by Damon Novak
“I’m sure he’s suffering from a brain injury,” whispered Dr. Lake. “Something. Are you certain he wasn’t bitten by a rabid animal? You said you work in the everglades. There are raccoons, other rodents, right?”
“He woulda said somethin’ if that happened,” I said.
“Yeah, for sure,” said Clay. “We’d have never heard the end of it.”
Another impact came to the door, this one softer. No scratching this time. I said an internal “fuck it!” and walked toward the door.
For some reason, when I got there, I reached down and held the knob so it couldn’t easily turn. “Tan! How you doin’, buddy? You feelin’ any better?”
Through the hollow core door, I heard a slow scratching. Along with it was a baleful moan, like some isolated creature longin’ for its own kind. I’d never heard my brother make a noise like that, and I’d been around when he’d been sick as a dog, hung over to beat hell, and heartbroken, nearly to the point of suicide.
This wasn’t like any of those other times. None of ‘em.
That’s what came to my mind when I heard that sound. I found it impossible to believe my brother had made it.
I turned toward the others, surprised to see them just behind me. Dr. Lake held the gun. I stared at it in her hands.
“You plannin’ on shootin’ our brother?” I asked.
She stared, but said nothing. Her eyes moved to the door just as it shook again.
Just then, he growled again, but along with that came a sound like a baseball bat crackin’, and the door did just that.
Split right in the center, the crack runnin’ from the top to about the middle of the door. I could see light through it.
I turned and walked away from the door, releasing the handle. “I don’t know what the fuck to do!” I almost shouted.
Just then, my phone chimed. Another text. I knew it was Lilly before lookin’.
COME HOME. IT’S DAD. I LOCKED HIM IN THE BEDROOM WHEN HE TRIED TO ATTACK ME.
“Fuck!” I shouted. “Now dad’s doin’ the same thing as Tanner!”
“Dad? Lilly just said he was sick, right?”
“Yeah, before.” I read the texts to them.
Dr. Lake stared at me. “You can’t leave your brother here. If you go, you have to take him with you.”
“I can’t see any way to do that, and hell no, I don’t wanna leave him in a stranger’s house either,” I said.
Now you gotta understand, we’re a tight-knit family. We watch out for one another, and always have. It’s just how we were raised. Besides the land our airboat tour business sits on, our family owns a large, 25-acre plot of land on the outskirts of Everglades City. It’s zoned agricultural, and some of it is preserved wetlands. You gotta take a long gravel road to get into it, but we kinda made it the Baxter compound, though you’d hardly know it from drivin’ through. There’s no gate or anything like that. It just mostly looks like unspoiled nature.
As long as we agreed to work at the family business – and we all did – every kid in our family was provided two-acre plots of land to build on, with roads runnin’ all the way through it, connectin’ each one. The houses are all set back from the gravel road, hidden behind tall pines, cypress trees, and even mangroves, growin’ along the waterways that snake through our private community.
And none of us ever even considered movin’ away for good. Outta the four of us, Lilly’s the only one who left to go to college. She got a business degree so she’d be ready help run things after our folks either retired or died. Dad had the house built for her while she was gone, usin’ the plans she’d put together with a builder buddy of ours.
I’m just tellin’ you this so you get how close we are. Regardin’ our immediate family, aside from my Ma, we’ve never had to deal with any serious medical threats to any of us. So long story short, this situation was a first; none of us had ever gone insane before.
Well, my Ma might have been insane when she walked into the water, but doctors had already figured out the reasons for that.
I’m still not sure she just didn’t want to avoid the long, slow death of cancer, choosin’ instead to offer herself as a treat to the alligators who’d supported our family for so long.
It’s a thought I’ve never shared with anyone else. Not Lilly, not Clay or Tan. For sure not my dad.
I looked at my phone, not really sure what to say back, but now feelin’ like time was tickin’ away on us, and fast.
Clay’s arm snapped out and he grabbed the cell phone from my hand. He said, “Goddamned texting is a waste of time! Why doesn’t anyone just call anyone anymore!”
