The Rabid (8 page)

From the
Desk of Dr. Lisa James

"Shut
the kid up!"

I
glared up at the man who'd thrown us into the hotel room. Rex was screaming as
I'd imagined, but they'd separated us so I couldn't soothe him.

"I
can't! He won't!" The other man struggled to secure my son.

"Momma!"

"Just
hit him!"

"don't
you dare touch him." While my blood was pumping and my heart thundering, I kept
my voice low and still.

"We
can't. Boss doesn't want them bruised, remember?"

The
man on my side of the room looked down at me, hunger burning in his eyes. "How
do you shut him up?"

I
started at him for a second more. "I need to be with him."

He
sneered. "Yeah, right, lady. I know this trick."

"It
is not a trick."

He
prodded me with the wooden stick he used for a crutch. "Give me a break."

"
Momma
!"
Rex's scream was ear-shattering. Both men covered their ears.

"Just
let her go! She can't get past us!"

The
man on my side let out a guttural growl and bent down to unshackle me. I held
my breath. I was going to do something risky, but necessary. As soon as both my
hands were free, I clenched my right fist and aimed for the man's temple. I
caught it at just the right angle and he went down. The other man didn't even
have time to react. I grabbed the walking stick and jumped to the other side of
the room. Without hesitation, I began beating the other man with the stick as hard
as I could. Rex continued to cry but was no longer screaming; the other man
was. I pummeled and pummeled until the screaming stopped. Then, I hunched over
to catch my breath.

"Momma!"

And
then I felt a sharp pain in my side. It was dull at first then white hot,
spreading into my left arm and down my leg. My vision went a bit fuzzy. A loud
shot resonated throughout the room. I slowly turned, clutching my side where
the pain began throbbing.

The
man was now on the ground, bleeding from his left shoulder. In his hand was a
dagger with a red tip. No, the tip wasn't red. That was my blood. he'd stabbed
me.

"Lisa!"

It
was Jack. I turned my tunneled gaze to him, but could barely get a word out.
All I could do was lift my hand to show him the wound. It needed to be treated
right away; that much I was sure of.

Jack
stared at it hard for a second or two, then turned to the man.

"what's
on that knife?"

The
man cackled. "Something wonderful."

Jack's
jaw clenched as he stooped down. Placing the barrel of some pistol against the
man's groin, he asked again. "what's on the knife?"

I
could see a ribbon of fear travel through the man's body. "Okay, okay. it's
LSD, man. Just chill. She'll be fine in an hour."

Just
as I slumped to the floor, I heard the blast of a gun and the man's head
exploded into a kaleidoscope of colors.

"Impressive."
I felt as though I'd said the word, but didn't hear it.

Jack's
face suddenly swam in front of mine. It literally swam. It seemed like he had
no body. His eyes were too large. He held up a hand in front of me.

"How
many fingers am I holding up?" His voice sounded distorted.

"Eighteen."

There
was a pause. "Not only is that very, very wrong, but I think you may have a
brain tumor."

"I'm
serious. There are eighteen. You should see a doctor about that. You should
only have ten. Twenty if we're counting toes."

He
gasped comically. "You know the situation is bad when Lisa makes a joke."

"I'm
actually not. You literally have eighteen fingers."

"No,
I don't. I was holding up three."

"What
on Earth are you talking about?"

He
just wasn't making any sense. A garbled cry caught my attention. When Jack
stood, a rainbow dripped from his knee.

"You
might want to get that checked out as well. Rainbows can turn septic."

"I
think the only person who's been higher than you are right now was Jack
Kerouac." He held out his eighteen-fingered hand and helped me up.

"Solid
reference." I used him to steady my feet. I couldn't understand why my left leg
refused to move. "I didn't know you'd read any Kerouac."

"I
haven't. But I've watched
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
about a
thousand times."

"Good
film."

"Momma!"

I
looked toward my son and felt utter and complete horror grip my heart. "Oh, my
God! There are snakes on him!" I lunged toward him and tried to fight off the
rattlesnakes winding themselves around his wrists, pinning him in place. I
didn't care about my safety.

"Lisa..."
Jack's hand fell on my shoulder. "They aren't snakes."

In my
panic, I stared up at him. How could he not see that my son was going to get
bitten?

"Yes,
there are. Please help me, Chase."

He
slid me gently out of the way. "The name's Jack, but anyway..."

"No.
you're Chase."

I
watched as he removed the snakes from my son"s wrists. They fell to the floor,
hissing and spitting, but stayed away from him. It was as if he'd done it
thousand times before.

