Original Blood

by Greene, Steve

  She gave a quick shot of fright and outrage. Had she been that obvious about having it accessible? “Please, leave me alone.” She said under her breath. Her teeth and fists were clenched. She was ready for a fight. She was more afraid than she had ever been, but ready to fight, nonetheless.

  The man leaned over to her, again whispering, “When it begins, stay close to me and you will be safe.”

  “What? What the hell are you talking about?” She asked loud enough to turn a few heads.

  A knowing smile crept up the corners of the man’s mouth, but he said nothing.

  A loud thump, as if something hit the roof of the bus, gave everyone a fright. Then came another thump, followed by the fleshy patter of something moving towards the front of the bus along the roof. The bus driver was peering over his shoulder attempting to locate the source of the sound when the windshield exploded in a spray of glass and two dark, humanoid shapes vaulted into the bus. It was too dark to see who or what they were, but the inhuman scream one of the things emitted, sent everyone’s survival mode into overdrive and the bus came alive with a panicked frenzy.

  People began to scream as the things pounced on them. The bus began to slow and stray from the road. Julia realized the bus driver had already been killed. She screamed as she stood to run for the door, but the tall man already had a hand on her arm. She never saw the short man move, but he was already standing in front of them with his back to the rear of the bus in a fighting stance. The tall man remained ever so calm and said, “If you want to live, you must come with us. Now!”

  Julia didn’t need any coaxing. She watched as one of the shadowy, humanoid things removed a man’s head from his shoulders like a leg from a Thanksgiving turkey. She hadn’t even agreed to go with them when the tall man seemed to pick her up with one arm wrapped around her and the other arm pounding the emergency exit open. In an instant, they were flying out the opening near the rear of the bus. She braced herself for an impact with the pavement, but to her amazement, the tall man landed on his feet. He scooped under her legs with his other arm and they were running. Running faster than she thought a person could run, much less while holding someone in their arms. The trees were whizzing by when she noticed the short man running next to them.

  A human figure came screaming from the trees with its arms up and mouth open as if to pounce. Julia saw the silvery gleam of a large revolver emerge from the short man’s jacket and with an ear shattering crack, the humanoids head was gone. They continued to run.

  “Here, Ledge!” The tall man yelled as he darted into the forest with the short man at his heels. She looked over the tall man’s shoulder and could see movement in the trees above. Dark, sinewy shapes leapt from limb to limb.

  “Oh my God! They’re everywhere! Look out!” She screamed just as the short man spun and hammered one of the things in the face with the back of his fist. It flew into the bushes and the short man continued running behind them.

  A few seconds more and they burst through into a clearing and continued towards a dark SUV parked alongside a dirt road. She had no idea where she was. It was too dark and they had taken too many twists and turns. Before she knew it, the tall man was throwing her into the backseat of the truck and climbing in behind her. The short man jumped into the driver’s seat.

  The engine roared, the tires squealed and they were moving down the road. The things chasing them didn’t give up, however. They hadn’t gone far when she heard a thud on the roof. The short man slammed on the brakes and a humanoid form flew ahead of the truck hitting and rolling along the pavement. It sat up and looked back at them and for the first time, in the headlights of the SUV, Julia got a good look at their attackers.

  The thing sitting up in the road was a man. A very plain and average looking man, made only slightly unique by the crazed look in his eyes. The short man driving the truck made only a cursory stop before stomping on the accelerator and running over the man in the road. The huge vehicle came up off the ground a little as they powered over the body.

  Julia was horrified. Who the hell were these people? And why the hell did I go with them? She was quickly reminded of why she went with them when another man, this one morbidly obese, slipped out of the darkness and hurled himself at the side of the SUV like a torpedo as the truck past. There was a metallic crunch and the truck fishtailed to the side for an instant, but the short man was able to recover quickly and keep the truck on the road. Julia looked behind them and saw the man lying in a heap on the side of the road, while a svelte looking female emerged from the woods and gave chase. “Oh my God! What the hell are those things?”

