Infected

by Anthony Izzo

  The nurse said, “This is Randy. He's going to help get our patient onto the machine.”

  The nurse wheeled the gurney parallel with the CAT scan table, Randy moving to the end near Marty's head, and the nurse staying at Marty's feet. They unstrapped him.

  “On three?” Randy asked.

  The nurse nodded. “One. Two...”

  Marty's eyes opened. He slashed at Randy, the nails digging into Randy's neck and spraying blood on the floor. Dammit he was strong. Now the thing that was Marty sat up and looked around the room. To George, the thing looked like it wanted another victim.

  Blood continued to pour from Randy's neck and he fell backward over the CAT scan table, staining the sheet and pillow red. The nurse screamed and backed away from the gurney.

  The Marty thing rose from the gurney, swung around, and hissed at George. He unsnapped his holster and drew his Glock, but the creature (that's the only way he could think of it) slapped the gun away. It grabbed his wrist and threw him across the room. He smashed into the wall, amazed at how easy the creature had tossed him.

  With a hiss, it loped from the room.

  George shook his head. His shoulder throbbed and as he got to his feet, his back cracked. He scooped up the Glock and said to the nurse: “You have a code for something like this?”

  She nodded.

  “Call it.”

  He went after the creature, Glock in hand.

  In the basement of the Ramsey building, Carl Faust opened his eyes. His chest didn't hurt anymore and the chills were gone. He got to his feet. The smell of flesh and warm blood filled his nostrils. There were people in the building.

  He would find them.

  “Son of a bitch phone,” Jerry Ramsey said.

  Mary Henderson watched her boss slam the receiver down on the base, the old man not able to get the conference with the Sacramento office working. She didn't care about the conference. In fact, she couldn't stop yawning.

  What she did care about was sitting across the long, walnut table and his name was Ryan Madden. He was twenty-four, two years older than Mary, and he'd started here six months ago. They'd had their first roll and tumble in the back seat of her car a month after he started.

  Ramsey, the boss, said: “We boring you, Mary?”

  “No. You need my help with the phone?”

  Ramsey frowned, his bushy eyebrows knitting together. “This is my damn building and I can't even figure out the phone.”

  “Can we take a break while you figure it out?” Mary said.

  The boss exhaled, then muttered “fuck” under his breath. “Take fifteen while I try and get this working. I'll e-mail Sacramento and let them know we're trying to get the phone up.”

  “So you're going to try and get it up?” Mary asked.

  Ramsey laughed, the dirty old bastard. Comments like that usually kept her in his good graces.

  “Go take a break. You're too much.”

  Rob Ross, the office's senior analyst, rolled his eyes. Screw him if he didn't like it. She intended to work her way up to vice president. It beat living in her parents' beat-to-hell mobile home and cleaning up after their incontinent beagle, Teddy.

  “Ryan, want to take a walk?”

  “Cool,” Ryan said.

  “Fifteen then head back here. Hopefully I can get this fucker working,” Ramsey said.

  Mary and Ryan got up and left the conference room. She saw Rob's daughter – whose name was Kaylie or Kate – sitting at Rob's desk. She was playing with an iPod Touch and humming a Taylor Swift song. Cute little thing. She looked up and gave a little wave as Mary walked past. Mary waved back and the girl resumed playing.

  Mary looked back, Ryan following with hands in pockets. When she was sure they were out of earshot, she said, “Our usual place?'

  “We only have fifteen minutes.”

  “That's okay. You can be quick.”

  “Hey, that's not fair.”

  “You want to or not?” Mary asked.

  “Hell yeah.”

  They took the elevator to the third floor, which was mostly empty. They got off the elevator and went to the end of the first hallway, where Mary had found an open office. They slipped inside the office, which smelled of new carpet glue, and closed the door. There was a desk inside, and Ryan pushed it against the door. When he turned around, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard.

  He returned the kiss, his lips tasting like wintergreen. His hands moved to her ass, squeezed. She let out a moan. They kissed harder, Ryan sitting her on the desk and she felt herself getting wet. She slipped her hand in his crotch. Nice and hard.

  His hand slid up her inner thigh, her skin feeling supercharged. She had no panties on, and he slipped his finger inside her. She shuddered.

  The thud at the end of the hallway made her tense up. “What was that?”

  “Never mind,” he whispered in her ear.

  A door slammed, and she pushed Ryan away. “We're going to get caught.”

  “Haven't been caught yet,” he said, moving back in, but she put her hands on his chest.

  “Cool it. Listen.”

  She heard a low grunt coming from the hallway and it seemed to Mary like remaining quiet would be a very good idea. Ryan opened his mouth to say something and she slapped her hand over his mouth. “Shut up.”

  The sounds grew louder, someone dragging heavy feet across the hallway carpet. Shoosh. Thump. Shoosh. Thump. Then it stopped right outside the door and she had the distinct impression someone was standing and listening. Her heart did a speed metal beat in her chest.

