“Who is it? Maybe the school? Do you think something happened -- like it burned down?” Erin isn’t going to leave until she has answers. She’s in this with me now.
“No. I don’t think so. If it were the school, I would have gotten a call from the phone tree. Plus, if it was a fire, I don’t think we wo--” I stop myself mid-sentence as I realize who it could be. I press the green answer button instantly as I whisper frantically into the phone, “Maddie? Maddie? Is this you?”
“Miss Springer! Miss Springer!” Her voice is frail and desperate. I can make out the sounds of women wailing and shouting in the background. There are some loud thuds that make the phone shake. “Miss Springer!”
“Maddie, it’s me. Tell me what’s going on.” I grab the phone to my ear as I run to my dresser. I throw on a pair of jeans and slip into a tank top.
“It’s the Coyotes. They’re back! They’re back! And they’re going to kill my dad!” She’s practically sobbing. It’s a complete contrast to the girl I saw during the last attack that was cool and calm, hiding in her own bedroom. Something about this must be different.
“Where’s your dad, Maddie? Why isn’t he with you? Are you in your room hiding like he told you last time?” Erin is following me throughout the house as I am searching desperately for my keys.
“He’s…I don’t know. I don’t know! He came and got me and the other girls and brought us downstairs into the basement. We keep hearing guns and explosions and stuff. I don’t know what is going on or where he is!” She pauses, holding back another long sniffle, “I’m scared, Miss Springer. I’m really scared. What if they killed him?”
I’m already out the door, Erin still trailing behind me. She’s putting on a pair of rain boots over her pajama pants and tying her hair back into a ponytail. But I’m focused on the little girl breaking down over the phone, “Maddie, don’t you move. Don’t go anywhere. Your dad put you down in the basement to protect you, and I’m sure he’s doing just that. But I’m going to come and get you okay. You stay close to this phone and wait for me to call you.” She doesn’t answer, but I can hear her cry. I say it slowly, calmly, “Please Maddie, tell me you understand my instructions.”
“I…I understand.”
“Good. Because I’m on my way.”
I turn the phone off and look towards Erin buckling her seatbelt. I put the phone on mute as I yell back at her, “Erin! You can’t do this. You can’t come with me.”
“Michelle, I’m not letting you go there alone and die trying to play hero. You have no idea what you are getting yourself into.”
“I know exactly what I am getting myself into. I have to go help. I have to save Maddie and Cal.”
Erin stares at me, her blue eyes lazering in on me as I start the engine. She unbuckles and slides out the side passenger door. As I put my hands to the wheels, she leans in over the open window and says, “Michelle, be safe out there. Take care of yourself first, okay?”
I give her a small nod before pressing my foot to the pedal and speeding out of my own driveway and gated subdivision. I drive down the backstreets through stop signs and red lights. I’m breaking almost every rule of the road as I focus on one thing only: getting that little girl out of there before she or her father gets killed.
About a block away from the clubhouse, I hear the bullets. I instantly slow, realizing this isn’t going to be as easy as I think. A man dressed in leather and boots runs past my car, clutching his side. My stomach churns as I consider calling the cops or even stopping to give him help. But I know better. He could be on the wrong side, or what I think is the wrong side at least.
As I get closer to the house, I start to see the carnage come to life. Men everywhere are running this way and that. And the lights to the adjacent homes are all turned off as if they are all in hiding, waiting out the storm. I know I can’t go any farther, at least in my car. No way can I drive through this mess without becoming a victim myself.
I make a quick decision to turn into the narrow and unlit alleyway behind the homes in hope of figuring out a better way in. I get about three homes before I am able to see clearly into the clubhouse’s backyard. Even in the darkness, I can see men crouched down behind those beat up cars they use for shooting practice and unkempt bushes and trees. On the other side is another group, the Coyotes.
They are grouping up and circling around a figure in the center near a storm door I haven’t noticed before. A storm door I think leads directly to the basement. I look down on my phone in a panic. Should I warn Maddie? Should I try to stop this now? I’m frozen in place, my nerves overtaking me.