by W. A Castle
“What is it? Is she-?” He stood up, jostling Diego, making the little guy cry out when his bottle slipped from his tiny mouth.
“She’s still hanging in there. Trevor, what if hospitals are still running?” I said walking up to him but still turning to keep an eye on Maddie.
“What?” Trevor rearranged Diego on his arm and with his free hand he ran it through his hair.
“We never really stopped at any hospitals to see if the army or the CDC or any other government agency had set up any bases.” I replied, hope blossoming in my heart. Maybe my baby could be saved!
“That’s true, we didn’t check… but we would have seen… something if the government was still in control. The streets were virtually empty aside from the hordes of those things out there.” Trevor frowned and paced, rocking Diego gently.
“I may be grasping at straws. But I need to be certain! I can’t… I can’t and I won’t lose my daughter.” I felt desperation grabbing ahold of me and hazing my mind. Behind me Maddie began to moan and groan. I whipped around and ran to her side.
“Maddie?” I ran my hands over her forehead. She was still too hot.
“No. Get away.” Maddie moaned, eyes still closed as batted my hands away. “It hurts too much. Mommy, mommy where are you?” Maddie’s voice cracked and her voice became a raw sound. I covered my mouth with the back of my hand and suppressed back the tears.
“I’ll go check the local hospital and clinics.” Ulises said from the door. I didn’t even hear him approach.
“We should take Maddie and Adrie. If they are still operating, it will take too much time to go back and forth.” I said. I cringed at how high and whiny my voice was. But I didn’t care. Trevor walked over to us, leaving Diego and Eli by the dining table.
“It’ll be faster if I go check by myself. If there are no more hospitals or clinics, dragging Maddie and Adrie around would be too much for them in their state. Let me go check them out first Sue-Anne.” Ulises said, looking over at Maddie. At that moment Gary came running through the door with a panicked look on his face.
“It’s Adrie, something is happening to her!”
Soon after, Aaron came into the room carrying a writhing and growling Adrie.
“Put me down you son of a bitch! I’m going to rip your heart out!” Adrie’s feral voice echoed in the small break room. I looked at the scene with my mouth wide open. It… didn’t look or sound like Adrie at all. Her eyes were puffy red, like Maddie’s eyes were, but her sclera looked bumpy and infected. I turned to look at Maddie again but she hadn’t opened her eyes at all, my heart pounded hard against my ribcage.
Adrie pounded her fists against Aaron’s chest until he had no choice but to put her on the ground. Adrie perched herself on the balls of her feet and looked at us with her deformed eyes. The irises of her eyes were beginning to fray around the edges and bleed out into the red sclera. She tilted her head and there was a change going on inside her mind. The only outward sign of the change were her eyes. They became more focused and her facial expressions faded from the feral look to a more humanoid one. She locked her eyes with mine, “Please help me.” Adrie whispered, lifting her hands to her head and pressing them into her temples. She fell backwards onto her butt and kept asking for someone to help her.
My breathing was heavy and it was hard to catch my breath. I couldn’t look at the others, but I assumed it was the same for everyone. I couldn’t believe what was happening in front of me. I looked to Ulises who felt my eyes on him and turned to face me. He must have understood what I was about to ask of him by just the look on my eyes because before I had a chance to open my mouth, he nodded. “I will leave to the local hospital now.”
“I’ll go with you.” Aaron said.
“Aaron.” Val said from outside the door, Pattie was hiding behind her. Aaron’s eyebrows went down and hesitated for a moment. It was obvious he didn’t want to leave Val or Pattie behind.
“I’ll go.” Gary stepped up. Clara looked at him but didn’t say anything.
“Alright, but we leave now.” Ulises grabbed his gear and sprinted out of the room. “Lock the doors behind us!” Trevor and Clara took off after them.