"Chase
is dead, baby." When he stood up with Rex in his arms, I tried to stand too.
But a pull in my side stopped me. I looked down and noticed a rainbow leaking
from my shirt.

Rex's
eyes were also too large for his face. "Momma bleed."

I
couldn't understand what he was saying. "Does he have any rainbows?"

There
was a laugh under Chase"s next words. "No. No rainbows on this buddy, huh?"

Rex chomped
at the air.

"Come
on, pal." He lifted my son onto his shoulders, but turned to look at me before
he left. I didn't remember Chase having hazel eyes and light brown hair. I
remembered him dead. "Need help?"

I
shook my head. "Has anyone ever told you that you look like that actor?"

He
tilted his head at me. "I could guess, but give me more?"

I
searched my mind. "Van Wilder."

His
mouth twisted into a smile. "Yeah, everybody says that to me. it's probably
because we share a last name, though."

My
footsteps fell into place with theirs. "No you don't. you're last name is
Barclay."

"Bzzt!
Wrong! Best two out of three?"

"What
are you talking about?"

***

Birds.
I heard birds chirping. I hand't heard birds in months. The sound to sunk into
my very core. My muscles loosened. I allowed my eyes to flutter open. I was on
my back in the soft grass. I could smell it " sweet and earthy. The sky was
visible through the tree above me. The clouds lazily moved in formation. Had I
dreamt the entire apocalypse?

Then
the pain awakened my senses. The smell of grass and sound of birds ended
abruptly. My side was on fire. I gasped in a breath of stale air.

"Oh,
hey..." Jack's face hovered over me.

"Where
are we? What happened?" I tried to sit up, but the wave of pain radiated into
the entire left side of my body. Jack placed a hand behind my head.

"it's
ok. Lie back." His voice was soft and soothing. "Were in Las Vegas. At Paris
Paris. You were stabbed."

"I
distinctly heard birds and smelled grass."

Jack's
features suddenly turned anxious. "Yeah...the blade was tipped in LSD. You might...hallucinate
for a while."

I
pushed myself up slowly onto my elbows. He watched me the whole time. "Did I
call you Rex's father"s name? Were there snakes?"

"You
did and you thought there were. No snakes." His smile caught me a little
inside.

As I
moved, a new pain arose " a stinging burn. I winced.

"I
also had to use super glue to stitch you up."

"Super
glue?"

"Yeah.
you're the doctor here. What was I supposed to do? I wasn't going to let you
bleed out."

The
concern in his face was warming. "That was incredibly idiotic to risk your life
to save ours, you know."

"Glad
I could be of service." He grinned at me and I felt something form in the pit
of my stomach. I pushed it away immediately.

"where's
Rex?"

Jack
held out a hand and helped me stand on both feet. It was a difficult process,
but I could balance well enough. Rex was trotting along with Alex about three
yards away. He seemed so randomly happy and at home in such a strange place.

"Wait..."
I turned back to Jack. "What about all the men? Rupert?"

His face
turned stony. "it's been taken care of. No need to worry."

"You
killed him."

The
surprise in his features was enough to tell me he had. "I had to."

I
nodded. "I figured. Thank you for taking care of me."

He
shrugged. "Hey, no sweat."

After
feeling the wound under my shirt, I took a look around the casino. There were
still a few men left wandering around cautiously " watching us.

"What
about them?" I nodded toward one hiding behind a slot machine to Jack's left.
He turned to look.

"They're
not going to hurt us anymore. Or anyone else."

"But
we'll starve!" A voice rang high above us on a stairwell. A few murmurs echoed
afterward.

Jack
rolled his eyes at me. "Then hunt shit."

A
tickle of humor hit me.

"Hunt
what?!"

Jack
pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh, my God..."

"Hunt
the infected." I didn't think my words were offensive until everyone went
quiet. Even Jack was eyeing me. "
What
?"

"wouldn't
they all get infected?"

I
shook my head slowly. Did they really not know the basics? "Rabies can only
spread through coming into contact with saliva or nervous tissues of someone
who's been infected with the virus."

They
all remained quiet and staring. Jack made a circular motion with one hand,
urging me to continue.

"So,
cook them well. Stay away from the brains, organs and bone marrow. And avoid
the area where they were bit. Got it?"

There
was some shuffling around the room. "We...we can eat them..."

"Yes."

