by Ron Schrader
A few moments later, the door opened to reveal a very ill-looking Dr. Staves. “I’m sorry, my dear, but Seth and I seem to have both come down with something.” He barely finished his sentence before he began coughing uncontrollably, doubled over in pain, and fell to the floor.
Nola forced her way through the partially open door and crouched down next to the doctor in an attempt to help. “Are you all right?” she asked while she felt his head to discover he was burning up. “We need to get you to the med center right away! Where’s Seth?” Without waiting for his answer, she ran to Seth’s room to find him unconscious on the floor, sweat pouring from his skin, thanks to the burning fever that had taken him as well.
After several unsuccessful attempts to wake him, she ran back out into the main room hoping the doctor could help, but it was too late.
Knowing she probably couldn’t move one of them by herself, let alone both of them, she quickly left the house and ran to find help. By pure luck, Jev was walking toward the house when Nola reached the road. “Jev, please help!” she yelled out as she frantically ran toward him.
Hours later she sat in the waiting area of the medical center, wondering if Seth was going to recover or not. Jev and Charlie sat with her, attempting to put her at ease, but she knew they were only masking their own concern for their friend.
“I’m sure things will be fine,” Charlie said confidently. “Seth’s a tough kid, so I’m sure he’ll be back on his feet before you know it.”
“Yeah,” Jev added. “He’s anything but a quitter.”
Several hours passed before Jev suggested they all go home and get some rest. “I’m sure we’ll find out more as soon as the doctors know something,” he offered.
“I’m staying,” Nola insisted. “I have to be here when . . .” She paused for just a moment to take a breath. “. . . when he wakes up,” she finished.
“Will you be all right?” Charlie asked with concern. “We really can stay longer if you want us to.”
“No,” was her simple reply. “I’m fine. You can go.” She thanked them for their help and for staying so long with her, then watched as the two men walked away.
Now sitting alone with just her thoughts, sleep soon overtook her.
“Help!”
She jumped, now awake from the loud scream.
“Please, someone help me!” the woman yelled again.
She quickly rose to her feet in an attempt to find out what was happening and realized it was the middle of the night. As she approached the large wall of windows near the front entrance of the med center she could see nothing but a thick cloud that loomed outside the building. As she stared out into the darkness, the front door suddenly flew open, startling her, and a woman rushed into the building screaming.
“I can’t find my baby girl!” cried the frantic woman. “She let go of my hand for a second, and now she’s gone into the fog!” She began to break down, trying to continue. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before, this fog. You can’t see anything out there.”
Nola approached the woman and caught her as she fell to her knees sobbing, but moments later a little girl walked through the door, tears streaming down her face.
“Mama?” she cried out as she ran toward the sobbing woman. “I couldn’t see you anymore!”
Nola stepped back from the woman and her daughter, who embraced for a moment, then walked together across the room, where they sat on an empty bench. She smiled before turning her attention once more to the eerie mist outside.
Staring out the window, a feeling of fear and uncertainty overcame her. She had no idea what was going on. She didn’t understand where this fog had come from, and she still didn’t know whether Seth and his father would live or die.
She sat back in her chair, pulling her knees up to her chest and began to cry quietly, until exhausted from the long, difficult day, she gradually drifted off to sleep again.
Morning finally came, but the sun did nothing to remove the thick mist that lingered on the valley floor. Rays of sunlight only illuminated the thick fog, allowing some limited visibility, but it still remained dim and eerie.
Nola pushed her concerns aside as she went to speak to one of the medical staff, hoping for some new information about Seth and his father. “Nurse?” she asked as one of the staff walked past her. “Is there any news?”
The nurse stopped for a moment. “We don’t know what’s wrong,” she explained. “We have several dozen people with the same illness, all of them unconscious, but no one knows why.”
“So many?” Nola asked with concern.
“Yes. The only thing we do know,” the nurse continued, “is that every one of the patients worked on one of the two farms out in the valley the day after the meteor shower.”
“And you have no idea what’s wrong with them?” Nola asked again.
“I’m sorry, but no.”
By now, all of the patients had been quarantined in one section of the med center out of fear that this ailment might be contagious, but Nola refused to leave, choosing instead to remain in the waiting room. She would stay until she knew something, anything, about Seth’s and his father’s conditions.
Meanwhile, her mind again focused on the thick mist that was still clearly visible outside the windows of the medical center. How odd, she thought to herself as she tried to make sense of everything.
As the day drifted slowly into night, the darkness of the mist once again engulfed the lower valley of the planet, the city included. Nola remained in the med center again that night, still unwilling to leave until she knew if Seth would live or not. She fought sleep until late into the night but finally lost the battle.
In the early hours of the morning, a nurse woke her with news, albeit not the news she wanted.
