Darlings of Decay

by Chrissy Peebles

  Dr. Blake cleared his throat. “Yes, well, our scientists are working around the clock to evaluate and improve the current vaccine. But, these things still take a considerable amount of time. I cannot stress enough, however, how important it is to get the current vaccine that is available right now.”

  Frowning, she replied, “What’s the point if it doesn’t seem to be working? What about those people who’ve been hospitalized? Countless numbers of patients who’ve slipped into comas; reports indicate they‘d all received the vaccination.”

  Dr. Blake smiled smugly. “I can assure you that if they hadn’t been vaccinated, they would have probably perished. We are quite confident that the vaccine has lessened the symptoms and has saved many lives thus far.”

  She released a heavy sigh. “I hope you’re right. One last thing…there have been accusations from certain leaders of the United Nations, claiming the virus was created by terrorists, specifically targeting countries the U.S. supports. What are your views on this?”

  He laughed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Utter nonsense. Come on, a terrorist virus? It’s just another strain of the seasonal flu. In a week or two we‘ll have a more powerful vaccine available to the public and this won’t seem like such a crisis. It‘s just the flu, nothing more.”

  Veronica sniffled and grabbed a tissue. “Excuse me.” She dabbed at her nose then smiled weakly. “A flu virus on…steroids?”

  “If that’s what you want to call it.”

  “Okay. Thank you for joining us tonight, Dr. Blake. This is Veronica King with WCCL, reminding everyone to keep taking your vitamins and stock up on tissues.”

  I sighed and turned off the television.

  There was a soft knock on my door and then my mother peeked in. “Cassie, Paige is on the phone,” she said.

  “Wow…nice look, mom,” I snorted. Pieces of brown hair stuck out of a plastic cap and her face was covered with thick, green slime.

  She smiled and patted her head. “Oh, you like this?”

  “It‘s awesome. Dad‘s going to love it, seriously.”

  Her hazel eyes sparkled with amusement. “You think? Your dad and I are going to a party this weekend and I’d hate to embarrass him.”

  “He‘ll be the envy of all the other guys with you on his arm.”

  She left and I could hear her giggling all the way down the hall.

  I picked up the phone. “Hi.”

  “Hi, Cassie.”

  “So I heard about the slumber-party.”

  “Yeah, but unfortunately I made plans with Nora for Saturday night.”

  “Do you think she’d want to hang out with all of us? I don’t have any plans yet for this weekend and my folks are going out. As long as she behaves herself, we should have fun.”

  I cracked up. “Honestly, Nora’s not that bad. She told Eva King off in the bathroom earlier today; it was awesome! You both might have more in common than you think.”

  “Really? In that case, she‘s definitely invited. Let me know what she says.”

  After I hung up with Paige, I called Nora to find out if she’d be willing to go to Paige’s Saturday night. Fortunately, she liked the idea.

  “So she has a swimming pool? That sounds cool. I’ll hang,” said Nora.

  “Okay. I’ll let Paige know.”

  “Sweet!”

  I hung up the phone right as Allie rushed into my room.

  “Excuse me? Knock before you enter,” I said.

  Her eyes were large. “Oh, my God…you have to watch the news! Some hospital in France was attacked by a bunch of crazy patients. I guess they were acting like cannibals, eating each other’s flesh! Can you believe it? How gross is that?”

  I made a face. “Really?”

  We turned on the television. Sure enough, every channel was reporting about the incident. On one station, an anchorman stood outside of the French hospital where their local police surrounded the building.

  “So far, there have been reports of at least fifty fatalities during this bizarre attack. The building has now been secured and everything seems to be under control. At least ten people have been arrested and detained; all were patients that were being treated in the hospital when this madness occurred. We’ll have more updates for you in just a minute.”

  “Okay, that’s enough,” I said, turning off the television. “I don’t want to hear any more. This stuff gives me nightmares, so if you want to watch the news, do it in your room.”

