by Mariah Lynde
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have cared either way. I would have calmly stepped to the back of the group and waited for the herd to thin out.
However…Today was not a typical day.
First, I had been reminded of my jackass ex and my lack of a sex life. That particular wound had been nicely lemon juiced and salted before I came to work to get the heebie-jeebies over the whole absent-street-people thing (think lost colony and CROATOAN). Follow that up with a nice, brisk slap-to-the-face reminder of why I had been placed in the IT department, only to have it finished off by a series of rapid fire texts declaring we had a DEFCON Five situation of the highest order.
To say that I wanted to be the hell out of here ten minutes ago would have been an understatement.
Irritated that I had missed my opportunity to beat the rush hour flood of employees trying to get out of the building, I peered about the bodies already milling about the area. I could already see four of the IT guys who bore more of a resemblance to Shamu than a human being pushing their way to the front of the crowd.
Now, I’m a big girl. I am no stick figure princess, but a curvy, stout female that has no lack of her own weight. That said, these guys were triple to quadruple my size and had a good seven inches or more on me. No matter how many different ways I played this scenario out in my head, the odds were never in my favor.
Seriously, I either end up with a concussion from a wave of belly fat bouncing me off their rotund midsections and slamming me into the wall, or I end up smothered to death between a pair of them while trying to squeeze on by.
Neither of those options appealed to me. I could have just waited for a third run of the elevators, but previous experience told me that would have me getting down to the lobby no earlier than a quarter to six. Nope…definitely a no go. Grimacing, I realized that left me with only one option.
Turning on my heel, I sped down the hall towards the bathrooms and swung a hard right, dashing straight to the stairwell.
Yeah, stairwell. Twenty floors of them.
Ah well. Extra exercise for me today.
What would a forced excursion down twenty flights of stairs be without grumbling? To be fair, I responded to it like any sane, rational person would. With annoyance.
While I knew this could be better for me, after a day like this one all I wanted was a non-complicated, easy ride down the elevator so I could get out of this hellhole and go home. Considering I have the height of a member of the lollipop guild and no real standing in the company, I couldn’t force myself onto one of those elevators without starting a riot.
So…stairs it would be. Pain…in…the…ass…stairs. Whoever had designed this building to make up for his ‘lesser’ issues deserved to be shot. If I had my way, they’d be shot several times and hung in the lobby in effigy.
Their plan to create a larger-than-life building had been accomplished, but it also meant that the typical number of stairs you’d expect for twenty floors were not an option. The design layout made it more like you were climbing thirty-five flights instead of twenty. All in all, a true suck-fest for me to navigate my way through.
On one hand, this did allow me to consider the implications of what could possibly be going on and just how serious it might be.
My best friend is a lot of things. One thing he is not is a drama queen. Throughout the years, he had always been considered to be the more level headed and logical of the pair of us. That is not to say I lack the ability to be logical, but I do have a tendency to let my ovaries override my common sense some of the time.
So knowing that my best friend is mightily creeped out meant something major was coming down the pipeline. Taking into consideration the fact he had told me to sign in on Skype and stay invisible, I could only assume this meant the situation had far surpassed a normal DEFCON Five level.
With that particular thought in mind, I felt pressured to get out of this damn building and get home. My own sense of paranoia coupled with every new realization had me increasing my pace to an urgent jog. In some places, I found myself taking two stairs at a time just to hurry the process along.
Three floors down, I was proud of the fact I kept up my speedy little stride. At this rate, I would make it to the lobby in five to six minutes. I promised myself that I would later celebrate this accomplishment with a pudding cup, but until then I remained focused. Yet, as with all the best laid plans, fate decided to insert her snooty nose into my world and disrupt it.
My cell phone lit up like a Christmas tree. The sudden influx of information as I went from dead spot to coverage area had every notification tone I had vying for dominance. In the end, a single ring tone won out as strains of Queen’s “Somebody to Love” began echoing in the stairwell. Rolling my eyes, I dragged my finger across the display to get this over with.