He dialed Lilly’s cell number and put the phone to his ear. A moment later, he lowered it. “Circuits are busy.”
“Probably why she texted,” I said, holdin’ out my hand. He put it in my hand, and suddenly steadied himself on the kitchen counter.
“You alright?” I asked.
“Come here, sit down,” said Dr. Lake. She led him over to a round table with four chairs around it. He sat.
She felt his forehead. “You’ve got a fever, and not just a little. I’m going to get a thermometer.”
She started down the hall, then stopped. “It’s in my bag. In the bedroom.”
“It doesn’t matter,” said Clay, his words coming thick on his tongue. “I trust you know when someone has a fever without it.”
“It’s how warm you are that has me alarmed.”
I walked to him and put my palm on his forehead. He went to grab my wrist and push me away, but I’d already done it by the time he tried.
“Clay, man. You’re on fire.”
“I’m getting shaky.”
“I’ve not treated a rabies case before,” said Dr. Lake. “I’m not even sure I know all the symptoms, but your condition worsened very quickly. After your brother bit you.”
Clay moved to stand up, but fell back down into the chair. “Oh, shit,” he said, and vomited onto the table.
Dr. Lake hurried into the kitchen and brought back a roll of paper towels. She indicated for Clay to slide back, and she cleaned the mess.
My heart was poundin’ in my chest right then. I wished Lilly was there, because she was smart, and she always made good decisions. Quick decisions. I walked away from Clay and texted. CLAY’S SICK. HIGH FEVER.
A moment later: THAT’S HOW DAD’S STARTED.
I TRIED TO CALL YOU, I texted. BUSY CIRCUITS.
She sent back: SAME HERE.
WHAT DO I DO?
There was an excruciatingly long pause, and believe me, that’s just what it was. Painful silence.
Then: I HAVE NO IDEA.
That was when I got worried at a whole new level.
“Do you have any rope?” I asked.
Dr. Lake stared at me. “For what?”
“Or a net, or anything we can contain my brother with while I try to get him someplace –”
“Where?” interrupted Dr. Lake. “I’m a doctor, and I’m telling you, to address what’s wrong with your brother requires treatment he can only receive in a hospital. You said you were there already.”
I nodded. “It’s jammed up and full of crazies. Can’t go back there. Now there’s Clay, too.”
We both turned to look at my oldest brother, who had dropped his head down to rest on his arms, folded atop the table. I caught Dr. Lake’s eye and motioned with my head to the other room.
She began walking, and I followed. When she entered the hallway, she stopped. “If not for my Hippocratic Oath, I’d send you boys on your way.” Her eyes darted toward the bedroom, then back to me. “If you want to know something I usually don’t share with my patients’ families, I’m scared.”
“You’re scared?” I asked. “These are my brothers, and my sister said my dad’s sick, too.”
“How do you feel? I’m not feeling ill at all,” she said, reaching up to feel my forehead. “You’re fine.”
“Good. Enough damned sick people around. Look, doc, I gott
a get home, and I can’t leave without my brothers. I’m gonna see if Clay feels well enough to try and restrain Tan. If he does, we’re gettin’ outta here. Will you check your garage for anything I can use to tie him up?”
“Well, I don’t have a net, but I might have some rope.”
Ω
CHAPTER FIVE
I stayed with Clay while Dr. Lake went to the garage to find some rope or anything else we could tie my brother up with. Clay barely managed to lift his head from the table as she walked back into the room holding a package.
“I found a brand-new package of dock line,” she began, but right that second, Clay’s head fell hard to the table and his arms flopped down toward the floor.
“Clay!” I shouted, hurrying over to support him. I couldn’t lean him back in the chair because there were no arms, and I thought he might fall off the side. He was big, but I am, too.
“I’m gonna carry him to the couch,” I said. “That okay?”
“Yes, yes, of course,” she said, standing there with the rope in her hands, looking helpless.
