by Cass Kim
“Alyssa, I…I know. I know about Diamond.” She didn’t know if she’d be able to keep talking through her tears, but she swallowed hard and forged ahead. “Is my mom here, Lyss?” Renna did not think she could tell the story twice.
Alyssa stared at her, “Girl, you really have been off the grid. Everywhere is locked down. Our whole section of New York has been put into quarantine.” She blew her nose loudly in a tissue and held the box out the Renna. “Your mom is stuck outside the quarantine since she was already at work. The line is actually right at the border of Rutland, so your mom can’t come in. She’s called me, like, a million times. I didn’t know what to say,” she sniffled. “So I told her I didn’t think anything was wrong, but that I was stuck in my house with spotty service. I don’t think she believed me, so I stopped answering her calls.”
Tim Tam was pawing insistently at the cupboard his wet food cans were stored in. Absently, Renna went over and began to open a can for him, wondering if she should use Alyssa’s phone to call her mom or if she should just write her a letter or make a video or something. She wasn’t really sure how to explain this to her.
“Wait a second, Lyss, if everybody is on lock down, how did you end up here?” She set the food dish on the floor and Tim Tam began scarfing the food down so fast she was half sure he’d end up puking it right back up.
Alyssa started sniffling again, and Renna looked up to see her rapidly braiding and unbraiding a small section of her long pale hair, a stress habit she’d picked up a few years back when her parent’s fights started getting really bad.
“Lyss, don’t tell me you actually left your house in the middle of a lock down because your parents were yelling at each other.” Renna wasn’t sure if she wanted to hug her friend or strangle her at the thought.
“He hit her.” She whispered hoarsely. Then, because she was Alyssa and she was mostly fearless, she cleared her throat and said louder, “That bastard hit her. And then I think she might’ve hit him back. They were arguing about money, and then it turned into pointing fingers in any direction they could to shift the blame. And since nobody can go anywhere, they were both just drinking and being the irresponsible selfish assholes they are. So, I got in my car and I came here. I knew that once I got here I’d be safe.” Her fingers were braiding and unbraiding, the tears leaking down her cheeks unheeded. “But then nobody was here except… except Diamond. I didn’t know what to do. So I waited.”
Renna sat down on the couch next to her and grabbed her hands, stilling them. “It’s okay. I’m here now.” She thought of Emerson still waiting in the woods. The timer on Syd’s watch was still ticking down, with only five hours left. That gave her less than two hours to explain this to Alyssa in a way that she’d accept. Renna blew out a long breath and adopted her most “mom” tone.
“Lyss, let’s go to my room while we talk. I need to pack a bag and explain things. And maybe you can tell me what was so different about this attack that the town is being quarantined. They haven’t done that in... what… five years, anywhere in the US?”
Alyssa followed her up the stairs, then plopped down onto Renna’s bed like she had a thousand times before. “That’s the thing, Rennoodle. This attack was… it’s been really bad.” She reached for her hair before clenching her fists and putting them in her lap.
“I heard on the news that forty-five people died in the attack at that bar?” Renna prompted her to continue.
“It’s way worse than that, Noodle. I don’t really get all of the science part of it, but I guess the virus is moving really quickly, and people are changing before they can even report themselves.” She flopped back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling, “Last count was one hundred and thirteen dead either by attack or authorities.”
“What?” Renna’s voice burst out in a shrill bark. She started shoving clothes into her backpack, barely even looking. She had to get back and tell the camp. She had to get this vaccine process going.
“It’s worse than that.” Alyssa sat back up and reached over to raise the blinds. “They’re attacking even in the sunlight. The Wilders aren’t hiding until night anymore.”
“Wait… what?” She darted a glance out the window, wondering if she’d see Emerson from this vantage point, now that she knew he was out there. She saw a little rustle off to the side of the yard, opposite of where she’d left him. He must be scoping out the driveway situation.
“Yeah,” Alyssa’s voice shook for a moment before she shoved the blinds back down and continued, “They’re saying the virus is mutating.”
Renna took a deep breath. Now was the time to explain to her what she was doing and why.