An
eruption of rejoice filled the casino. The man behind the slot machine jumped
out and began to dance. Jack stifled an amused chuckle. The dancing man pushed
past him and threw his skinny arms around me. My muscles tightened.

"Christ..."

He
smelled like three-week old rotted food. He was sticky and half-naked. I shut
my eyes tight.

"Thank
you," he whispered in my ear.

I pushed
my arms out to get him away from me. He was smiling while missing most of his
teeth. "you're welcome."

An
amused smile spread across Jack's face. "I think you have an admirer."

"Can
we leave?" I tried to brush the dirt off my shirt, but all I managed to do was
smudge the greasy human sweat into the cotton.

"Oh
yes!" The man pointed to the locked entrance. "You leave through there."

"Thanks.
Rex! Alex!"

The
two children looked our way then came toward us. I grabbed Rex's hand and
hurried toward the door without hesitation. The men unlocked the chains to open
up our prison. The air smelled so sweet.

"Thanks,
dudes!" Jack waved goodbye to them before the door closed behind us. Then, he
caught up to us like a child running to their parents. "That was great. you're
funny."

"Funny?
How is narrowly escaping death funny? How is killing another human being with a
walking stick funny?"

Jack
screwed up his face. "I changed my mind. you're no fun at all."

Alex
giggled.

"See?
Even she thinks you're a stick in the fucking mud."

Even
though I felt like laughing for the first time in months, I kept it to myself
and shook my head instead.

"You
said a bad word, Jack." Alex appeared at his side and gingerly took one of his
hands. It was a sweet sight to see.

"Did
I? I guess I did. Well, it's the end of the world, so not like it matters,
right? Fuck it."

Alex
giggled again. "Yeah. Fuck it."

"Hey!
That wasn't an invitation to throw
your
manners out the window. Watch
it, young lady."

Alex
laughed, which made Rex laugh. Jack joined in, but all I mustered was a smile.

October 17

The
school was huge. At least, I thought it was a school. It could have been
anything. It was so overgrown with ivy and caked with dust that I couldn't
decide on the spot. All I knew was that it was the only place we'd be safe.
Okay, so maybe I wasn't one-hundred percent sure, but we were all dog tired and
needed a shower. Plus, none of those...
things
were around.

I
pulled the SUV to a stop on a gravel blacktop that looked like it used to be a
basketball court. After switching off the ignition, I took a long look at Lisa.
She was sound asleep against the glass window. It was enough to make my stomach
hiccup. If stomachs can do that.

"Oscar,
Uniform, Tango!" I used my "six-inch" voice so I didn't scare them or draw any
attention to our position.

Lisa's
eyes fluttered open. "What?"

"NATO
alphabet."

She
paused while brushing fingers through her tangled hair.

"Why?"
Alex asked from behind me.

"Because
it's cool. how's little Romeo doing back there?"

There
was a hint of a smile behind Lisa's eyes, but it only lasted half a second
before she tossed her gaze into the backseat. "How long has he been sleeping?"

"Pretty
much since Vegas," Alex said. "Hey, Jack, what's my nickname?"

I
peered at her using the rearview mirror. "Well, J is Juliet. So I guess you
guys are Romeo and Juliet."

"Cool!"

Lisa's
and my gazes met briefly and all sound stopped. I could feel the electricity
between us, but I'd always been bad at that kind of stuff and figured it was
probably just static from the floor mats.

Lisa
shifted in her seat. "Oscar, Uniform, Tango?"

"Out!"
Lexi squealed.

"that's
right!" I reached back and we bumped fists.

For
the first time since we'd stopped, Lisa looked around. She placed both hands on
either side of her. I could tell she was nervous because her knuckles went
white. That seemed to happen around me spontaneously.

"Why"d
we stop?" There was mild panic in her voice.

"Stopping
is a good thing as long as we didn't run out of gas."

"
We
ran out of gas?
"

Oops.
"No. Sorry, that was a joke."

She
seemed to relax just a bit.

"See
that school...or whatever?" I gestured out the front windshield. "We're staying
the night."

"Is
it safe?"

"I
don't know what you mean. I can't tell you something's safe or not, unless I
know what you're talking about."

She
was silent for a long moment, just looking at me. "Movie quotes now. we're kind
of in a dire situation here. I think we should check it out, yes?"

I
smiled. "Yeah. I'll go check it out. You stay here with Romeo and Juliet and
lock the doors. If you see one of those things, just duck down."

She
nodded. The fear in her eyes had waned. She was almost used to this; I could
tell. That revelation made me sad. No one should
ever
be used to
something like what we were going through.

