Kristy’s heart was pounding as she held the door and watched for Higgins. She was ready to slam the door as soon as he ran inside.

  Jenny was flying her two greenies towards Higgins. The plan was for the Greenies to distract the Changed long enough for Higgins to get inside, then they would barricade themselves in the house and hopefully lead one Changed at a time back to them. If everything went right, then they could save Higgins and also restore the Changed without anyone getting hurt.

  Higgins was about fifty feet from the house and running hard when the Greenies reached him. Jenny expanded them and swirled them around, but all three Changed ignored them and kept chasing Higgins.

  “Jenny, go for their faces,” Kristy shouted back into the house.

  The greenies launched for two of the Changed’s faces. One stumbled and rolled to the ground and the other hit a fire hydrant hard enough for Kristy to hear a crunching sound.

  Higgins was nearly at the house with the final Changed hot on his heels.

  “You got one right behind you.” Kristy called out to Him.

  Higgins ran past the house then doubled back and juked past the last Changed, making a beeline for the door. He dashed inside past Holly and then together they slammed the door on the Changed that ran headfirst into it.

  The Changed screamed outside of the house with a disturbing mix between a human and a chicken.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Aren’t chickens supposed to be prey animals?” Higgins said between heaving breaths as he leaned against the door. He shook his head and laughed.

  “What’s so funny?” Kristy looked at Higgins with a bit of confusion.

  Still catching his breath between laughs, Higgins said: “I really need to work on my cardio.”

  Kristy smiled but what she was going to say was cut short when the living room window smashed inwards.

  “Mommy, the greenies can’t stop them!” Jenny called out.

  Higgins reached for his gun, but Kristy put a hand on his arm. “Please wait. I want to save them if we can. These are good people.”

  Higgins nodded, “let’s hide in the garage, hurry!”

  They both dashed for the garage where Jenny was. The greenies zipped past them and they slammed the garage door behind them. Higgins started jamming a ladder against the doorknob to prop it closed.

  Jenny ran up and hugged Kristy. Kristy hugged her back and ruffled her hair. She was freaked out, but she didn’t want to scare Jenny. She tried to keep Jenny’s mind moving. “How many are out there, sweetie?”

  “Five,” Jenny said and squeezed her eyes shut. She pointed at the door that Higgins barricaded, “Two there,” then pointed to the sliding garage door, “And three there, but two are fighting each other. They all feel like they’re super hungry.”

  Kristy wracked her brain to figure out how they were going to get out of this. She closed her eyes and reached out to Jenny and Colin. She opened the connection and then sent a pulse of comfort to them.

  She closed her eyes and then tried to extend her connection to beyond the garage. It was a disorienting feeling that made her stomach churn, but after awhile, she felt something. If she could connect with one of them without touching them, maybe she could change them through the door. She walked closer to the door and concentrated. She could feel the Changed out there, but her nausea was getting worse and before she could connect to them, she doubled over and puked all over Higgins’ leg.

  “Oh jeez,” Higgins said with a scrunched face.

  Kristy tried to apologize as she sat on the floor, but she felt too dizzy to talk.

  The banging outside grew louder.

  Jenny whispered, “There’s a new one out there and he feels super scary.”