Followed East

by Andre Gonzalez

  She could already see how the rest of the night would play out. He likely came with a group of friends, and they’d all make their way down to row 14 to introduce themselves, trying to get the two groups of people to hang out together. Only they’d all be barking up the wrong tree, seeing as everyone in Tammy’s group was still married. Even still, her friends wouldn’t tell them off. They’d been telling her for weeks to go out and have fun with a random stranger. They told her the best way to get over a man is to get under another one.

  Maybe she should be the one staying away from her own group of friends; they would only egg on this situation to a point Tammy didn’t want.

  The line moved forward, down to two people in front of Tammy, with a counter of three bartenders. This is almost done, she thought, tasting the freedom that would come as soon as she had her fresh margarita in hand. Twelve dollars for eight ounces in a plastic cup.

  She giggled at this again. Everyone knew the prices at any event were a rip-off, but this comment struck her as the cold hard truth, yet here she was buying her fourth plastic cup of the night.

  “What’s your name?” he asked, the line moving up one more person.

  Just as a spot opened at the bar, Tammy lunged forward, shooting a look over her shoulder at the man. “I’m Tammy.”

  The man grinned before moving into his place at the other side of the bar, a person separating them in the middle spot.

  Tammy ordered her drink and paid in record time, rushing away from the bar before the man had a chance to follow her. If he really was in the row behind her, he’d come find her anyway. He had a look in his eyes that suggested he wasn’t done talking to her. She disappeared into the concert, working her way through the crowd of people toward her seat, texting her friend to meet her back in their section.

  * * *

  The hot summer night grew sticky with humidity, and Tammy’s fourth margarita went down with ease. After so many, the flavor started to seem more like water, making it easier to chug the alcohol. Her head spun as the music boomed from every angle, the bass rumbling the core of her body.

  She had forgotten all about the man from the bar, falling into a trance from the performance of Lady Antebellum on the stage. Tammy had the aisle seat, allowing her to see her three friends dancing, swaying their hips as they sung into the night sky with imaginary microphones held in front of their mouths.

  The song ended, applause and screams erupting from the audience of 12,000 country music lovers. Tammy scanned the crowd, illuminated only by the bright lights of the stage, seeing thousands of cowboy hats, boots, and tight jeans, and knew this is exactly where she wanted to be. Away from her couch, her bedroom, her house. All of which had memories of her past clung to the walls like a dirty stain.

  Then the tap came on her shoulder that changed everything. A quick, hard double tap from a stiff finger.

  “Hey there, Ms. Tammy,” the man’s voice shouted from behind to be heard over the rowdy crowd.

  She debated not turning around, pretending to not have felt the tap, but who was she kidding? Besides, the alcohol was in full force, so let this poor soul try whatever he needed; she was ready for it.

  “Did you forget something at the bar?” he asked, prompting her to turn around.

  There he stood, grinning that charming smile, with a fresh margarita held out to her.

  Her eyes dropped from his face to the drink in amazement, like he had pulled a rabbit out of a hat. “How did you—?”

  “I bought one for my friend, but he didn’t want it.” The man nodded his head in the direction of his seat in the row behind, right in the middle as he had said. Tammy looked over her shoulder, but didn’t know who she was looking for in the cluster of dancing people. “I figured you probably wanted it.”

  He extended it all the way to her, damn near forcing it into her hands. Under normal circumstances she knew better than to take a drink from a random man, but she was four margaritas deep, and logic had already taken its final trip home for the night.

  She snatched it out of his hands with a wide smile. “You’re too sweet. You didn’t have to do this.”

  “It’s my pleasure. It’s not every day I meet such a beautiful woman.”

  There it is. He was playing it smooth all along, making it seem like he wasn’t interested, but these men won’t actually let a moment pass without making a move.

  “Well, thank you. Enjoy the rest of the show.”

  Tammy turned away to see her three friends gawking at her in amazement, stupid grins smacked on their faces as their eyes moved from her to the handsome man standing shunned behind her.

  Talk to him, her friend, Leslie, mouthed to her.

  Tammy rolled her eyes. This guy had done nothing wrong, he was just trying to be nice, yet here she was taking his drink and ignoring him. The least she could do was humor him. She’d even tell him about her recent divorce and make it crystal-clear that she wasn’t interested in anyone at the moment. He’d probably hang around for a few minutes before wandering off to find another woman who might say yes.

  She spun around, his wide grin stuck on his face. “So what’s your name?”

  The concert had just gone on a brief intermission to change the set for the next artist, leaving her no easy way out of this conversation for at least the next ten minutes. They no longer had to shout, only needing to speak in a slightly elevated voice to hear through their still ringing ears.

  “Hudson. Pleased to formally meet you.” He stuck out a hand and she shook it.

  “And what do you do for a living, Hudson?”

  You’re doing great, just keep the small talk going. Next you can talk about the weather, then hopefully the show will start again.

  “I’m a doctor.”

  “Dr. Hudson has a nice ring to it,” she said, unsure what else to say. Her drunkenness made even a basic conversation like this one seem ten times more difficult. “Are you from here in Kansas City?”

