“I know what you said. I told you. We need them all to come this way!”
“You’re crazy!”
Coming up the driveway was the crowd of animals. Grant and Sally raced into the building.
“Shit,” Andre said. “We better get inside.”
“You’re crazy,” Hal repeated as he followed Andre to the door.
Andre went in first. Hal looked once more at the monsters headed their way. Not only were there every form of wildlife the area had to offer, but two-legged beasts had come up the mountain too. People, most of whom he would probably recognize on a normal day but now looked like shit, walked beside the animals. All infected. All eager to spread their disease.
“Lord help us,” Hal said as he pulled the heavy metal door shut behind him.
Andre barred it. “Don’t worry, friends. They ain’t gettin’ in here ‘til we want ‘em to.”
The scent of the farm hit Hal first. It was earthy, a lot like the woods he patrolled. The light scents of flowers came to him first and then cilantro. He knew that smell very well because his favorite Mexican restaurant loved to cook with cilantro, and he had to ask them to tone it down a notch every time he ordered from them.
When he finally turned around, he saw all the kids, Grant, and Sally staring slack-jawed at the center of the room. His eyes hadn’t made it that far, but once they did, he understood what had captured their attention. Behind him, the creatures banged against the door and the walls, providing a drumroll for the magic there in front of him.
At the center of the room was a giant, plastic, transparent tent. Inside it stood three humungous trees that reached the ceiling. Their gigantic trunks and branches were swarming with thousands… quite possibly millions of ladybugs. The miniature, living friends of so many of the world’s children looked like soldiers in a red and black army climbing over each other at the lower parts of the trees.
Between the trees and the tent’s door was a blanket of grass with flowers and other shrubbery. The ladybugs were everywhere. It was like an island right in the center of Clydesville where all the planet’s ladybugs had decided to call home. Some of them took flight, making their way from branch to branch or from flower to flower.
“My God,” Hal said.
“Told ya,” Andre said. “Ain’t they beautiful?”
“What is this?” Sally asked.
“My farm,” Andre said proudly. “It’s not really legal right now, but this here’s for all them organic farmers out there who don’t like using chemicals on their fruits and vegetables. So they use ladybugs. They buy ‘em in bulk and let them roam around the farm, eating all the little parasites and pesky bugs.”
“And you think they’ll eat,” Grant started and then paused and pointed at the door with all its knocking and pounding coming from the other side, “those things?”
“They will,” Andre assured them. “I seen ‘em do it.”
“This is unbelievable,” Hal said. “Smells like cilantro.”
“Yeah, they love that shit,” Andre replied.
“It’s so cool,” the young girl with no hair agreed. “I’ve loved ladybugs since I was a kid, and this… this is fantastic.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” the other young girl added.
“Badass, evil parasite eating ladybugs,” the boy with the glasses said.
The big country boy only stood there with his mouth agape.
“What are y’all’s names?” Hal asked.
Nitsy was the cute bald one. It seemed Robbie was her fella. The big ol’ boy with the gun was Thomas. The boy with the glasses was Bradley and the other girl was Phyllis. He’d more than likely forget the names, but at least, for now, he knew what names to shout out if shit got bad.
The pounding outside grew louder, and even though Hal heard it, he was more focused on the silent world in front of him where these pint-size beetles couldn’t care less about what was going on around them. It was like watching fish in a tank. They would move around and go about their business freely until something deemed a hazard was introduced into their world.
Hal understood. They needed to introduce the infected.
Yet, even though Andre swore the ladybugs would attack the head lice, Hal found it too difficult to believe.
“In the daytime, I open up that panel there so their world can get some light,” Andre said, pointing up at the ceiling. “I’ll climb up there in a bit and make sure the siren keeps goin’.”
“And then what?” Hal asked.
“And then we see what my little friends here can do,” Andre said.
29
The siren blared. Then it died.
They’d all been sitting outside the tent, watching through the transparent fabric as the ladybugs fluttered around the room. Hal kept asking about the plan, but all Andre would tell him was, “We have to wait until they all get here.”
When the shout of the siren ceased, Andre looked up at the ceiling and cursed, “Damn. That was sooner than expected.”
“Now what?” Hal asked.
Hal looked exhausted, like he hadn’t slept in days, and Andre had to wonder about his own appearance. The cuts and bruises from the night his other truck flipped still ached like a motherfucker. His body was stiff, and he knew the climb up to the roof would be an agonizing one. It hurt earlier when he did it, and he wasn’t looking forward to feeling that pain again, but it had to be done.
“Look,” Andre said as he stood and spoke to them all, “I have a plan… of sorts.”
“A plan of sorts?” Bradley asked. “That doesn’t sound like a very good plan.”
Andre had only recently learned all their names and he had a feeling this kid would be one of the ones to challenge him. He had that class nerd vibe. Like he probably already knew everything there was to know about ladybugs and was going to suggest shit the whole night. Andre didn’t have time for any snot-nosed brats. He’d only wanted to save them. Now, he was stuck babysitting.
“It’s a damn plan,” Andre assured him, “which is better than what I hear you proposin’!”
Bradley looked down at his lap. His little girlfriend gave his hand a squeeze. Andre waited to see if Phyllis would give him any lip. She didn’t.
“Let’s hear it,” Grant said.
Andre cleared his throat. “I’m gonna climb up there and get that siren going again. I’ll also look out to see how many of those things are headed this way. If it looks like we got ‘em all, we’ll get started.”
He paused long enough for Hal to raise his eyebrows and say, “That’s the whole plan?”
“No, that ain’t the whole plan,” Andre replied. “Then we’re going to let ‘em in here.”
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Hal challenged him.
“The ladybugs,” Andre said as he pointed toward the tent. “We let them in here and then we hide in the other room while the ladybugs go to work.”
Everyone started to argue. It was really pissing Andre off. He regretted bringing them all here. He really didn’t need them around for this to go down, but they hadn’t had much time, and he needed to get on with his plan. Andre rubbed his temples while the others argued with him. Or, not with him since he wasn’t really a part of the argument anymore. He’d backed off and was now a spectator as the rest of them discussed the situation.
Finally, Nitsy spoke up above the rest, “Excuse me, Mr. Andre, but what is it the ladybugs are supposed to do?”
“Just Andre, honey,” he replied. “And what they’re supposed to do is eat those goddamn lice right off their goddamn heads.”
“And if they don’t?” Hal asked.
“Then we run like hell,” Andre said.
Sally scoffed. Grant rolled his eyes. The kids made those stupid sounds kids make with their mouths whenever they’re told to put away their phone at the dinner table or turn off their video game. Every time he saw that disgusted look on a kid’s face or heard that noise, it reminded him how happy he was that he never had kids.