Chapter 13
“I’m not letting you just leave here to be some psycho sacrifice for human kind!” Alyssa stood blocking the open doorway to the backyard, her jaw clenched and her posture firm.
“Alyssa,” Renna stared at the watch on her wrist, now down to only four hours to return to the camp. “I understand how you feel,” she kept her voice even, words slow, “But I have to. I already explained it to you.”
“Then I’m going with you.” Her chin tipped up into a stance that Renna knew from years of experience meant she was ready to settle in for a long argument.
“You know I don’t have time to get into this with you,” She hated how she heard the irritation in her voice so much louder than the love she had for her fierce friend. This was not how she’d pictured their parting.
Alyssa gave her a small smug smile, “Then don-“
Before Renna could react, a large, grimey hand came from the edge of the step and gripped into Alyssa’s long blond hair, yanking hard. Alyssa’s shout turned into an inarticulate grunt as she was pulled out of the doorway and into the yard, her feet scrabbling for purchase, eyes wide. Tim Tam lunged out after her, hissing and spitting. Renna froze, trying to gasp in air through her clenching throat. What had happened? Why had they left the door open while arguing?
Alyssa made a wordless sound of terror as she was thrown to the side, some of her hair still caught in the hand of the Wilder. Once she hit the ground she was disturbingly quiet. The Wilder was at least six feet tall. With horror Renna realized that this had been the movement she’d seen in the trees earlier. It hadn’t been Emerson at all. Tim Tam stood between Renna and the Wilder, growling, but also not moving to engage.
Her feet remained frozen though she willed them to move, to carry her toward her best friend. The creature wheeled and glared toward the spot Alyssa had landed, just a few feet from the doorway. His head tilted back and forth, studying, looking to see if his prey was dead. Alyssa whimpered, and scrambled to get to her feet. She was fast, but the Wilder was faster as he started toward her. Renna caught her breath, filling her lungs to scream, to do anything to distract the creature.
Then Emerson was there, bodily shoving the Wilder steps back. He kept pushing it further from the girls, even as the creature grasped and tore at his clothes, fingernails digging trails through the exposed flesh of his arms. Only his sunglasses, still in place, saved his right eye when the Wilder raked a hand down his face. Alyssa was running toward her, sprinting back to the safety of the house. Renna thought of the bruises she’d seen on Emerson’s torso after he’d fought her brother. We aren’t invincible, he’d said.
Renna shook herself out of her frozen state as the fight continued into the edge of the woods, Emerson looking small in comparison to the full grown Wilder. Alyssa was passing her in the doorway now. They could both be inside, safe with copper screens, safe with the door secured. But what about Emerson? The Wilder had him beat not only in height and weight, but with the Wilder lack of awareness of its own pain. She couldn’t see them around the corner of the house anymore, but she could hear Emerson’s grunts of pain, the sickening sounds of flesh hitting flesh.
She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t just leave him out there. Cursing in frustration, Renna wheeled away from the door. She darted through the house, frantically searching for a weapo
n. What could she use that would make maximum impact and keep her at a safe distance? For the first time, Renna wished her mother had kept a gun in the house. It seemed awfully practical right at this moment.
Like a madwoman, Renna dashed into her brother’s room and snatched the aluminum baseball bat from the corner. She was out of time. Emerson may already be dead and bleeding on the ground by now. The image of the Wilders on the news tearing into flesh with bare hands was searing through her mind. Whipping around the corner Renna saw Alyssa pulling the copper door closed. She shoved past her, shouldering open the door, heedless of the pain in her muscles.
Frantic, she skidded around the side of the house at a full run. She ground to a stop, spotting the men struggling at the edge of the woods. Renna couldn’t contain a ragged gasp, seeing Emerson struggling with the older man, blood coating his face in a smooth sheet from a wound in his forehead. She wrapped both hands around the bat, feeling the crisp edges of the old grip tape. She crept closer, fearful that if she swung too soon she’d hit the wrong person. Pulse pounding, she bit her lip hard to stop from crying out as the bigger Wilder lifted Emerson up and slammed him into a tree. Knowing she’d likely not get a better opportunity before Emerson was hurt worse, she ran forward and swung the bat as hard as she could.