“Hello, Mom.” It never failed that when some major event took place and I seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere, there would be a call from my mother. Don’t get me wrong, I love her to death. I do. I wouldn’t trade her for all the gold in the world, but when she calls it is not a short endeavor.
“Angel! Where are you at? We’ve been trying to get…” The phone cut out and I grimaced. God knew I would be in a stairwell, running…okay, jogging to get out of the building when my mother would decide to call.
“Mom…MOM! Hold on…you’re breaking up.” Muttering softly, I moved quickly down the stairs to the next landing to prop back against the wall.
“Angel…Angel, are you there? Did you hang up on me?” This time I heard the panic in my mother’s voice and I went still. Both my mother and best friend were acting weird on the same day. This did not bode well for my sanity.
“No, Mom. I’m here. What’s up?”
“What have I told you about speaking like some common −”
“Fine, fine. You win.” God, even in the state she was in, my mother would never lay off on the proper English. “What is it that you need, Mom?”
“Where are you?”
“Same place I always am on Wednesday. Work.” Rolling my eyes, I braced myself for some idiotic spiel about making sure I changed my air filter or something.
“Angel, you need to come home. Now.” This time, I heard it. My mother’s voice seemed strained, almost forced as she spoke. With each word I could hear the tell-tale signs of nervousness bleeding through.
“I’m on my way to the apartment now. I’ll be home in a little −”
“That is not what I meant, young lady. I mean you need to come home. Now. Tonight.” Well, this was different. For a second, I pulled the phone away from my ear and checked the display just to make sure I had the right number. Yep. Home phone for my parents, but this made absolutely no sense.
“Mom, you’re the one who told me I should move out. I can’t just up and leave because one of your juniper trees is dying. I have a job, responsibilities…Remember?” Okay, maybe that had been a little harsh, but I will admit to experiencing a certain sense of satisfaction in throwing those words back at her.
“You don’t understand, something is −”
“Is Dad okay?” I cut her off. God knew she’d done it to me…often.
“Well, yes, but −”
“But what? There is no ‘but’ to this. I don’t have the money to just up and drive home anytime you want to check in with me. I love you, Mom, but I have work tomorrow.”
“Angel, wait, you don’t −”
Without a second thought, I ended the call and moved to slide the cell phone back into my pocket. Later, I would come to regret that decision, but I had become infinitely more focused on making my way to my car to get to my apartment.
This time, I took the steps two at a time, ignoring my phone as it started to proclaim itself my mother’s personal soapbox. I knew damn well if I picked up that phone I wouldn’t be going anywhere for a couple of hours. Right now, that particular can of worms was one I didn’t want to open.
Floor by floor, I made my way down the stair
s. I’ll admit, by the sixth floor I began to feel a little winded and considered just walking towards the elevator bay. Stubbornness prevailed as I argued that if I had come this far, I might as well finish it. With that in mind, I pushed away from the railing and muttered to myself, “In for a penny, in for a pound.”
The rest of my descent was uneventful. By now my phone had stopped playing my mother’s ode to the seventies, which meant I had a small reprieve from whatever she had been trying to say. Still, the fact that both she and Robbie were acting so strangely had me on edge. It couldn’t be coincidence, of that I was certain. My only question was what kind of event could have them both so shaken?
As I stepped through the door and entered the lobby, it occurred to me that my knees felt like jelly. With the exception of a knee dislocation in high school, I rarely had a moment where I felt pain in that particular area anymore. I’d learned the hard way to take it easy, especially if I wanted to avoid surgery later in my life.
For the first time in close to ten years, my knees ached.