  He chuckled. “No. I’m from Denver, but always enjoy getting away to see different shows. Are you from here?”

  “Born and raised.”

  “I see. Maybe you could show me around the city tomorrow? I’m only in town for the next couple of days.”

  Tammy was grateful the conversation was taking place away from her group. They had sat down, chatting among themselves, occasionally sneaking a look over their shoulders to see how she was doing. If only they could hear his words, they’d be egging her on as this was the perfect window of opportunity to “get under a man” who would walk out of her life forever.

  No. Don’t even start thinking like that. It’s just the margaritas talking. Finish this conversation and end your night like you always do, alone in your king-sized bed.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said, taking an extended sip from her new margarita.

  “Why not?”

  “Well, for starters I have to work tomorrow—tonight is Thursday, you know.”

  “You can always call in. Was there another reason?”

  She took another long swig from her plastic cup, now halfway done with her fifth margarita. Her stomach churned, and she didn’t see a way of her avoiding a long night of puking her brains into the toilet.

  “I’m just not in a good place right now to be spending time with a man. I hope you can understand.”

  Hudson’s grin wavered but didn’t vanish. “I can appreciate that. I’m not looking for a relationship or anything. I genuinely want to be shown around town. I’ve never been here and don’t know anyone who lives here. I’m sorry if I came across as anything more than that.”

  In her moment of growing sloppiness, she saw an innocent man looking for someone to spend time with. Nothing more. Nothing less.

  “Sorry, I’m not gonna call off work to show you around. I can give you some suggestions on what to do though, if you’d like.”

  The stage was ready for the next performer and the lights cut out, leaving the venue in near pitch-blackn
ess.

  “One dance,” Hudson said, his face invisible in the darkness.

  “What?”

  “Let me dance with you for one song and I’ll leave you alone forever. Never have to see me again.”

  Tammy had certainly had worse offers before. “Okay, one song.”

  The spotlight flashed on the stage, revealing Jason Aldean strumming a shiny black guitar, singing the opening lines to his popular love song, “You Make It Easy.”

  The audience ruptured, the sound of thousands of women screaming into the night like loons.

  Of course it’s a slow song, Tammy thought as Hudson inched closer, clearly unsure if it was okay for him to dance with her. She nodded to him, prompting him to offer his hands to her.

  When she grabbed them, all worries that had been weighing on her mind vanished like a grain of sand in the wind. Inner peace spread throughout her core, and she felt as if she had taken some sort of happy pill that worked the instant you placed it on your tongue. She noted how his hands felt ice cold, but figured it was because he had been holding margaritas.

  Tammy took one long final sip of her drink and placed the empty cup on the ground to hold Hudson with both of her hands. Her friends gawked like high school girls, giggling and whispering to each other. She loved the feeling of having no cares in the world, dancing under the moon with a handsome gentleman to a romantic song. The rest of the crowd, her friends, even herself seemed to blur into the background. It was just her and Hudson, his silvery eyes staring deep into hers.

  His lips parted to show his perfect smile, and Tammy no longer felt in control of her own body. She supposed it was the alcohol. But she didn’t feel drunk anymore, not in this perfect moment, as if simply touching Hudson’s skin made her instantly sober. His grin hypnotized her as his face inched a little closer to hers.

  He’s going to try to kiss me—

  She moved in to him, feeling tugged by his soul, completely out of her control.

  —and I don’t know what to do!

  Time froze as their lips remained an entire two inches apart. Tammy’s heart thumped wildly in her chest, seemingly the only thing moving in the whole world. Tequila oozed from his breath, but she didn’t care; the taste was still on her tongue, too.

  Just kiss him!

  Tammy closed the gap and their lips locked, sparking an instant—but brief—flood of emotions from sorrow and guilt to ecstasy and lust. She parted her lips and welcomed his tongue as her hands slid onto his back where she ran them up and down, enjoying the feel of his rock-hard body.

  Hudson pulled her in closer by her waist, his hands gentle as they caressed the sides of her abdomen.

  It was the moment she didn’t know she wanted, and it was time for it to end. Nothing good would come from escalating the current situation, and she pushed back to end the kiss. Hudson tilted his head, but didn’t release his grip from her hips, holding on tight like he never wanted to let go.

  “You said one dance and you’ll leave forever,” she whispered. Not even the music could overthrow this perfect moment, drowning into background noise despite the thousands of people singing around them.

  “Yes,” Hudson said. “One more kiss?”

  Tammy nodded and slung her arms around his neck, pulling his face into hers where they swapped tongues for another thirty seconds. She felt his teeth scrape her bottom lip, giving the slightest of tugs.

  This time when she tried to pull away, she was met with resistance. Hudson kept his hands tight on her, not forceful, but refusing to let her end the moment. Her lip stayed between his teeth, and now that the kiss had ended for her, she recoiled back, but he didn’t release her hips. Or her lips.

  A sharp pain clamped down on her lip, his teeth digging into her soft flesh. It felt like someone was trying to cut her lip off with a pair of scissors, and then Hudson threw his head back, ripping a chunk of her lip off as blood spouted from her mouth.

