Creepers (20 page)

“They were,” Jesse said.  He instantly moved toward Yancy and Terri moved toward Jack.

Jack was already trying to stand when Terri reached him.  “I can make it to the door,” he said.  “You get that boiling water.” 

“Are you sure?” Terri asked as she watched Jack get to his feet.

“Go.  Go,” he said.  Leaning on the sofa for support, Jack slowly moved its length as Terri spun on her heels and headed for the kitchen.

Terri rounded the doorway into the kitchen and stopped in her tracks.  The kudzu filled the door way at the other end of the kitchen.  It had spilled out onto the floor and was even now starting to twine itself around the table’s legs.  Its leaves trembled, almost as if in anticipation.  It seemed to sense her presence and all of the tendrils began to coalesce on her location.  Terri was fascinated as the vines actively sought her out. 

Her fascination was replaced with terror as she heard an underlying sound.  Beneath the rustle of the leaves and the scraping of the vines, was a softer, more deliberate sound.  As the vines moved toward her, as they moved for her, they made a strange mewling sound.  It made Terri think of a hungry animal getting ready to enjoy a meal.  Terri swallowed hard and quickly turned away from the approaching vines.

She grabbed the closest pot of water.  It took both hands for Terri to hold the heavy container.  Not wanting to spill any of the scalding water, she turned and slowly walked back into the living room.  As she approached the front door, Terri noted that both Jack and Yancy were just on either side of the door.  Jack was leaning against the wall, and Yancy was laid out on the floor, his head nearest the door.  As she reached them, Jesse flew past her without saying a word.

Terri sat the pot of water on the floor near Jack’s feet and turned to go and get another one.  She was met on the way by Jesse, carrying the largest of the pots of boiling water.  He was as concentrated on his task as Terri was on hers.  Neither of them said a word as they passed each other.  Time was short, and they both knew it.

By the time Terri had turned and headed back out of the kitchen with her second pot of water, Jesse was at the doorway.  He would retrieve the last of the large pots and be at the front door right behind Terri.  As Terri sat her pot down on the floor she said to Jesse, “I’ll open the door, and you throw that pot of water right out the screen door.  Then I’ll throw this pot.” She said, pointing to the one nearest Jack.  “Then I’ll open the screen door, and you throw that other big pot,” she continued, “And then I’ll throw the last one.  As soon as I throw it we will need to move.  Jack and I, then you and Yancy right behind us.”

“I’m ready,” Jesse said.

“Me too,” said Jack.

“Okay then,” Terri said as she gripped the door knob, “Let’s go.”

Terri pulled the front door open wide until it hit Yancy in the shoulder.  He moaned, and his body twitched, then he fell silent.  The kudzu had slipped under and around the screen door and immediately fell into the opening and onto the living room floor.  Terri gasped and stepped aside quickly to allow Jesse to throw the pot of scalding water he was holding.  Jesse reared back and threw the hot liquid on the bottom half of the screen door and onto the vines at his feet.

Even as Jesse emptied his container, Terri had already picked up the pot of water closest to her.  The vines on the other side of the screen door slowly backed away from it, while the ones on the floor squirmed as if in pain.  Terri threw her pot of water at the base of the screen door, catching both the retreating vines and the squirming vines.  The kudzu slowly pulled further away from the screen door, and its squirming tendrils began to lay still.

Terri pushed forward and tried to force the screen door open.  However, the kudzu was still so thick and matted that she could only open it about a foot.  Jesse came up behind her and threw his second pot of scalding water out the opening onto the vines.  As he emptied the last bit of water, he pushed forward just as Terri had done.  Jesse only managed to force the screen door open another foot or so, with the retreat of the vines.

Terri picked up the last pot of water and stared out at the porch for a moment.  “It isn’t going to work,” she said.  “We don’t have enough hot water and it will take too long to make more.  We need to do something else.”  With that statement, she threw her pot of water at the vines on the floor.

“What?” Jesse managed as Terri gripped him by the shoulder and pulled him backward.

“Help me close this,” Terri said as she moved for the front door knob.

“The door won’t close with those creepers on the floor,” Jesse replied.

“You shut the door,” Terri said, “I’ll take care of those vines.”  The kudzu on the floor was wilted and not moving, so Terri felt it was less dangerous.  She kicked at it with her shoe and forced it out into the opening of the screen door.  Even as she did so, the kudzu on the other side of the screen door was beginning to advance again.  It was then that Terri realized that her plan would never have worked. 

It wouldn’t have worked, and they would all be dead.  “She had nearly killed them all,” Terri thought to herself.  Terri stomped at the lifeless vines on the floor more fervently.  She kicked until the last one was back over the threshold, and Jesse could close the door.  Terri continued to kick even though the doorway was clear, she kicked and then she screamed.  She screamed out in frustration.  Then her scream turned into a wale.