“Shit…”
By all that was holy, I needed to sit down before I fell down. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that a charley horse was incoming. Not one of those sharp, japing ones either. I’m talking about one of those drawn out, burning pain, muscles pulling up to make you feel like you had a thousand hot needles stuck in your flesh, type charley horse. Already I could feel the knots forming in my outer thigh, and I could only pray I made it to a seat before I fell flat on my face in a seizing mass of pain.
It took some doing, but I eventually hobbled my ass straight to one of the patent leather chairs that had been situated across from the elevators. Just as I lowered myself down into the seat, I heard the soft ping of the bell as doors opened and out spilled this round of occupants. Seeing the bulbous stomachs of the four men from my floor as they pushed their way past everyone else in the cars, I could only glare as a sense of disgust washed over me. The irony of this situation was in no way lost on me.
This day had effectively become a steaming pile of bullshit. While I kept that particular thought to myself, it did nothing to cool my ire as one hand moved to massage the muscles that spasmed in protest.
For the next ten minutes, I went relatively unnoticed as people lingered about the lobby, exchanging cards and numbers while they made plans for the evening. Me? I just wanted my damn leg to stop hurting so I could hobble my ass to the car and make it home to start getting some answers.
Just when I thought it might be safe to get up and try walking across the lobby, I again heard the peal of a bell as the elevator doors rushed open. Seeing the throng of people inside, I decided to hedge my bets and hang back. Seeing as I would probably be walking as well as Quasimodo, the last thing I wanted was to be pushed around by impatient workers trying to make their own escape.
Leaning back in the chair to watch as the crowd crossed the lobby towards the exit, I grimaced when I spotted Isaac making his way towards me with a none-too-pleased look on his face.
Now, I’ve already told you, Isaac is a mountain of a man, so there is absolutely no way you could miss him if he decided to make his presence known. As he crouched down beside my chair, I could see a shadow of concern in his eyes even as he gave a slightly crooked smirk.
“What the hell you doin’ in this chair, Momma?” Straight to the point, I have to admit that had always been one of the things I liked about Isaac.
“I decided to go all ninja and run the stairwell down here to head home.” Offering him a lopsided grin, I saw his eyes widen before he shook his head.
“Why would you go and do a thing like that?”
“Long story short, I got a message from my best friend. Something is wrong back home, and he won’t tell me what it is until I get my butt in my apartment for the night.” I shrugged a little. Peering at Isaac, I could see the worry on his face become more intense, and that had me narrowing my eyes before I dropped my own voice to a whisper. “What is it?”
“You know I can’t…”
“No, I know you will even if you shouldn’t. What’s going on, Isaac?” Peering past his shoulder, I let my eyes roam over the herd left in the lobby. Several suits from the upper floors were gathered in the small sitting area just away from the elevators. The other two security guards seemed to be standing near the rotating door at the front of the lobby, and if I had to judge, they looked a lot more nervous than I could ever remember seeing them.
Looking back to the hulking figure crouched next to me, I could see his brow furrow and his lips pull down with a frown. One large hand came up to rub across the dome of his head before he gave a soft sigh.
“If I tell you, you can’t tell no one. You got it?”
If I had any doubt something seemed to be amiss, Isaac was now confirming it in spades. Turning a little in my chair to face him, I bent my head forward to get close enough that he could whisper without being overheard. I found myself thankful I had chosen to pull my hair up into a ponytail so I didn’t have to contend with that as well.
“You have my word, I won’t speak to a soul.” Okay, so I lied. I already knew that whatever Isaac said would be something I relayed to Robbie. He was my best friend and he lived three hours away, there couldn’t be any harm in that.
Isaac eyed me for a moment and I held my breath, hoping that the look on my face was believable enough that he wouldn’t change his mind. Apparently it worked, because the next thing I knew his hand was on the back of my neck, and he was whispering in my ear while the rest of the world remained oblivious. To anyone else, it probably looked like we were necking, and considering what he said next, I almost wish that had been the case.