  Tammy’s hand shot up to her mouth, her fingers instantly smeared in her own blood. Hudson grinned, the chunk of her flabby lip pinched between his teeth like a cigarette, wiggling in the air like a worm on a hook.

  Her eyes looked from her bloody fingers to his mouth, and back to her fingers in disbelief. The music continued in the background, not a soul paying any attention to the gory scene unfolding. Where the fuck are my friends now?

  She still had her back to them, but her body froze with shock, unable to do so much as turn around. Even the useless people in the row behind them were so entranced by Jason Aldean that they didn’t see the blood oozing from her mouth like a goddam river.

  She tried to shout for help, but it only came out as, “HELLLLLLLL!” Her shrieking voice was lost in the cluster of music and other screams from the crowd, as inaudible as a mouse crawling along the back wall of a church.

  Hudson remained in place, grinning, before tilting his head back and opening his mouth to swallow Tammy’s lip. It reminded her of videos she had seen of people swallowing a gold fish. Just open up your throat and swallow it whole. And they always had their head tilted back just like he had.

  The song ended, leaving a brief few seconds for Tammy to shriek as loud as her lungs allowed, and she didn’t waste the opportunity. Her friends turned, their eyes dropping to the pool of blood on the ground, trying to piece together what had happened.

  A man in a cowboy hat from the row behind them saw Tammy’s bloodied face and lunged toward Hudson. “You son of a bitch!” he barked.

  But Hudson remained unfazed, sticking out a stiff arm to hold the man a safe distance away. The cowboy pushed, jumping over the seat with a balled fist and swung it toward Hudson’s face. He dodged it with the reflexes of a professional boxer, grinning the entire time. The cowboy went tumbling into their row, taking out Tammy’s legs in his fall, knocking her onto the ground in front of her friends.

  Hudson kept his grin as the next song started, all eyes in the immediate area now focused on the unfolding scene. He reached down and pulled up the cowboy by his shirt collar. The man swayed on his feet, clearly a bit intoxicated himself, before Hudson stuck his face into the man’s neck, mouth open as if ready to take a large bite of steak.

  Tammy swore the teeth appeared fang-like, but figured her mind was playing tricks after having just lost a piece of her face to the same mouth. Hudson sunk his teeth into the man’s neck, causing a howl that could have been mistaken for a pack of wolves.

  Tammy lay on the ground, watching from below, but felt a surprising burst of energy. The music continued echoing as her friends huddled around, gawking at her with their bulging eyes.

  “What the hell did he do to you?” one screamed.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Do we need to call an ambulance?”

  Their voices all jumbled together, making no sense under the music and Hudson’s howling laughter next to them, blood oozing from his mouth. The cowboy’s blood.

  The man he had bitten wriggled on the ground, hands grasping his neck as if that would keep all of his blood from spilling onto the concrete. Tammy imagined his throat was gurgling blood, but a sound that fine would never be heard in the middle of a concert. She wanted to help him. Help herself. Maybe sink her teeth into his juicy skin.

  Tammy shuddered, the poison of a million negative thoughts flooding her mind as she tried to make sense of the last thirty minutes of her life.

  Why did I have to go back for another margarita? she asked herself, wishing she could rewind the clock. Wishing she could—

  —rip out someone’s throat and have a great night!

  She rose to her feet, crying tears of horror as she felt her body and mind undergo a transformation of which she had no control.

  Come with me, let’s have some fun, Hudson’s voice said within her mind. She looked to him, terrified that she heard his voice, knowing the words weren’t spoken because they would have never been heard over the concert. Before it’s too late, let’s spread our love. The people behind us already ran away –
let’s take your friends with us.

  Tammy spun around to the row behind, where the six seats in the vicinity had indeed cleared out. She looked to the writhing cowboy on the ground and watched in amazement as he gathered himself and rose to his feet just as she had, a wide smile revealing his teeth above the gashed open throat that had somehow stopped bleeding already.

  The cowboy and Tammy turned to Hudson, whose skin appeared a shade darker, turning gray.

  He stared back at them, somehow splitting each of his eyes to look at both of them at the same time. He nodded.

  The cowboy dashed across the aisle and jumped on top of a small group of dancing people.

  Rage boiled within Tammy, spilling into her soul, as she pivoted around to her friends, her mouth parted with teeth that had become sharper in just the past few seconds. She growled and lunged for them, attacking all three of them within the next thirty seconds while the music carried on.

  13

  Chapter 13

  Colonel Griffins thought he might vomit all over his office. Every morning he received a briefing of the prior day’s events around the country, whether Exall-related or not. This morning’s was particularly thick—at least 100 pages long, compared to the usual thirty. The majority of pages stuffed into it were from the Kansas City police department, hundreds of statements from a country concert that had turned deadly. Initially starting the report, Griffins thought it was another mass shooting that had taken place and wondered why a big sticky note had been left on the front demanding he read the entire thing. Then he saw why.

  A man started the tragedy by biting a woman’s face and another man’s throat. The man who had been bitten was thought to have been dead, but shortly rose to his feet and started biting others in the crowd. The woman followed suit, attacking her own group of friends. And this was all in one particular section of the venue.