  Allie blew on her freshly painted nails. “No, that’s okay. It’s too freaky for me to watch, too. Anyway …did you talk to Nora yet about Saturday?”

  “Yes, she’s interested,” I said, picking up my iPod.

  “Cool. I like Nora and I really love her tattoo.”

  Nora had several tattoos, but the one Allie was referring to was of a small fairy on the back of her neck. A blue fairy covered in chainmail that was scowling and stood ready to kick ass.

  I looked at my sister in surprise, as far as I could remember, she’d always been a girly-girl. “Isn’t that a little dark for your tastes?”

  She looked at me like I was an alien. “No. In fact I’m going to see if I can get my nose pierced for my birthday this year.”

  I snorted. “Good luck with that. I’d like to see dad’s expression when you run it by him.”

  She put her hands on her waist and scowled. “Mom will let me.”

  “Right…”

  Allie mumbled something and then left the room.

  Tweens, I thought. They think they know everything.

  Chapter Five

  I woke up Tuesday morning without Jed sneaking up on me or any remnants of a nightmare where someone was trying to eat my brains. When I made it to the bathroom without any kids charging after me, I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. The house was so unnaturally quiet that it put me on edge and I just couldn’t enjoy it.

  When I made it to the kitchen, my dad was eating and reading the paper.

  “Well, this is kind of a nice change,” commented my dad as he finished a bowl of cereal. Normally he brought his breakfast downstairs to his Man Cave.

  “Nice? It’s weird. Megan is the only one here and it’s too quiet,” I answered.

  “I’ll take the weird and quiet any day,” he said then glanced at his watch. “Shoot, I’m running late. Bye, sweetheart.” He stood up and kissed the top of my head.

  “See you later, dad.”

  Just then two-year-old Megan came barreling into the kitchen, giggling. “Hi, Cassie!” she shouted.

  “Hi, Megan,” I answered as she flung herself at me, wrapping her arms tightly around my legs. We’d watched her since she was a baby and I had to admit, she held a special place in my heart.

  I kneeled down and tugged her hair. “Oh…your hair looks so cute today!” Her short blond hair was pulled tightly into two little ponytails. She touched them proudly and smiled with her big doe eyes.

  “Where Jed?” she asked.

  I poked her playfully in the tummy. “Don’t know.”

  She giggled and then asked, “Where Daniel?”

  “Don’t know,” I said, this time tickling her.

  She laughed hysterically as I continued to tickle her. When she’d had enough, I put her on my lap and she asked about the remaining daycare kids.

  I sighed. “Sorry, I really don’t know. I think most of them are sick and stayed home with their mommies to get better.”

  Just then my mom walked into the kitchen and informed me that everyone was sick with the flu. Except for Megan and her mother, Sara, who was six months pregnant.

  “Thank God Sara’s not sick with this virus,” I replied.

  “And she’s not getting that vaccination, either. I talked her out of it,” declared my mom proudly.

  “Daddy sick,” Megan said, matter-of-factly. She then raced back into the toy area.

  “Oh. Well hopefully he doesn’t get either of them sick,” I said.

  “I heard
that Kevin is just miserable and wants her to stay away from him. I told Sara she could stay here if she wanted to, since her folks live a couple of hours away, and she still has to work. At least until after Megan’s dad gets better. But she declined. She just doesn’t want to impose. Plus, she really wants to take care of him.”

  “Oh,” I said. I looked at my mom’s hair. It looked pretty with the new highlights and colored gray. “Your hair looks nice, mom.”

  She smiled at me. “Thanks, honey.”

  “And have you lost some weight?” I asked.

  “Maybe a little,” she replied, looking down. “I haven’t had time to eat much this week with all of the kids being sick. I’m actually relieved that most of them are gone today.”

  “So am I,” I replied. When the kids were here, my germ phobia was on high alert. Lately, it’s begun to recede.

  My mom turned on the small television sitting on the kitchen counter. She poured herself a cup of coffee and began flipping through the channels.

  “I’m going to karate class again tonight, mom,” I told her.