  Mary said, in a whisper: “Someone's outside the door.”

  “So what?”

  Mary pulled her skirt down and slid off the desk. She began smoothing out her blouse, just to have something to do with her hands. “Quiet.”

  The same noise started up again. Shoosh. Thump. Except this time it was moving back down the hallway.

  The two of them waited another five minutes before Mary urged Ryan to move the desk. If they didn't get back upstairs, Ramsey would chew them both a new asshole. Ryan pulled the desk away from the door and Mary noticed the pouty look on his face. “Relax. You'll get more.”

  They opened the door and went into the hallway. A thick, heavy odor wafted through the corridor, something Mary could only think of as a combination of body odor and garbage.

  “Who the hell was out here?” Ryan asked.

  “I'm supposed to know?”

  “Lucky I didn't jack him up.”

  “Honey, you weigh a hundred sixty pounds. No offense, but the only thing you're jacking up is a car.”

  “I been working out.”

  “Benching a hundred pounds yet?”

  “Screw you,” he said, and stalked down the hallway.

  Maybe she'd gone too far, but he was always a bit of a mama's boy when it came to teasing. He could never trade verbal jabs with her without getting soft. Nevertheless, she followed him down the hallway and would apologize to him later.

  Chapter Six

  Kayla Ross had played Angry Birds for twenty minutes, and when she'd gotten bored with that, she decided a snack sounded good. Dad's office always had strawberry Twizzlers in the vending machines, and she hoped they weren't out.

  She wanted his meeting to end soon. Dad always made the best popcorn, even though it was from the microwave, it still tasted best. Sitting next to him on the couch made it taste better.

  Kayla took the elevator two floors below and followed the signs that pointed to the cafeteria. She opened the cafeteria doors and turned on the lights. The far side of the cafeteria had a kitchen that served up hot foods. Next to that was the vending machines. She moved across the cafeteria, her sneakers squeaking on the floor.

  While she was trying to decide between Twizzlers and Skittles, she heard a bang out in the hallway. Kayla looked back at the door and saw a shadow pass over the glass window. She turned around and watched the door. There wasn't supposed to be anyone in t
he building, was there?

  The door started to swing open and Kayla scurried behind the lunch counter, where empty bins waited to be filled with hot mashed potatoes and gravy. Or at least that's what she liked to imagine. She ducked and waited. Behind her were the double kitchen doors.

  A shriek reverberated through her bones, and she wondered if some sort of animal had gotten into the cafeteria.

  She heard someone shuffling across the floor. The person grunted every so often, sounding like the apes they'd heard at the Buffalo Zoo last summer.

  She jumped as something crashed. It sounded like someone had tipped over a table. Why did she have to come down here? She should've stayed up at Dad's desk. And what did the person want?

  The footsteps drew closer. Clump. Clop.

  Crawling across the floor, Kayla reached the kitchen doors. She nudged one open, careful not to make it squeak. Then she slipped through, somehow feeling safer behind the closed doors. Kayla retreated deeper into the kitchen, weaving in through the maze of ovens and counters.

  The kitchen doors opened and she hunkered low to the ground and crawled to a door marked Storage. Reaching up, she turned the knob and pulled the door open. Then she slipped inside and eased the door shut. She looked around the room and saw shelves filled with cans of shortening, bags of flour, sugar, and rice. There was also a butcher block loaded with knives, and she pulled a carving knife from it.

  She heard the heavy footsteps approaching. Glancing at the door, Kayla saw it had no lock. She wanted to be upstairs with Dad. Or home on the couch.

  The doorknob turned. Kayla backed up against the shelf.

  The door swung open and she saw the monster. He was wearing a dark blue janitor's uniform that said Carl on the pocket. He grinned at Kayla, revealing yellow teeth. From his throat came a gurgling, growling noise.

  The storage closet was only about five feet wide and ten feet long. She couldn't get around him.

  He lunged forward and Kayla screamed. She ducked as he grabbed for her and she jabbed the knife into his leg, blood spurting onto her arm. Kayla saw an opening and crawled between his legs. On her way out, she slammed the door, hoping it would slow the crazy freak down.

  She ran through the kitchen, heard the door slam. He was out of the storage closet. She ran through the serving area and into the cafeteria, tipping chairs as she went.

  Kayla burst through the cafeteria doors and ran for the elevators. She hoped the doors would open in a hurry. She could hear her pursuer smashing things around in the cafeteria, the noises growing louder.

  At the elevator, she mashed the button, and to her relief, the doors opened. She threw herself inside and pressed the number for Dad's floor. Just as the doors were about to close, a hand with grimy nails reached in. The doors clamped on them. The doors would open back up, wouldn't they?

