Patient Zero

by Sylvester Barzey

  “They die and then they come back. They’re zombies and they’re just the start of our problems.” Jeremy said.

  “What do you mean by the start?” Christian asked

  “Nothing, he didn’t mean anything by it.” Neil said. The two men stared at one another until Christian nodded and looked over at Jeremy.

  “What is it?” Christian asked.

  “They’re looking for us.” Jeremy said.

  “That’s enough Jeremy!” Neil shouted.

  “Who?” Christian asked.

  “No one!” Neil shouted, he shook his head and stared at his son for a moment before saying, “The more you know, the more you’re at risk.” Christian laughed,

  “You got a zombie in the bathroom and a good hundred down in the lobby. We’re past worrying about fucking risk don’t you think?” Christian asked.

  “The government.” Jeremy said softly. “We we’re heading to Mexico and-“ Jeremy’s words were united with his father’s,

  “And we didn’t know how sick we were, no one knew until it was too late and now they want to wipe us out, like we never existed.” Neil said.

  “Don’t you think you’re being a little dramatic? Maybe they want to help you?” Christian said.

  “There’s no helping what we have. We were going to Mexico to live in peace, away from the world. Then Kate got sick.” Neil’s head lowered, “and this black car kept popping up everywhere. All I want to do is to get out of the country.” He said.

  “And infect another one. This white boy is loco, the virus must be eating his brain.” Jorge said. Christian stared at Neil and then tilted his head to the side to get a better look at the shaking bathroom door.

  “And is she going to Mexico too?” Christian asked. Neil looked at the door, then at Jeremy and then finally back at Christian.

  “She’s my wife.” Neil said softly.

  “Loco.” Christian said.

  “What am I supposed to do? Look her in the eyes and blow her brains out?” Neil asked.

  “The hotel is full of these things and it’s because of you, so whether or not you shoot her...” Christian’s arms came out as he walked over blocking the front door, “I can’t let you leave.”

  “Damn right, Mijo!” Jorge shouted. Neil whipped the gun out quickly from his waistband and it raised until it was eye level with Christian. “You could have took the gun away first dummy.” Christian’s hands went up into the air.

  “I’m sorry it has to be this way.” Neil said. His finger rested on the trigger and Christian’s heart slammed into his rib cage and sweat started to trickle down his cheek. Christian took a big shallow and closed his eyes. Within the darkness, beyond that moment of fear was that sweet smile. The one that always seemed to make everything better.

  Trinity, Christian thought to himself.

  “What the Hell!” Neil shouted. Christian opened his eyes only to be tossed into a real pitch black Nightmare. All the lights in the room had gone out and only the dim Austin lights shined from the window. Christian wasted no time using his new found luck to his benefit. The front swung open and Christian took off running down the hall. The red exit lights created a hauntingly eerie mask for what was once a bright welcoming hallway. Christian ran towards the glowing red light until a loud blast caused him to dive to the floor. The bullet had missed his head by only a few inches and lodged into the wall, leaving a burning black hole in the wall paper. Doors started to fly open after gunshot.

  “What the fuck was that?”

  “I don’t know but the powers out!”

  “This is some real bullshit. I paid good money…” A wave of complaints echoed throughout the hallway. Neil started to push through the crowd with his gun in the air.

  “Get the hell out of my way!” He shouted, he got to the end of the small crowd only to find nothing. Christian had disappeared under the cover of the madness. “Shit!” Neil shouted.

  “What the hell is going on!” A large man shouted and Neil turned around to face the crowd.

  “There’s a terrorist in the build.” Neil said. His eyes found Jeremy among the faces in the crowd. His son shook his head and then turned to walk back into the hotel room, “He’s armed and dangerous.” Neil sighed deeply, “And none of us are safe.”

  Chapter 8

  Second floor, third floor, fourth floor. I wonder what people taste like. I bet they taste like chicken. I think I’m hungry. If I have to eat a person I hope I get to eat one soon. I wanna eat Vince, I’m gonna eat Vince. Hector’s glare didn’t break, not from a blink, not from the uncomfortable feeling it was creating to those around him. His eyes stayed locked on Vince.