  “Um?” she replied, not really paying attention.

  I raised my voice. “I said, I won’t be home until after eight this evening. I’m getting a free manicure from Mae and then I’m going to karate.”

  She turned to me and put her arm around my shoulder. “I’m sorry, honey. I wasn’t trying to ignore you. I was just trying to see if there are any updates about the crisis in Europe.”

  I grabbed a fresh blueberry muffin that was sitting on the stove. “Crisis? Are you talking about that attack at the French hospital?”

  She took a sip of coffee. “Well, there’s been a string of violence and rioting in other countries as well. France, Germany, Italy, everywhere. It’s kind of crazy.”

  “Are they terrorist attacks?”

  “That’s the thing... nobody is really sure who is doing it or why it keeps happening. The government isn’t releasing any information and the media is bewildered. It’s just really…bizarre.”

  “I’m sure it will all blow over,” I answered, dismissing it. To me it seemed that violence was pretty normal all over the world at any given moment.

  She shrugged and then turned off the television. “Could you pick up Allie tonight at Kylie’s? They are working on some science project. That way her mom won’t have to drive her home.”

  “Fine, but it won’t be until after eight o’clock.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll let them know. Thanks, honey.”

  ~~~

  My truck sputtered to life and then made some weird puttering noises as I drove over to Paige’s house. When she got in to the truck, she looked at me nervously.

  “Are you sure we’re going to make it to school in this rig? It sounds pretty bad.”

  I raised my eyebrows and lied through my teeth. “Ye of little faith…of course I’m sure!”

  “Well…okay.”

  “You worry too much, Paige.”

  She shrugged and then her eyes became really round. “I forgot to tell you! Guess what?”

  “What?” I asked.

  “My mom got a tattoo on her lower back! A butterfly tattoo.”

  I smiled. “Your mom got a ‘tramp stamp’?”

  That’s what some of the guys at school liked to call lower back tattoos.

  She nodded. “Oh, my God… yes! Dan made her do it.”

  “I’m sure your mom had some say.”

  Kristie isn’t exactly what I’d call a pushover. She has a sharp tongue and the body of an amazon to back it up.

  “I don’t know, but if she starts getting piercings on odd places of her body, I’m not sticking around.”

  I burst out laughing, trying to imagine Kristie with a tongue ring and a new lisp.

  “It’s not funny,” said Paige, trying to stop the smile threatening her lips.

  My eyes were watering I was laughing so hard. “Oh, come on. It’s funny!”

  She folded her hands across her chest. “Okay, think about your mom getting her nose pierced or something further south.”

  I grimaced. “Okay, that’s totally not funny.”

  The truck made some weird snorting noise and we both looked worriedly at each other.

  “Just please…get us to school,” begged Paige.

  I nodded and we drove in a nervous silence. Miraculously, we made it with minutes to spare.

  “Great, it’s Eva,” I muttered, watching as her red car pulled up next to ours. To make matters worse, my truck backfired as she was sliding out of her car.

  Eva ignored us completely, which was a pleasant surprise to us both. The way she was blowing her nose made it obvious as to why.

  The entire school day was pretty much uneventful, although there were even less students than yesterday. Many brought signed permission slips, and the line leading to the gymnasium, where the shots were being administered, was never-ending.

  Because I wasn’t getting any kind of vaccination, I did what I could to avoid getting sick by sucking on vitamin C lozenges throughout the day and drinking bottled green tea. When the final bell of the day rang, we were almost the last vehicle in the parking lot and someone had to give us a jump.

  “See you tomorrow?” I asked her.

  “I might get a ride from Jeremy,” she answered. “Call me if you want one as well.”

  I nodded, hoping that my truck would hold up a few more days. It was probably time to talk to my dad about getting it fixed.

  When I arrived at the nail shop, Mae greeted me with open arms then stared at my eyebrows with disapproval.