  The tall man was the epitome of calm. “Don’t worry. They can’t keep up with a moving vehicle for long.”

  “For long? Can’t keep up with a moving vehicle for long? Oh God, what’s happening?” She wasn’t sure if she was asking the tall man or God himself. She thought of all the zombie horror movies she had watched as a child. “Those aren’t zombies. Tell me they’re not zombies. Or some government experiments gone wrong. What are those things?” This question was aimed directly at the tall man. Her tone was razor sharp.

  “No, not zombies, not government experiments. They are the pariah, the tainted. We call them hell dogs. The making of such creatures is a shameful act, forbidden. Their presence can only mean one thing… Insurrection.”

  “Hell dogs? Insurrection?”

  A wry grin appeared on the tall man’s face. “The virus affects everyone differently. Many will be aware of themselves as the virus puts us through our… changes. Still, many more become hell dogs. Sometimes controllable, easily manipulated, animalistic. They represent the lowest level of human evolution. They are violent and bloodthirsty beings. Just people, really. Enraged people with superhuman strength and a taste for flesh until…” He trailed off.

  “Until? Until what? What virus? And you said us. Do you mean that you are one of those things?” She was slowly edging away from him as she spoke. She was beginning to wonder if being ripped apart by animalistic hell dogs, as he called them, wouldn’t have been better than what these two psychos could do to her. And she had willingly gotten into a car with them!

  “Have we been infected by the virus?” The tall man asked. “Yes. Are we the same as the hell dogs? No. Hell dogs are little more than guard dogs let off the leash. Someone sent them after you.”

  “Me? Why me?”

  “You are a Precog, Julia Beaumont. Your dreams are valuable to a great many people, but you do not yet understand them.”

  She didn’t know if she was more shocked by him knowing her name or knowing about the dreams. She never told anyone about the dreams. How could he know about them? She closed her mouth when she realized it was hanging open. Before she could talk, the tall man spoke again.

  “You may call me Avery, and the strapping young lad in the driver’s seat is known as Ledge.” Ledge glanced back and nodded. “Ledge doesn’t talk much. He’s kind of the strong, silent type.” Avery said. Ledge smiled a little but kept his eyes on the road.

  “What does this virus do to you? Do I have it? And where are we going?” The last question had a hint of irritation in it. She was surprised at how well she was handling this.

  “The virus brings a number of physical… changes…” Avery smiled and for the first time, she noticed the sharp points his eye teeth came to. She flinched as if she’d been slapped. Avery went on as though he hadn’t noticed her reaction. “You have not been infected by the virus. I assure you, you would know. The virus can only be transmitted through saliva introduced directly into the bloodstream. Think of it as the human form of rabies. And lastly, we are taking you someplace safe.”

  “Where is safe?”

  “The same place we were going to take your mother, but our team was too late.”

  Panic struck her. Mom! She had been so scared she had completely forgotten where she was going when the bus was attacked. What did he mean their team was too late? “Are you telling me that those t
hings got my mom?”

  “No, not in the way you are thinking. She was infected, not killed, though your doctors will not see it any differently.”

  She wasn’t sure if it was the questions or the answers that were more alarming. Her head hurt so badly, she knew she couldn’t handle any more of either of them for a while. “I need to get to my mom. You need to take me to my mom!”

  “I am sorry, Miss Beaumont, but that is a distinct impossibility. It’s much too dangerous. Times are changing and they will begin to change more rapidly over the next few weeks. We will do all we can to get you to your parents as soon as we can. But for now…” He trailed off and shook his head.

  She couldn’t take it anymore. She yanked hard on the door handle and shoved, but it didn’t move. “Let me out of here, you psycho!” She yelled. She slammed her shoulder into the door two or three times for good measure, then felt a prick in her other shoulder. She looked over to see Avery holding a small syringe.

