May 23, 2019 - 3:13 AM

Leo Kelly

The streets behind the clinic were fairly empty. It made sense. All of them had been drawn to the fighting at the front of the clinic. That being said, it was a shock to me, that in the end, there were so few of them that actually made it to the barricade that we had set up. The original mob that had come for us looked to be at least twenty-strong, but by the time we got out of there, there weren't more than ten or so more dead at the door.

Not to mention that shrieking. That goddamn shrieking.

As we crossed the street, Alaska took charge of leading the group. At first, I didn't know where she was taking us, but after a sharp turn down another alleyway two blocks away, and her confidence only increased, I figured it out.

She stopped at a door beside a nondescript garage door with “LOADING DOCK” emblazoned on top, with a small faded image of the sheriff's crest under it. Alaska withdrew her key ring from her back pocket, unlocked it, then motioned for me to do the honour. Slowly, I twisted the doorknob and pushed the door in. Alaska went in shotgun first, followed by me with my flashlight. After we cleared the small loading room, I went to bring the others in. I stepped out of Davis’ way as he dragged the cart in, bringing him closer to me than I liked. Eury was the last to enter.

Oh god. She looks even worse than before.

Eury jumped slightly when I put my hand on her shoulder and leaned into her ear. “Are you feeling okay? I’ve got something that might help.”

“Later. I’ve got to… Talk to Davis first.”

Davis? Davis! She wanted to talk to him? I wanted to ask why, but Eury had already followed the rest into the sheriff's office proper. Since nobody freaked out or fought on the other side of the door, it was safe to say this haunted house ride won’t end in me mauled to death. Stepping through the door, I found myself at the end of a long hallway with several closed doors lining it. In the end, there were a few desks and chairs that made up the main room of the sheriff’s station, lit by sporadic strobing flashlights. I made my way down the hall, pinching my nose all along the way since every building seemed to have this same wall of stench.

Of everything that this fucking sickness did, all this vomiting, and shitting and whatever else all this crap is, this smell was close to the worst of it.

That’s not true. You know that’s not true.

No, I guess it wasn’t. And seeing Eury as she was right then—slouched, and not even a hollow version of herself—I saw the real, exceptionally real, worst side of it.

“Boyde, go check the basement, I’ll get this side here.” Alaska said in this hush-hush tone of voice. I bet it killed her to be this quiet. “Hey, Samurai. Go and check those offices back there.” She said, pointing behind me.

“I can, but I need to give Eury—”

“Clear the area first, then do whatever you need to do. Pressing matters first, matters of the heart second.” She said with a conspiratorial wink.

“It’s not…”

Alaska had already walked away, so there was no point in finishing that half-hearted excuse.

Oh well. Obediently, I scoped out the office. It was plain-looking. The papers on the desk were still stacked and orderly like someone just stepped out for a coffee break. Nothing out of the ordinary, really. I stepped back into the hall.

It was stupid of Alaska to call it a matter of the heart. It’s a matter of the goddamned mind, Eury’s sick and these meds are going to be what she needs to get better.

I hope.

It killed me that I couldn’t tell her that, but at the same time, there was no telling how dangerous a wrong assumption could be. Would they be willing to put her down? Just like I had with Chuck? Maybe that changed things since they’ve been burned once maybe they won’t be as willing to take a second chance.

Oh good god. What the hell are we going to do?

Before my thoughts could spiral any more, I opened the door across the hall. The room must've been a storage room of some kind. The large metal racks had been knocked over and their contents spilled across the floor. The stench was definitely the worst here. Taking a few steps inside, I quickly realized exactly why.

At the back of the room, an unpleasantly familiar sight awaited me. Just like that first night at the motel, there was an explosion of black blood that painted the ground and walls. It likely spewed out from the three rotten corpses. The center was barely recognizable except for a pair of intact legs. The other two were too destroyed, too decomposed for me to make out anything more than just their basic shapes.

Taking in another breath set off a warning signal in my mind. Panic set in and the animalistic part of me got me back out the door before taking in another breath. In my hurry to get out, I slammed the door behind me.

