Rotting Rage

by Gayle Katz

  “The tour was fine, John,” I try to answer his question and bring him up to speed as quickly and discretely as possible, “except that when we toured the set, Jason was accidentally… electrocuted by the back light.”

  “What?! How long ago did this happen?!” he’s in complete disbelief.

  “Five or ten minutes ago,” I divulge, “but Jack called 911 and they’re dispatching an ambulance. They should be here in a few minutes.”

  “And that smell?” he sniffs a few times.

  “Yeah. I think it’s him,” I cringe.

  “Oh god,” he whispers under his breath, “Are you serious?”

  I nod.

  Not knowing what to do until help arrives, my boss gives the signal to move on and we start to review the presentation again. I pick up where we left off before the tour.

  “Let’s flip to slide 26. Here’s where we talk about the station’s projected growth over the next 5 years,” I say, “That growth is based on the assumptions listed—”

  I barely finish my sentence, when Jody and the Emergency Medical Technicians arrive at the door. She escorts them into the conference room.

  “What happened here?” one of the EMTs asks as he observes a non-responsive Jason.

  “Jason, that gentleman sitting opposite me, was shocked or electrocuted by one of our studio lights not 10 minutes ago.” I explain as succinctly as possible.

  “OK, what else?”

  “He hasn’t been the same since it happened. It’s like mentally he’s not there anymore. He barely responds to his name and he’s just staring at nothing in particular.”

  One of the EMTs speaks to Jason, “Sir, can you swing your chair around?”

  Jason doesn’t move.

  “Sir? Hello?”

  “Mr. Hamilton? Jason? Can you hear me?” I try to assist, “They can’t help you unless you cooperate with them. We want to make sure you’re OK. Mr. Hamilton? Jason?”

  Silence. I’m nervous. I look at Jack, then John, and then back at Jason. Jason is only getting weirder by the minute. Then the silence is gone, making me wish it had stuck around a little longer. He starts making odd noises. Like biting sounds. His teeth are chattering. Is he cold? Seconds later, the sounds begin to get louder, and more disturbing. No more chattering. More like chomping now.

  “Has he done this before?” the male EMT questions, looking around the room for someone to answer.

  “No, he hasn’t,” I reply. “But…”

  Hearing those sounds brought back a flood of memories from years ago at the radio station. Jason can’t be turning into… No. That can’t be. That can’t happen again, I convince myself. If I bring it up, everyone is going to think I’m crazy. I dismiss the thought.

  “But what?”

  The EMT spins Jason’s chair around in order to see if he can make progress and diagnose what’s wrong. The freaky chattering continues along with a moaning sound. The EMT continues his examination to see if he can help Jason. He takes Jason’s arm and tries to take his pulse all the while observing his charred fingertips.

  “How did this happen?” The EMT points to his fingers.

  “I don’t know. I guess it happened when he was shocked.” I try to answer.

  “I can’t feel anything,” the EMT says to the room, his stethoscope around his neck.

  “What do you mean?” I don’t understand.

  “I mean, I can’t feel his pulse. That’s never happened to me before. Never. And he feels cold,” he replies while looking at his fellow EMT standing next to him, who shrugs her shoulders.

  The EMT takes out his flashlight.

  “Did he hit his head? If so, I need to get a look at his pupils. Maybe that’ll help tell us what’s going on here,” he ponders.

  “Maybe. I’m not sure. He was in the anchor’s chair when he was shocked, and then we picked him up off the floor,” I tell him.

  The EMT squats down to get face-to-face with Jason and begins pointing the light into his eyes.

  “Be careful,” I warn. “Don’t make any sudden moves or surprise him.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe because there’s something definitely wrong with him and he’s not acting normal.”

  “It’s OK,” the EMT replies, trusting his training. He looks up at me and smiles confidently.

  With no warning, Jason lunges forward. He startles us all when he bites down on the EMT’s neck.

  “Ahhhh!” the EMT screams in pain and falls on the floor, blood spurting everywhere. His fellow EMT reaches for him in order to pull him out of the way, but Jason doesn’t give up. He stands up from the chair and follows the EMTs and the trail of blood across the conference room. Jason’s two lackeys run out of the room, knocking Jody over. Mallory stays. Watching. Probably stunned.

