’s a nuclear attack, the cars should be fine.” Aiden’s hands wrapped around the mug he was holding, and his eyes drifted to Ember.

She sat relaxed as if this were the most normal thing in the world. As Aiden was about to speak, there was a knock at the door.

Everyone froze.

The sound was out of place. No one should be able to come to the villa now. And the knocking didn’t sound like someone who was in trouble. There were no voices.

The knocking was steady. Knock. Knock. Knock. It was rhythmic and relentless. Just a steady knock, not a human knock at all.

“I’ll go take a look,” Ivan said. After his earlier display of cowardice, he wanted to build himself back up.

Aiden followed, bringing with him a knife from the kitchen. He had no intention of taking risks with the lives of his people.

Ivan watched him follow with the knife, his eyes flickering with a question he wanted to ask, but couldn’t.

Ivan reached the door and peered through the peephole. He frowned and turned to shake his head.

The knocking came again. Ivan went rigid but looked out the peephole once more. There was still nothing. He pressed his hand against the door.

“Maybe-”

But before he could finish his sentence, something slipped through the tiny crack beneath the door. It wrapped around Ivan’s ankle with surprising strength.

Ivan yelled, stumbling back. The vine yanked hard, trying to drag him towards the door.

Aiden moved. He lunged forward, plunging the knife into the vine. There was a horrible, wet, tearing sound. The vine convulsed, and a thick, dark green liquid came from its wound.

Ivan kicked himself free, running to the safety of the living room. He saw Ember, Adrienne and Alex coming towards him, having heard the commotion.

The four people looked to where Aiden was standing. They watched the severed end of the vine twitching on the floor before retreating under the door with a wet sound.

The knocking stopped.

The house was silent save for the sound of rapid breathing.

“The windows,” Adrienne said, her voice trembling. “Check all the windows.”

They moved frantically, locking every window and door. They stuffed rags and such under the doors. When they thought they had covered every entrance, they made their way back to the living room.

The shock of what happened left them pale-faced and trembling.

This was only the beginning. Would they really be able to survive this?

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