“Miss?” said the nurse while gently trying to wake her. “I thought you’d like to know, one of our patients just woke up, and he’s feeling fine. Hopefully the rest . . .”
“Thank you,” interrupted Nola, her face radiating hope.
“Certainly,” the nurse replied, hurrying back to her duties.
As the hours passed, one by one, patients affected by the strange illness awoke from their unconscious states. Dr. Staves and his son were among the last of the patients to wake, feeling the same as all the others, tired and hungry.
As Seth finally walked out into the waiting area, Nola rushed toward him, practically jumping into his arms and almost knocking him back because of the weak state he was in.
“I wasn’t sure if . . .” She began to cry as she hugged him. “I was so worried,” were the words that escaped through her sobs.
“I’m fine, I think,” Seth whispered in her ear as the two embraced. “Just starving.”
The three walked outside together to head home, caring very little about the lingering mist that seemed to have no intention of leaving.
“How long has this mist been here?” asked Dr. Staves curiously.
“Since about a day after you passed out,” replied Nola.
“I have a theory as to why, but I’ll worry about that later. My priority right now is to figure out what I can about our condition.”
~
As soon as they got home, the doctor began drawing blood to examine and test while Nola made them all something to eat.
“Seth!” the doctor called out. “I don’t know how they could have missed this!” he exclaimed.
“What is it, dad?” Seth asked as he walked to his father’s desk.
“Look for yourself.”
Seth looked into the microscope. “What am I looking for?” he asked.
“See the small dot next to each blood cell?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s not normal,” the doctor replied with a hint of concern in his voice.
“Come eat, boys,” Nola interrupted.
While Seth and his father walked toward the kitchen, a knock at the door broke the momentary silence. Nola walked to the door and opened it to find Jev an
d Charlie standing outside, anxious to see how their friend was doing.
“Come in,” she said as she opened the door and moved to the side.
“See,” said Charlie, speaking soft enough that only Nola could hear him. “I told you Seth was a fighter.”
The two exchanged a friendly smile as they all gathered around the table where Seth and his father sat, both having already started eating.
~
Several hours later, after a day of talking and laughing together, Jev and Charlie said their good-byes and headed out the door.
“Glad you’re both doing better,” Jev said as they stepped outside.
“Yeah,” Charlie added. “And we’ll be up on the cliff for about a week if you feel like joining us. Commander Tarin is pretty interested in that forest we found up there and wants us to gather more intel about the area, but we’ll let you off the hook if you’re not up to it.”
Seth smiled at the remarks. “Just be safe. I might join you in a day or two.”
When the door finally shut, Nola grabbed Seth by the arm and led him to his bedroom.
“You need to rest,” she said as she shut the bedroom door behind them.
One Week Earlier
The story spread quickly throughout the city when one of the farmers, thought to have recovered from the sickness, started having a bad relapse. Out of nowhere, he had gone into spasms of pain and locked himself in his room. Anyone in the vicinity of his home could hear his screams of agony. Within hours there were more screams from more victims, until this new symptom had reached all who’d been infected.
Nola was sitting with Seth when the pain hit so suddenly it threw him to the floor.
Dr. Staves came rushing out to his son, hoping to somehow help, but within a matter of minutes, he’d also been incapacitated by the unbearable pain.
Unable to do anything to help, Nola ran out of the house crying, hoping to find help, all the while listening to the screams echoing throughout the city.
Afraid to go inside, Nola sat for hours on the front steps until her body could produce no more tears. Eventually the screams finally began to die down, and Nola stood, wondering if it was safe to go in. She cautiously entered the doorway and peered into the house, where she could see the two men still crouched on the floor, both rocking back and forth, their heads in their hands. “Seth? Are you all right?” she called out as she slowly approached.
He continued to rock back and forth, holding his head tightly in his hands.
As she moved in closer, she repeated the question. “Are you all right?” As she came near and crouched down, she put her hands on his, slowly pulling them away from his face.
“Something’s wrong,” he whispered softly as he looked up at Nola. She jumped back in fear. His eyes had changed to a dark red color that seemed to almost glow in the low light of the room.
Over the next several days, those who were infected began to physically change, going through a metamorphosis so painful that the city was filled with constant screaming.
In spite of the fear she felt, Nola stayed by Seth’s side, unwilling to leave him alone. Dr. Staves had also asked her to record the event, to which she’d agreed.
With a small camera in hand, she filmed Seth and Dr. Staves, documenting the changes taking place each day.
~
Day 1: After several hours of agonizing pain, the eyes have changed to a dark red color and seem to give off a faint glow in low light.