The impact reverberated up her arm and through her shoulders, setting her teeth on edge. Panic froze her as she realized she’d miss the Wilder’s head and struck him broadly across his shoulders. The Wilder released Emerson and turned toward her, movements jerky, as if some of his bones had been broken in the fight. She stared into the face, purpling with bruises, blood tinged foam frothing at the corners of the mouth, and took an instinctive step back.
As if that fearful step signaled her as prey, the Wilder charged her. With no time to wind up for a big swing, Renna held the bat in front of her like pole. The Wilder charged straight into it. The force of his charge pushed the bat into her diaphragm, knocking her breathless. She gripped tight, holding the bat in place as hard as she could. They tumbled to the ground together, the Wilder held off of her only by the bat still between them.
Renna shoved as hard as she could on the bat, but she couldn’t move the Wilder. If Emerson with his greater strength hadn’t been able to hold the creature off, she had no chance. She struggled to flip herself out from under him, turning her head from the foaming mouth and snapping teeth a bat’s length away from her. The bat wobbled between them, moments from collapsing. She grunted, bracing for the Wilder’s attack.
Renna was suffocating in darkness. She couldn’t breath, and in her panic she lost her grip on the bat, the Wilder falling forward onto her as the bat toppled to the side.
She felt the Wilder’s body buck, then still. She still couldn’t see. She was in darkness, struggling to suck in a breath against the heavy plastic covering her face. The weight of the Wilder was rolled off of her, and she heard Alyssa’s trembling voice.
“Renna. Don’t freak out, okay, but you gotta turn a little and I’ll hold the left edge – your left edge- and push the bag off you. You slide out as fast as you can to your left. There’s a lot of blood and you can’t get any on you.” Closing her eyes tightly, Renna followed the instructions.
When she opened her eyes she saw Alyssa in her mother’s elbow length dishwashing gloves, holding a large serrated cheese knife in one hand. She dropped the knife on the body of the dead Wilder as Renna stared mutely. There was jagged wound in the Wilder’s neck still slowly pumping blood into the grass. Her gaze went dumbly to the black trash bag Alyssa had thrown over her before slitting the Wilder’s throat.
“I think we need the hose. We better rinse off every part of our clothes and bodies, just in case.” Alyssa’s voice had stopped trembling, but sounded hollow. Renna nodded in response to her friend’s suggestion, wondering how she’d cut the throat of the Wilder and managed to have almost no blood on herself. We’re both in shock she thought to herself, unable to form the words out loud.
Renna shook her head, trying to shake off her fear. She had a minimal amount of blood on her. Alyssa seemed okay. With a gasp she bolted to her feet, looking for Emerson. She saw his crumpled form at the edge of the woods.
“Emerson!” She stumbled over, knees still wobbly from fear and fading adrenaline. She knelt at his side, afraid to touch the blood on him. He cracked one eye, then coughed, and winced. She scanned him, trying to catalogue his injuries. “Can you tell me if you’re okay?”
“I’ve been better.” He struggled to sit up, and she saw then what had kept him down.
“Stay still!” She commanded, holding her hands out as if she could keep him in place by sheer willpower.
“Oh fuck that... that looks awful.” Alyssa helpfully stated over Renna’s shoulder.
“Emerson, I don’t want to freak you out but… you have stick through your side. I’m going to have Alyssa call an ambulance”
“Renna,” he looked scared, and too pale. “They’ll shoot me on sight. The second they see my eyes. You’ve gotta get me back to my parents. Half the camp are medical doctors.” He started struggling to sit up again.
“Okay! Okay, Emerson, no doctors. Just. Let me figure this out. You just stay still. We’re going to get you back there.” He stopped struggling, nodding and closing his eyes against the late afternoon sun.
