“Why do you have all this stuff?” she asked.
“I knew this day would come, and I knew that I would be ready. I’ve spent my life training for this moment,” he said, checking his gear.
“Really?”
He shrugged. “No. I just like to shoot. It’s fun.”
She glared at him, but he didn’t see her, or chose not to. Another muffled bump from outside the office stopped their conversation.
“I’m coming too. It’s safer that way.” She wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
“Fine but stay behind me and watch our backs. I don’t know who all is still here. Where is your weapon?”
She picked the heavy wrench up off the shelf and held it up. She didn’t know if she was even capable of using it on someone, even if they were trying to kill her. The can incident just happened; she didn’t even really think about it. It was just instinct. Gina was sick. That woman in the market was sick. Could she, in good conscience, kill a sick person?
She really, really didn’t want to find out.
◆◆◆
She stuck to Jared like glue as they left the small office. The disturbing noises from the back had stopped and she heard her heart pounding in her ears in the unnatural silence. The office should have been busy this time of day. People should be shuffling papers on their desks, answering phones, eating their midafternoon snacks…yet it was still. Deadly still.
The clock told her it was almost three. She almost wished she could see outside. The main office, where the cubicles were crammed to full capacity, was a large windowless room. The only way to see outside was from Mr. Hubbard’s office, or in the entrance foyer where the glass doors were. Jared had been outside, but he hadn’t yet said what it was like.
She probably didn’t want to know.
They crept quietly through the main room, toward the back hallway. Anna nervously watched the area behind them as they moved. She almost expected crazy people to start pouring from their cubicles, like zombies searching out living flesh—
She stopped that thought immediately. This was real life. She wasn’t battling the dead, only sick people.
Maybe there weren’t that many here anyway. It wasn’t a very large town, not really. It was nothing like those cities on the news. They didn’t say that all Flu survivors turned crazy after a relapse, only some. Still, a few of those things could do significant damage on the population here.
“Hear that?” Jared breathed in the silence.
She paused, listening intently. A scratching, tearing noise came from behind the closed ladies’ room door. It was an unpleasant liquid, smacking sound, like a cat loudly eating canned cat food. She felt her stomach give a slight lurch.
Please God, don’t let it be anything too bad!
“Ready?” Jared said, holding his hammer and Juan’s discarded duct tape.
“Can’t we just lock whatever is in there, in there?” she whispered hopefully.
“Too dangerous to leave one free, it could get loose.”
“They. They could get loose. People, Jared. They’re people.” She hoped they still were anyway.
He shook his head. “We can’t think like that, not anymore. Those are ‘It’ now, or ‘things’. Thinking any other way than that could get us both hurt or killed, and I’m not taking that chance.” He looked intensely into her eyes, more serious than she had ever seen him. “I will kill as many of those things as I have to, to keep you safe, to keep us both alive.”
He turned back to the ominous door. She wanted to tell him to get his pistol out, that she had changed her mind…but she didn’t. She hoped she wouldn’t be sorry later.
Jared pushed the handle down and shoved open the door, wedging it open with his foot.
“Oh my God,” he said, covering his mouth with the back of his hand that was holding the duct tape.
Anna edged around him and leaned forward. A large, bulky person was kneeling on the floor. Their back was turned to Anna, but she knew who it was immediately by the brightly colored, flowered blouse. It was Darla, and she was doing something unimaginable to a body on the floor in front of her.
“Good Lord! I’d rather deal with the popcorn!” he choked out quietly.
Darla was hunched over, the wet smacking sound was coming from the bloody mass of remains she held up to her hidden face. She was jerking her head side to side, rending the flesh of the poor woman she had killed. Was she eating the body or just tearing it up?
Does it matter?
The body in the floor was so mutilated, it was completely unrecognizable. The skull shone through the red mass of what remained of the woman’s scalp. Tufts of hair were scattered all over the bathroom. Clothing was shredded and so thoroughly blood-soaked that it was also unidentifiable.
The putrid smell of ruptured intestines filled the small space, and under that lingered the stench of bile and the coppery aroma of blood in large quantities. Anna started to gag and turned her back to the sight. It had taken her only seconds to see every detail of the scene, and she had had enough.
“All that nice new paint,” he said, shaking his head mournfully.
She stared at him uncomprehendingly.
“What? That was a nice bathroom!” he whispered.
Jared pulled her back behind him as he raised the hammer. The Darla thing in the floor hadn’t yet taken her attention from the ripped-up body in the floor, but she would soon. They only had a few seconds to decide what to do.
“Shoot it!” Anna urged fearfully, suddenly doing a complete one-eighty from her earlier stance.
She didn’t want to even consider trying to restrain this monster. She didn’t think they could manage it, even working together. That thing may be alive, but Darla wasn’t in there anymore. This thing was a psychotic, savage monster and it needed to be destroyed.
Jared glanced back for only a second, “You sure?”
“Do it. Please!” she nodded frantically and backed away from the sight.
Jared quickly pulled his pistol, flipped the safety off, and fired twice. No hesitation.