She didn’t move to help me, but I managed to lift him up and get him to the sofa in the sizable living room. It wasn’t white, but it was close, and Clay’s vomiting session all over the table earlier had definitely splashed the front of his robe.
She never objected, which made me like her quite a bit.
After getting Clay settled on the couch, I said, “Guess I’m gonna have to take Tanner on by myself.” My head was spinnin’, and I was truly at a loss for the first time in as long as I could remember.
Noise erupted from the bedroom again, but now it was a loud growling noise, along with a crazy, frantic scratching on the door. I jumped up.
“Let me go get the doors to the Rover open,” I said. “Then I’ll just haul Clay out there and get him settled, then I’ll figure out how to wrangle Tan.”
“Okay. Hurry, please.”
I nodded and went to the front door, opening it. My Rover didn’t have remote door locks, so I sprinted down the sidewalk toward the SUV. The front part of the home was set back, with the garage extending out about twenty feet, so I hadn’t been able to see the north end of the street at all, and I never even bothered to look to the south.
I got to the Rover and jammed my key into the door lock, turning it fast and pullin’ it open. That’s when I heard the sound behind me.
I spun around, and fuck if there wasn’t a naked old lady, her boobs hangin’ down to her belly button, five feet behind me. Her skin almost had no color at all, and her eyes were wide open and clouded. Her blue-gray hair was sparse and patchy, revealing her equally pale scalp.
I was almost mesmerized. I turned my eyes down to her feet, and saw that her left ankle was clearly broken, and the foot flopped sideways with every step. The other was fine, but it made for a slow trek toward me, still with that jerky, uncoordinated movement I’d seen with some of the others at the hospital.
My alarm bells were ringin’ so loud, I couldn’t hear myself think.
I lifted my eyes again and saw her gnarled, arthritis-wracked hands clawing the air in front of her. A growl, that sounded a shit-ton like my brother’s did from behind that bedroom door, rose from deep in her throat.
I back stepped, slamming the door of the Rover as I moved away from her. I didn’t want her crawlin’ into my truck, and you gotta remember, at that time, I didn’t even know what the hell was happenin’ for sure. I had some suspicions, especially after that crazy Wattana video and the scary shit at the hospital, but this shit just seemed too damned sci-fi. Yeah, I’d said zombies did exist earlier, but makin’ a statement like that don’t mean it all just makes sense in your head when you see it firsthand.
It was after I closed that car door that I saw just how much trouble I might be in.
The street was crawling with people just like her. I heard a scream from somewhere in the distance, and turned in time to see a woman about half a block away, steppin’ into the road, a bundle in her arms. At first, I thought she was sick, like the old woman, but pretty quickly, I noticed the reason for her odd gait.
She wore a knee-length red dress, and she only had one matching high heel on her right foot, causin’ her to stumble forward. When my eyes backtracked along her path, I saw the other shoe was behind her, the heel lodged in the ground where the grass met the sidewalk.
Just as I spotted that shoe and put two-and-two together, a man staggered from the lawn, his foot catching the high-heel and kicking it into the street. Behind him were eight or nine others, all moving in the direction of the fleeing woman.
Whatever they’re all runnin’ from, I sure hope they make it, I thought.
But then it hit me. Yeah, it’s true that I got a head like a lead pipe, but eventually shit gets through. They weren’t runnin’ from anything; those fuckers were staggering and clawing at the air, just like banana boobs, and they were goin’ for the lady in red.
That’s when the goosebumps popped up all over my body, and I don’t think they’ve really stopped since. They’ve been dancin’ around on my spine for weeks.
A million thoughts ripped through my brain, and I wanted to scream at her to lose the other shoe. Clearly, she was panicked, and it was the last thing on her mind.
Despite her inability to run, she had still opened up a significant gap between her and her pursuers.
I took another quick glance at the senior crazy comin’ after me, maneuvered a sideways jump to throw her off my path, then turned toward the lady in red and cupped my hands to my mouth.
