34
The group had sat in silence for ten minutes and the sounds of more banging had startled them.
Tosh, Gwen and Sue hugged one another and sobbed as the noises became more raucous.
It sounded like the front door was being battered and Ianto couldn't understand why they were doing it.
If they were doing it because they knew people were inside, then how did they know?
"We're trapped," Rhiannon sobbed. "We're trapped in this damn basement. Oh my babies."
"Attic," said Jack "before they get in."
"We'll never make it."
"Not if we keep on dithering down here."
"Oh..." Ianto clasped the shotgun and shook his head. "Fuck it."
He quickly stood to his feet and went up the steps of the basement. They crept out, went through the kitchen, and along the hallway with hesitant feet.
They could hear the splinter of wood as some were trying to get through the front door and the boarded up living room window. They trotted up the stairs and Sue went into the bathroom.
"Not there," Ianto sniped.
A scream was released from Sue as she clocked Stripy Steve's body, and this fuelled the perseverance of the creatures from outside to get in.
"Where's the attic?" Ianto asked Jack.
"Dunno." he shrugged his shoulders. "I thought you knew."
"Bollocks!" Owen muttered behind them and Ianto snorted.
More sounds could be heard from downstairs and an angry cry alerted them that some of them were in.
"Where the fuck's Sue?" Jack twisted his neck, looking along the landing.
"This way," said Sue, appearing from the main bedroom.
All went into the room. Sue pointed at the hatch that was situated in the corner and Ianto immediately jumped and pulled on the hatch, opening it and revealing stepladders that slowly came down and touched the floor.
Another crash was heard from downstairs, making Gwen shriek, and Ianto advised the females to go up before the men, then climbed up himself with the shotgun in his left hand with Jack following last of all, his face guarded.
They were now in the attic, urging Ianto to hurry up as thuds could be heard.
They were coming up the stairs!
As soon as Jack reached the top they pulled up the stepladders, which also closed the hatch, and could see the first few running into the room.
They huddled together with Jack clinging to Ianto and Ianto realised that he was scared.
For some reason these things had terrified Jack and although he didn't understand why he knew it must be something to do with Gray. He held his arms and leaned back, letting him find comfort.
They jumped when the hatch was hit hard.
They all looked at one another.
"They're trying to jump up." Ianto bent down and placed his ear against the hatch. The room below was full of them now, but Ianto was confident that they couldn't get in.
He sat back and looked at the frightened girls. Owen was trying to comfort them all and his eyes were wide as he stared at Ianto.
He held his hands up and could see they were shaking.
"I can't stop shaking either," said Ianto, quietly.
"I wonder how long it'll be before they get bored and leave." Rhiannon was sitting down and had her children tucked into her chest.
"They might not give up," Jack said. "The fuckers might not leave until we're dead, until they've starved us. We may have to use that and go along the roof."
He pointed up at the skylight.
"We can't go out there on foot," groaned Ianto. "They'd pick us off eventually. There ain't many places to hide in the Barrens."
"I still can't get my head around what's happening." Gwen shook her head.
Sue then burst into tears and both Ianto and Jack glared at one another.
Temporarily, with the entire hullabaloo that had been happening, they had forgotten that this woman had lost her boy.
Jesus, what a weird and fucked up few hours this had been!
He took a look around the attic to see Tosh and Sue staring into space. They were all in shock, and Ianto knew that it could take days for this to settle in.
But why now?
Why did it have to happen now?
The threat of world destruction had been present for decades.
The Cold War had put the world on high alert.
The work they had done with alien races, the tentative peace treaties in place.
Stories of meteorites hitting the Earth and terrorist organisations had always placed doubts over the safety of the planet, but not this!
No expert had predicted this! Yes, there were preppers out there, mainly from the US, and had been ridiculed for years by other people, and Ianto was one of them.
Who was laughing now?
JAck was still strangely accepting and Ianto bit back annoyance as he clearly knew something.
Ianto was sitting and, like the others, was silent and had his knees tucked against his chest. They stared into space, listening to the sounds of snarling and manic feet from below. It sounded like the whole house was now littered with these things, and there was nothing they could do but wait it out.
Maybe they would go away.
Maybe they wouldn't go away.
Ianto looked up to the skylight, and then saw the others look up.
They were all thinking the same thing and hoped that going through the skylight was something they didn't need to do. They didn't have the time to grab food and water before they went into the attic, so time wasn't on their side.
All they could do now was pray.