While
many of the parents tended to their children, I decided Kevin was
fine enough on his own. I joined Farlan who stood at the head of the
lobby and watched a group of the old folks close the blinds on the
windows and lock the door. They painstakingly moved each metal filing
cabinet in front of the door until there was nothing to see in or
out. There was a back door somewhere, but I was sure they’d already
blocked it off too.
“I
do believe they’ve lost their minds,” Farlan mumbled.
“You
believe that now?”
Farlan
threw me a glance. There were seven of the elders with weapons and
only one of him. I knew he stood no chance against them. Besides, no
one else was too concerned about leaving. Regardless of why we were
all packed into the town hall building, they all felt they were safer
inside. I guess it didn’t matter if we were hiding from bird
creatures or tornadoes.
It
wasn’t long after the last file cabinet had been moved, I could
hear intermittent tapping noises from the aluminum roof. The old
folks became agitated. They shushed everyone and even made one woman
with her crying baby hole up in a closet until the baby calmed. The
tapping was likely from hail prior to the tornado, though I had to
admit I'd never heard hail fall as infrequently.
“You
still think I’m a crazy old bat, don’t you?” Gerty asked me.
When she smiled, the top plate of her dentures pushed down and out
slightly, exposing the bare top part of her gums. Everything seemed
to hang loose on her face and even her ear lobes sagged, though I
couldn’t tell through the wrinkles if her ears had ever been
pierced or not. Her hair was short and curly though it was very
thin. Her mid section was swollen and she bent slightly when she
walked. But through all these things that were dead giveaways to
just how many decades she'd roamed the Earth, her eyes were a
striking blue and looked fresh and young. They were paced, not bent
and crazy like I expected them to be through all her talks of tall
tales.
“I think you
may believe what you say, so I guess that means you’re not full of
crap.”
I
suppose when you’re face-to-face with someone holding a gun, it’s
best not to insult them. I was torn between wanting to live and not
wanting to play into her delusion.
“Honey,
I see a lot of who I used to be in you.”
Beyond
my eyes being a shade of blue as well, I knew there was no way in
hell she and I had anything else in common.
“Ah...”
I said, trying to give off the impression of being attentive while at
the same time trying to inch away.
“I
had a little girl. Her name was Sara.”
I
hadn’t known she had any children. I’d never seen anyone come
around her house.
“Yup,
she was about your boy’s age when those bird things came and
carried her off.”
She
really did believe all this bird stuff. If she hadn’t scared Kevin
into nightmares the day before, I would’ve felt sorry for her. As
it was, I despised the woman and I didn’t care whether or not she’d
had one or ten fictional children carted off by mythical creatures.
She had violated my child’s right to feel safe on our own property.
“And
my husband used to beat me
too.”
“Excuse
me?” I’d never told her that. I wasn’t about to stand for her
snooping where it was none of her business.
She
read my startled expression. “I seen that look you got in your
eyes before. I seen it looking in the mirror. You’re all tough now,
ready to kill the sonuvabitch if he steps foot in your world. Tell
me, is he a doper or a drinker?”
I
was acutely aware of every beat of my heart. I could hear it drum in
my ears.
“A
drinker,” I muttered.
“Yeah,
mine too.”
All
I could do was look into her face while she stared off into the past.
I had to swallow hard to keep back tears from horrible memories gone
by.
My
thoughts were broken by the sound of shattering glass from one of the
offices. The old folks flew into a hushed panic.
“Get
them kids into the courtroom!” Gerty ordered in a frantic whisper.
It
was Ben who ushered the kids away while the rest of us listened
closely. I nodded to Kevin to go on with the rest of the kids. I
wasn’t about to be left out of the loop of what was happening.
Paper
flopped, something fell, a chair sounded like it rolled...all typical
sounds of the wind whipping around the room beyond the door. I was
certain it was nothing more than debris having hit the window at just
the right angle. A quick glance at Farlan told me all the talk of
monsters had gotten to him. His hand quivered as it hovered over his
side holster.
A
horrible screech came from inside the office. At first, my brain only
registered confusion. What the hell was that? The old folks rocked
from one foot to the other, as though they all had to go to the
bathroom. Farlan pulled his gun and threw glances at the rest of
them. I backed up behind the line of geriatric defenders, acutely
aware that every little hair on my arms stood on end.
Another
screech. My heart pounded so heavy in my ears they hurt.
There
was a loud crash before pieces of wood from the hollow door
splintered out in all directions. I felt a piece slide by my face. I
watched the event unfold in front of me as though in slow motion.
“Holy
shit!” Farlan said, his gun coming up.
“Get
‘em boys!” I heard Gerty yell.
The
door had not just been kicked opened but had literally been
destroyed, remnants of it everywhere in the hallway.
The
next screech was deafening, like a cover had been removed from a
loudspeaker. In the gape where the door had been was a large black
bird at least seven feet tall and as large as a grizzly bear.
