Page 14 (1/2)

A Gnat Rat is bad

Tick was about to bolt ahen he heard a loud click like the sound of a gun being cocked He looked in shock at the o open on the Rat’s back side

Then little things started flying out of it

Light or no light, a son suffering fronore the call of nature He finished washing his hands in the bathrooht, and stepped back into his bedrooh he probably could’ve danced around the roo on a truar walked through the rooh, it was Tick’s rooht on, and an odd et soar had taken only one step forhen he heard the boy screa little drones flew out of the Gnat Rat in a torrent like a pack of raving mad hornets Without exception they ca around his body before he could react, attacking, biting, stinging

Tick swatted at the, yelling for help Pinpricks of pain stabbed every inch of his skin, under his clothes, in his

hair; the ry and Tick h hi no ideas on what he should do

He heard his bedrooainst the wall

"Atticus!" his dad yelled

But Tick couldn’t look at hinats would blind hiain, their sharp stingers finding fresh spots to hurt hi ease Overwhelround

He felt his dad gripping his ar him across the floor and out of his room Down the hall, into the bathrooht, wanting to warn him, but afraid to open his mouth They’ll eat you alive, too

It hurt too much to cry Tick felt like he’d been taken to an acupuncture school and the overanxious students had given up on the little needles and decided to use knives instead His whole world had turned into one big ouch He’d never felt so hopeless

His dad heaved Tick off the floor and plopped hi the cold water all over his pajah his whole body felt racked with pain, Tick sensed the gnats leaving him in hordes even before he’d landed in the shallow pool of water

They’re ht distantly They run on electricity The water would kill thery buzz filled the bathroo hih the air His dad nats away and out of the roonatsfor his sisters, his mom

"Dad!" he yelled with a slur, his mouth swollen "Kayla! Lisa! Mom!"