  “I’m sorry, Julia. It’s for your own good. You will understand when you know more. Many more questions will be answered in time. For now, sleep and we’ll be at Sanctuary before you know it.”

  “You Sumana Bitch.” Her words came out of her mouth all jumbled even though her mind knew what she was trying to say. Son of a Bitch! You Son of a Bitch! She turned her head away from Avery and set her forehead against the glass of the car door and watched the road slip by underneath them. She tried to grab at the door handle again, but her fingers went numb and she could barely grasp the handle. Her hand gave one feeble tug before dropping to her side. A tear left a shiny trail down her cheek but she never felt it. Mom. She said in her head, but it came out of her like a moan and tears began to run freely from her eyes.

  She left her bag on the bus during the confusion. She had nothing. Everything she had to identify her was in that bag. She hoped they would be able to return her body to her parents when this was over. They were vampires, that was clear. But probably worse than that. Not real vampires, but a couple dickhead frat boys out looking to live out their sicko Goth fantasies. Only, she surmised, things would eventually go wrong and she would die due to some odd complication. Then the two idiots would freak out and dump her body in some festering water treatment plant reservoir. They would finally discover her body when the decayed remains got sucked into one of the water pumps at the bottom of the pool. It wasn’t the most glamorous death a girl could hope for, but Julia had never asked for much. But then again, they couldn’t have possibly set up the scene on the bus. That was real. She was sure of it.

  Millions of questions fluttered through her mind. None of which, she had answers to. And with the drug really beginning to take effect, her thoughts were getting muddier by the moment. All she could muster was, “How long?” She wasn’t sure if it came out right but somehow Avery understood her and answered.

  “A couple of hours, yet.” Came the reply.

  She never looked away from the road. They had gotten onto the interstate at some point and the yellow line on the right side of the road became a tear-blurred serpent that wove back and forth with the rhythm of the tires on the asphalt. She wanted to be coherent. She wanted to be lucid during her last few moments on Earth, even if they were painful. She was sure they were going to kill her. Her only regret was not telling her family how much she loved them. Her family was what held her thoughts in those final moments before she fell into a deep, dark sleep.

  Chapter 5

  Madeline woke up to complete blackness. The stifling reek of fresh latex invaded her nostrils. A plastic sheet lay over her face. She lifted her arms only to find that the plastic went down as far as she could feel. Even her feet were covered. She felt for the edge of the sheet and was alarmed to find that the plastic surrounded her. She was in a bag of some sort! She snuck her hands up near her face and felt around. Finding a zipper in the bag, she was able to hook one fingernail behind the closer and pull it down to open the bag. She tried to sit up but she hit her head on a metal ceiling, just inches above where she lay. A cold metal slab lay beneath her and she reached out to her sides to feel the metal walls close on either side. Oh God! Where am I? She thought. The stench of death and rot surrounded her. The air was cold, refrigerated. She reached above her head and found another metal wall. She had to squirm down the metal slab she was lying on to feel the metal wall at her feet. Claustrophobia struck her like a fist. She screamed and kicked the wall at her feet. The metal slab she was lying on shifted up slightly and thudded into the wall above her head when she did. She pushed again with the same result. She pushed more vigorously again and again. The air inside her prison cell grew warmer from her breath but she continued to scream and slam the table back and forth.

  She heard a click above her head and light flooded the chamber. She had already begun to kick with her feet once more and with the opening above her, the table rolled through the opening above her and stopped abruptly in front of a wide-eyed man in a lab coat. The man screamed and staggered backwards. She screamed as well and the young man tripped over a small riser in the floor and fell backwards. Maddie vaulted from the table she was on, kicked her feet out of the remainder of the latex bag, and stumbled to the cinder block wall on the opposite end of the room. She crouched in the corner of the room and hugged herself with her arms. She was cold and shivering now. She looked down and saw that she was naked. There was a nagging at her foot where she found a cardboard tag tied to her big toe with wire. She removed the tag and her memory flooded back. The party. The thing that attacked me. Phillip! Ginny! Oh God, are they okay? She held the toe tag, cupped in her palm, afraid of what it said. Beaumont, Madeline J. Dead on arrival. But she wasn’t dead. She was very much alive.