  “Eyebrows first,” she announced and then dragged me to the back of the shop where she pushed me into a high-backed leather reclining chair. She reclined it until I was looking straight up at her. Taking a small eyebrow comb, she brushed my eyebrows then carefully spread something warm above my eyelids.

  “Wax,” she murmured staring intently at my unruly eyebrows.

  “Oh.”

  “Relax,” she demanded, pressing firmly down on them. I closed my eyes and she ripped away a strip of eyebrow hair.

  “Ahhh!” I gasped.

  She gave me a wry smile. “Not that bad.”

  When Mae spread wax above my other eye, I grasped onto the arms of the chair and waited as she counted.

  “One, two…” and then she tore it off.

  I flinched and looked up at her. “Hey! What happened to three?”

  She patted my arm and laughed. “Better this way. Hair comes out easier when you don’t tense up.”

  Mae then picked up the tweezers and began plucking away. When she appeared satisfied with the results, she applied some kind of gel that immediately soothed my irritated skin. She handed me a mirror; my skin was bright pink above my eyes, but I had to admit, my brows definitely looked more sophisticated. I grinned and nodded my approval.

  “No more bushes,” she stated proudly.

  “Yes, thank you.”

  Next, Mae took me over to a nail technician.

  “This Ming,” she said and turned to the young girl. “French nails. Sports length.”

  Ming nodded and gave then me a sympathetic look as she examined my nails.

  “Pretty bad, huh?” I asked.

  She shrugged and then began transforming my stubby nails into something less pathetic. Forty-five minutes later, after thanking Mae profusely, I left the shop, unable to stop staring at my new French manicure. My fingertips had never looked so clean and white.

  Chapter Six

  I was ravenous when I left Mae’s shop, but there wasn’t enough time to stop anywhere for food. I remembered a vending machine in the karate studio, so I scrounged around in my purse and found some loose change.

  The studio is located in the same mini-mall, just two doors down from the nail shop. As I stopped by my truck to grab my sports bag, I noticed Bryce’s motorcycle parked nearby, and the butterflies in my stomach began to flutter. I took a deep breath and walked through the door.
r />   The front viewing room was unoccupied, the receptionist gone, but the vending machine was full, luckily, with one of my favorite snacks. I purchased a bag of dill pickle potato chips and washed it down with a bottle of water. Knowing I was alone, I released a silent burp but then panicked; my breath was horrible! I scrounged around in my jeans and found enough money for a pack of mints. At least I wouldn’t be attacking anyone with my rancid breath.

  Slipping into the locker room, I brushed my hair back into a ponytail, applied some mascara, and put on some lip gloss that my sister had given me last night. With my new eyebrows, I had to admit I looked pretty darn good.

  Glancing at the time, I noticed that I was running late, so I rushed to put on my uniform. I tied my belt quickly and then respectfully entered the dojo.

  Bryce and Scott were off in a corner practicing with Bokkens, which are wooden Samurai training swords. I caught Bryce’s eye briefly as he leaped over Scott’s Bokken, and counter-attacked. My heart raced as I watched them swinging, jumping, and striking at each other so sinuously. Although I could see that both guys were extremely talented with their Bokkens, there was no denying that Bryce was the expert.

  When they finished up, Scott greeted me with a warm smile while Bryce barely acknowledged my presence, offering only a curt nod as he put his equipment away. It was unnerving, especially after the way he’d teased me only the day before.

  “Cassie,” said Scott, kneeling next to me while I stretched my legs. “I’ve been meaning to ask you…what do you think of Nora?”

  I’d completely forgotten about Nora. “Nora? Where is she? She was supposed to be here.” Come to think about it, I hadn’t remembered seeing her at school earlier in the day either.

  He ran a hand over his face and sighed. “Well, I went to pick her up earlier and she was upset. She can’t get in touch with her dad, doesn’t know exactly which city he’s in, and with the violence going on in Germany, she’s really freaking out. She stayed home with her grandmother to comfort her and find out what’s going on.”

  I stood up quickly. “Oh, shoot! Maybe I should give her a call and see if I can help, somehow.”