by J. R. Rain
Stetson’s mind was talking to itself now. There were two trains of thought. What if they’re in trouble? He didn’t know what to do with that one. They’ve deserted you, he now realized. You’re on your own, and oh yes, you have to eat.
He glanced back at Cole, who was sitting still in the dark, although his eyes were glowing softly red. All was quiet, except for the voices in Stetson’s head.
Go, he told himself. You have to.
He sniffed the air and picked up on a small child playing outside a couple of doors down. Too small.
Stay, he argued now. Carter will be back, and there is strength in numbers.
Stetson turned to the last filet mignon on the table, grabbed it and bit into it. However, the meat had turned brown and didn’t taste fresh. Stetson grunted and threw it across the room. Cole stirred from the sound, and wrestled for freedom.
“To hell with them,” Stetson said out loud now, although he didn’t realize it. “To hell with them all. I’m going to get my dues.”
No, not yet. Soon, soon.
Yes, he’d wait, just a little while more. Joe promised he’d return. Except David Stetson didn’t know how long he could last. He looked down at Cole. Cole couldn’t be left alone. Could he?
Did Stetson even care?
Not really.
Still, he commanded himself to think clearly. He would wait twenty more minutes. Could he last that long? Maybe, maybe not.
We’ll see, he thought...and thought again of the small child playing three houses down.
Chapter Fourteen
Mike Mendoza drove exactly sixty-five miles per hour up the 605 freeway, and even though Joe was anxious as hell to get to his brother, and equally importantly to Anna, he understood the need for caution. All they needed now was to get pulled over for speeding. According to the police, the two former lieutenant commanders were still AWOL, and there was an APB out on them. They were designated as Armed and Dangerous.
Not good.
But Joe smiled, rolled down the window and did that curvy thing with his hand, weaving it in and out to the oncoming wind. “Did I even thank you?” Joe asked, as he inhaled the fresh air deeply.
“No, but you’re welcome,” Mike answered.
Mike was happy, too. Of course, he understood that this wasn’t over. Not by a long shot. But if they could cure Jack, then there would be three of them. Three people who knew more than what 99.99 percent of the rest of the world knew. He was happy, for now. So glad that he’d saved his Army buddy, Joe. He believed Army buddies were for life.
They’d decided to keep the phone calls to an absolute minimum. Mike had promised to call Carla within a few hours. They would return within those guidelines, and although he felt bad that she was probably going crazy wondering what was happening, this was the time to be careful. Extremely careful.
So, it wasn’t surprising that Carla questioned them when they finally arrived at the Los Feliz home and knocked on the door.
Carla peered through the peephole, no doubt with her gun drawn.
“It’s okay, Carla,” Mike said. “I’m back. With Joe.”
“Why didn’t you call me?” She tried not to sound like a needy woman. The detective in her had to know without a shadow of a doubt that they were safe. And sane.
Mike explained quickly, and then Joe appeared in front of the door with a huge smile. In Carla’s experience, those who were infected didn’t smile. Perhaps they grimaced viciously, but not with the joy Joe displayed now.
“Ta-da! It’s me! I’m back! Cured!”
Finally, convinced—and laughing lightly—Carla opened the door, with her gun still in hand, of course.
Anna, who had a reputation for not following orders, was, of course, listening at the top of the stairs. Jared stayed next to her, knowing he could do nothing to deter his beautiful but stubborn girlfriend.
And when Carla finally opened the front door, Anna flew down the stairs and into her uncle’s arms, almost knocking him over. She looked into his eyes. Yes, normal. Thank God! Anna started crying again, this time with tears of joy.
“Uncle Joe! Is it really you? And you’re okay?”
“I’m back. Your Uncle Joe is here and we’re going to fix everything.” Joe wasn’t certain this was exactly true, but for Anna’s teenage-limited world, the promise would do. For now.
“I knew you’d make it,” she said through her tears. When she was done hugging her uncle, she turned to Mike Mendoza. “Thank you,” her words were sincere. “I don’t know how to thank you enough. For bringing him back and making him...okay again.”
