The rabbit leapt at Loobey, but Loobey hopped up on the counter and yanked his legs out of the way. Aaron took a run up and booted the rabbit in the undercarriage, sending it airborne. The sound of the animal’s ribs breaking echoed off the low ceiling as it bounced off the arm of the sofa and landed on its back. It immediately corrected itself, resuming its attack. Its long incisors were mottled, white and green, and a patch of dark fuzz was peeling away from its hind leg. Beneath was the same bony material that covered Sean’s stomach.
Ryan willed his legs to move, mortally afraid for himself, his brother, and his friends. He made it halfway across the lounge before he caught the rabbit’s attention, but the sight of it racing towards him rooted him to the spot. This small animal should have been no threat, but instead it was a thrashing ball of teeth and claws. Ryan turned himself, intending to launch the hardest kick he could muster. If he was lucky, he would crush the rabbit’s skull and kill it. If he was unlucky…
The rabbit leapt into the air with a furious squeal, powerful hind legs propelling it right at Ryan’s throat. Any chance of kicking it went right out of the window, as he could do nothing but shield himself now.
I’m gonna die on my stag do, gored to death by sodding Peter Rabbit.
Brett shoved Ryan aside and caught the airborne rabbit in his jacket. He quickly dumped it to the floor before pinning it against the floorboards. Underneath the jacket, the crazed rabbit thrashed and squealed.
“Help me,” said Brett, not fearfully, but testily. “Hurry up.”
Aaron and Ryan looked at each other, neither knowing what to do. Loobey hopped down off the counter and lifted up a full box of beer. He clutched it against his waist and toddled over to the rabbit trapped beneath the jacket. “Calm down and have a drink,” he said, and then dropped the box of beer on top of the coat.
The rabbit was clearly stunned, its movements no longer frantic, but jerky and slow. Loobey bent down, picked the beer back up, and threw it down a second time with added force.
The rabbit went still.
Loobey collapsed on the sofa, panting, while everyone else stared at the misshapen lump beneath Brett’s jacket.
Suddenly, Aaron shouted, “Ryan, the door!”
Ryan turned, expecting to see Sean. Instead, he saw a fox, its red and white fur spoiled by the green oil. It stared in at them hungrily.
Ryan wasted no time. He raced across the lounge and slammed the door closed just as the fox made a move to enter the cottage. It scratched against the wood, letting out a strange mewing sound. Ryan dropped the latch and leaned against the door, taking deep breaths and trying not to faint. He felt sick. Dizzy. Exhausted.
Terrified.
Aaron yelled again. “Shit! Bugs!”
Not knowing how much more he could take, Ryan looked over to see his brother stamping on the floorboards. From beneath Brett’s jacket, an army of the slug-like creatures had emerged. Brett raced to help, jumping up and down on the bugs like an excited toddler. Despite their thick legs, the creatures were slow-moving, and within a minute a squashed mess stained the floorboards.
Ryan turned to face the front door, sweat soaking his hair. He peered out of the small diamond-shaped window and thought about only one thing.
Where’s Sean?
“This is insane,” said Brett. His philosophy of not touching had gone out of the window as he attempted to make Loobey comfortable on the couch. Picking up – and slamming – the box of beer had clearly taken it out of Loobey, and he was now as pale as a freshly laundered bed sheet. With Brett’s swollen ankle and Tom’s severed ear, only Ryan and Aaron remained in full health.
“This is insane,” Brett said again.
Ryan gripped the kitchen counter, still dizzy from the battle with the rabbit. “As long as we stay inside, we’ll be fine.”
We’ll be fine.
After closing the front door, Aaron and Ryan had pushed the armchair up against it. Then they had drawn the curtains over the windows, turned off the lights, and kept their voices down. The fox outside had seemingly gone away. Nothing was trying to get inside. It felt safe, but Ryan knew it was an illusion.
We’re not safe in here. We’re trapped in here.
Aaron was sitting on the smaller of the two sofas, staring at the lumpy mound beneath Brett’s jacket. “The animals are infected with the same thing Sean has.” He was seemingly talking to himself. “It’s the bugs. The bugs were all over the rabbit. The bugs produce the oil and it turns into the fungus.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” said Brett. “Creatures can produce venom or toxins, but they can’t produce life forms separate from themselves. The only thing I can assume is that the insects are themselves infected with some kind of organism that takes control of them and uses them as a means to spread. It’s not unheard of in nature.”
“It’s taken control of Sean, too,” said Aaron. “He’s violent and confused.”
“Wasn’t he always?”
“You know what I mean.”
Brett folded his arms and leaned back against the kitchen counter beside Ryan. “Increased violence has been shown in sufferers of the rabies virus, so I suppose it’s possible that Sean’s behaviour could be a result of infection. Of course, this isn’t rabies we’re talking about, not by a long shot. This is like nothing I’ve ever read about or studied, or even heard of. It’s like something from a horror film.”
“Yeah, Attack of the Fuzzy Green