“There’s an outbreak in the city. Apparently, it started late last night and when the cops came in earlier they said that once the building is empty for the night, we need to secure it and go home. They said they’re gonna call everybody and tell them not to come in tomorrow.” Isaac’s breath teased my ear, and under normal circumstances, I would have been giddy as a school girl. His words, however, had the effect of ice cold water being thrown on you right before you get hit by liquid nitrogen.
I was speechless. I realized now why Isaac had taken this position. It had been his way to hide my initial reaction from the others in the lobby. For several moments I forgot basic human functions. How to breathe, how to speak, hell…even the ability to swallow seemed to be lost on me as the information left me dumbfounded. My mouth hung open in shock and a small droplet of drool left the corner of my mouth before I even realized that his fingers had started to tighten on my neck to shake me out of my stupor.
“Are you serious?” The words escaped my throat in a choked whisper as thoughts of all sorts of viruses and diseases began to flood my mind.
“As a heart attack, Momma. Do yourself a favor and get out of here quick,” Isaac spoke softly. I leaned back to put a little distance between us, but I felt profoundly bereft as his hand left my neck. Then, I drew in a steadying breath before looking up to watch his face as he spoke again. “You gonna be okay?”
“Yeah…yeah. Just give me a couple of minutes to make sure my legs will hold me up.” Just as quickly as it had begun, the conversation ended and Isaac made his way back across the lobby.
I can honestly tell you that I sat there for a good minute letting what Isaac had told me settle in. Of course, once it did, my mind took off like a shot. So there was an outbreak. Just wonderful. As if it weren’t bad enough that people in the world seemed to get their licenses out of Cracker Jack boxes to try and kill everyone on the road, I now had to contend with a sickness of some kind.
Honestly, it ran through my mind that this outbreak could be any number of things. At that moment I had started to tick them all off in my head: Spanish Flu, Malaria, West Nile, Anthrax, SARS…and each thought had me feeling a little more uncomfortable than I had been the moment before. While I couldn’t know what superbug I would be facing, I could take steps to make sure I risked as little expo
sure as possible. If they were locking down the McGinley building and shutting it down for tomorrow, it stood to reason they’d be doing the same for most other businesses as well. That made it tonight. Any preparation I was going to do would have to be tonight.
I considered pulling out my phone and texting Robbie, but the truth was I could blame traffic for running late on getting home. Stopping at the grocery store would be a small side venture that could be done on my way back to the apartment with little to no time loss. Instead of texting Robbie, I pulled out my phone and dragged one of the notepad apps up on the screen to start making a list.
Water. Flour. Sugar. Tea Bags. Ground Beef. Chicken. Jerky. Sandwich Meat. Bread. Flour. Cornmeal. Yeast. Milk. Powdered Milk. Peanuts. Trail Mix. Dried Fruit. Tylenol. Dr. Pepper. Batteries. Chocolate. Noodles. Soup. Broth.
I had just been about to add ‘Feminine Products’ when an ear shattering, blood curdling scream echoed in the lobby. That rotating glass door swung in and a woman I’d never seen before stumbled into the room.
At first glance, you could tell she seemed to be someone of importance. Her business suit was tailored to hug each line and curve of her body in a flattering manner. It looked expensive, and not a single wrinkle marred that fabric despite the fact her face and neck looked like some kind of horrible science experiment gone wrong.
A wealth of bright red blood spilled down the left side of the woman’s body and seemed to have soaked into every inch of that expensive, wrinkle-free fabric. I’ll admit, I stared for a good ten seconds before my mouth even dropped open to mirror my surprise.
“Help me,” Mrs. Trendy Business suit sputtered. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, while her right hand latched tightly to the left side of her throat.
Everyone has seen enough movies to know that when her hand left the general vicinity of her neck, there was going to be a spray of red mist that would make Dracula jump for joy. Me? Not so much. Even though she was all the way across the room, I found myself pushing back against the chair; as if doing so would get me farther away from what I knew was coming.