Mike was still new to this family and didn’t quite know what to say. “I did what I had to do.”
Anna took her uncle’s hand. “Oh, Uncle Joe. Was it horrible?”
Joe Carter understood that Anna hadn’t witnessed a real drowning. Yet. Mike had been shot and unconscious when his lungs filled with water. It had been much, much different for Joe. And he remembered all of it. The fighting, the panic, the absolute necessity for air in his lungs instead of the forced water that slowly but inevitably filled them. Then the insane realization that he wasn’t going to get any oxygen. Finally, the...fading away.
Joe embraced his niece again, gently this time. “It was necessary, angel. Mike saved my life.”
“My dad will have to go through the same thing?”
Carla stepped in. “Honey, we’ll do everything we can to make it simple and quick. And then your dad will be...fine,” she ended, more uncertainly than she’d intended.
Anna nodded. Jared came forward and took her hand. It was Anna he cared about most, although her father was growing on him big time. But he also knew that saving her father’s life was crucial to all of their survival. Before Jack had been infected, he was the glue that held them all together.
“Sooo...” Anna said as courageously as she could, “how are we going to do it?”
* * *
A little while later all were seated back at the kitchen table.
Carla wasn’t used to “family meetings” and she tried to reason how this group constituted a family anyhow. Only three were blood relatives, but all played a part in this strange set of circumstances that now encompassed each of their lives. The set of events over the last week or so bound them together. Bonded them more closely than any of them would have ever imagined.
Jared was inseparable from Anna. Carla knew his parents either weren’t aware of his whereabouts or didn’t care. Mike was the Army buddy who had gotten into this mess with Joe, who was Jack’s brother.
I’ve seen whackier families, thought Carla, but couldn’t muster even a small grin.
“Carla?” Joe interrupted her thoughts.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“I was saying that Mike and I were feeling stronger when we were—transformed,” he repeated. Joe took in the dark circles under Carla’s eyes and her worried face. From what he could tell, she was just about at the end of her rope. Joe loved Anna deeply but he knew that, even under normal circumstances, the girl could be a handful. He also comprehended the gravity of the situation for his brother. Joe gestured to the cellar door as he continued, “How’s he doing?”
Carla took a huge gulp of her coffee. “He’s stopped obsessing,” she said, “but truthfully, I haven’t had the heart to go down there for the last hour or so.”
“You haven’t?” Anna cried out. Before anyone could stop her, she rose from her chair and bolted across the kitchen to the cellar door.
“Anna, wait!” Jared, Carla and Joe chimed together. But she opened the door and descended the stairs quickly.
They all cautiously followed her, some quicker than others. Jared knew that if Anna thought for an instant that her father was getting “better” she would be in his arms in a flash. He forced his way down the stairs faster than the others.
But Anna had stopped halfway down the stairs, peering into the darkness. “Daddy?”
A groan from below. Then a hoarse voice: “Anna? Is that you?”
“It’s me, Daddy.”
Before she could do or say any more, Carla was in front of her. “Back up, Jack,” Carla ordered. Jack did back up and Carla pulled the chain for the single light in the room. She positioned herself to one side of the cellar, out of Jack’s reach, but also able to see the other four on the stairs.
Anna pulled her hand loose from Jared and started down.
“Stop right there,” Carla commanded the teenager.
Joe reached his niece and took her hand. “No, honey, not yet.”
But Anna would have none of it. “But he’s fine, Uncle Joe! Listen to him!”
Jack Carter was indeed coherent. He was feeling better, they all could see that. Except for the eyes. His retinas were streaked with a deep, glowing red.
“You’re better, right?” Anna asked him hopefully.
“I feel better. I feel stronger. Don’t worry, angel, I’m okay now.” Jack smiled, but he was very aware that Carla wasn’t smiling. He was very aware that he was being tested. “I’m really thirsty,” he added. He was thirsty, too, but mostly he was hungry.
