"Well are we just going to stand here and let Bubba and his friends get eaten!?"Daniel looked back and forth between the two officers and the man in the suit.

"We thought that as law enforcement agents we should feed these trees. Of course we're going to get your friends." The man in the suit scoffed before standing and walking over to some cabinets. Once there he opened it revealing various weapons. "This bunker we are in dates back to the Cold War. It was part of a secret emergency plan for if the Russians attacked." As he was talking, he pulled out two flamethrowers. "We are going to get your friends, and you may help us if you'd like."

There really wasn't a need to ask. "You bet I will. You in, Chuck?"

"Yeah, I guess, I don't know these guys very well, but it seems the humane thing to try and help."

"Good." Daniel reached for one of the flame throwers.

The man in the suit swatted him away. "Nope, we'll pack and gear up, you put on those blindfolds. You'll be escorted up shortly."

That was annoying, but these agents were nothing if not consistent.

Once blindfolded Daniel and Chuck were led up through the hatch and through the doors. They continued on outside until they entered a car and drove a ways.

One of the officers untied their blindfolds. Their eyes took awhile to adjust but when it did they found themselves outside of the forest. A group of ten officers were strapping on some flame throwers. Apparently reinforcements had arrived. In addition to the officers, firefighters stood by on the ready, and the National Guard had arrived.

The man in the black suit approached Daniel and Chuck. "You two will be holding the floodlights."

Daniel scowled. "I guess so, but I was kinda expecting to have a flamethrower."

"Look you would have needed to have gone through some training first and right now you'd be at risk. We have the National Guard here, and they can handle this."

"OK, fine." Daniel lowered his head in submission.

"Good now go over there by the ATVs the floodlights are in the case." Daniel and Chuck walked over to the ATVs.

"I guess I'm glad we don't have to shoot, I'd hate to face these creeper trees," Chuck said.

"Yeah," Daniel nodded. It was hard to focus with all this tension and adrenaline. I'd rather do something to actually help out, and not be a helpless civilian."

After they grabbed the floodlights, they walked over the edge of the road where they waited for orders. One of the sergeants approached them and pointed over to the woods, "Alright, I want you two to keep this area lit at all times. They don't like the light. It slows them down, but it doesn't stop them."

"Yes, sir!" Daniel and Chuck saluted simultaneously. They both pointed the lights in the direction of the woods. These lights were very bright. A squad of soldiers moved onto the path and called out orders and calls for staying alert.

The sergeant called them over. "Now I want you two to follow these men. They will keep you safe." Daniel and Chuck did as they were instructed, their lights illuminating the soldiers and the woods. The soldiers pulled down some goggles which as far as Daniel could guess would help them identify the creeper trees. Handy tools. Hopefully they didn't have to figure it out without the gear.

They continued on for about a minute when one of the soldiers called for them to halt. Then all of a sudden shots rang out in the distance. The soldiers moved forward and continued on until they entered near the cul-de-sac.

Bubba stood in the middle of the ring releasing shot after shot as trees tried to lean over and grab him. Another shot rang out from his shotgun as he released a blast into the face of one the trees.

Daniel had never been so relieved and terrified to see his friend and what was attacking him. The trees were alive, swaying and reaching out with great shining eyes and hungry mouths framed with vicious mandibles. They had been moving slower before, but now they seemed to be awake.

"Bubba!" he shouted.

"Get behind the line," one of the seargeants barked.

Bubba started forward, but one of the tree's branches lunged for him.

"Bubba!" Daniel shouted. "Get down. Behind you!"

The soldiers sprayed the trees with masses of bullets.

Bubba tripped. The sawed off shotgun fell from his hands.

All became chaos. Some of the trees lunged at them. They snatched the soldiers up amid the spray of gunfire and flame. Unlike regular trees, theses beasts did not catch fire easily, and when they did, they flailed their limbs and roared, their mouths opening wider and their mandibles spreading. It took dozens of focused firepower to take them down.

For a few minutes, Daniel couldn't see Bubba. And the horror of it all transfixed him. He couldn't move, and that was good for the light, but his mind twisted and froze.