Lexi, who had been keeping her distance, carefully approached Adrie, “Adrie?” She crouched down next to her friend. Adrie lifted her head, startled, as if she was just now realizing we were all here with her. “Something’s wrong with my head, Lexi. What’s happening to me?” Adrie’s face crumpled and she began sobbing. I could see Lexi was hesitant to, but eventually she wrapped her arms around Adrie to comfort her. My eyes kept wandering over to Maddie’s unconscious body. Worry was gnawing at me. Worry that she was going to wake up and act like Adrie and at the same time worry that she wasn’t waking up like Adrie had. As I stared at Maddie I tried to figure out why I had this awful feeling brewing in my chest. I stared at her hard for a minute and then for another. Something was wrong… well, even more wrong… with her.
“Maddie!” A sob escaped me when I realized what was off with Maddie’s body. Her chest wasn’t rising and falling. I ran to her side and dropped myself to my knees hard. I pressed my ear to her chest and I couldn’t hear her heart beat. “No, no, no.” I chanted as I shook her and called for her to wake up.
Trevor cursed and kneeled beside me, pushing me aside. “Maddie, wake up!” He said breathlessly as he put his ear to her chest. He sat back and stared at her for a moment. “How long has she been… like this?” His narrowed eyes bore into me. The intensity in his eyes shocked me into sitting on my heels. “Can’t be more than just a few minutes.” I said louder than I intended, heartbroken and in shock that my baby is dead. I gasped when Trevor stood up abruptly and began administering CPR to Maddie.
“Oh, God.” Val muttered somewhere behind me. I heard Clara ushering Eli out of the room. The kids didn’t need to see this.
Sweat ran down Trevor’s face as he leaned down to blow air into Maddie’s lungs twice and then continued to do chest compressions. He went on like this for about five minutes, I was terrified he would decide it had been long enough and quit.
“It’s been too long. She’s not coming back.” Lexi voiced my worries.
“Please don’t stop.” I begged Trevor.
Trevor ignored all of us and kept trying to bring Maddie back. Suddenly, Maddie gasped deeply and opened her eyes wide. I fell back on my ass when she did. Her eyes were red and puffy like Adrie’s, the only difference is that Maddie’s irises were completely bleached out. Her pupils were pinpoints.
“What the fuck is that?!” Lexi exclaimed. I wanted to turn around and tell her to shut the fuck up! But I had never yelled at a kid before, and I don’t think this is the time to start. I had bigger things on my plate than scolding a brat.
“Baby?” my voice quivered. I didn’t want to, but my body slowly backed away from Maddie. Trevor jumped to his feet when Maddie sat up on the couch and looked over at us.
Adrie whimpered and scrambled to tuck herself into a corner of the room. “Is that what I’m going to turn into?” She whispered to Lexi. I didn’t catch the response. My ears were ringing hard. Maddie turned her head to the side in such a way it reminded me of the way puppies tilted their head when something caught their interest. Maddie’s mouth opened wide in what seemed like a grotesque grin. Her gums were a dark red and looked raw. My poor baby, my heart broke at seeing my daughter like this. My mind and my heart were torn. My brain told me that this wasn’t Maddie anymore, she had turned and she had to be put down. My heart told me I couldn’t kill my baby, that this was still my Maddie, the little timid, nervous girl I raised.
Maddie’s eyes shifted back and forth and tilted her head as if she was straining to hear something. I took a step forward when she kept muttering things under her breath. So maybe she was still in the transition period. I prayed for Ulises to return quickly with the news that the hospitals where still running. We should have all gone with him!
“What’s happening to me, momma, everything
hurts.” Maddie’s voice was low and gravelly, “There’s something in my head. I’m so hungry!” Maddie wrapped her arms over her belly and doubled over.
I heard a shotgun being loaded behind me. My heart thundered and I spun around.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Trevor’s voice thundered. Aaron stopped loading the gun and opened his mouth, pausing for a beat trying to find his words. Lexi stomped in front of him.
“Put that away you son of a bitch, you’re not killing anyone.” Lexi glared at Aaron, who towered over her by a good two feet and who had over a hundred pounds on her.
“They’ve turned! They’re going to kill all of us. And I have Pattie to think about.” Aaron looked over Lexi’s head to me. I shook my head, “You’re not killing my daughter,” my hands formed to fists at my side, “When the time comes, I will do it. Not you.” I said through gritted teeth and stared coldly at him.
Aaron stared at me for a moment before nodding his head and lowering his shotgun.