  “Why does he keep staring at me?” Vince asked softly. Trinity’s eyes went over to Hector and she snapped her finger’s in front of the big man’s face.

  “Hey!” She shouted. Hector’s eyes glared at Trinity. Sweat was running down his face, which could have been a sign of the sickness taking over or it could have been a sign that Hector was out of shape and needed to take up running. “Stop staring at Vince, it’s getting creep-“ A loud sound echoed through the tiny elevator. It sounded like metal grinding hard against more metal. The elevator car violently shook causing Trinity to fall into Vince’s arms.

  “You okay?” he asked. Trinity glanced up, following the sound to the top of the elevator car and then the lights went out.

  “Shit!” Trinity shouted. She pushed herself off of Vince and ran her fingers through her hair. A scent of pomegranate hit the air and Vince’s nose as Trinity tussled her hair and started to tie it up into a ponytail. Hector was pushing the buttons of the elevator car, none of them lit up.

  “What the hell just happened?” Hector asked.

  “I don’t know.” Trinity said. She walked into the middle of the elevator and stared up into the darkness. “But we gotta get to Christian.” The elevator grew quite for a moment before a loud sniffing was heard.

  “You smell nice.” Hector said softly. Vince turned around slowly. He couldn’t see through the darkness but Hector was smiling from ear to ear. He put his hand on Vince’s shoulder, “real nice.”

  “Hector! Stop fucking with him and help me!” Trinity shouted. Hector laughed and pushed Vince aside. “Lift me up.” Trinity said. Hector looked up and then shook his head.

  “Nope.” Hector replied.

  “What the hell do you mean nope?” Trinity shouted.

  “I’m not sending you into God knows what alone.” Hector said. He shook his head, “Christian would kill me if I let anything happen to you.”

  “That’s sweet Hector, but you’re coming too.” Trinity said with a smile.

  “Damn girl, Why we always got to go up?” Hector asked as he leaned over cupping his hands. “It’s never, Hector lets sit here and watch some Rick and Morty. No, it’s always Hector get your fat ass through this small hole.”

  “I swear this is the last time.” Trinity said as she climbed into Hectors hands and felt the big man raise her easily up to the hatch that lead to the top of the elevator. Her fingers fumbled around till she heard a click and the door pushed open above her sending a blast of cool air and the scent of rusted metal into the elevator. “It’s dark as shit up here.” Vince’s hands pushed into his pocket and he pulled out a small black flashlight. His thumb clicked it on and the light filled the Elevator.

  “What the fuck!” Vince shouted.

  “What?” The pair answered in unison.

  “His eyes!” Vince shouted. Trinity glanced down at the top of Hector’s head.

  “Hector sweetie, look up.” Trinity softly requested. Hector’s head turned upwards and Trinity could see the blood red that was filling up the whites of his eyes. It was like a storm cloud that was quickly surrounding the green pools in his eyes. “Shit.” Trinity said softly.

  “Is it bad?” Hector asked.

  “No, you’re fine baby. We just gotta get out of here.” Trinity said.

  “I’m not going anywhere with him.” Vin
ce said. Trinity pulled herself up to the top of the elevator and then turned to look back down.

  “We don’t have time for this. We need to get to the next floor.” Trinity said. Hector looked over into the bright light and smiled,

  “You heard the lady. Get your bitch ass over here!” Hector shouted and stomped. The elevator started to shake and Vince shouted,

  “Fuck you!”

  “Vince! Help Hector up and then we’ll pull you up.” Trinity said.

  “No!” Vince shouted.

  “Fine. I can just leave you two in there, if that works better for you.” Trinity said softly. She was resting her chin on her folded arms looking down at the men. A few colorful words, a lot of pushing and pulling and then the three of them were standing on top of the elevator. The light spun around the shaft for a moment and then landed on Trinity.

  “Now what?” Vince asked.

  “I don’t know, I assumed there would be a ladder or something.” Trinity replied.

  “You assumed?” Vince said mockingly. “Well that’s just great.”

  “Shut the hell up!” Trinity shouted. Trinity looked up at the fifth floor doors and turned her head to the side. “It’s not that high up. If y’all get me up there, I can find a rope or something-“ Vince leaned in to Trinity and softly whispered,

  “His not gonna make it.” Trinity’s eyes went over to Hector who was staring off into the darkness of the elevator shift. His back raised and fell with every painful breath and his white dress shirt was not pink and see through from the mixture of blood and sweat. “We need to get out of here.”