Jesse grabbed her by the back of her shirt and gently pulled her out of the doorway.  Then he slammed the door and threw the deadbolt just for good measure.  He turned to face Terri but found her sitting on the floor.  Jesse knelt down beside her.  He put his hands on her shoulders, and she looked up at him.  Tears were streaming down Terri’s face, and it melted the old man’s heart.  He hurt for her.  Unsure of what to say, Jesse simply pulled Terri into his chest and held her.  He held her there while she sobbed.

***

While Terri sobbed in Jesse’s arms, Jack eased himself onto the floor.  Well, maybe eased wasn’t quite the right word.  He mostly fell, but in an “I meant to” sort of way.  Either way, he was soon sitting on the floor beside Terri.  He longed to hold her as Jesse was, but the best he could manage was a weak arm around one shoulder.  So Jack let her be, crying into Jesse’s chest.  He looked up at Jesse and gave him a warm smile.

Jesse winked at Jack.  To Terri he said, “Its okay child.”  He stroked her hair and repeated, “It’s okay.”

Jack looked around the room and thought to himself, “No, it isn’t okay.”  The vines were slowly coming in through the hole in the screen of the window across the room and were even now looking for something on which to cling.  Jack also figured they must be coming in from some other window in the back of the house, and the mudroom door.  If anything, it was far from okay.  It seemed to him that all manner of egress was blocked by the encroaching vines.

Jack cursed at his inability to move.  His extremities were leaden and thick, and didn’t want to do what he told them.  He knew that whatever they did to get out of this that he was going to be as much of a burden as Yancy was.  More than that, he was concerned that in an effort to help him, Terri or Jesse might get hurt.  Maybe even both of them.  That thought weighed heavy on him, and he let out a small sigh.

Never content to wallow in a pool of self-pity, Jack fought to snap out of his funk.  He decided to focus on the more immediate problem.  The vines were working their way in, and the four of them needed a way out.  Jack struggled to think, to keep his thoughts from wandering.  He had to rein them in and keep them focused.  “Think” he demanded of himself, “think.”  He wished that he knew the house better; that he had a better sense of what they had to work with.

“Why Jack?” his inner voice teased.  “What would it help?”

Jack knew that voice all too well.  It was the voice of his despair and self-doubt.  “No” he weakly mumbled under his breath.

“You’re going to get them both killed,” the voice continued. 

“No,” Jack mumbled again, trying to regain control.

“They’re all going to die, and it will be your fault,” his voice told him.

“No.” he repeated, more forcefully this time.

“There is nothing you can do.” The voice taunted.

“No,” Jack repeated, louder than before.

“Just accept it,” the voice continued, “just accept it and sit there.”

“No.  I won’t” Jack muttered through clenched teeth.  “I won’t let it happen.”

“Won’t let what happen?” Jesse asked.

Jack looked up to see both Terri and Jesse staring at him.  He hadn’t realized that he’d been talking aloud.  Somewhat embarrassed, Jack thought quickly and said “I’m not going to let us die in here.”

“Well, that’s good Jack,” Jesse admitted.  Then he added “and we weren’t planning on that either.”

Terri had quit crying, and her eyes were glossy and rimmed with red.  She wiped her eyes then placed a hand on Jack’s knee and said “we are all going to get out of this Jack.  All of us.”

Jack managed a smile and said “I know.  I just wish I knew the house better.  I wish I knew what we had to work with.”

Jesse said “but you do know this house.  It’s like every other old farm house in the area.  The ones owned by poor black folks that is.”

Jack surveyed the room.  The old man was right.  It did remind him of the house in which he’d grown up.  In fact, it looked very much like his house had, and just like any one of a dozen such houses he had visited over the years.  Jack nodded and said “you’re right; it is familiar.”

“So how does that help us?” Terri asked.  “Do you have an idea, because I’m fresh out?”

“Fire,” Jack said, thinking.  “We have fire.”  He focused on Terri and Jesse and continued.  “The only thing we have left that can affect these things is fire.  It’s the only way we can generate and maintain enough heat to keep them at bay.”

“What do you mean, like set them on fire?” Jesse asked confused.  “They’re too green to burn.”

“Green yes,” Terri said, realizing Jack’s plan.  “But they retracted from the heat.  It was almost like self-preservation.”

“Exactly,” Jack said.  “We just need to be able to keep it hot enough for long enough that they pull away.  I think we can do that with torches.”

“I don’t know Jack,” Terri replied, “this old place is so dry we’re likely to set the whole house ablaze.”

“Let it burn if that’s God’s will,” Jesse said.  “It’s only a house child, and nothing compared to the loss of life.  Besides, with those vines in here I don’t know how I could live here anyway.”