“What happened?” Alaska asked. She must have finished her end of the search.

“There’s…” I didn’t know what to say. Hey, I found three of your cop buddies and they were kind of… disintegrated?

Disintegrated?

Wait a second, how in the hell? It’s been what, six days max? How in the world are they that bad off that quickly? I’m not some sort of scientist, but I know that meat doesn’t go bad that fast and it’s not like it’s exactly hot in here. I was still a little cold even though I was wearing a jacket and running all over town.

Alaska placed a hand on my shoulder, pulling me out of my thoughts. “What’s wrong?”

“Don’t go in that room,” I said, letting her hand slide off my shoulder. “It’s really not pretty in there.”

I expected her to press for more detail, but she didn’t bother. I followed Alaska back to the bullpen, and Eury was nowhere to be found. Neither was Davis.

“Where’s Eury?” I asked.

“Davis was with her a second ago. They probably ran off somewhere.” Alaska didn’t sound happy about it either.

“Well, I’ve gotta talk to her about something.”

“Same here.” Alaska took a seat behind one of the desks. She scooted the shotgun aside when she kicked her feet up.

“So you’re just gonna... sit there?”

“How long have you been hanging around Eury?” She started to pick her teeth with her fingernails, then she stopped when she saw the grime underneath.

“For about four days now, I think?”

“Then you should probably know what she’s like by now. Eury ain’t the kind of person who likes others butting into her business.” She flicked her gaze up at me. “What’s the look for?”

“Sorry, I just got the impression that you and Davis didn’t get along.”

Alaska checked her nails. She sucked on her teeth when she noticed one of them was chipped. “I don’t.”

“Then why’re you cool with it?”

“Who said I was?” Alaska said. “I’m not cool with it. I just know there ain’t no convincing stubborn. I’ve already learned that lesson once, and I ain’t doing that again”

It was kind of weird how my Eury was different from hers. Sure, Eury was pretty quick to tell me off—my nickname spelt that out—but at the same time, there was also this other side of her. The one that matched her small, sweet, smile a little closer.

“The way I see it, there isn’t much harm in letting her do whatever the hell she needs to do.”

“Holy shit, how old is this girl?” Boyde cut into the conversation. I hadn’t heard him return from the basement. “‘Cause, the way you’re talking ‘bout her, Bell, she sounds like a spoiled ten-year-old.”

“Fuck off, Boyde. It’s not like that, I just…” Alaska looked down before continuing. “She’s been dealt a rough enough hand already, and I just don’t want to be the one to pile onto it.”

“Dealt a rough hand? Have you looked around? We’ve all been served a cow turd for a last meal. So why’s she the one getting spoiled?”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Because that’s what I want. Now shut the fuck up before I smack you.” Alaska didn’t even bother to look at him to threaten him.

Boyde thought about talking back, but he shut his mouth instead. I wouldn’t want to get on her wrong side either. Her photos didn’t show it much but watching her swing that fire poker around was brutal and efficient.

As silence hung in the air, a bunch of questions ran through my mind. As gory as it was, I still wanted to know what happened after I left O’Brian’s and the days after. But what I wanted to ask about more than anything else was Eury.

“Do you know anything about what—”

An office door on the far side of the bullpen swung open. Davis walked out first, followed by Eury. I flashed them with the light, but neither of them betrayed a thing.

What’re you looking for huh? A hickey or something?

Then I noticed the gun in Eury’s outstretched hand.

“What the hell?” Boyde levelled the shotgun at Eury.

“Hey, hey!” Davis had his hands up. “Don’t worry, it’s alright.”

“Eury, you wanna tell us what the hell is going on?” Alaska said, getting to her feet.

“I might be able to explain it a bit better,” Davis said, standing as still as possible. “It’s just a precaution, and I don’t want anyone to freak out when—”

“Spit it out, Davis!” Alaska barked.

“There’s a possibility that I might be infected, but we don’t know for sure.”

“How did you come to that conclusion? We don’t even know how this thing is spreading, so where’d that leap of logic come from.” I asked. A part of me couldn’t help but feel like this was some sort of projection from Eury. Between the two of them, the perfectly healthy Davis, versus the clammy Eury. As much as I hated to admit it, if I thought either of them were sick, I'd be much more worried about the girl with the gun rather than the guy with his hands up.

