The Dry Rain

by Alex Westhaven

  “We have to get her to the hospital.”

  “Call 9-1-1?” Bailey asked. Micah shook his head.

  “No, I don’t think 9-1-1 will help this time. We have to figure out some other way.”

  Chapter 21

  Micah didn’t think Angie had a car since she’d been walking everywhere, but he looked for keys anyway. Coming up empty, he got a chair, unlocked the deadbolt to the front door, and picked his way through bird corpses to the back door of the neighbor’s house. It was locked, but the garage door wasn’t, and there was a car parked inside. A good sign.

  The car was unlocked, but there were no keys. Micah hesitated for only a second before he tried the door that led from the garage into the house, and found it unlocked too. Moving quietly, he searched around for a set of keys, and finally found them in a purse left on the counter.

  A quick peek into the kitchen told him why no one had chased him away. He felt for pulses on both of the elderly bodies slumped over the table, but there was nothing. It looked like they’d eaten more of the poisoned food than Angie.

  Knowing he had no time to waste, he ran back to the garage and slid behind the wheel of the car. He’d never driven before, but her life depended on it, and after a few minutes of fiddling with the controls, he could reach the two pedals on the floor. He found the button to open the garage door and then moved the gear control on the steering wheel into all the different positions until the car started rolling forward.

  Steering was easier than he thought it would be, but stopping was a jerky affair, and he was relieved when the car was finally on the street outside Angie’s house. He turned off the engine and ran back inside to find Bailey anxiously watching from the window.

  “How are we going to carry her?” the girl asked.

  Micah went into the bedroom and got the bedspread off the bathroom floor. “Let’s drag her out on this, and then we’ll figure out how to get her in the car.”

  They rolled Angie onto the blanket, and then pulled it outside in short jerks, careful not to let her head drop as they tugged her down the stairs and out to the car.

  Angie moaned when they stopped, and Micah opened the back door of the car.“Angie, can you hear me? You need to get in the car. Can you help us?”

  He put his hands under her armpits and lifted with all his might, but he wasn’t strong enough. He tried again, earning another moan from their would-be passenger. On the third try, Angie slipped a foot underneath herself long enough to push up, and it was all the help he needed to be able to drag her onto the back seat.

  He crawled out and tossed the blanket over her before he closed the door. Helping Bailey into the front seat, he buckled her in as well as he could, considering she wasn’t really big enough for an adult seat belt. Then he got back behind the wheel and started the car, taking a deep breath before he put it into gear.

  “You can drive, Micah?” Bailey looked at him in awe, her eyes wide.

  He shrugged. “I don’t really have a choice. We have to get her to a doctor. Hang on, okay?”

  The hospital was only a few blocks away, but it felt like miles. He hit the gas, and then the brake, and then the gas, and then the brake, too scared to go faster than a few miles per hour, but determined to get there nonetheless. When he finally figured out how to turn into the parking lot, he drove right up to the big sliding doors before shoving the gear lever into park.

  Sliding the keys out, he reached over to release Bailey’s seat belt.

  “Come with me, okay? We’ll go get help.”

  Bailey shook her head. “I wanna stay with Angie.”

  “You can’t, because she can’t protect you, and I need to know you’re safe. We’ll lock the car, and we’ll hurry. She’ll be okay.” He cringed mentally at the last statement, knowing he couldn’t promise that, but not knowing what else to do. There was no way he was leaving Bailey out here by herself.

  She thought for a second, and then crawled over the center console to join him. “Make sure it’s locked,” she said, not satisfied until he let her push the button on the key fob and heard the beep herself.

  They ran through the doors and into an oddly quiet corridor. There wasn’t even anyone at the desk to help them, so he started walking down the hall, Bailey’s hand in his. The patient rooms all seemed empty too, aside from one here and there where it looked like someone couldn’t move.

  One in particular stood out as weeping noises came from the bed. They still hadn’t seen a single soul, patient or nurse or doctor or visitor in the hall, and Micah was starting to think they’d made a big mistake.