  Kayla leaned forward, grabbed the hand, and bit down on the pinky finger, which drew a yell from the monster. He pulled his hand out. The doors started to open, but Kayla pressed the Close button and they shut. The elevator started upward, and she sat on the ground and burst into tears.

  The elevator reached Dad's floor and she stood up. Wiping her face, she got off the elevator and broke into a run. She found the conference room and burst inside, and Dad spun around. When he saw her, he jumped out of the chair, knelt down, and said: “What's wrong?”

  She started crying again and felt her face turn hot and red. She didn't want to cry in front of Dad and his boss, but she couldn't help it. “I saw a man. He attacked me.”

  Rob felt Kayla begin to shake and he gripped her shoulders in an effort to steady her. He had to take a deep breath. The girl was as white as glue. “What happened?”

  She told him a story – through the sobs – about a man chasing her through the cafeteria and how she stabbed him with a knife. He was aware of Ramsey standing behind him.

  “Is she okay?”

  “I'm not sure. Did this man hurt you? Touch you?”

  She shook her head.

  “Can you tell me more about him?”

  “He had white eyes. And dirty nails. He had on a blue coverall and his name was Carl.”

  Rob turned to Ramsey. “Carl ring a bell?”

  “One of our maintenance people. But he's a teddy bear. I can't imagine-”

  Rob stood up, faced Ramsey. “My daughter's no liar.”

  Ramsey put his hands up. “I never said that. It's just not like him.”

  Mary and Ryan entered the conference room, Rob noticing his shirttail was untucked and her hair messed. Rumor was they were making more than just copies in the copy room. If that was they case, he was never touching the copier again. At least not without gloves.

  “Where were you two?” Ramsey asked.

  “Get the phone working?” Ryan asked.

  “Does it look like it?” Ramsey said.

  “You're crying, Kayla. What happened?” Mary asked.

  She re-told the story about being chased in the cafeteria.

  Mary said, “We went for a smoke break. We thought we heard someone in one of the halls.”

  Rob reached in his pocket for his Blackberry. He dialed Emma's cell. While it was ringing Ramsey said, “Now hang on.”

  “You hang on. My daughter just got assaulted. You don't like it, fire me.”

  The phone rang three times and Emma picked up. “It's me,” Rob said.

  “Not right now. Got a situation at the hospital.”

  “Got one here, too,” Rob said, and went on to explain what Kayla had told him.

  “She stabbed the guy?” Emma asked.

  “Something scared the shit out of her, Em.”

  Emma let out a huge sigh. “All hell's breaking loose here. George is with me. Sit tight and I'll get one of the other deputies to head over. Is she hurt?”

  “Just shaken up.”

  “Put her on,” Emma said.

  Rob instructed Kayla to come over and gave her the phone. She gave a lot of “yeahs” and “uh-huhs” and finished up with smile. Then she handed the phone back to Rob.

  Emma said, “Are you guys in a secure spot?”

  “We can lock ourselves in.”

  “I'm going to call Orr and send him over. Just stay put for now. Gotta run.”

  He desperately wanted to ask her what was going on at the hospital and feared for her. But that was the norm. Every traffic stop, every cheap convenience store robbing prick that she came across had the potential to harm her. But she'd been a cop when they got married and he couldn't change it. Or her.

  As Rob put the phone back in his pocket, Ramsey said, “Well?”

  “She's sending over a deputy.”

  “You can all go. We'll reschedule the call. The phones in Sacramento are messed up,” Ramsey said.

  Ryan said, “We should wait for the cops, don't you think?”

  “Why? We all don't have to stay,” Mary said.

  “She's right,” Ramsey said. “Rob, you want to wait around, I'll leave you a key to lock up.”

  That's nice, Rob thought. Glad to have co-workers that hung in there with you. “I don't think you should go down there. This Carl guy's obviously dangerous.”

  “Isn't it possible the girl just got spooked? Kids have imaginations,” Ramsey asked.

  Rob felt a throbbing in his temple. His blood pressure going up. “Really? How do you explain the blood on her arm.”

  “Maybe she cut herself,” Ramsey said. He fished in his pocket and handed Rob a key, which was attached to a red fob that said Las Vegas. “Spare key. Bring it back in the morning.”

  “You're witnesses. I'm sure they're going to talk to you.”

  “C'mon Ryan. Let's go get a drink,” Mary said.

  He couldn't fucking believe this. The boss telling him Kayla was making things up and the two walking hormones going out to get a drink that would end up in a sweaty grapple. Didn't anyone care?

  Rob watched them exit the office, leaving him and Kayla to wait for the police.
/>   Chapter Five

  “That doctor's a moron. He said I'd be out of here yesterday. And I still don't think my knee is right,” Cynthia Gray said.

  Emma watched her mother flail her arms as she spoke, as if giving a command performance on Broadway. “You just had surgery mom.”