‘Triggernometry’, whatever that might be.
“Trippers are at the house next door,” I said quietly, even though I wanted to shout it.
My mother looked up from her work, glanced at my dad and said, “So it begins.”
“There’s no one there, so no worries Josh. They can’t get over the wall,” he said.
“But there is someone there! They were in the window, and the Trippers saw them!”
Dad put the book down and followed me as I ran back to my room. I could hear the banging as the Trippers pounded on the windows and walls of the house next door.
Dad looked out. “Jesus,” he said.
And how. I looked out and saw nearly fifty of the infected creatures. They came in all shapes and sizes, and every one was trying to get into the house. If anyone was in there, I hoped they had put themselves into the attic and were being quiet in a corner.
A crashing of glass, a screech of triumph, and the infected were in. They streamed through the broken window and flooded the house. We watched them as they roamed around the downstairs and figured it was only a matter of time before we saw them upstairs.
A few minutes later, we were right. And a second after that we heard a scream. It was a deep, painful scream, like someone who had just lost a best friend or loved one. Suddenly it was cut off, and there was a frenzy of activity in one of the rooms. I was grateful I couldn’t see into the room.
Outside, the Trippers who hadn’t gone in were milling about. But they got excited when a boy about my age came tearing out of the broken window. His arms were torn and bitten, and it looked like he had been given a bloody nose. But he was moving, and might have made it if he hadn’t run full tilt into another group of Trippers.
He yelled as they pounded and tore at him, biting and clawing his flesh away. When he fell to the ground, they fell with him, beating and tearing. His yells turned to screams as they ripped his abdomen open, and ropes of intestines were thrown into the air. He stopped screaming when they tore his heart out.
I could do nothing but watch. He was already infected, and would have been lost anyway. Being a Tripper was almost the same as being dead. It just took longer for the process to get done.
My dad looked at me and turned away, saying nothing. We were both probably thinking the same thing. What was going to happen to him? What was going to happen to mom and me? I wished I knew.
Chapter 21
During the night, the Trippers were all over the place. They never got inside the walls of our yard, and I could see that Trey’s family was in as decent of shape as we were. The hard part was being quiet all the time and staying away from the windows.
In the morning, I amused myself by counting the Trippers first and then giving them names. There was Suzy, Frank, and Bill over by the shed, and there was Wendy, Maria, and Gordon hanging out by the old mailbox. There was Brandon by the big tree, and Holly headed over to the creek. There was Jessica along the wall, and inside the yard was my dad.
I shook my head and looked again. Sure enough, my father was crawling towards the wall with a small rifle in his hands and a box. I recognized the box and the rifle. The rifle was a .22 my dad had found a year ago. It was supposed to be a copy of a more powerful rifle, but it was still fun to shoot. It had a thingy on it that was supposed to make the gun shoot quietly, but it was just for show, as my dad said. But he tinkered with it and found that if he took the fake silent thing off and cut the barrel down, he could attach a big oil filter from a truck. When he fired it like that, it made almost no sound at all. Trouble was, we couldn’t aim it very well. Why my dad had it now was very curious.
He made it to the wall, and I could see his bright white bandage nearly glowing in the early dawn. He looked up at me and gave me a small wave,
“Trippers are at the house next door,” I said quietly, even though I wanted to shout it.
My mother looked up from her work, glanced at my dad and said, “So it begins.”
“There’s no one there, so no worries Josh. They can’t get over the wall,” he said.
“But there is someone there! They were in the window, and the Trippers saw them!”
Dad put the book down and followed me as I ran back to my room. I could hear the banging as the Trippers pounded on the windows and walls of the house next door.
Dad looked out. “Jesus,” he said.
And how. I looked out and saw nearly fifty of the infected creatures. They came in all shapes and sizes, and every one was trying to get into the house. If anyone was in there, I hoped they had put themselves into the attic and were being quiet in a corner.
A crashing of glass, a screech of triumph, and the infected were in. They streamed through the broken window and flooded the house. We watched them as they roamed around the downstairs and figured it was only a matter of time before we saw them upstairs.
A few minutes later, we were right. And a second after that we heard a scream. It was a deep, painful scream, like someone who had just lost a best friend or loved one. Suddenly it was cut off, and there was a frenzy of activity in one of the rooms. I was grateful I couldn’t see into the room.
Outside, the Trippers who hadn’t gone in were milling about. But they got excited when a boy about my age came tearing out of the broken window. His arms were torn and bitten, and it looked like he had been given a bloody nose. But he was moving, and might have made it if he hadn’t run full tilt into another group of Trippers.
He yelled as they pounded and tore at him, biting and clawing his flesh away. When he fell to the ground, they fell with him, beating and tearing. His yells turned to screams as they ripped his abdomen open, and ropes of intestines were thrown into the air. He stopped screaming when they tore his heart out.
I could do nothing but watch. He was already infected, and would have been lost anyway. Being a Tripper was almost the same as being dead. It just took longer for the process to get done.
My dad looked at me and turned away, saying nothing. We were both probably thinking the same thing. What was going to happen to him? What was going to happen to mom and me? I wished I knew.
Chapter 21
During the night, the Trippers were all over the place. They never got inside the walls of our yard, and I could see that Trey’s family was in as decent of shape as we were. The hard part was being quiet all the time and staying away from the windows.
In the morning, I amused myself by counting the Trippers first and then giving them names. There was Suzy, Frank, and Bill over by the shed, and there was Wendy, Maria, and Gordon hanging out by the old mailbox. There was Brandon by the big tree, and Holly headed over to the creek. There was Jessica along the wall, and inside the yard was my dad.
I shook my head and looked again. Sure enough, my father was crawling towards the wall with a small rifle in his hands and a box. I recognized the box and the rifle. The rifle was a .22 my dad had found a year ago. It was supposed to be a copy of a more powerful rifle, but it was still fun to shoot. It had a thingy on it that was supposed to make the gun shoot quietly, but it was just for show, as my dad said. But he tinkered with it and found that if he took the fake silent thing off and cut the barrel down, he could attach a big oil filter from a truck. When he fired it like that, it made almost no sound at all. Trouble was, we couldn’t aim it very well. Why my dad had it now was very curious.
He made it to the wall, and I could see his bright white bandage nearly glowing in the early dawn. He looked up at me and gave me a small wave,
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