Florence blinked, rubbing her eyes. She brushed the splinters off her dress, clattering the debris onto the floor. The back of her clothes soaked in her blood tingled her skin. The front of her body lay flat on the floor from head to toe. Above her, Aisling pressed her palm on Florence’s back.

Jack tiptoed towards the crate of squeezed oranges on the other side of the main room. But between him and Florence, Yuze rose to her feet.

Yuze limped in heavy steps towards Florence and Aisling, scratching her nape.

From the other room, Stella and Sam peeped their heads out through the doorway.

“What was that?” Aisling picked herself up, swaying from side to side. Her palm covered her abdomen. “Why did you do that?”

“Renee,” Yuze said.

A wind blew past Florence, screeching in her ears.

Suddenly, Aisling crashed into the wall behind, cracking it. She slid onto the floor with a thud, and her head slanted downwards.

Yuze picked a piece of the broken dining table off the floor. “Why Renee?”

“Pardon me, we’re not talking about that, Renee,” Florence said. She scrambled back until her shoulder blades poked the wall. “I’m talking about the baby… back in that dream.”

“What baby?” Yuze stabbed her palm with a piece of a shattered dining table. Blood oozed out, splashing onto the floor.

The roots and vines sprouted from the puddle of blood, growing into a towering tree. The leaves and branches with red buds scratched the ceiling above.

Aisling raised her arm out, spreading her hands open. “You don’t wanna do it here.”

A green blur whipped towards Florence and Aisling with a crack.

Aisling hugged Florence, rolling on their sides.

The vines crashed into the wall behind them, scattering debris across the room. Dust kicked up as the lights above flickered.

Aisling coughed, waving away the fine powder. “Yuze, why’re you acting like this?”

Buds blossomed from the plant’s trunk into a red flower. Yellow powdery substances erupted out of the pollen sacs of the anther, wafting through the air.

Florence raised her eyebrows, staring at the phenomenon in front of her. Her eyes swelled, tearing up. She scratched the growing itch on her face.

Aisling coughed, grasping her chest, wrinkling her hooded shirt. She wheezed, hunching over Florence.

The footsteps reverberated.

In the fog of yellow pollen, Yuze clenched the piece of the broken dining table in her hand. She limped towards Florence and Aisling. The blood dripped from Yuze’s fist, trailing behind her.

Yuze kicked Aisling off Florence.

Florence pushed her palm on the floor. She blinked, swaying her head from side to side. Her eyelids grew heavy. Her arms wobbled. Her elbows turned sluggish.

In a blur, Yuze kicked Florence in the stomach.

Florence gagged, hugging her abdomen. She curled into a ball, holding her scream in.

Yuze grabbed on the collar of Florence’s dress, picking her up. Then Yuze slammed Florence into the wall.

The wall cracked behind Florence. Her feet dangled in the air.

Yuze rubbed the back of her neck. The smirk on her face vanished. “Why Renee? Not her,” she said. “Don’t hurt her.” She poked the pointed end of the piece of the broken dining table at Florence’s throat.

Florence widened her eyes. “Pardon?”

Aisling dragged her face across the floor, pushing aside the splinters and the smashed parts of the dining table. She tugged Yuze on her ankle.

Yuze slanted her head down, glaring at Aisling.

“You… don’t… wanna do it, Yuze,” Aisling said. “I know… you… won’t.”

“I absolutely… do not think… she can hear you,” Florence said. “It is like… how should I say this?”

The pointed end of the piece of the smashed dining table sank deeper into Florence’s skin.

Florence gritted her teeth, grasping and pulling Yuze’s wrist without her budging.

A hurried footsteps echoed behind Yuze. From the clouds of yellow pollen, Jack rushed towards Yuze. He smacked it on her head with a squeezed orange in his hand.

Her face crashed into the wall.

Her grip on Florence loosened.

Florence dropped onto the floor with a thud. Her muscles protested against the exertion demand, growing numb with each passing second. She sneezed, slanting her body sideways.