  She looked around the room. The man in the lab coat was motionless on the other side of the room. He had either hit his head on something or passed out from fright. She was in a morgue. She had a clear view of the refrigeration chambers on the other side of the room. The one she had been stored in sprawled open with the table extended. The body bag she had been sealed in lay on the floor nearby. The room was filled with lights hanging over stainless steel tables. There were medical instruments of all shapes and sizes strewn around the room in various stages of use.

  Obviously, they thought she was dead, but why? She felt better than she had in years! Even the pain in her knee from the car accident she had been in as a child was gone. She stood and began to scan the room for some clothing. One arm remained across her breasts as the other scoured the countertops for something to wear even though the only one that could see her was the unconscious man in the middle of the room. She found her tattered dress in a bag labeled “evidence”. That was one dress that could never be worn again. In a hamper in the bathroom, she was able to dig up a pair of scrubs that barely fit her. She was pulling on the pants when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and stopped. The wound on her neck was still there and the rest of her body was riddled with scratches and cuts. But underneath that was something else, something astounding.

  Her body didn’t look old anymore. Her skin felt as though it had been pulled tight across her entire body. Her legs looked supple and muscular. Her stomach was tight and lean. Her breasts were firm and stood up as if she were twenty years old again! Her hair was the same lustrous white, but it didn’t look brittle and frail. Now it shimmered in layers and flowed around her, hanging down to the middle of her back. Even her face had been washed of the wrinkles incurred by age. She leaned into the mirror to see if her eyes were deceiving her, but up close, her skin looked even more perfect, more flawless. Her eyes hadn’t gotten younger. Her eyes were like someone else’s eyes. Someone wild. They used to be blue. Now they were so deep blue, they were nearly purple. And as she looked closer still, she noticed small rings of red around her pupils. What is going on?

  She came back to the task at hand and finished getting dressed, feeling a little unnerved. She didn’t know what to do next. She ran to see if the unconscious man was al
right. He was breathing. She put her hand to his chest and felt the thump of his heartbeat. She felt a tingle in her groin that surprised her. She and Philip had been as close as any couple for forty years, but at sixty-three years old, sexual arousal was not something that came easily. She lowered her head to the man’s chest and took a deep breath. The tingle turned into a wave of sensation. She could smell his pheromones. She could smell the blood flowing beneath his skin. The yearning for him came out of her like a moan she couldn’t control. She put her mouth on his neck and felt the pulse of his brachial artery with her tongue. She began to bite his neck, lightly at first, then hard. His unconscious body shuddered and she forced herself to push away from him.

  What was she doing? What’s going on? She looked at the unconscious man on the ground in disgust. He had a light pink ring the shape of her mouth on his neck. What had she been about to do? She wanted to bite into his throat. She wanted to rip him open and drink his blood. Drink his blood! Her stomach turned in on itself. She wretched but nothing came out. How could she have wanted to do that? And worse yet, she almost hadn’t been able to stop herself!

  She had to get out of there. She had to get to someplace familiar. She had to find Philip and Ginny and make sure they were alright. She staggered from the morgue. Her feet made fleshy sounds as she padded down a cold, dingy hallway. She found a linen closet with a few small footlockers inside and an old pair of tennis shoes that fit her. The next door she found was a staircase that only led up.

  One flight up and she found herself on the ground floor of a busy hospital. In her scrubs, no one paid her any mind. People were too busy hustling to and fro to care about another doctor or nurse. She followed the signs to the ER where she saw a startling amount of injured people sitting in the waiting room. Nearly all of them had some form of makeshift bandage wrapped around some part of their body as though they had been in a knife fight. One man held what looked like an old t-shirt to his arm, but his head drooped so low, she thought he must be dead.