“Hey!” I shouted. “Jump inside a car or get inside a house! Hurry!”
I’ll always regret that moment. I didn’t consider the consequences of my actions at all. I’ve learned a lot since then.
She turned her face toward me, and even from half a block away, I swear I saw the hope flash in her eyes – right before she tripped on the opposite curb and fell.
Time froze for me then. It was like she went down in slo-mo, and all I could do was dread what came next. That group, clumsy as they looked, would get to her way before I did, and I didn’t have any way to take on that many.
Hell, I was afraid to take on my brother, and it was at that exact moment, I’d become certain that Tanner was just like them.
A gunshot rang out, shockin’ me outta my stupor, and I immediately ducked down and tucked up against the Rover, hands coverin’ my head.
“Cole!” shouted Dr. Lake, and I raised my eyes to see her standing in the middle of her lawn, the smokin’ gun in her hands. Her face was pale white, and she stared at the old lady’s body, now crumpled on the sidewalk, just a foot behind me. There was a bullet hole in the side of her head, and a brown, bubblin’ liquid leaked onto the sidewalk, already stained gray-black from that horrible rain.
I’d fucked up big time. My attention had been entirely on that poor lady down the street. Dr. Lake ran toward me. “Here!” she said, givin’ me the gun. “Help her!” She pointed, but she didn’t need to.
I took the gun from her, but as I looked up, I saw the lady in red was on her back, her head in the grass and her body sprawled across the sidewalk.
At least five of the freaks were hunched down over her, and as I stared, one backed out of the group, dragging something. Another followed, and clawed at the thing it was carryin’, and in another second, I knew what it was.
It was the woman’s baby.
As they fought over it, I heard that little infant let out a cry; not just a cry, but a horrible scream, like somebody’d set it on fire.
The monster holding that baby lifted it up to its mouth and tore into it with its teeth. The other bent forward for a bite, too, and a split-second later, they both dropped down on all fours, the child on the asphalt in front of ‘em, burrowing in, clawing at it with both hands.
The baby wasn’t cryin’ anymore, but I was, I’m pretty sure.
Without any recollection of makin’ the conscious decision to do it, I found myself screamin
’ incoherently and runnin’ toward those motherfuckers, and no common sense kicked in to stop me.
I got to within five feet of the freaks feasting on that little baby. I raised the gun and shot the one who’d dragged it away from the lady in the head. Then I shot the other.
I didn’t realize then that headshots are all that take these fuckers out, but when I’m huntin’ and I’m close enough, it’s always been in my nature to aim for the head. I want a kill shot the first time. I’d seen many an example of cops shooting a druggie on PCP squarely in the chest, and they kept on comin’.
With me, it’s instinct.
The second that bullet poked through his skull, he collapsed beside that baby’s shredded corpse.
I stared at it, not believin’ what I saw. The infant had been alive just seconds ago when I heard it screamin’, and now it was torn open, much of its body missing. A ragged flap of skin dangled down off the baby’s ribs, the intestines exposed and pulled out of the cavity. The red blood glistened in the sunlight, now emanating from the far western sky, as it began to set.
It would be dark soon. I didn’t want to think about it.
I realized, looking down at that dead child and the small horde eating its mother, these things didn’t just eat; they devoured.
I jumped up and turned toward the group crouched down over the woman. They reminded me of hyenas in a nature documentary, singularly focused on their meal, and frenzied in their feeding.
I screamed again, raised the gun, and ran toward ‘em, firin’ round after round, not aimin’ at all, just wantin’ to kill ‘em for their violation of that mother and her helpless baby.
Some died from lucky shots to the head. Others didn’t, even with direct chest shots. That registered, but I didn’t know it at the time. I figured things out later, when I recalled the encounter.
When that gun clicked in my hand, I spun around to check my situation. Unfortunately, the explosions of the rounds fired by me and Dr. Lake had echoed through the residential neighborhood, and I could see a bunch more of those crazy fuckers movin’ toward me now.