Yuze pressed her bloodied palm on the wall. From it, the head of a Venus fly trap sprouted. Its gaping maw readied to swallow its prey whole, pouncing towards Jack.

Jack leaped back. His feet screeched across the floor.

“Why? Stop me?” She spun around, wiping the orange juice left over the back of her head. “No.”

The Venus fly trap wrapped around her, snapping at the air with its jaw.

He clenched his fist, raising it to his monitor level. His palm faced inwards towards him. He squared his shoulder, resting his elbow on the side of his rib cage.

The head of a Venus fly trap plunged towards him.

He ducked, guarding his television head.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

The Venus fly trap zoomed over him. His feet pounded across the floor.

He thrusted his fist into her left thigh.

She gagged, opening her mouth wide. She bent over, dropping to her knees with a thud.

A screech rang through the room.

The yellow pollen swirled.

The wind howled, flying past Florence and rustling her hair.

The claw marks scratched across the floor towards Jack, getting closer to him by the second.

He slid under the Venus fly trap.

The stem split in half, thudding on the floor.

A gash sliced across the torso, part of his polo shirt, lesioning his skin beneath. The blood trickled out of his laceration, soaking into the fibers of his clothing.

He stumbled up, rubbing his lower back. He whistled, pressing one of his palms on his injury.

Yuze raised her hand out, squeezing the blood out from her palm. She splashed it on the ceiling, where a pea pod sprang up to live. But, out of the blue, she crashed her knuckle on her face.

A static played on the monitor of his television head. He smacked his feet across the floor and uppercutted her chin.

She took off, flying over Florence and Aisling. The yellow pollen dispersed out of the way for Yuze. She slammed into the wall on the opposite side of the room in a boom.

Jack dashed forward, holding onto the squeezed orange and stuffing it down Yuze’s throat.

Yuze screamed, pulling Jack’s hand out of her mouth. She choked, clawing her neck. Her eyes rolled behind her head. The piece of broken dining table slipped from her grasp, clattering next to her feet. She collapsed with a thud, salivating over the floor.

Aisling gasped, waving the yellow pollen away from her nose. She slid into a sitting position, leaning back on the wall. “We’ve to… go… now.”

“What?” Jack wheeled around, wiping the saliva off his hand with his pants. “You ain’t doing so good there. So, don’t try to do anything stupid.”

“None… of this… makes sense,” Florence said.

The pea pod on the ceiling expanded.

“We’ve to… run,” Aisling said. She dug her nails into her palm, crawling towards Stella and Sam at the doorway.

Jack gripped Yuze on her leather jacket, tossing her. He then slid towards Stella and Sam at the opened door leading into the other room. Then Jack rushed to Florence and Aisling, carrying them. His feet smacked across the floor as he dashed.

The pea pod exploded, scattering green seeds in every direction. It slammed into the wall, floor, and ceiling, cracking its surface.

Jack leaped into the other room, where Stella dragged Yuze in. He rolled over to the refrigerator like a log floating in the river toward the sea, his arms wrapped tight around Florence and Aisling.

Aisling yawned, rubbing her eyes. “I… don’t wanna… do… it.”

“I… know,” Florence said. “Wait… what do… you mean… by that?”

Jack grunted, letting go of Florence and Aisling. He covered the lesion on his torso, pressing on it. The blood trickled out between his fingers. But one of the green seeds pierced through the left of his forearm, germinating within his flesh. Two leaves attached to a stem shoot up and out of his wound.

Florence yawned. “How… is this… possible?”

“So… do you’ve any idea how to take it out? Please, don’t tell me that you ain’t got a clue,” Jack said.

“Pardon me, I… never treated these… types of injuries before.”

“Could you do it then?”

“Maybe… but I usually treat fractures, septic complications, and sometimes… gunshot wounds. And absolutely not… seeds sprouting within your thigh.”

“So… you can do it then?”

Florence nodded, scratching the back of her head.

Stella yelped, drifting away from Florence.

Everyone in the room with a refrigerator looked at her. Their mouths upturned, wrinkling their eyes.

Stella gasped, flapping her lips without saying a word, pointing at Yuze’s nape.

