What Used to be Arkansas Chapter 19

with audio

“Oh, no,” Molly murmured again as the sound increased. “Oh no, oh no.”

The three of them swung around, toward the noise behind them. 

Mice covered the floor. They lined the tops of the stalls and stood on every overturned barrel and piece of junk that covered the floor. 

A wave of unease rolled through Molly. There must have been at least a hundred of them.

A squeak came from above her. She forced herself to lift her gaze, knowing what she might find. 

Rodents slunk along the open rafters—their shiny, black eyes focused on her.

She shuddered. One wrong move, and they would be on her. 

She remembered them scurrying over her body, clawing her, and gnawing on her skin. It overwhelmed her, and she trembled. Molly looked at the cloudy sky just beyond the barn doors. What she wouldn’t give to be out there!

“What is going on here?” Jeb asked, clearly puzzled by the situation. His gaze darted from the floor to the rafters and back again, landing on a mouse close to him.

“This sounds crazy, but they talk or something,” Molly explained.

“Just scare them away.” He raised his foot to stomp it.

“No!” Molly held out her hand. “That will make them mad.” 

“Then what should I do?” 

“I don’t know.” Molly shook her head. “Everything makes them mad.”

Anjulie turned to her. “And when they are angry?”

“They attack.”

“Us?” Jeb squeaked. “They attack humans?” He scanned the hundred or so rodents. “We wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“We need to get out of this barn,” Molly said. “Maybe we can just back away from them.”

“I take it you’ve come across these before?” Anjulie glanced at the girl. “Did that work for you then?”

“Yes, I’ve seen mice like this before.” Molly made a face. “And no, they didn’t give me a chance to retreat, but it’s all I got right now.”

Anjulie handed Jeb the extra laser gun from the hidden room. “Get your weapons ready. Shoot the bold ones first,” she said. “We’ll try to back away.”

Guns pointed at the mice on the floor in front of them, they took a few steps backward.

The beady-eyed mice watched their every move.

Anjulie glanced at Molly. “These rodents need to be destroyed. We can’t have hordes like this growing unchecked.”

“I agree.” The girl looked down at the fuel can she carried. It had escaped her mind that her Jeep only used diesel fuel. She unscrewed the lid and took a whiff. “This is gasoline. It’s no good for the Jeep, but it could help us in here.”

“Okay, pour out a little as we go. Get ready to throw the rest of the can.” Anjulie reached into a tote she had strapped across herself and pulled out a little box of matches. She handed them to Molly and waved at the dead man on the floor. “That body needs taken care of, too. A fire will take care of both.”

“I’ll be ready.” Much as Molly hated to burn her friend’s barn down, she agreed this rodent horde needed to be destroyed. 

She poured a bit of the gasoline onto the floor. Her mind swirled with thoughts of the disease-ridden horde swarming them. How much of them would be left by the time the rodents were done? Not much, she’d bet.

Around them, the mice clawed the wooden floor but stayed in place. They squeaked and chattered almost in unison—as if chanting with one other. 

“What do you think the disgusting little furballs are saying?” Jeb asked. “Down with the humans, world domination for all us cute little Fievels?”

“There’s nothing cute about them.” Molly scanned the room and shuddered. “And they aren’t kidding. When that bunch came after me before—ugh! I can still feel them crawling over me.” 

Jeb shivered. “We gotta get outta here.”

“Only a few more steps, and we’ll be at the door,” Anjulie said, taking another step backward.

Molly glanced over her shoulder. Nanook sat on one side of the barn door. Not whining, not whimpering—as if she knew any disruption from her would send the vermin mob into a frenzy. 

The wolf’s eyes met Molly’s, begging her to make it safely outside of the barn.

“I’m trying, girl,” Molly said. “I’m trying.”

The girl glanced from one side of the building to the other. “Uh, Anjulie?”

“Yes?”

“We’re surrounded.”

At the door, others had joined the original three rodents—a lot more. They stood almost as if laid out in a grid line that ran between the humans and the door outside. Each little sentinel was at attention, ready to attack if the enemy moved outside of their set boundaries.

“They have spaced themselves out enough so that we can’t jump over them,” Jeb said. 

Anjulie nodded, her mouth a thin line. “It’s time to shoot our way out.” She darted a look at Jeb. “Looks like you’re going to get some unexpected target practice in.”

Jeb’s face brightened, but he looked hesitant. “Honestly, I’ve hardly shot any kind of gun.” 

Anjulie gave him a tight nod that acknowledged his lack of experience and betrayed her nervousness over the situation they found themselves in. “It’s okay. Just use the sight to aim. If yours is like mine, it’s pretty true. Let’s try to make a path through them. Perhaps the others will scatter.”

“Okay.” Jeb raised his weapon. “Tell me when.”

“I will.” Anjulie looked at Molly. “Be ready with that can.”

“I’m ready.”

The closer they got to the door, the more agitated the horde seemed. Their chatter turned into high-pitched wails and several puffed up as if ready to attack.

Jeb and Anjulie raised their laser guns, then took aim and fired. 

Molly splashed some of the gasoline onto the barn floor. Its pungent odor wafted over her, and she lowered the can and rubbed her nose. The liquid sloshed back to the bottom of the can. 

“Jeb, turn!” Anjulie called out. 

Confused, he glanced at her.

“Keep Molly in the middle. Our backs against her. You watch the doors, I’ll watch the inside.”

Jeb gave the woman a sharp nod and went into action. “They’re all going to come at us, aren’t they?”

“Yes,” Anjulie barked.

He shot two mice, one after the other. They dropped onto the barn floor. The rest of the rodents scattered but quickly returned to their posts. 

Jeb aimed at a third. “Great! After everything I’ve been through, my grave is going to read, ‘death by mouse?’ It couldn’t be something a little—I don’t know—tougher?”