  He entered the weeping patient’s room and went to the bed, noting that the man’s leg was in some sort of metal contraption. He was dressed in a hospital gown, with several day’s stubble on his face and only a couple of thin blankets to keep him warm.

  It took a full minute for the man to notice that he had visitors, but when he did, his eyes went wide and his whole body started to shake.

  “Get out - save yourselves! Can’t you see all the worms! It’s too late for me, they’re eating through my skin. But you can still go, if you go now!”

  Micah shook his head, moving closer to the frantic man’s bed.

  “I don’t see any worms, Sir. They’re not eating you. Do you know where everyone is?” He noticed the man’s bedding was damp, and wrinkled his nose at the stench coming off the sheets. There was a blanket tossed haphazardly over an easy chair in the corner and Micah reached for it, but it was damp too.

  He opened the tall, skinny cupboard in the corner of the room and found a few dry blankets folded on a shelf in the top. Taking them down, he pulled the wet blanket off the man’s shivering body, dismayed to see that the mattress was wet too. There was nothing he could do though, with the man’s leg in that odd metal contraption.

  Snapping the dry blankets out, he laid them over the man, layering two and wrapping the third thickly around the man’s feet like he used to do for Bailey on extra cold nights in the warehouse.

  “That should help until we can find someone. We’ll be back, Sir.” He grasped Bailey’s hand and pulled her out of the room, sorry to leave the man in that condition, but knowing they needed help.

  Walking quickly down the hall and looking for any sign of movement, Micah noticed the damp, almost mildew-ish smell that seemed to permeate the building. What had happened here? And why was everyone gone? Everyone except those who couldn’t move, it seemed. There were more than a few people still laying in beds, and many of the stares meeting his as they walked by were blank and lifeless. He didn’t want to know more.

  Quiet scuffling behind the next nurse’s station caught his ear, and he held a finger up to his lips, warning Bailey to be quiet. He motioned for her to stay on the other side of the counter before he cautiously peeked around it. A woman in green scrubs stood at a counter just through another narrow doorway, with a tray of syringes in front of her, an array of tiny bottles to the right, and a box of empty syringes just next to those. As he watched, she filled syringe after syringe with a clear liquid, capping the needles and laying them on the tray.

  But was she planning to help or hurt? Micah was torn. She was big enough to help Angie, and there was no one else around. He had to take the chance.

  “Excuse me,” he said, twitching himself as the woman jumped in fear, nearly stabbing herself with a needle. She turned with wide eyes, staring at Micah until he could see the realization that he was too young to be of much harm sunk in.

  “Well hello, there,” she said, putting the needle and bottle down. “I thought everyone mobile was already out. Why didn’t you go with the others?”

  “I’m not sick, ma’am. But we brought a friend here who is. The cops tried to poison her. Can you help us?”

  “Where is your friend now?” the lady in scrubs asked, kneeling down to look him in the eye. “All the doctors are gone, but there might be something I can do.”

  Micah still wasn’t sure whether to trust her or not. �
��Where did everyone go - and why?”

  She smiled, but it was one of those fake smile adults used when they didn’t think he was smart enough to catch on.

  “We had a little malfunction with the emergency equipment, so everyone able-bodied was evacuated, just to be safe. Like a fire drill, you could say.”

  “Are they coming back?” Micah looked at the clock on the wall behind her. “You should tell the doctors to come back. There are a lot of people still stuck in their rooms who need help. We gave a guy some extra blankets—”

  The woman raised her eyebrows. “We? Is someone with you besides your friend?”

  “My friend and I,” Micah clarified without missing a beat. “She wasn’t walking too good, so I told her to wait, and I’d find someone.” He looked at the tray full of needles. “What’s in those shots? Who are they for?”

  There was that indulgent fake smile again. “You sure do ask a lot of questions, don’t you? It’s medicine that I need to give to the people who are still here. It will help them with the pain. I can give some to your friend, too, if you tell me where she is. Did she stay in one of the rooms you passed?”

