I walked over to Tim and looked down. Sweat dripped off him in steady streams and little patches of boils had already formed on his face and hands. I thought maybe that was how it was being transmitted. I went to the cabinet and pulled out blankets to cover him with. Snapping the blue neoprene gloves on my hands, I made my way closer to him. I had a pair of small scissors in my pocket and used them to cut slits for his eyes and breathing tube. Reaching over to make sure it covered him completely, I was standing to walk around his bed when it happened.
His hand reached from under the blanket and grabbed me by the coat. I tried to break free, but his strength was greater than mine. Still having the gloves on, I tried to pry his grip from me. It tightened and I heard his fingers snap under the force. Blood trickled out of the wound by his knuckle. He didn’t seem to notice or feel pain as he pulled me in closer.
There were only a few inches between my face and his. His hot breath hit me, and I tried not to inhale, but I had to when my lungs began to burn. The smell coming from him was a mix of sauerkraut and rotting meat. Turning my head to avoid him as long as I could, I closed my eyes when I felt his teeth graze my cheek.
Letting out a low rumble, I felt drops of spit hit my face. Fighting still to get away, I wasn’t winning. I knew it was the end for me. I was going to die right there in that room by the hand of an old friend.
Thud.
I looked up as my coat was dropped and I stumbled backwards. Marissa stood there with a metal tray in her hand and Tim was still in his bed.
CHAPTER TWO
I crouched behind the old oak tree in Mrs. Warner’s backyard. I could still hear the sirens wailing in the distance. It hadn’t been that long ago when they came through our neighborhood, for the second time, a voice wailing through a speaker. “Stay inside. Avoid contact with others. If you or your family are infected, place a sheet on your door and assistance will come to you when available.” It had all been bullshit, though. They didn’t understand what it was like. They didn’t have to sit there and watch the people they loved go through the insanity of whatever this was. How could they expect me to stay in that house?
With a quick scan of the area, I saw my opening. I hurried from my hiding spot; the feel of the soft grass of the old woman’s freshly mowed lawn tickling my feet. I hadn’t had a chance to grab my shoes. I wish I had. With the smell emanating from my brother’s ravaged body, and the way dad lurched from his easy chair, I couldn’t take the chance. The sight of the ooze running from the sores on his face will haunt me. The way my brother Keith had gnawed at his own flesh would give me nightmares. What I’d had to do to escape the only home I’d ever known may fuck with me more.
As I ran, I tried to decide where I should go. I didn’t know who was left in the neighborhood, if anyone was. The screaming, the wails of pain, they had all finally quieted. Honestly, I didn’t know if I preferred the pandemonium or the eerie quiet I was now engulfed in. Both made me wish I’d never woken up this morning.
“Camilla Jolene! What are you doing out of your house?”
I froze in my tracks. It doesn’t matter how old you are, when one of the people you’ve known all your life calls your name in such a way, you listen. Slowly, I turned to see my ex-babysitter, Norene, peering out her front door, her blue eyes hard as steel and her posture telling me she’d come after me if I ignored her tone of voice.
Hoping I wasn’t making a mistake, I rushed toward her door, my eyes immediately scanning her windows for movement. In the past couple of years, long after she stopped looking after me and my brother, Norene married her second husband. I knew he should be in the house somewhere. I just had no idea where.
“Didn’t you hear the instructions from the deputies? Why would you risk being out?” she asked as she moved from her door and ushered me inside. Immediately, the smell turned my stomach. Something wasn’t right.
“Dad and Keith,” I started then shivered at the thoughts in my head. “They’re…they’re gone.”
“Oh, sweetheart. I’m so sorry.”
I felt her hand touch my shoulder and winced. Pulling away quickly, I look back in time to see both the hurt in her face and the patch of open sores on her hand. Her eyes followed my own gaze, bringing a heavy sigh from the now frail woman. I caught myself wishing Norene was still the strong, sassy woman I remembered from when I was ten. Instead, time had marched its way across her body, leaving spider veins, dark circles under her eyes, and grey in her hair. If life hadn’t moved on, maybe she would stand a chance. I know already what the outcome will be.
“Find somewhere safe. Do you hear me, Cammy! Go to the hospital. I talked to Jake earlier today. That’s where he’s going. They need him there, but he’ll take care of you. You know how smart that grandson of mine is.”
I tried to find the right words to say to her. I didn’t have the chance to offer any kind of goodbyes to Dad or Keith. It wouldn’t feel right to walk away from her and do the same. “I’ll send someone, Norene. I’ll tell Jake what’s going on. He’ll make sure they treat you.”
She reached forward but noticed the way I shrank back from her touch. “You can’t tell him. He’ll just worry. He needs to keep himself together. Just get to him, Cammy. The two of you grew up together. He can trust you.”
I felt tears threatening to take over. There’s no time for that though. Instead, I nodded my head slowly, then moved back toward the front door. I wanted to run but couldn’t seem to make myself move away from her like she was some monster waiting to tear into me the way Keith did Dad.
“Here, you can take my car. It’ll be safer for you. You don’t know how many people out there are sick. The news people say whatever this is, it’s spreading fast. The CDC is working on it though. I’m sure they’ll have it figured out soon enough.”
I caught the keys she tossed at me and wondered if that had been a mistake. Before things inside the house went insane, I watched the news; I listened to them try and explain about avoiding exposure. I did all those things. I thought Keith did too, but, in the end, it did no good. He still broke out in the sores that leaked infection and the stomach-turning stench. He tore at his own body while whatever the virus is ate away at his flesh like it was its own personal buffet. Within hours, he wasn’t my brother anymore. He was some animal, gnawing at his own body, screaming with a primal rage. Then he went after Dad, which showed me firsthand how easy this thing could spread.
“Thank you, Norene.” Why does saying goodbye have to be so hard? “Take care of yourself, please,” I finished then turn for the car sitting in her driveway. By the time I’m inside, latching my seatbelt, she’s back inside, in the window, digging at the boils on her hand. I needed to leave in the worst way. I cranked the car, hearing the tires spin as I raced off toward the edge of town and the hospital where I hoped help would be waiting.
The chaos on the streets was nothing compared to that of the hospital parking lot. Cars were sitting, still idling, no one near them. Others were parked haphazardly, like the drivers had given up on whatever they were doing and ran off into the madness unleashed on our town.
Getting as close to the front entrance as possible, I put the car in park, then climbed out. I didn’t know whether stepping through the doors of the hospital was the smartest decision; there were sick people inside, possibly several dealing with the virus. Still, I knew if anyone had an idea of what any of us should do, it would be Jake.