I
took a second before popping open the driver side door. Throwing one last look
at her, I stepped out into a dry heat.

"don't
take your time, Rain Man."

I
raised an eyebrow. "Was that a
joke
?"

She
shrugged. "I thought I'd try it out."

"how'd
it feel?"

"Dry."

"Sounds
about right. And it was
Marathon Man
."

"Rain
Man sounds better." Her voice went back to serious.

"Definitely
better."

We
shared a brief moment of humor as I shut the door. But her tight smile quickly
faded, replaced by anxiety. I knew she was anxious because she'd get these tiny
wrinkles around the corners of her mouth. I think I may have spent too long
thinking about her without going anywhere, because I heard a knock behind me.

"Are
you all right?" Her voice was muffled.

I
nodded and turned toward the large building. Lisa had done a decent job at
patching up my leg with what we had in the glove box, but it was still pretty
sore. The dryness of the earth threw up dust with each step I took. I could
taste the packed dirt as the last of the sun"s rays heated the ground. A cough
escaped me, but I kept going.

The
door to the building was standing open.

"Shit."

"No
kidding."

A
felt a dull throb in the back of my head as my peripheral vision filled with my
dead friend. "I can't talk to you right now." I spoke through gritted teeth
even though I was yards away from the SUV where Lisa, Alex and Rex were
waiting.

"Is
that any way to treat an old friend?"

I
stooped down to pick up a rock from the dry dirt. Throwing it into the open
hallway would attract the attention of any Biters if they were right inside.

"And
the wind up! And the pitch!" Silas narrated my every move with gusto.

The
rock flew about three or four feet, then skittered to a stop, echoing across
each wall. For that brief moment, Silas and I were both quiet, waiting for a
sound. Any sound. When nothing came after thirty seconds, I finally tossed a
glance his way and swallowed hard.

"you're
not looking so hot."

We
wandered slowly into the dark hallway. The building was indeed a school; with
lockers lining the halls and class doors off to each side.

"Who
me?" Silas's voice sounded surprised. He glanced down at the deep, pulsing hole
in his chest. I could see dark red lines spreading outward from the wound where
his shirt had ripped away. His skin had also started turning gray. "I got blood
poisoning because you murdered me."

I
shut my eyes as the throbbing in my head continued. After meeting the dead end
of the hallway, I decided to head back toward the stairs.

"What...ignoring
me now? That's not very polite."

I
rolled me eyes back in my head as I neared the stairs. Everything was dirty;
the walls, the lockers, the railings. There was a thick layer of dust on the
floor. I knelt down.

"No
footprints...means no one"s been here in a while."

"Man,
that Lisa you found...she's one hot piece."

Even
though Silas's words made my blood thicken, I ignored him still as I started
down the dark stairwell.

"If
no one's been up here in a while, there may be another way in down there."

"Let
me tell you...if I could have an hour with Angel Lisa, I'd do things to her
that'd make God blush."

I
stopped mid-step. "You know, you're a pain in the ass for a figment of my
imagination."

"Imagination?"

I
started down the stairs again.

"I'm
not
a figment of your imagination, Jacky Boy. I'm for real. I'm
in
your
head. you're going crazy, man. Face the facts. All work and no play makes Jack
a dull boy."

"I do
plenty of playing."

I
stopped when I heard the faint noise of what sounded like a footstep. Both
Silas and I stood still for a few seconds before hearing the sound again.

For a
random moment, I became tired. I was tired of everything going on. I was tired
of the monsters, of the lack of sleep, of being scared. Essentially, I was done.

So, I
cocked the shotgun " the very same shotgun that I had used to kill my best
friend " and began toward the sound.

All I
could hear was the blood rushing in my ears and one set of footsteps " my own.
All around me were classrooms with large glass windows. I could see discarded
equipment like Bunsen burners and heating coils. Science classrooms.

I
stopped when the scratching noise came once more. It was around the corner. I
waited. And then after waiting for three seconds, I decided enough was enough.
If I was going to face this shit, I was going to do it like a bastard.

"Hey!"
I shouted. My own voice startled me as it bounced off the glass windows. "Come
out!"

What
I heard next filled me with a sense of ridiculousness. A caw. It was a crow. It
hopped out from behind the corner and pecked at the ground. It took a brief
look my way, cawed again, then flew up to sit on an open door frame.

"A
black crow. Bad omen."

I
turned toward Silas. "Speaking of bad omens, get lost, Damien."

"Ooh.
someone's a grump."