His words coming out so fast they jumbled together. The boy’s chest was slightly heaving because he spoke so quickly without taking a breath. He began to suck in air quickly. Sam thought that he might be experiencing a panic attack.
‘Hey, let’s just sit down for a minute ok? She asked him.
Sam grabbed his hands gently and guided the boy over to the chair next to her door. He gave her no trouble at all. And seemed to welcome the help she was trying to give him.
‘Let me see your phone.’ She told him, holding her hand out.
The boy looked at her sweetly and handed her his phone. Sam noticed that he was already beginning to sound and look better. The color was slowly returning to his face and hands.
‘She won’t answer…’ The boy exclaimed. Shoving his hands into his pockets. He had the look of complete abandonment. And as though He’d given up trying. She looked down at his phone. She pressed on the screen lock button on the top of the phone. The light of the phone swiftly kicked on to reveal that she needed a password to unlock his phone.
‘What is your password?’ She asked tapping on the screen to keep it from hibernating into safe mode.
‘adventkingfrost33’ the boy told her.
His words had slowed down considerably. The boy had been stressing so much that his face looked very tired.
Sam put in the password and quickly found way to his mother’s number. The sound of ringing filled her ear. Ringing and ringing...No answer would come. Sam would eventually end the call. She looked at the phone again and this time brought up his text messaging. She could immediately see where the boy had already tried contacting her. His sentences were short and simple.
Are you ok? He asked. Reading these words made Samantha’s heart drop. She hoped that his mother was alright. Her little boy was extremely worried. How thoughtful of him.
‘How about we wait for her to call?’ She asked the boy. She pushed a few strands of hair out of his eyes.
‘You can sit right here until you get in touch with her.’ Sam said looking him in the eye.
It looked as though his face lit up with joy. She could sense that he didn’t want to be alone. And judging by the way he had already handled things, he probably needed her help. It didn’t look like his mom knew that he had been calling. Surely, soon she will check her messages.
‘I’m really worried about her. I saw this.’ He said pointing at the phone in his hand.
It had a video on the screen. Sam took the phone from him and pressed the play button at the bottom of the screen. The video began and Samantha watched. She couldn’t believe her eyes only a few seconds into the video.
Are the dead coming back? She asked herself. Samantha looked back at the kid. His eyes were widened by the thought of what his neighbor was witnessing. He had already seen the video of course. But, he knew that he never wanted to see it again. It scared him badly.
She looked back at the screen and saw a news Anchor alerting the media that the images were real? They couldn’t be real! Samantha cried. In her eyes this was probably just another hoax that some college wannabe animator put together. She had no reason to believe it. Until….Sam exited out of the video. She quickly mashed in the webpage for the local news 4. This was her go to site. She felt that she could trust its news. Once the page loaded, she noticed immediately that there was a breaking news article and clicked onto it. She bit her lips as she opened the article. Embedded into it was the same exact video that she had just watched.
Samantha lowered the phone. Her heart was beating fast. The article was warning people to stay inside and lock your doors. That these things were unsafe and dangerous. They are comparing it to the Rabies virus. The symptoms are similar! The article also warned that Marshal Law had been declared in many states. She looked down at the boy and moved back to shut and lock her door.
‘What’s your name kid?’ She asked handing him his phone back. She would have a look at hers later.
‘Jaime.’ He said. All traces of anxiety in his voice were gone.
‘What a cool name!’ She said, brushing back his brown hair.
‘My name is Samantha. But, you can call me Sam.’ She told him with a smile spreading across her face.
‘Have you eaten yet?’ She asked walking into her kitchen.
She figured that the boy needed something to eat. She knew that there was a major crisis going on outside but, she needed to keep things relatively normal if she wanted this kid to be safe. He didn’t seem like he dealt well with being upset. And frankly Sam wasn’t sure how she felt about the situation either. She had decided that she should figure that out later. There was no time for freaking out. Hopefully Jaime’s mother is ok... She thought to herself. She didn’t need to alert the boy that his mother was in a complete and utter horror show wherever she was.