“We don’t know everything, but we do have some clues,” Eury said. “The biggest being the most obvious—bodily fluids. Why else do you think there’s all this shit everywhere?” 

With all of the blood, vomit and tears spewing out of every orifice from the sick, I could imagine how that slip n’ slide of filth would get someone infected.

“Alright. But still, when the hell would you have gotten sick?” Alaska asked Davis. 

“That’s the thing, we don’t really know for sure if I am.” 

“If that’s the case, then aren’t you awfully quick to jump to conclusions, little miss,” Boyde said.

“Turn around,” Eury commanded. “Show them.” 

Davis did and lifted his dirty navy button-up, revealing the bright red slash just above his belt line. The cut seemed to have stopped bleeding, dried into a spider web around the wound. 

“Jesus!” Alaska took a step closer to look. “When the hell did you get this?”

“I don’t know! Maybe when…”

Alaska eyed him like he’d been drunk driving. “When that chick cut up Chuck?” 

Davis nodded. “I… I just thought I got lucky, I didn’t know she got me. Not like that, at least.”

“Jesus Christ! Were you gonna let us find out when it was too late? Did you want to wait until absolutely hit the fan or what?”

“I… I just…” Davis stuttered, then he came crumbling down like a paper man. “I wasn’t trying to lie to you all. I just didn’t know what to say, or if it was even bad in the first place.”

“And that’s why I brought it up,” Eury said, “with this as an assurance,” she waved the handgun, which made Boyde a little nervous. “We wanted to talk about what we’re doing next.”

“We?” Alaska and I asked simultaneously. 

“Yes, we. We’re going to put Davis into quarantine for the night, and if anything happens, or if he starts acting…” Her unsaid words rang louder than everything else she said. “Then we’ll figure out what’s next.”

“We can’t just stay! We don’t have the time,” I retorted.

“We do! We’ve made it this far with just the two of us. Now that we’ve found Alaska, we can just get out of town.”

“Just get out of town.” I scoffed. “Are you for real? Correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s not gonna be that easy. We’re what, at least five miles from the bridge out of town?” I said looking to Alaska, who nodded. “Great, so that’s at least a whole night. And then how many more to your parent’s place?”

“Fifteen miles,” Eury said without looking up.

“Fifteen? Jesus christ.” I had to sit down. 

“With all of us here, we can make the last five in no time. We have time to quarantine Davis, until at least tomorrow night, then we leave.” The look in Eury’s eye when she spoke said more than her words. 

“We should leave now while the streets are still empty and most of them are dealt with,” I said. Eury glared at me, and I suddenly noticed everyone else’s silence. Especially Alaska’s.

“I’m only asking for one day. That’s it. Then we move on.”

“If he got attacked the same time as Chuck, why didn’t he go berserk back at the clinic? It’s been long enough already. He should be fine.” Every word felt like coughing out razor blades. I couldn’t believe I was arguing to not cut the sleazebag down, but if it got Eury to leave while it was safe then who cares.

“Chuck was half dead before they got to the clinic. The way I see it, his immune system was already compromised. Davis isn’t. It’s gonna take some time to know for sure, and we’ve got the time.” Eury sounded more clinical than she ever had before.

Immune system? 

“How about these then.” I removed the small bottle of pills from the concentrator's bag. 

“What are they?” Alaska said, grabbing them from my hand, looking them over like an ape learning to use a tool.

“They’re antivirals. I’ve had them before. They don’t feel like they work—at least at first—but they do the job.”

“And you have them because...?” Boyde eyed me like I had a tentacle growing from the side of my head.

“Because of situations like this! What the fuck do you think?” This was getting close to a witch hunt, and I’d hate it if it happened to Eury.

“And what, you think those will work?” Boyde said, continuing his effort to piss me off.

“I don’t fucking know! At least I’m trying to figure out an alternative to using buckshot. It’s the best I got”

Your best, like that’ll do anything. Like that’s ever done a damn thing.