So very hungry.
Someone was lingering at the top of the stairs. A man. Jack could sense him, smell him.
“Who else is here?” he asked warily.
“It’s Mi—” started Anna, but her uncle put a finger to her lips, shushing her.
“But Uncle Joe,” Anna whispered. She didn’t think her dad could hear them, although she knew his senses were heightened. “Why can’t we tell him about—”
“Not now, Anna. Trust me.”
“But–—”
“No buts. Listen, we’ve seen he’s okay. But you’re going to have to trust me on this. Let’s go back upstairs.”
Jack knew something was going down. There was something they weren’t telling him. He also knew he’d better play nice if he was going to get the hell out of the cellar.
Carla was in control now, it seemed.
What a bitch, thought Jack. What did I ever see in her? He fought down rage. No, Carla is good. She’s the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time.
“Go on, Anna,” Jack smiled at his daughter again. “I understand. Hell, I had to do the same with your uncle, right? I had to leave him, too. It’ll be okay.”
Joe marched her up the stairs.
“I love you, Dad!” She gave Jack one last glance and then she was in the kitchen with Joe and...another man...Who was that, anyway?
“I love you too, angel.”
Jared remained halfway down the stairs. He was relieved that someone else could handle Anna. He was glad he hadn’t said anything, glad that no one had told Jack what he would have to face.
Jared was tired too—they all were. Except for Jack, apparently. Jared attempted a poker face while wondering who was going to do it. How they would do it. He’d never seen anyone drown, except in the movies. He had a feeling it wasn’t going to be pretty.
“Look, Jack,” said Carla, “we’ll get you some water, okay?”
“Thank you,” Jack answered as calmly as he could. “Carla, you look tired. Thank you for taking care of Anna.”
Carla almost broke down. It was all she could do not to cry right now, because she had been thinking pretty much the same thoughts as Jared. “Of course,” was all she could say. She couldn’t take it anymore.
She turned her back on him and left.
Chapter Fifteen
My fake smile faded as soon as Jared followed Carla up and closed the door.
I didn’t know what the fuck they were planning, but I had a bad feeling about all of it. They wanted to stop me. Cure me. Except I didn;t want to be cured. I wanted to be free. And to feed, goddammit.
Joe was different, too. My own flesh and blood. He was no brother to me anymore. He’d somehow become normal again, which was interesting. I had heard Joe calmly keep Anna silent. They were hiding something from me. No, someone. Either way, I was sure of one thing: they were gearing up to “save” me.
The last thing I remembered was pawing my daughter, with the intent of eating her alive. I did feel bad about that. Maybe I should feel worse than bad, but I didn’t. Just bad. Nothing more, nothing less. Yes, Anna was off limits as food. Of course. Probably my brother, too.
Maybe.
And how did Joe become normal again? Had he done it willingly? I tried to remember the conversation when I’d almost attacked Anna. I’d been sick and not thinking clearly. They’d been talking about a possible cure. For who? What had happened to make them think there was one?
Suddenly, it came to me.
I’d been sick—
But still holding onto protecting Anna when Mike had attacked me—
And I’d killed Mike—
Shit. There was a way to transform back. Joe had done it. I’m going to have to be very, very careful. Now that I felt strong, I couldn’t imagine life any other way. And if they’d done it to Joe, they would do it to me.
Just a few minutes ago, I’d recognized the scent of the man I couldn’t quite see. Although I felt strong, I realized I was seriously outnumbered by Joe, Carla, and—my lips curled into a snarl—and Mike.
Chapter Sixteen
Jared followed Carla into the kitchen to find that Joe, Mike and Anna were sitting on the grass out back, away from the house. The two joined the rest of the group.
“We were waiting for you,” Joe said. “My brother can hear quite well right now. Even out here, perhaps. Either way, we’ll speak quietly.”
They were all thinking the same thing—drowning Jack—but no one knew how to begin.