‘Do you like grilled cheese?’ Sam asked looking to the boy for his answer.
‘It’s alright. Yeah!’ Jaime replied.
He licked his lips watching her butter the frying pan.
Sam spread a little more butter onto a couple of pieces of bread and then placed them into her toaster. After a minute they popped back out.
‘Can I have two pieces of cheese?’ Jaime asked, his eyes wondering over to the cheese situated on the counter next to them.
‘Of course!’ She exclaimed.
Anything to keep him happy. Sam placed the extra piece of cheese onto the toast and added the other half of the bread. She flipped the grilled cheese and a few minutes later ‘voila!’
‘Here you go!’ She told Jaime. Beckoning him to sit down so that she could serve him the lunch. Jaime needed time to check the news. And not just her local news here…National news. She was worried of what she might find. Now that she thought about it more, that video might be authentic. No matter how much she wished right now that it wasn’t true; she had to come to terms with the idea. She had the boy Jaime to look after now. His mother was out there. And there was ono telling what has happened to her. Sam really started doubting herself.
Sam began checking out several news podcasts and news channels. They were all showing the same videos on loop. There were very few updates on the situation. More than likely due to the fact that Marshall Law had taken affect in most of the United States.
‘You got any milk?’ Jaime asked sneaking into her room.
He was holding his plate which was clean of any food that had previously been there before. His expression seemed to ask for more.
‘Sure, it’s in the fridge, help yourself.’ She told him motioning her hand towards the fridge. Sam watched as he made his way back into the kitchen. She would use this time to make a few phone calls. She grabbed her phone off of her desk and began dialing the first person she could find in her contacts. Her mother Cynthia.
‘Jaime, when your done with that, why don’t you go into the living room and watch some cartoons? I’ll put them on for you.’
She grabbed the remote and found a suitable channel. Something that wasn’t news. So, far the children’s channels were safe for him to view.
‘Ok.’ He said.
He gently placed his dishes into the sink for her to wash. She thought he was being more courteous than most 10 year olds that she knew or ever met. She didn’t mind cleaning his dishes. But, who cared about that right now? She went into her room and closed the door. Sam clicked the green phone button and pressed the phone up to her ear.
She heard the dial tone and then the sound of her mother’s number being dialed.
Ringggggg…inggggggg… Sam waited for her mother’s familiar voice to answer. But, her phone kept on ringing. Not mom too? She was beginning to get more worried. She tried the number several times until she decided that she would try again later. Along with trying for Jaime’s mother as well. Sam decided to try her friend Morgan. This time there was an answer. A very frantic one.
‘Morgan?’ Sam asked. She heard her friend’s voice screaming on the other end.
‘What’s happe
ning Morgan?’ She screamed. Sam held her hand over her mouth to hide the horror she felt at hearing her friend’s blood curtailing screams. All that Sam could hear was Morgan’s voice. Eventually she couldn’t even hear that. The sound of an ominous screeching noise came from the phone. Sam ripped the phone away from her ear and stared at it. She threw it onto her bed. She couldn’t stand to hear the sound. Sam threw herself onto the floor next to her bed and buried her face into her palms. She allowed herself to sob uncontrollably. Morgan had been her best friend since she was 7 years old. She had never been closer to anyone else in her life.
‘Are you ok?’ Jaime questioned.
Samantha jumped up and began immediately wiping her face to hide the tears streaming down her cheeks.
‘Yeah kiddo. I’m fine. Why aren’t you watching TV?’ She asked Jaime placing a hand on his head.
She walked into the living room and stared at the TV. The emergency broadcast Network had been set up in place of the channel Jaime had been watching.
‘I had to turn the volume down.’ Jaime said throwing the remote towards the couch.
‘It was getting too loud and the cartoons stopped playing!’ He had an unamused look about his face.
‘Look, how about we leave the TV alone for a little bit. I need to run down stairs and check with the front desk about something. Do you think you can stay here and wait for me to get back?’