Still in shock, Renna put on latex gloves and cleaned and bandaged the most accessible wounds on Emerson’s face and arms. She left the stick embedded in his side, afraid if she pulled it out he’d lose too much blood. The girls rinsed off outside with the hose and stripped their clothes off. Then they dumped the giant bottles of hydrogen peroxide Renna’s mother got at one of those bulk stores over each other and rinsed again. They each took the fastest showers of their lives, soaping up thoroughly with antibacterial soap. They pulled on sweatpants and tee shirts and locked up the house. Tim Tam refused to go back inside, so they let him stay out.
Every precaution they could take to avoid Emerson’s virus infected blood was taken. Both girls put on layers of latex gloves, and wrapped their arms and legs with trash bags duct taped in place. They took her parents old sleeping bags and zipped them together, cutting and duct taping handles at each end. After making Emerson drink some water, they helped him onto their makeshift gurney. Then they changed their top layer of gloves, since they’d gotten smeared with his blood. Renna looked at Syd’s watch, now strapped at the edge of the trash bag on her right arm. They had three hours and fifteen minutes to get back. Hopefully, Emerson could stay awake that long.
Chapter 14
Hiking through the woods carrying a person suspended on a floppy layer of nylon was the hardest physical activity Renna had ever done. Tim Tam followed along with them, keeping a slight distance, and glaring at the fabric stretched between the two girls. For the first twenty minutes Emerson kept offering to try to walk, at least for a ways. Finally, Alyssa had told him that if he wanted to be helpful he could focus on holding still and being grateful.
Emerson had chuckled and then gasped, asking if maybe she should be grateful first, since he had gotten injured saving her after all. Initially, Renna was able to easily follow Emerson’s tree markings now that she knew where to look for them. The pathway was easy enough to detect, having been traversed multiple times in the past few days.
The real trouble came as the sun began to set. Every root became an obstacle waiting to hook their feet, and the markings were harder to see in the fading light. After the fourth time in less than ten minutes she’d almost dropped the litter they were carrying, Renna suggested they take a break and see if they could figure out how at least one of them could hold a flashlight. The watch face on her wrist was down to fifty-six minutes, by Syd’s count.
Alyssa drank long and deep from the water bottle she’d shoved into Renna’s backpack earlier, while Renna fished out the little flashlight tucked in the bottom. She hoped Emerson knew how much further it was. She hoped the news was good news. He’d been pretty quiet th
rough the recent bumps and she was starting to worry.
Renna grasped the flashlight and clicked it on, the light warm and reassuring in the darkening forest. Alyssa breathed in a long gasp, her thirst satisfied for the moment. Both girls stared at Emerson’s quiet form, his forehead beaded with sweat. The yellow nylon of the sleeping bag was stained dark and wet with his blood. Alyssa met her eyes across his body, looking exhausted, but determined.
“He’s right, you know, he saved my life. He saved yours before, from what you told me.” She jutted her chin out, handing the water bottle back to Renna. “We just have to pick up the pace.”
Renna nodded, loving her best friend more at this moment than she’d ever thought possible. She drank deeply, then zipped the water bottle back into the bag. She drenched the flashlight handle in hand sanitizer then shoved the end into her mouth and gripped it with her teeth. In unison, they grasped the handles they’d made in the sleeping bags and continued resolutely forward. One foot in front of the other. Repeat.
Renna gasped out a strangled cry when they stumbled up to the cabin the Kim’s shared on the outskirts of the camp. She lowered the litter with Emerson carefully to the ground and forced herself to sprint the last several feet and up the steps to the door. She shoved it open, anticipating seeing Soo at the table, or Dr. Kim writing in his notebook. But the cabin was empty. Fighting tears, Renna stumbled back to where Alyssa stood, hunched and aching beside the too-still form of Emerson. She shook her head, and they wordlessly grabbed the handles, again hoisting the litter and stumbling forward.
“I think we can go faster.” Renna gasped, hoping Alyssa could hear her as she faced forward, with her back to Renna, who was carrying the tail end of the litter now. “The path here is smooth. It’s only about half a mile more.” The very bones of her feet ached, and each step sent waves of agony up through her hips and lower back. The girls maintained a shuffling jog, tears brimming from their eyes. They were too close to give up now. Emerson’s breathing was labored and audible even above their own gasping breaths.