Anna had forgotten to cover her ears and the ferocious roar of the large pistol in the space completely obliterated her hearing. She looked around, wide-eyed, as Jared backed away from the carnage. The ringing seemed to go on forever, and she was worried there were more of those crazies after them right now. The gunshot would lead them right to her and Jared.
Jared knelt beside her, keeping an eye out all around them, and put a hand on her shoulder. The ringing was finally abating, and a slight headache started to take its place in her skull.
“Are you okay?” he asked, frowning down at her.
“Yeah, just didn’t expect it to be so loud!” she said.
He chuckled briefly for a moment then helped her up. “A forty-five will do that in a small space. We can’t take the chance on wearing ear pro though, we need to be able to hear if more of those things are coming.”
She nodded her understanding, and he dropped his hand from her arm. She glanced over to the women’s bathroom and was grateful that Jared had thought to close the door.
“Do you know who that was?” she asked him, pulling his attention back to her.
“Darla,” he said.
“No, I mean the other one.”
“No, I couldn’t tell,” he said with a grim look. “Come on, we need to secure the rest of this office. We really should check the other floors too, but that can wait. I’ll just lock the doors that lead into here for now. Then maybe we can figure out what to do next.”
After scouting out the entire first floor of the building and determining that they were alone, Jared led her back to the breakroom. She gave the closet an uneasy glance, but figured it was safe enough since the door was locked. Eventually, they would have to figure out what to do with Gina. They couldn’t let her starve in there. It would be inhumane.
“What was it like outside?”
“When I went out to my truck it was still pretty normal outside. I
mean, there were cars driving by fast and I heard sirens from several directions, some gunshots further out toward the newer side of town, but I didn’t see any of those crazy people out there. Maybe we should leave here before dark, go somewhere safer,” Jared suggested. “We’ve got some decent daylight left. That gives us time to rest a moment here and plan out our next move.”
Anna got up and got two bottles of water from the refrigerator and returned to the table. The cable news station was airing live footage of Atlanta and it wasn’t good. Crazed mobs were chasing people, cars were crashing, people were jumping from rooftops. Anna turned away and thought about what he said.
“Yeah. I don’t think staying in town would be a good idea, but maybe we should wait. Maybe the National Guard will set up a safe zone or barricade. I mean, we have a unit right here in town. Don’t you think they’ll be doing something?”
“Yeah, if they had time. I’m sure the Governor has some sort of plan…but Anna, we can’t depend on that, okay? We have to take care of ourselves for now, and our families. The sooner we understand that the more likely we will be to survive this. Hell, this could all be over by tomorrow or it could last a while. We just need to concentrate on making it until we hear some good news.”
She nodded. What he said made sense. The government was probably working on something, but she knew that it was probably best not to rely on them for help. Politicians weren’t the best at getting things done, and the military would take a while to organize. No telling how badly the sickness took out their ranks and how many more just won’t ever go back. They have families to look after too, and the cops as well.
She realized something vital.
Law and order was only a foundation for civilized societies. This society was no longer civilized. If the authorities couldn’t round up enough help, then there wouldn’t be any laws or any order anymore. Not for a long time, maybe not ever again.
“Alright. Let’s just stay here a little longer, gather up some food and drinks, and see what is happening outside. After that, we can figure out when to leave and where to go. I need to stop at my apartment. Its nearby.”
“Sounds good. We’ll need to be careful though. I have a house outside town, by the Rolling Hills neighborhood. It’s not ideal, but it’s better than being in town and I have some supplies that we’ll need. I also need to check on my family.”
“Your family? I didn’t know you had family here?” Anna said, surprised. Why hadn’t they ever talked about his family?
“Well, I do. I need to check on them as soon as possible.”
Anna started to reply when they heard a loud thump overhead. She looked warily at Jared. They couldn’t stay here very long. She didn’t want to find out if those were people up there or monsters…and she really didn’t want to be here after dark.
“Rest up a bit, Buttercup. I have a feeling this is the only time you’ll have for a while. Want to go freshen up in the bathroom?” he said with an evil glint in his eye.
She glared at him tiredly and laid her head on her arms for a few moments.
Chapter Nine
Dodging Bullets
Anna finished piling the food and drinks from around the office onto the desk in the inner office they were using as their own. She had cleared out the refrigerator of non-perishables and the cabinets. She knew several people kept food in their desks and had taken that too, although walking into each little cubicle was both nerve wracking and a little sad. If this was somehow all taken care of soon, then when they got back to work, she would apologize and replace it all.
Jared didn’t think that was going to be necessary, and she was very much afraid he was right. She looked at the desk, and the piles of snack foods and candy. She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. It didn’t make her feel any better when she realized that she knew which snacks used to belong to which co-worker. Jared came back in and interrupted her reverie.
“Better break into the vending machine as well. Take as much as you think we’ll need. I’ll find something to carry it all in.” He gave her a quick nod and took off toward the offices again. She looked at the wrench she still carried, then at the glass front of the vending machine.