His face changed from unamused to scared.
‘I’ll only be a minute. I just need to see if they got my mail for the day.’ She smiled,. trying to cheer him up.
She needed to find someone else. Anyone else. And she wanted to know if the chaos had hit them yet.
‘Please be careful.’ He whispered. He looked down at his feet and sat down on the bed.
‘I’ll stay right here. I don’t want to go out there.’ Jaime pointed towards the door.
Samantha looked in the direction of his hand and felt her heart sink. She was terrified of what she might find. But, it was something that she felt she had to do.
‘I’m coming right back. So, how about you grab a book or Magazine and read it until I do.’ She told him, turning his body towards the bookcase in her room. Sam watched as he ran towards it, then walked to her front door and paused. She needed to muster up her courage for this one. She had no idea what to expect. Sam turned the knob and opened the door. The hall looked empty. Holding her breath, Sam pushed forward into the hall. The hotel doors automatically lock once you leave, so she didn’t have to bother with that.
Samantha walked slowly down the hallway. So far she saw nothing out of the ordinary. She walked to the elevator and pushed the down button. Within a few moments the elevator doors opened. Pressing the ground level button, Samantha stepped back and allowed herself to lean onto the wall of the elevator behind her. She watched as the numbers counted down representing the levels of the hotel. Finally, she had reached the ground floor.
Sam peered around the lobby. It was awfully quiet. She wondered if she would see someone soon. As she rounded the corner she finally noticed the bell hop Roger at the front desk. He was standing near someone’s luggage, probably about to take it to their room.
‘Hey Roger!’ She yelled across the room. He didn’t turn around.
‘Roger!’ She yelled once more.
Sometimes Roger couldn’t hear very well. He was an older gentleman after all. He only had a few more years until he would retire. The hotel had decided to allow him to stay, even though he couldn’t do very much.
Samantha watched as Roger dropped the luggage he had been holding and spun around. She noticed that his eyes looked different today. They were almost a different color. More yellow than his usual brown. Sam moved closer to him. Her hand outstretched towards him.
‘You alright?’ She asked him, concern in her voice.
Roger still didn’t respond. Instead, he sprinted after her. It was now apparent that he had streams of saliva coming from his agape mouth. It was thick and a foamy whitish yellow color. It hit the floor with a soft plop. Roger had his hands, which today looked more like claws, out in front of him ready to grab at her.
Sam screamed as he lunged for her. She turned to run but, instead tripped over one of the lobby chairs. She hit the floor with a loud crash. Roger seemed to have been waiting for this, because he swooped down quickly on top of her.
‘Roger! No!’ She pleaded with him. It was no use. He must be one of those monsters she had seen on the news. I guess that answered my question. She thought. But, at what expense? Sam wondered. He pressed down on her hard with all of his body weight, scratching and gnawing at her all the while. Barely able to move, Sam realized that she had to do something to defend herself. God Roger! How did this happen to you?
She looked at her surroundings. There wasn’t much that she could see from the floor. But, she could still see. Finally, she spotted a large candle on the table closest to her. She grabbed it swiftly and smashed it over his head. To her demise it didn’t even seem to faze him. She started to panic. If she could only get him off of her.
Suddenly Sam hears the blast of a gun and Roger falls limply on top of her. She froze. Afraid to move. She had no idea what to do.
‘Are you alright?’ Says the woman. Sam brings her head up off of the floor and turns towards the women’s voice. A sense of relief began washing over her.
‘I’m fine. I just need help with him.’ Sam said, pointing to the dead body on top of her. She watched as the lady, jogged up to her and began pulling on Roger’s leg. He was quite heavy but, working together they managed it. As Sam stood, she found that the lady was actually an older woman, carrying a shotgun. She was a shorter plump woman with long gray/white hair. She was wearing a night gown with three little kittens on it; with the words, ‘Meow!’ written above them.
The lady looked very ragged, as though she hadn’t showered in days. And she was also smoking a cigarette indoors. This was highly illegal in certain parts of Texas. Sam figured that it really didn’t matter at the moment. This person had just saved her life. Maybe she should thank her.