The powerful beamed floodlights lit up the clearing, but then suddenly one of the soldiers to the left of Daniel and Chuck was snatched up into a tree.

The soldier screamed in agony. Daniel almost dropped the floodlight as he saw the gleaming mandibles slice into the man's body and crush him in the green woven horror.

"They're moving to surround us," someone shouted.

"They're already on the sides."

"Fall back!"

Bubba still hadn't gotten up. Daniel thrust into a notch of two boulders and seized a fallen flamethrower. They weren't leaving without Bubba.

The flamethrower was heavier than he expected, but he hefted it up. "Bubba, where are you?"

He heard a familiar yelp amid all the chaos. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bubba struggling to his feet. A trailing branch was reaching for him.

Daniel pulled the trigger on the flamethrower. The massive bolts of fire struck the branch, and the tree monster recoiled in pain. Its horrid voice shrieked and pierced the night sky.

Lunging forward, Daniel seized Bubba by the arm. Together they raced back to the line of soldiers.

Two more of the tree monsters collapsed under the assault.

"Don't let them cut us off!" one of the sergeants shouted. As he did he was grabbed by one of the trees and pulled into the air. He shrieked with agony as the tree sank its mandibles into the soldiers abdomen. A quick shot put him out of his misery.

One of the soldiers pulled out a grenade, pulled the pin, and then chucked it. The explosion blew chunks of the trees everywhere but other trees filed in. It seemed as if the whole forest was moving. All of a sudden the sound of an engine revving up sounded out.

Bubba reloaded and shot another of the trees as Daniel sprayed a wide line of fire on an advancing beast. His skin was slick with sweat, his head thick with adrenaline. The floodlights lit up the clearing as brightly as a full day's sun.

An ATV pulled up with a mounted machine, letting loose a barrage that cut through all the trees.

"All right, men, full retreat," one of the soldiers shouted out. They all then began a jog back to the parking lot as the ATV covered their retreat. They finally reached the parking lot where a line of soldiers wearing flame throwers were standing at the ready.

As soon as they were past, the ATV released a torrent of flame at the trees. The trees creaked and groaned as the fires burnt them, their enraged voices rising up into the dark night.

At last, eyes stinging from smoke and hearts racing from terror, the onslaught was finished. Silence spread over the forest again.

Daniel heaved a weary sigh and shook his head. The flamethrower hung heavy in his arms. "Bubba are you OK? Where are your friends?"

"Didn't make it." Bubba wiped the sweat off his forehead. He choked a bit on those last words.

Daniel wished he knew what to say. He swallowed the knot in his throat. "I'm sure you did everything you could."

"Yeah." Bubba's head hung sadly.

"At least it's over," Chuck offered.

They nodded soberly. There really wasn't much else to say.

Daniel stared out over the forest, his heart heavy. The only good thing to come from this was that it was done. He just hoped it was the last he saw of them.

The forces were lining up again, reloading their flame throwers and preparing for another onslaught. Some were talking about how the National Guard planned to burn down the whole woods. Daniel couldn't say he was sorry. He just hoped to never see anything like this ever again.

...

They never really spoke about the monsters in the forest or the trees that attacked them. Daniel thought of it often, but he never had words to describe it. The woods was indeed burned down and then covered in some foul scented ash and salt. No other alarms of additional attacks went out.

When Christmas came, he invited Bubba back to his parents' place. The house was lit up with icicle lights and blow-up snowmen, and the house was even more festive inside, smelling like peppermint, gingerbread, and toffee cake. Even the live Christmas tree his folks had brought in in the giant metal bin looked stunning with its colorful lights, paper chains, and assortment of handmade ornaments.

It really did seem as if everything could go back to normal. They talked about nothing long into the night drinking cocoa and listening to "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" in front of a crackling fireplace.

Their eyes reflected the warm glow that the fire cast, and all seemed well and happy. It really seemed good. Little did they know an extra pair of eyes watched them hungrily from the tree and one of the lower fronds of the conifer slowly reached out.