Been a while since I heard that little voice in my head. The sharp motherfucker that knew which tender place to twist the knife in.

Davis leaned forward and grabbed the pills from Alaska.“I’ll take these, but I should still quarantine. Just in case, you know.”

“Fine by me if you want to stay,” I said, grabbing the pills back from him. “But you’re only getting enough for the next few days.”

“Kelly!” Eury’s tone was venomous. “Get a grip! We can’t just leave him here.”

“We sit here and do nothing. For how long? In case you’ve forgotten, you’re on a time limit here!”

I must have struck a nerve.

“What? You think I’ve forgotten? Holy shit, how about you get a grip. You think since you’ve been hanging around these last few days that you know? You don’t know shit. Now back the fuck out of my goddamned business.” Eury stared like knives trying to carve my face. I almost staggered back when she stepped up, gun still in hand. She ripped the pills from my hand and pushed them into Davis’. “Find somewhere to lock up. I’m getting something to eat.” Then she stormed off to the same back office where they had their little pow-wow. In the doorway, she stopped and looked back at me. “And in case it didn’t make it through your thick skull, I was right. They are getting slower, and in a day or two, it won’t even matter so get over yourself.” 

The door closed with a definitive click. 

Davis looked to Alaska and Boyde. “You guys have anywhere that’ll work?”

“I can think of a few,” Alaska said with an awkward smile.

Alaska led Davis and me down the only other hallway on the main floor. The room at the end of it had two empty cells. She opened one for Davis who entered without hesitation. 

“And there’s your seat,” Alaska said, pointing to a desk and chair near the door. 

“Thanks.” 

Alaska locked the cell door, then turned to me. “Are you going to be alright?” 

“Me?” After that blow up, I was surprised that she didn’t jump down my throat too. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“You’ve been up all night though, how’re you planning on walking out of here with no sleep?”

I shrugged. “I’ve done more on less sleep.”

Alaska still looked concerned though. “If you think you’re gonna nod off, come grab me.”

“I’ll probably swap out after a few hours.”

“Yeah, that’d be fine.” Alaska glanced at Davis who was already on the cot. “If anything happens, don’t hesitate. I don’t want Eury seeing that.”

Even though I thought Eury was being an idiot, I knew putting her through that gallow’s execution wouldn’t be anything close to fair.

“Alright.” 

Alaska smiled widely and patted me on the shoulder.“Good stuff. I guess you aren’t as bad as you look.” She opened the door back out to the bullpen.

“Thanks... I guess.”

“Mmmhmm. See you soon," she said leaving without looking back.

“Yeah, see you,” I said to the closed door.

From my chair, I could barely see Davis sitting on the cot. Not that I wanted to see any more of him. After a few minutes of silence, I tried to spy some sort of pattern on the walls.

“I’m sorry that this isn’t exactly ideal.” I barely heard Davis say.

“What?”

“I said that I was sorry.” He repeated.

“Yeah, whatever man.” I didn’t really feel like talking to him. Just the sound of his voice reminded me of that last day of school. Of the look on Eury’s face back then. 

“You know, I think I remember you.” This time, his voice was crystal clear.

“I’m sorry what?”

“I said, that I remember you. Earlier, you called me Mr. Davis. And that got me thinking. I don’t remember teaching anyone named Kelly, but I just remembered that I did teach you. Leo.” There was no inflection, no tone to his voice, yet there was something that felt undeniably sinister and it was so very different from who he was just a few minutes ago, in front of everyone else.

“So?”

“I just thought it was unfair that while I was getting the hard edge from Eury, you weren’t. So I figured, maybe, the only reason why that would be the case is she doesn’t remember you from back then. Am I right?” Still, his voice seemed to hold no malice, yet his words oozed it.

“So fucking what? What are you gonna do?”

“Do?” Davis laughed. “I’m not gonna do anything. I’m gonna sit here, and I’m gonna wait until tomorrow night.”

“Then what?” As I asked, Davis laid down on his bed like he was resting on the beach.

 “I guess we’ll just have to see.”

May 23, 2019 - 3:58 AM