‘I really appreciate the help!’ Sam reached out and grabbed the hand that was free of the shotgun and shook it vigorously.
‘Thank you very much; I would be dead right now if it weren’t for you.’ The woman merely stared right through Sam as though she were a translucent piece of paper. Sam dropped her hand slowly and took a step back from the woman. She seemed to be in some sort of odd trance. Her body sat there rigid as a board. And then, suddenly, the woman opened her mouth to speak. She looked as though she had snapped back into reality.
‘Hello, my name is Ruby Shapiro.’ The old woman said, grasping at Sam’s hand. The woman shook violently from head to toe.
‘Sam Thorne…’ Sam told her. Shaking her hand back. All the while stepping backwards. The woman looked as though she might have a tick. Like an involuntary muscle movement or something similar to that.
‘I saw you were in some trouble and thought I would help. Those damn things are like vicious dogs! They won’t listen and will kill you on the spot.’
The old woman let the gun rest at her side from its arm harness.
Sam didn’t know what to say to the old woman. She was very grateful she’d saved her life but,, she was afraid that the woman was mentally ill. Something was very obviously wrong with her. And Sam wasn’t sure how to approach the situation. She felt sorry for her. This woman was lucky to still be alive. And Sam felt responsible for her.
‘Listen, Mrs. Shapiro…where are you staying? We have to get out of the lobby. There could be more of those things. I have a little boy from my floor waiting upstairs for me. I need to get back. Did you want to come with me?’ Sam asked her politely.
It was the only thing she could think of to do. Being that she was a respectable person, she knew she would have to do the right thing.
The old lady stared at Sam again with those cold brown eyes. This time she kept her gaze strictly onto Sam’s face. S
he even turned her head slightly this way and that. She never stopped staring. This only made Sam even more horrified by the lady.
‘I am staying in a room on this floor. Right down there to be precise…’ The old woman pointed down the corridor down the hall.
It wasn’t very far from the front lobby. And Sam knew that if she stayed down here, she would be dead meat.
‘Why don’t you come upstairs with us. ‘Sam asked. She paused for a moment and then added,’ that is if you want. We would be happy to have you. We can wait for help up there.’
Sam wiped her mouth. She was gulping down the extra saliva that had accumulated from her nervousness. She watched as the woman very animatedly thought about what Sam had asked her. It wasn’t long before she had an answer.
‘Yeah ok. I can do that.’ She told Sam. The old lady smiled crookedly and placed a hand onto her shotgun.
‘But!’ The lady piped up loudly, pointing her finger at Sam. ‘I need tograb something first’.
‘You go on ahead up there. What is the room number you are staying in? It won’t take me long to get, I’ll be right up.’ The lady emphasized the last portion greatly.
‘Ok, that’s fine.’ Sam smiled. ‘I’m in room 359. It’s on the right hand side of the elevators.’ Sam told Ruth.
She almost regretted telling her immediately. The woman didn’t wait to long for goodbyes; she quickly stalked off to her hotel room down the hall. She limped slightly as she did so. Sam thought she could see what looked like blood spackled on the side of her sock. But, she was too far away by the time she had noticed it to be sure.
‘I’ll be waiting!’ Sam said.
She rushed to the elevator doors. She knew that she needed to hurry and get back to Jaime. He must be so worried. She pressed the ‘up’ button and waited for the elevator doors to open. When they did, she quickly jumped in and smashed the ‘close doors’ button. She watched as the doors closed to the lobby. She was very happy to leave that room behind. If she never had to go down there again, she would be fine.
Sam made it to her hotel door. She grabbed her keycard and swiped it on the doors card reader. The light turned green and she twisted the door knob and stepped inside as fast as she could. A sense of relief washed over her to see that Jaime was still in her room reading a book. If one thing could go right today she would be happy. She dropped her key card on the kitchen table and walked into her room.
Scarlet Memories (Book 1) Page 4