  “I know that, I’ll just get a-“

  “No, we need to get out of here.” Vince said softly. Trinity looked into Vince’s eyes and then looked over at Hector. “He’s not gonna make it.”

  “You don’t know that.” Trinity said softly. Hector slowly started to sit down. As he moved the car shifted just a bit.

  “I’m gonna sit for a little.” Hector said. He forced a small smile on his face as he looked over at Trinity, “I don’t think those beers are sitting well.”

  “They were probably expired.” Trinity said softly. She smiled for a moment and then looked away. Hector laughed and then the big man leaned over till his head was rested on the cool metal of the elevator.

  “Yeah.” He said softly. Trinity shook her head,

  “No. We’re all getting out of here. Just help me up.” She said. Vince stared into her hazel eyes, that were fighting hard to avoid drowning in tears. He leaned forward and hugged her.

  “Okay, okay.” He said softly. Vince was stronger than Trinity thought he was, the lift wasn’t as effortless as with Hector but they managed to get her up to the doors in one try. “There’s a emergency latch to your left, push it and pull the doors apart.” Vince shouted. Trinity only had enough room for the tips of her toes which made her thankful she left her red bottom shoes behind in the bathroom. She did just what Vince said and the doors slid open to reveal the bright light from the exit sign. Trinity stepped through the doors, “You’ll have to put something on the track to keep the door open!” Vince shouted.

  “How do you know all this?” Trinity asked as her head spun from side to side looking for an object.

  “I used to work in the engineering department a few years back.” Vince replied. Trinity pulled the trash can over and placed it in the middle of the doors. Then she looked over into the darkness to see the light shining up at her.

  “I’ll got look for a rope or something and I’ll be right back.” Trinity said and then she ran off. Vince slowly turned around to see Hector hugging his knees to his chest .

  “It’s cold,” Hector said softly. The sound of doors opening and closing echoed through the shaft. Vince let out a sigh and he walked over toward Hector.

  “Come on buddy. Trinity’s gonna get us out of here.” Vince said. He leaned down and carefully started to help Hector to his feet. “She’s not gonna leave you behind, no matter what.” Hector nodded slowly at Vince’s words and wrapped his arms around him. They slowly started to make their way towards the wall.

  “Trinity’s good people. Christian really loves her. She loves him too, but they’re both too chicken shit to say anything.” Hector said softly with a laugh. He stopped moving and turned towards the edge of the elevator. “I think I’m gonna throw up.” Vince’s hand rested on Hector’s back.

  “She seems to love you too and that’s fucking up her judgment.” Vince said softly. His hand quickly grabbed a fist full of Hector’s shirt and then his other hand grabbed hold of the big man’s belt. Before Hector could protest or even think of fighting back, Vince tossed him forward into the darkness of the elevator shaft. A blood chilling scream came from Hector’s lips, it was a sound he had never heard himself make before. He could feel the air rushing past him, cooling his burning hot skin and then Hector felt nothing. The body spattered into the dark pit below. It was too far down for Vince’s light to shine on, but he continued to stare into the darkness, listening to the moaning and screaming that started to echo through the shaft from the other floors.

  Chapter 9

  “Hilo de puta,” Christian said to himself as he went running downing the east stairwell. One quick leap after another, his landings echoed as the hard bottoms of his dress shoes connected with the cement floor.

  “Where you running off to?” Jorge asked. Christian spun around to see his father sitting down at the top of the steps. His hands were folded, forearms rested on his knees, staring down at his son.

  “I’m getting as far away from that puta as I can.” Christian replied.

  “Oh.” Jorge said. Christian rolled his eyes,

  “What?” he asked.

  “Nothing, nothing. You seem to have it all figured out Mijo,” Jorge said. He stood up and turned around walking back up the steps. Christian nodded,

  “I do.” Christian said. He turned to continue down the steps only to see Jorge standing right next to him, staring at him.

  “Then what?” Jorge asked.

  “What?” Christian asked puzzled.