Day 2: More pain during the night for several hours straight. The bones in their chests and backs have stretched, making their torsos elongated and skinnier than before. They both keep getting angry at random, and they’ll sometimes shake uncontrollably for a few minutes at a time. It’s hard to watch the pain they’re both experiencing.
Day 3: There seemed to be a break through most of the previous day and well into the early morning of the next day before the pain began again. Over several hours their legs began to stretch while their knees bent inward toward the back, similar to an animal’s. They can no longer stand up straight but move about in an apelike manner. I’m not sure how much longer I can watch.
Day 4: Their arms have stretched out, similar to their legs, and their hands have merged into three large fingers with sharp nails at the end of each. While neither of them has attacked me, both continue to yell and have even started to regularly threaten me. They regain their senses quickly, though, and are very apologetic.
Day 5: They won’t eat. Everything I’ve tried feeding them all week is thrown up immediately after being swallowed. Their body hair has been falling out. I didn’t notice it so much until today, but it’s mostly gone now. They both started losing teeth today as well, but it almost looks like the teeth are being replaced. I’m scared. I don’t know how much longer it’s going to be safe for me to stay here. I’m going to try and make it through the night.
Day 6: Overnight, their skin has turned dark, almost black in color, everywhere except the face. I can barely make out who they are at this point, and they don’t even look human anymore. Also, the random fits of violence that have been gradually increasing all week seem to have gotten much worse. I can’t stay any longer or they might hurt me.
~
In tears, Nola looked at the creature that used to be Seth, wishing she could somehow bring him back. “I love you, Seth,” she managed to say as she stood by the door, sobbing.
“Pleesch, Nala, don ga,” Seth slurred as he watched Nola run out the door.
Clumsily he chased her out the door, where she stood frozen, staring at another creature like him, only fully transformed, with a dark face and sharp fangs filling its mouth. Seth made a noise to draw its attention away from Nola. It stared at him for a moment before screeching at him, as if calling him to follow, then turned in the direction of the city gate and ran off into the mist.
Seth ignored Nola and began following the creature as it ran through the city.
Nola followed cautiously.
As they reached the entrance, she watched as Seth ran out the open gate toward a large pile of meat that was being devoured by several other creatures in a vicious manner. She yelled his name one more time, but he didn’t respond, heading for the food as if driven by instinct.
Gunshots and screaming could be heard within the city throughout the day and into the night.
Following instruction from the military, Nola had locked herself in her home, where she sat crouched on the floor of her bedroom, attempting to block the noise from outside while she sobbed.
~
In the early hours of the morning, his room a mess of belongings from the now-empty trunk that still sat peacefully in the corner where it had been for so long, the doctor’s mind finally gave into the organisms that had already taken over his body. He rushed out of the house toward the powerful smell of rotting meat in the open field.
The guard standing watch by the gate heard the hiss and growl of another creature just in time to crack the gate open enough to let it run free, away from the city. Once outside, the gate slammed shut with a loud bang as the creature disappeared into the thick mist.
~
Later that day, Jev and Charlie returned from their weeklong trek on the cliffs to discover for the first time the chaos that had taken place while they were gone. Unable to find Seth or Dr. Staves, they quickly made their way to Nola’s house, where they learned the horrible news about their friend, his father, and the other townspeople, now gone.
Seventeen Years Later
An old man sat in the center of the city, waiting his turn to be evacuated to the new village being built high on the cliff, far away from the vicious creatures that now roamed the valley floor.
He sat quietly in the gloomy mist that had permeated the valley floor since the days of the meteor shower. He pondered the things that had happened and remembered so many who’d died over the years, killed by the Vie. Somehow they’d managed to keep the creatures outside the city for the most part, but lately things had
gotten much worse. So he sat patiently waiting for his turn to leave.
A middle-aged woman, not as young and radiant as she once had been, sat quietly next to the old man. He watched as she pulled a flask of water from the satchel around her shoulder.
“May I have a sip?” he asked in a raspy voice.
She nodded politely and handed him the container.
After taking several sips of the cold water, he handed the flask back to the woman and thanked her.
She smiled and nodded once more.
“You know,” he began, “not many folks are brave enough to mess with those Vie.”
She nodded in agreement.
“It’s a death sentence if you run into one,” he continued. “Ya either end up a meal or one of ’em if ya live.”The woman just smiled and listened as if to humor the old man.
“But a boy I knew by the name of Jarek, he got bit a few months back and he’s fine. I seen him just the other day. Honest, I did.”
“I’ve seen him too,” replied Nola, full of mixed emotions as she continued. “He’s my son.”
Bonus
Want more? I wrote a Kalla origin short story that accompanies the book, and you can get it for free on my website. The link is below…
Visit: ronschrader.com/lady-short-story
Tri System’s Edge
Humble Beginnings
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