Terri looked at Jesse then turned back to Jack.  “Okay,” she said, “what’s your plan?”

Jack thought for a moment then said “I’ve been thinking about how those vines followed that blood trail up the porch.”

“Yes,” Terri prodded.

“Well, there wasn’t any kudzu along the whole front side of the house before that was there?” Jack asked.

“No,” Jesse replied.  “It just covered the back and some of the sides of the house.  Why?”

“Can you take a look out that other window on the other side of the front door?” Jack asked Terri.  “I figure a plant isn’t going to do any more than it has to.”

“That’s right,” Terri said as she stood up.  “It takes too much energy.”

Jack continued, “So I think they may have stopped at the door and not gone all the way across the porch.”

“That’s brilliant Jack,” Terri said as she reached the window.  She put her face up against the cool of the glass and looked at all sides of the window.  It was dark, but there was a feint glow from the porch light.  Terri allowed her eyes to adjust and peered into the darkness.  Then she unlatched the window and slid the casement up.  “As far as I can tell there’s almost nothing here,” she exclaimed, “just a few tendrils down below the sill.  We can go right out this window.”  Even as she said it, Terri could hear the gently rustling of leaves down below the window.

“Not all of us,” Jack said.  “Not easily or perhaps quickly enough.”

Terri turned on Jack.  “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I don’t think we can all get out that window in time,” Jack said flatly.

“It’s clear,” Terri said angrily.  “It’s clear and we can all leave right now.”  Terri pulled the casement closed and moved toward Jack.  “All of us.”

“Think about it Terri,” Jack replied.  “How do you think those vines find us?  You said they were hunting.  How do they hunt us?”

“The blood…” Terri’s voice trailed off.  “Our carbon dioxide,” she said at last.  “They must sense high carbon dioxide levels and move in that direction.  That’s what draws them.  Just like a mosquito, they sense our carbon dioxide.”

“That’s what I think,” Jack admitted.  “I think that by the time the two of you managed to get both Yancy and I out that window and onto the porch, the vines will have found us.  And even if we used torches, there’s no guarantee that will work.”

“What are you saying?” Terri asked, concerned.

“The logical thing to do is for you two to go and get help,” Jack replied.  “You can go and get help and be back here in an hour.”

“We can’t leave you here,” Terri protested.

“We can make up some torches,” Jack continued.  “We can make up torches and I can keep the vines off of Yancy and me until you get back.”

“No,” Terri said, panic seeping into her voice.

“It’s the only way Terri,” Jack explained.  “I am not going to leave anyone behind, and there is no way you can get us all out and away from the vines.”

“We can use the torches Jack,” Terri said defiantly.  “Like you said, we can use them to keep the vines off of us.”

“We don’t even know how well that will work Terri,” Jack replied, “or if it will work.  I wouldn’t want to risk it with two of us unable to move.”

“I’ll stay with you two and Jesse can go for help,” Terri insisted.

“No,” Jack said, “we need to get as many people out of harm’s way as we can.  It makes sense that you and Jesse should go, and the sooner, the better.  I heard the scratching noises on the other side of the door.  I know the vines are moving toward that window.”

“We can’t leave you,” Terri begged as her eyes began to tear up.

“It’s the only way,” Jack said.  “You go and bring back help.”  Jack thought for a moment then added, “Once you get out onto the porch try the torches.  If they work well enough, then you can work on getting me and Yancy out.  Deal?”

Terri perked up.  She wiped the tears from her eyes and said “that could work.  You’ll come if we can make sure the fire holds the vines back if we can get you both out safely?”

“Of course,” Jack said.  “But only if there is no risk to anyone.”  He looked into Terri’s eyes and saw the glimmer of hope there.  It was a great thought, even though he didn’t believe it.  Jack was just happy that it was enough to convince Terri to leave.  As long as he could get her and Jesse out of the house, away from danger, he could be happy with that.  Jack was no martyr, but he was a realist.  He knew their chances of survival greatly increased if they weren’t burdened with dead weight.

“You promise Jack?” Terri asked.

“If it’s safe,” he reiterated.

“Okay,” Terri said, resigned.  “What do we do next?”

“We need to make some torches,” Jack said.  “Do you mind if we break up your coffee table Jesse?  We can use the legs.”

“Not a problem Jack,” Jesse said soothingly.  “Whatever you need, it’s yours.”

“Okay,” Jack said, “we’ll need some strips of cloth, lighters, any type of fuel you might have, things like that.”

“I have some storm lamps with lamp oil in them,” Jesse replied.  “I also have a few books of matches.  Sorry, no lighters.  We can tear up some sheets for the strips of cloth.  Will that work?”

With a warm smile, Jack said “that will work just fine.  Can the two of you gather those things up and bring them in here.  I’m afraid you two will have to do the heavy work.”