  He shook his head. “She doesn’t need a shot. She needs the poison out of her system. Did you know the police are poisoning people?”

  Her laugh was almost too melodic, like she’d been practicing. “I’m sure that can’t be right,” she said, standing up to her full height. “Why on earth would they do that?”

  “I don’t know.” Micah glanced at the needles one more time, and decided to go with his gut. “I think I’ll just take my friend and leave. Thanks for the help.”

  “Oh, but you don’t want to go out there again, dear. There are dead birds and more of those dreadful moths to deal with. You and your friend are welcome to stay in whatever room she’s in, if you’d like. I’ll even bring you some juice. Wouldn’t you like some juice?”

  Micah shook his head. “Thanks, but we’ll be going now.” He turned away, but looked back when he heard the tinkle of glass bottles knocking together. The woman had jostled the counter when she took a syringe off the tray, and now she was coming toward him, needle in hand.

  “I’m afraid I can’t let you leave without giving you a shot,” she said, a note of surprisingly real regret in her voice. “It’s not going to hurt, I promise. And you’ll feel so much better afterward. You won’t have a care in the world.

  Micah shook his head and backed away, not sure what to do now. He wanted to tell Bailey to run, to get out of there, but he didn’t want to let the nurse know she was there if he didn’t have to.

  “You first,” he said, glancing at the needle in her hand. “If it makes you feel so good and doesn’t hurt, then show me on yourself.”

  She shook her head. “I would, but it makes you kind of sleepy. And I need to give all these other people the medicine first. Then I can do it. But there’s no reason for you to wait. We can find an empty bed, or you can just come over here and lay right down on the floor. You won’t even feel it, I promise.”

  He shook his head again, trying to think of some way to get away from her without exposing Bailey. But it seemed hopeless, and the woman was still coming toward him, her thumb on the plunger like she was just going to jab the needle into him as soon as he was within range.

  A small shape scooted out from the other side of the counter and behind the nurse, so quietly he didn’t hear a sound. He lowered his hands and made eye contact with the nurse.

  “Maybe you’re right,” he said, pretending to think about it. “But I don’t think I want to lay on the floor. You said we could find a bed. Can you take me to one?”

  The woman lowered the needle, her lips still stretched in that faux smile. “Of course, my dear. Come with me, and we’ll get comfortable.”

  He didn’t want to touch her, but he reached out for the hand she offered as Bailey came up behind her. His sister clutched one of the full syringes in one fist, and on his nod, she stabbed it into the nurse’s calf, jamming her other hand down on the plunger.

  The garish grin turned to rage, all the muscles in the woman’s face tightening nearly as much as her fingers around his hand. She would jam the needle into him, he knew, and he braced himself even as he frantically tried to pry his hand out of hers.

  But almost as soon as they’d tightened up, the nurse’s muscles relaxed again, and she released him as she fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes, knocking Bailey over in the process.

  Micah waited a long moment before he laid two fingers on the side of the woman’s neck.

  Bailey got up and made a dramatic show of dusting herself off.

  “Is she okay?” Bailey asked. “She was going to hurt you. I didn’t want her to hurt you. The shot was good, right?” She picked up the full syringe that had fallen from the woman’s fingers. “Did it make her feel good?”

  Micah gently took the syringe from his sister and put it on the counter where she couldn’t reach.

  “It made her sleepy,” he said, giving his sister a half-smile. “She’s not feeling anything right now. Let’s get out of here.”

  Bailey frowned, not moving. “What about Angie? She needs help!”

  Micah looked around and sighed. “I don’t think there’s anyone here who can help, Sis. We might have to leave Angie behind. I know you liked her, but I don’t think we can help her anymore. We have to go somewhere safe. She'd want us to do that.”

  Bailey was already shaking her head. “No! We can’t leave her - I love her, and she loves me. We have to help her, Micah. You can do it, I know you can. You can do anything!”