Do vending machines have alarms?
She decided that this one probably didn’t and reared back her arm. She closed her eyes and struck the glass with the head of the heavy wrench. She heard the initial crunch, before shattering glass broke the stillness of the room.
The explosion of sound seemed to have riled up the Gina thing in the closet and she glanced over at the door a little fearfully. Perhaps she should have wrapped the wrench in something first. Lesson learned.
What if Gina had gotten out of the tape and was about to open the door and rip her to pieces? She flashed back to the sight in the women’s bathroom and put a hand on her stomach.
Don’t even go there right now.
She cleared the vending machine of everything, stuffing it all into a trash bag. Did they really need thirty-two chocolate bars and fourteen snack-sized bags of chips? She was turning to leave the room when she heard the loud blast of Jared’s pistol again.
Damn!
She dropped the bag where she stood and ran out to make sure he got whatever he was aiming for. She prayed there was only one. She rounded the corner of the cubicle near the back hallway and saw Jared backing slowly out of Mr. Hubbard’s office with a large bag in hand. She raised the wrench, alert for anything that might come sprinting from within.
“I didn’t know he was still in there,” Jared said, solemnly. He closed the door quietly.
“Was he…” Anna started. Crazy, she wanted to say but couldn’t. She felt a wave of sadness. Mr. Hubbard may have been gruff and sleeping with a married woman, but he was also kind and had treated her well over the years.
“Yeah. Come on, let’s get this stuff packed up.” He turned her away from Hubbard’s office and guided her toward their waiting stash. She filled the duffle bag up while he repacked some of his gear. He kept his weapons and ammo out. She tossed in the last of the packaged cookies and zipped it up.
“There. The bag of diabetes is ready,” she said.
“Diabeetus,” Jared corrected without inflection. She just stared at him.
“Give me a minute. There is something I need to do,” he said.
She narrowed her eyes and followed him. He grabbed the requisite Sharpie from Juan’s desk again.
“You’re leaving a note?”
“Yep.”
She watched him scribble on the door where they had stashed Gina. He stood back and studied his note.
Don’t Dead
Open Inside
“Seriously? Sometimes I wonder if you take anything seriously.”
“People need to know,” he said. “Subconsciously they’ll see that and be like ‘Whoa, definitely don’t want to open that door with the creepy message on it’ and then they’ll leave. I just saved lives, A-dog.”
“Wow, just…wow.”
They went back to the office to get their stuff. It was time to go. She looked around and the finality of it all hit her. Even if, by some miracle, they got to ever come back here to work it would never be the same. Her heart clenched in her chest and she felt a lump in her throat. Their co-workers were dead. Mr. Hubbard was dead. Every time she walked into any one of these rooms, she would see the deaths and the gore. This was it. This part of her life was over for good. It was frightening.
“Let’s go. Carry the trash bag and the duffle. Stay right behind me. We’ll take my truck. Stay quiet. If there are more than a few of those things out there we come back in immediately. I don’t want to take any chances.”
He looked to make sure she understood, and she nodded.
“Come on.”
They crept to the interior door of the office that would lead them to the glass foyer. Jared holstered his pistol for a moment so that he could unlock the door. He pushed it open, and they edged through, keeping their eyes focused on the
rapidly dimming parking lot outside. Anna hadn’t realized it had gotten so late.
She scanned the shadowy lot but didn’t see anyone or anything unusual. In fact, it looked like it always did. It wasn’t until Jared unlocked the glass door and inched it open that they heard the turmoil that was happening all over the town. A hot breeze blew through the cracked door bringing in the summer smells of mown grass, warm pavement, exhaust…underneath those lurked more portentous scents. Whiffs of gasoline and smoke and something unidentifiably foul.
“Oh my God!” Anna whispered, wide-eyed.
Sirens blared from many different parts of town, but they didn’t seem to be moving. Closer still were the wails and screeches of people, crazy people, sick people…dying people. More ominous were the shouts for help and screams of agony. She couldn’t tell how far away they were, but they were too close for comfort and too far away to help.
They inched along the sidewalk, looking out toward the world outside the little parking lot.
“Stop making so much noise,” he whispered under his breath.
“I’m not.”
He turned rapidly, eyes widening at something behind them. Before she could even turn around, he had simultaneously pulled her into his chest and brought the pistol up and fired.
Right. Over. Her. Shoulder.
He released the iron grip he had around her back and ushered her forward. “Run!” he urged. She barely heard him over the ringing. At this rate she’d be deaf in a week.
They dashed to the truck and she opened the back passenger door and shoved the bags inside. She scrambled in and shut the door quietly. Jared jumped in front and locked the doors.
They sat for a moment in the darkened interior of the truck, both were breathing heavily…more from fear and adrenaline than exertion. She carefully maneuvered her way into the front passenger seat.
“Where is your apartment? I think we should get your things loaded up as quickly and quietly as we can, then head to my house for the night. It will be safer, and we can figure out where to go from there.”
The Salvation Plague | Book 1 |The Turning Page 8