It snarled at us before opening its mouth and sinking its teeth into the cow’s back. The cow bellowed, and the rest of the cattle scattered from the bitten cow—surprisingly, even the bull.
“No!” Spencer screamed.
The squirrel leapt from the back of the cow, claws ripping at the cow’s skin before launching itself in the air, directly toward Daisy, whose face paled.
“Move!” Jay grabbed the bat he’d had and whacked it just before it landed on Daisy, and Daisy’s screams echoed in the forest as she dropped to her knees.
Its body went toward the trailer with the chickens, and I rushed toward it just as it jumped on the trailer and reached toward the cages.
“Stay away from our chickens!” I tightened my grip on my golf club before swinging it back and hitting the squirrel’s body with a thud, knocking it off the trailer. It hit the ground and rolled before staggering back up, the indent of the hit sunken into its gut.
My blood ran cold as I held the golf club up like a bat and readied myself for another attack.
“Tori, be careful!” Mom’s voice shook.
Dad was coming toward me with another bat, but before he reached us, the squirrel hissed, digging its claws into the dirt.
It launched itself toward me, and I swung again, but the squirrel’s paws wrapped around the shaft, and its body swung with the club before it started to climb up it and toward me.
Fear slammed into me, and I swung the club at the ground a few times, but it just climbed higher.
“Don’t move, Tori!” Micah’s gruff voice demanded, and I froze.
The squirrel moved up the shaft, only inches from my fingers before Micah’s axe hit its head, splitting his skull as its brains oozed out of it. He pulled his axe out, and its grip on the golf clubceased. The squirrel fell to the ground in front of me with a dull thump.
“It almost bit me!” Daisy sobbed, clutching Jay’s shirt as he held her to his chest.
I sucked in a mouthful of rotten smelling cold air and dropped the club before hugging myself with trembling arms. “Oh, my God.”
It had almost bitten me.
Nathan aimed his gun at the bitten cow and shot it between the eyes, and it fell to the ground hard. He put the gun back in his holster before he turned toward me and grabbed my shoulders, turning me to face him. “You can’t throw yourself into danger like that without backup. We need to have a plan before we act.”
“I…” My voice cracked, gaze straying toward the dead cow. “I didn’t mean to. The chickens…”
“Can be replaced if needed,” Micah finished.
“But I didn’t mean for it to almost bite me.”
Micah’s eyes blazed with anger as he shook his head. “Of course you didn’t! But it almost happened.”
“Calm down,” Dad said, walking up and checking me over. “She wasn’t hurt, and that’s what matters. You okay, honeybee?”
I nodded as Nathan let me go, but my body wouldn’t stop shaking. It had been way too close of a call.
“You did good,” Calix murmured, pulling me away from the dead squirrel and wrapping me in his arms. “You tried to protect everyone.”
“You did,” Micah agreed. “But from now on, wait until we’ve devised a plan.”
“If you run in without saying anything, you can be a liability,” Nathan added. “We just don’t want you hurt, killer. It would kill us.”
“Thank God you didn’t get bit.” Spencer went over to Dad and hugged him. “Can I ride with you and Mom?”
He nodded, leading Spencer away with Mom to gather the cattle that had spread out. “Let’s make sure we have the cattle ready and accounted for first.”
“It was so small. I’ve never had to fight any infected thingso small.” My voice wouldn’t stop shaking as I held onto Calix and inhaled his smell.
“It’s a good thing insects are all wiped out. They would’ve been the biggest threat.” Micah scratched his beard.