  Jack and I jump over the conference room table to Jason in order to try and pull him off of the EMT. We grab his arms, but we’re too late as his teeth are already sunk so far into the EMT’s arm that it’s impossible to separate them unless Jason opens his mouth. The more we pull at Jason, the more blood pours out of the EMT’s wounds. The EMT passes out, probably due to all the blood loss. The female EMT is holding her partner and crying.

  Jack picks up a conference room chair and throws it at Jason, or whoever he is now. The chair hits him square in the head and he falls over, disorienting him for a moment and finally releasing his bite on the EMT. As he tries to get his footing back, Jack and I take that moment to grab Jason from behind.

  “Get him out of here!” I shout to the remaining EMT, “We’ll hold him here the best we can. Bring help. Please!”

  The EMT is slow to comprehend what we’re saying, but finally gets it. She drags her colleague out of the conference room. He’s still unconscious and she’s having trouble moving him. We try to keep Jason busy so they can escape. Once they reach the doorway, Jody picks herself up and helps them get down the hallway.

  “Stay behind him, Jane. Don’t let him bite you,” Jack warns.

  “I’ll try, but he’s strong,” I reply.

  “Where’s that lucky roll of duct tape you carry everywhere?” Jack wonders.

  “It’s in my desk.”

  “Go get it.”

  “You can’t hold him yourself and I’m not going to leave you.”

  “John, come over here and hold his arm.”

  John comes over, cautiously.

  “Just hold his arm behind him here. That way we restrict his movements and he won’t be able to bite us.”

  “Uhhh. OK.” John says as he takes my place.

  As soon as Jason’s arm is secure in John’s grip, I run out of the conference room and around the corner to the main office area. I get over to my desk and begin opening drawers.

  “Where is it? Where is it?” I quickly mumble to myself as I frantically search for the roll of duct tape.

  “Found it!”

  I run back to the conference room to find Jason still terrorizing the room. John and Jack have him face down on the conference room table. His gray pallor and shrieking are getting worse. I have to hold my ears. The sounds are so loud and piercing. Mallory continues to watch.

  “I got it,” I hold up the roll of duct tape.

  “OK, good. Tape his wrists together. We need to incapacitate him or at least subdue him so we can figure out what to do next,” Jack orders.

  John and Jack continue to pull Jason’s arms and wrists behind his back as close together as possible so I can secure them with the tape. Jason fights us every step of the way.

  “Done. What’s next?” I ask.

  “Tape his ankles and legs together too. That’s the only way we’re gonna get him to stop moving.”

  “OK.”

  “Then tape his mouth so I can think without his incessant screeching, but be very careful please.”

  “Sure!”

  Once Jason’s movements are restricted, we place him on the floor and secure him to the strongest, most stable anc
hor we have in the conference room, one of the thick conference room table legs. It’s a massive solid wood table with huge legs. Once duct taped to one of them, he isn’t going anywhere.

  Mallory walks around the table to look at her boss.

  “Your colleagues aren’t very helpful.” I complain to her.

  “Apparently not,” she doesn’t disagree.

  I turn away from Mallory and look at Jack.

  “It’s happening again. How’s it happening again?”

  “Relax, Jane. Stay cool. We’ll figure it out.”

  “He was fine when we started the meeting. How could a little zap from an electrical line turn someone into a zombie?” I reflect on the events leading up to now.

  “Are you sure it was only a little zap?” he asks, trying to get the facts straight.

  “I don’t know.” I confess, “It all happened so fast.”

  “It was enough to knock out the power,” Jack points out, then adds, “I wonder if we should track down the EMT? If he’s infected, we should find him. We shouldn’t let this thing get out of control if we can help it.”

  “OK, let’s find him. They can’t have gone far. They’re probably still in the station,” I rationalize.

  “Mallory, John, stay here and watch Jason. Make sure he doesn’t move, OK?” Jack gives everyone his or her roll to play.

  “Mmhmm,” Mallory replies. John nods.

  With that twosome assigned, Jack and I hunt around the station looking for the EMTs and Jody. The station is a ghost town. The lights flicker despite the backup generator that kicked in. As we explore the hallway, some disgusting odor attacks my nose and I try to breathe through my mouth. Moments later, we see Jody and the female EMT dragging the male EMT through the station hallway. They’re moving slow. We run up to them. The female EMT is covered in her colleague’s blood.

  “How’s he doing?” I inquire.

  “Not good.” The female EMT is in tears. “He hasn’t come to yet and I’m afraid he’s losing too much blood.”