  “Not this time, sis. I’m sorry, but I don’t know what to do.”

  Chapter 22

  “Maybe she’s better. We should go check.” Bailey tugged at Micah’s hand, pulling him back the way they’d come. He couldn’t say no, and forced his heavy feet to follow, not sure how he was going to tell her that Angie was dead, or would undoubtedly be soon.

  And what after that? They’d have to find somewhere to hide, and be extra careful with food. They should probably just leave the city and find somewhere else to live…but where? How would they avoid the moths?

  Bailey slipped out of his grasp and broke into a run toward the sliding door, Angie’s car just where they’d left it on the other side. Micah tried to hurry, but his limbs were heavy and the whole thing seemed so surreal, like a bad horror movie, or a nightmare.

  Something bad was going to happen - he could feel it. But just like the characters in the movies, he felt powerless to stop it. An overwhelming feeling of hopelessness and despair hit him as he watched Bailey careen outside and reach for the handle on the back passenger door. Micah looked down, patting his pocket to make sure the keys were still there.

  There was an awful, sickening crash and his stomach flipped as he raised his head, knowing what he would see but refusing to believe it all the same.

  She didn’t even cry out. He wanted to run, but his feet wouldn’t move. His mind went blank as he watched a man get out of the car that had hit Angie’s square in the side and rush to his sister’s lifeless body.

  Micah felt like he was moving underwater as he reached into the inside pocket of his coat and retrieved the syringe he’d grabbed from the counter, thinking it might come in handy sometime. Finally his feet moved, carrying him down the center of the hall with quick, deliberate movements.

  The man turned his head when the door slid open for Micah, his young face streaked with tears.

  “Get a doctor!” he yelled to Micah, still holding Bailey, rocking her back and forth. “Please, we can’t let her die. There was a woman in the road, I couldn’t stop, and then she ran out and I didn’t even see her…Oh God.”

  The man’s admission flowed brokenly, the words pounded like nails into Micah’s consciousness. On some level he understood it had been an accident, but his sister was dead, and this man was responsible, and the people who weren’t dying were killing other people, and the moths were taking over
the world…

  He stopped beside the man, tilting his head as he looked down at Bailey’s face. Her chest was quiet, her eyes were closed. There was no blood, which surprised him, only a peaceful, contented look on her face. Maybe it was for the best.

  “Is she gone?” he asked quietly, watching as the man laid two fingers at the side of her throat. They both waited for a moment that seemed to stretch on for hours. Finally, the man nodded.

  “She’s gone.” He looked up, wiping the tears from his face before he made eye contact. “Did you know her?”

  Micah raised the syringe and plunged it deep into his own thigh, quickly depressing the plunger.

  “She’s my sister.”

  Chapter 23

  Still cradling the little girl he’d hit - killed - when he swerved to avoid the woman staggering away from the other car, Daniel could only watch in horror as the girl’s brother injected himself with something, crumpling to the ground seconds later. What the hell was going on here? Why weren’t people running out to help them?

  And if no one was around, what had happened to his father?

  Still not sure what to do, Daniel carried the girl through the hospital doors and laid her on an empty gurney waiting on one side of the hall. He ran back out and checked the boy for a pulse, but felt nothing. Struggling with the extra weight, Daniel picked him up and carried him inside as well, laying him beside his sister before covering them both with a sheet. Then he turned and looked around, the air of desolation seeping under his skin like stagnant pond water.

  “Hello?” he called out, the immediate echo sending chills down his spine. “Anyone here?”

  He started walking, looking into each room as he passed, checking the bodies left in bed for signs of life. A few still held on, barely, but most were dead or on the brink. Vowing to get help, he kept moving room to room until finally there was something familiar about the delirious blue eyes staring back at him. It had been a lifetime since they’d looked at each other, though only ten years since he’d left the farm behind. The time hadn’t been kind to his father, and for a brief second, he was glad he hadn’t seen his mother before she passed.