  “Well, lets say you run. You get out. Then what?” Jorge asked.

  “I get the cops.” Christian said. Jorge started laughing, he held his sides and grabbed hold of Christian’s shoulder. Christian watched as his father’s golden brown skin turned red,

  “Mr. Officer, come quick! There’s zombies at the hotel!” Jorge shouted, Christian pulled away from his father and rolled his eyes. “You’re always running! Stand up and fight Mijo.” Jorge said.

  “Fighting? Well that’s your bread and butter ain’t it Pop?” Christian said. His fingers ran through his black sweat soaked hair as he shouted, “All you ever want to do is fight and fucking argue! Maybe if you just listened to me-“ Christian stopped cold, his thoughts were being pulled back to a moment he hide deep in the back of his mind.

  “Maybe if I listened to you, what? Go ahead and say it, put all the blame on my shoulders Mijo!” Jorge shouted. “It’s my fault for getting drunk, it’s my fault for driving off. I ran the light!”

  “You did!” Christian shouted.

  “It was my fault, but you let it happen. You could have taken away my keys. You could have knocked me the hell out, but no. You walked away like a little bitch-“

  “Shut up!” Christian shouted. Jorge smiled,

  “Why? You don’t wanna face it? You don’t wanna see the ugly truth? If you would have just fought and stood up for something, for once! Maybe I wouldn’t be dead and Dominic wouldn’t be fighting for his life.” Jorge said. Christian swung at his father, only to fall into the brick wall that stood behind him. “All you wanna do is run and hide. You fucked up in school, you ran to another major. You hide your feelings from that little Chica, you hide it from your boss.”

  “Shut up!” Christian shouted.

  “Be a man Mijo and stop running!” Jorge shouted and Christian felt his words bang on the inside of his skull. Christian pressed his hands to his
ears and started grinding his teeth for a moment before the shouting faded. Christian looked up at Jorge,

  “I don’t have to take this from some ghost.” Christian said. Jorge’s head came up from the floor and his green eyes glared at Christian.

  “I said I was dead mijo. I never said I was a ghost.” Jorge said softly. Christian felt a cold chill run up his spine and around his neck, like an invisible noose, readying itself for to bring Christian to the afterlife. Christian took another step back from the man and pointed at him,

  “So what the fuck are you? A demon?” Christian asked.

  “What? No! I’m you.” Jorge said. He smiled and folded his arms, “The lack of sleep. The depression. The guilt. I’m the embodiment of all that.” Jorge said and smiled, before Christian could blink his father was face to face with him. Jorge’s hands grabbed ahold of Christian’s head, “You’re having a mental break with reality! At the worst fucking time, might I add!” Christian slapped his father’s hands away and shook his head,

  “No. No. No. What are you saying ? I’m going crazy?” Christian asked.

  “I’m saying, as someone that lives inside your head. Running as far away from a problem, didn’t help before and it ain’t gonna help now.” Jorge said. The two men stared at one another. Be it a figment of his imagination or some cruel game from the after life, Christian was sure of two things. One his father was right, which was something that pained him to admit. Agreeing with a drunk who almost ended your life in a number of car accidents wasn’t easy, but Jorge was right. If Christian ran now, if he survived, then what? Neil would live and continue to spread this virus, bringing it down to Mexico. Ma would be royally pissed if she found out her telenovelas were cancelled due to zombies eating the cast. Running wasn’t going to help anyone, that’s one thing Christian was sure of and the other thing was,

  “I miss you Pop.” Christian said softly. Jorge smiled and then a loud blast was heard coming from beyond the door. Christian’s eyes went toward the black number five on the tan door and then looked back at Jorge but he was gone. Another blast sounded, followed by another and another. Christian cautiously placed his hand on the doorknob and twisted it. It didn’t move. Yet, when he pulled the door opened and Christian watched as one of the hotel menu cards fell to the floor. Most likely placed there by one of their guest who didn’t want to take a smoke break outside. He pulled the door open only far enough for him to get a peek into the fifth floor hallway. The tan walls reminded Christian of the Jackson Pollock paintings he often imitated in his art classes. There were bright reds splash along and then dark reds that seemed to look black danced with the tan and gold designs of the wall paper.