A thud made us all jump. Maddie had fallen unconscious again. I ran to her and tried to lift her to the couch. Trevor took Maddie into his arms and sat on the couch with her on his lap.
She looked so pale compared to her usually lightly tanned skin. Her red hair looked comically red against her near sheet white skin. I frowned; my baby was turning into one of those things right in front of me… maybe Aaron has a point. I should end her torment before she completely turns.
No, I can’t. I just can’t.
An hour passed by and Adrie had followed Maddie in passing out. No amount of rousing woke them up. Both their fevers seemed to have broken, but I didn’t know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. We kept checking their breathing periodically; I was paranoid ever since Maddie’s heart had stopped.
“Guys, Ulises here.” We all jumped when Ulises’s overly loud voice rang throughout the room. We had all gathered in here and hunkered down, no sense in spreading ourselves between two floors. I jumped over to get the radio.
“Tell me the hospitals are still running.” I practically begged for him to tell me the hospitals were still functioning. There was a long pause before Ulises answered. That was my answer. My heart plummeted to the ground and shattered.
“I’m sorry Sue-Anne, Lexi. The local hospital has all gone to shit, we couldn’t even get near it, Gary and I searched clinics and even urgent cares, some are completely empty and others and teeming with those flesh eaters.” Ulises paused then continued, “We did find a Doc at one of the clinics. We are bringing him with us.”
A doctor! Maybe there’s a chance after all!
“Please hurry guys. Hurry.” I set the radio down. I was bound to have a heart attack with a these ups and downs.
“They’re saved, Sue-Anne.” Lexi grinned up at me. I wanted to be optimistic too, but I couldn’t set myself up like that.
We could do nothing but sit and wait for the next half hour.
A groan from Adrie had us crowding around her. Pattie and Eli gathered behind Val, who was carrying baby Diego.
Adrie opened her eyes slightly and when her eyes landed on Lexi she smiled. A second later she started convulsing, her eyes rolling to the back of her head. I felt Trevor stiffen besides me. We knew what this was. The transition.
Lexi cried out and tried to hold Adrie down.
“Back away from Adrie, now, Lexi.” I warned her, taking a step back and reaching behind me for the gun Ulises had given me earlier. The others followed suit and looked around at each other nervously.
“Is this it?” Aaron asked, looking ready to jump out of his skin. Trevor nodded his head and looked at me.
“This is it. Step back, Lexi!” I warned again. Lexi hesitated, but in the end she kissed Adrie’s cheek and stepped back and reached for her own weapon. Tears were streaming down her face. Poor girl. I thought, referring to both Adrie and Lexi, they had seemed like very close friends.
Adrie stopped convulsing and her eyes opened, they had an animalistic wild look to them. Before any of us could react, Adrie jumped to her feet and went down on her haunches. She threw her head back and screeched.
“Oh, God!” Lexi covered her mouth with the back of her trembling hand. Adrie snapped her head towards Lexi and before she could lunge, a hole appeared smack dab in the middle of her forehead. Blood oozed out from the gaping wound as she crumpled to the ground and fell face first. I turned and saw Ulises with his weapon drawn and smoke coming from it. Behind him were Gary and another man.
Lexi ran to Adrie’s body and scooped her up in her arms. I walked away from them on shaky legs back to Maddie to give Lexi some privacy. It was over.
The rest dispersed and surrounded Ulises to hear what he had found. I stayed at Maddie’s side but still listened to Ulises.
“What did you find?” Trevor asked, sitting by Maddie’s feet, with Eli sitting on the ground between Trevor’s legs, holding Diego in his arms who was gurgling and flapping his arms and legs.
Ulises scanned the room, taking everyone in. His frown deepened when he took in Maddie’s unconscious body.
“We drove down to the local hospital, but we couldn’t even go near it, it was completely overrun by flesh eaters.” Ulises set his weapons down on the dining table and sat down on the chair next to it with a loud dud.