Jared wished for better times. He wished he could cheer Anna up—and he really wished he could kiss her. He looked down and wished he could pluck a blade of grass and hold it between his thumbs and whistle through it to impress her, but that wouldn’t be appropriate. So, he pulled his knees up and put his arms around them and waited for them to figure out the best way to kill Anna’s father. He almost smiled at the craziness of it all. Almost.
“So,” Carla finally began. “Any ideas?”
“First of all, we can’t let him out of there,” Joe declared. Everyone nodded agreement except Anna. “Anna, you know we can’t. Look what Mike did. Hell, I was on my way to infect or kill a couple of others when Mike cured me.”
“Cured,” Anna repeated bitterly. “Tell me how it felt, Uncle Joey. How was it, drowning? I’m sorry, but I don’t know if I can do it.”
“You won’t have to, honey. Maybe you should just let the grownups decide. I know this is hard on you. Why don’t you and Jared go to the park or the zoo for a few hours?”
“Let the grownups decide?” Anna shot back loudly. “This is my dad’s life we’re talking about here!”
The adults were silent.
“He’s my dad!” she said again, eyes blazing with fury and leftover tears. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been in on this since day one. I helped you,” she pointed at her uncle, “and you.” Now, she pointed a finger at Mike. “I may be fourteen, but I’ve held up pretty well, I’ve thought straight, done research for you, done everything I could. And now you want me to go to the fucking zoo while you kill my father? No!”
She felt a little satisfaction in silencing them all. She had never before used the F-word among so-called grownups. “I’ve got news for you,” she added. “I’m not going anywhere. I can take it.”
“Calm down,” Joe pleaded. Anna nodded. She took Jared’s hand. No one but Jared knew how hard she held on.
“Okay, this is getting us nowhere,” Carla said impatiently. She needed some shut-eye. Then she needed to get back to work. Now that Joe was here—and normal—maybe he could take over. When it was done.
A big it.
A very, very big it.
She took a deep breath. “Anna, I know you’re upset. But just shut up for one minute out of your life and let us talk.” She didn’t wait to see Anna’s jaw drop or Jared hold back a smile. “Joe, Mike. He’s coherent. He’s t
hinking again. He’s powerful. How with it is he?”
“He’s extremely with it right now,” Mike told her. “He will try to be as truthful as he can without letting on that he probably still wants to...” he couldn’t say it in front of Anna. “If he’s like we were, he wants to be good, but he’s not quite sure he can.”
“Right,” Joe echoed. “When you and Jack asked me if I was okay, I didn’t tell the whole truth. And Mike and I felt a sort of bond. We could almost read each other’s minds.”
“Because you were both infected?” asked Carla.
“Maybe,” said Joe.
“Probably,” added Mike.
Carla said, “And then you two planned together how to escape.”
“Right. I told Mike I was a pretty good lock-picker. We talked about it, planned it, and waited for you and Jack to leave. All premeditated. And it worked.”
“And,” Mike said, “if Joe and I could feel that bond, I’m pretty sure that Jack senses the change in Joe.”
“That Joe is normal?” said Carla.
“That’s right,” said Mike. “He knows who is ‘human’ and who isn’t. Which is why I stayed hidden.”
“A good idea,” said Joe. “But I’d be willing to bet he still knows you’re here.”
Mike nodded. “And probably not too happy about it.”
“You did try to kill Anna.”
“I was also out of my mind.”
“Try explaining that to him now,” said Joe.
They all knew, of course, there was no reasoning with Jack. There was only curing him, if possible.
Joe looked at Carla, then Anna. “You two can’t trust what he says. Believe me. I know you care about him but he’s just not right in the head.”
Carla shook her head. It was so much. Was it just a couple of nights ago that she was falling in love with him? She still was. She had to remind herself who the real Jack Carter was. Kind, handsome, and a sense of humor. She’d never met a single father who cared for his child the way Jack did. It was one of the traits that attracted her to him. But for now, she had to stay focused. “We were talking about the cure when he went berserk.”