“Calm down, Stella,” Sam said. “Those plebs aren’t going to hurt you.”

“Yup, I do agree with what he said. Except for the pleb part,” Aisling said.

Stella twirled her hair. “I think… All of you should probably come over here and see it yourself.”

Florence scanned her surroundings, rubbing her temple gently, circularly. The weight of exhaustion threatened to push her to sleep, so she inhaled and exhaled shallowly, slapping her face.

“Florence, what was that for?” Jack said.

Florence nodded, drumming her lap, keeping herself awake with all her might.

Jack waved his hand. “Hello? Is anyone inside that head of yours?”

“Absolutely,” Florence said. “Pardon me, didn’t you see I nodded to your statement?”

“Sorry, I don’t have my glasses.”

“Pardon me, how are you supposed to… you know?”

Aisling coughed, dragging her body across the room towards Yuze.

“By the way, Aisling… could I borrow your dagger?” Florence asked. “And let me guess… there are no bandages or dressing pads.”

Aisling gave a thumbs up. “Then come over here, now,” she said. She smiled, focusing on Yuze’s nape.

Florence inched her way to Aisling, Yuze, and Stella.

Stella pointed at the red eye tattooed on Yuze’s nape.

“I don’t remember that ever being on her.” Aisling tilted her head, furrowing her eyebrows. She unsheathed her dagger, handing it over to Florence.

“Thank you,” Florence said. She grabbed the dagger. “I know this red eye has something to do with the leader. But why is it even on her?”

Aisling shrugged, pinching her chin.

A metallic clang rang.

“What was that?” Florence asked.

“No idea.” Jack spread his arms and legs out. “Could you come over here? I’ve got a daughter to take care of.”

Florence turned around, crawling towards Jack. Her fingertip tapped the handle of the dagger. The blade reflected her face with dark bags under her eyes.

Jack slipped his hand behind his head. “Any ideas on how to remove it?”

“Do I look like a surgeon who removes plants from my patient’s body?” Florence asked.

“Not really?”

“Exactly.”

Jack snatched the dagger from Florence.

“Give it back,” Florence said.

Jack stabbed himself in his injured left thigh, carving the germinated seed out. He grasped the stem, pulling the roots out with chunks of flesh stuck onto it. The blood gushed out of his wound, splattering the floor.

Florence’s heart races. She leaped into action, pressing her palm onto Jack’s surgical incision. The blood flowed between her fingers as a red puddle formed below Jack’s left thigh.

“You see, I knew you could do it,” Jack said. He slipped the dagger into the pocket of his pants.

“Are you crazy?” Florence bit her lips. “You might lose consciousness or die if you do that.”

“It’s either that or having a plant slowly eating away my flesh.”

“I am certain that plants don’t do that.”

“How would you know if it does that? Have you seen this species of plants before?”

Five claps reverberated behind Florence. She glanced over her shoulder.

A squeezed orange covered in saliva rolled on the floor.

Yuze coughed with her body bent forward, resting in Aisling’s arm. Aisling rubbed her palm in a circular motion on Yuze’s back.

Something creaked like someone outside opening the worn door.

Sam pricked his whiskers and ears forward, angling his body towards the door. His pupils narrowed, and his hind legs coiled under him.

“Hey… I mean… don’t be like that. Everything is going to be okay,” Stella said. She brushed her fingers through Sam’s fur from the top of his head and down his spine.

An eerie silence vibrated through the air.

Stella stopped, remaining still in her position.

“Pardon me, is everything all right?” Florence asked.

But Yuze, Stella, Sam, and Jack froze in their place. Not moving their bodies a single inch.

Aisling lowered Yuze’s head onto the floor.

In a staggering step, Aisling rose up, leaning her weight against the wall.

“Aisling, what is happening?” Florence controlled her breath. Inhaling and exhaling slowly as her heart pounded in her chest. “Could you explain it seriously without going in circles this time?”

Aisling coughed, cupping her mouth. “I’m gonna be honest here. It’s time I let you in on a few little secrets.”