“We also checked the smaller clinics we came across and hauled what we could carry. Lots of medicine.” Gary set down a few duffle bags down and Aaron and Val started going through the supplies and sorting them out. The other man with Ulises and Gary stepped forward and set another duffle bag down and set his rifle down. His skin was pale and his eyes slightly sunken with dark shadows around them. His trim body stood alert but his amber eyes gave him away, he looked exhausted. He had dark hair that touched his ears and thin wired glasses that pushed his hair back from his ears.
“This is Doc, we found him holed up in one of the clinics we cleared out.” Ulises nodded his head at ‘Doc’, “He ran the clinic and got trapped inside his office about a week or so ago when the clinic got overrun.”
“I’m Vincent Shoemaker.” Doc said. Clara stepped up to shake his hand.
“Well, welcome to the group Doc. Makes me feel better to know we have a real doctor with us… You are a real doctor, aren’t you?” Clara narrowed her eyes at Doc.
Doc…er… Vincent gave a wary smile and nodded, “I was a doctor during the war and when I got back five years ago I opened up my clinic here. And thank you Ulises, Gary. If you hadn’t come when you had I don’t know how much longer I would have lasted.”
“You would have found a way out.” Ulises grinned and slapped a hand on the table.
“Why didn’t you use your rifle to get out?” Val asked looking up from the medical supplies she was putting into different piles.
“Ran out of bullets.” Vincent tapped his rifle with a long index finger and sighed, “I kept this in the clinic just in case, never thought I would need the extra bullets.”
Vince had a haunted look in his eyes. Reminded me of the same look Ulises had-
Maddie groaned and moved besides me. The world around me became deafeningly quiet and my heart thundered in my ears.
I gasped in shock and fell back on my ass as I stared at Maddie’s moving body. Trevor lunged forward and pinned Maddie’s shoulders down to the couch with his hands.
“Maddison.” I saw his mouth form her name.
“What’s going on?” Vincent’s voice sounded far away.
“Maddie was bitten.” I heard someone reply.
I got back on my feet and slowly reached behind me for my weapon. This was it. I gasped for the air that just refused to fill my lungs. My baby. I couldn’t see my baby’s face contort like Adrie’s had when she turned.
Ulises came to my side, his weapon drawn. Half the group came and crowded around the couch, the other half backed away to a safe distance.
“Put. Your. Weapon. Down.” I said through gritted teeth, I didn’t recognize my own voice, it
sounded cold and deadly. My senses started to come back and a hot burning sensation thawed my frozen body. Nobody was going to kill my baby but me… Oh, God.
My hand shook as I lifted my gun and pressed it to Maddie’s forehead. Trevor’s hazel eyes locked on mine for a brief moment before he looked down at Maddie and tried to coo her into settling down.
“Kill her!” Val spat out in disgust, holding Patty close to her. I ignored the bitch.
Oh Maddie, why did this happen? I took in a breath and pulled the safety off the gun.
Maddie groaned again and tried to shake Trevor off. My finger slipped through the trigger guard and settled on the trigger, ready to press down.
Maddie’s eyes opened and my eyebrows shot right up. Aside from a little redness rimming her eyelids, her eyes were now completely normal looking.
“What’s going on?” Maddie whispered, and then winced. I tore my finger away from the trigger and tucked the gun behind me again.
“Baby?” I gasped and kneeled on the ground and grabbed her face in my hands.
Maddie’s eyes traveled all over my face and looked at Trevor, who was still on top of her, pining her down.
“Uh, buy me dinner first, sailor.” Maddie said in a wheezy voice, humor gleaming in her eyes. My heart roared. I had no fucking idea how, but my Maddie was back.
“What?” Lexi whispered, coming over to us.
“How?” Trevor frowned as he stared down at Maddie. He slowly got off of her.
Maddie took her time to sit up on the couch, and threw her legs over so they touched the ground.
“You’re saying that she was bit?” Vincent asked with incredulity, crouching down and opening one of the black duffle bags he carried. He pushed his glasses up on his nose as he searched for whatever he was looking for.
“Yeah, she and Adrie were bitten yesterday.” Lexi’s voice broke and she began crying into her hands.
“How is this possible?” Val asked, keeping her distance, “Why didn’t she turn like Adrie?” We all stared intently at Maddie as if she could explain to us what had happened. We were all perplexed.