  “What’s the plan then? Get him back to the ambulance?” Jack recommends.

  “Yeah. There we can stop the bleeding and stabilize him. Then we can head off to the hospital.”

  “You’re gonna need all the help you can get,” Jack insists. “Let me grab the rest of our people from the conference room and we’ll help. It’s best if we stay together.”

  “OK, sure. What about that crazy guy? He’s not coming, I hope.”

  “No, first priority is your colleague.”

  “Fine. Hurry!”

  “We’ll be right back.” I promise.

  Chapter 7

  ________________________________________

  Jack and I head back to the conference room. The moment I open the door and step through, Jason lunges at me and bites my arm right through my blouse.

  “Ow! Aw shit. Shit! Shit! Shit” I shout as I push Zombie Jason away from me, slamming him hard against the conference room table. John and Mallory leave the conference room and partially close the door behind them.

  Pushing the door open, Jason heads for me again. Jack gets in between and kicks him in the knee. Jason stumbles slightly, bending down to almost cradle the injury he sustained from Jack's assault. Jack uses the opportunity to smash the conference room door hard into Jason's head, knocking him back into the room. Jack slams the door shut, making sure it latches this time.

  “Hopefully he’s forgotten how to use doorknobs,” Jack says, wishing they had some advantage over their attacker.

  Holding my arm, the pain is incredible. I can feel the blood pulsing through my arm. I hold my throbbing wound with my other hand and I feel a dent. Holy crap. He didn’t just bite me; I think he also took a chunk of flesh out of me. Jason recovers and comes closer to the door. He beats his face against the window cutout in the door, staring at me.

  “Jack,” I manage to say as I see a pool of my blood forming on the floor. “I feel like I’m going to pass out.”

  “Try to stay with me, OK?”

  “I’ll try.”

  Just then, our attention is immediately pulled back to the conference room door. Zombie Jason is banging his head against the window in the door. Bloodstains begin appearing on the glass.

  “Let’s find the med kit in the office and see if we can stop the bleeding.” Jack takes my hand and we hustle back over to the office area. He sits me down in my chair and runs over to the med kit hanging on the wall. He pops it open, grabs some items, and heads back to me. He dumps everything on my desk.

  “And today was turning out to be a great day,” I whisper. “What happened, right?”

  “I don’t know, Jane. I don’t know. This might sting a little.” He pours alcohol on top of my wound. The pain makes me want to scream.

  “Damn, you’re right about that. Are you supposed to be using that stuff? Geez!That hurts like a motherfucker!”

  “Sorry. I’m not a doctor, just a news guy.”

  “Next time, let’s just use some water. I might gnaw off my own arm if I feel pain like that again.”

  He unwraps a large bandage and places it on my desk. Before securing the bandage to my arm with the medical tape, he balls up some additional gauze and places it in my wound.

  “How bad does it look?”

  “Pretty bad. He took a bite out of you for sure.”

  “Oh god.”

  “This isn’t going to hold for long. We’re gonna need more medical supplies. I wonder how Jody and the EMTs are doing?”

  “OK, help me up and let’s get going, alright?”

  Jack holds out his arm and I grab hold of it in order to get to my feet. Once upright again, Jack looks at me.

  “How do you feel?”

  “I feel a bit better, but still dizzy.”

  “Will you be able to walk?”

  “Yeah. I’ll be OK once we get moving.”

  “OK, but you gotta tell me when you’re not OK.”

  “I will.”

  Lights flickering, Jack and I head out of the office area and down the dark, now bloodstained hallway. I lose my balance for a moment, but Jack helps me steady myself.

  Jody and the EMTs are nowhere in sight. We walk a little faster, make it to Jody’s reception desk, and can see the ambulance parked in front of the station through the front window. One of the back doors of the ambulance is open. I look at Jack.

  “Is that odd? Why leave one door open?”

  He shrugs. “Something must be wrong.”

  We look around outside as best we can from inside the station. If we’re going to check out the ambulance, our hope is to make sure our path from the station front door to the ambulance is secure.

  “Up for a little walk?”

  “I guess so. If the EMT found a way to help her colleague, maybe they can help me too.”

  “Agreed.”

  Jack opens the front door and we slip outside. Before we venture forward, we look around to make sure we’re safe. We spot a large pool of blood and a bloody trail leading to the ambulance. We quickly walk past the blood splatters and follow it over to the ambulance. Jack peeks inside the open door as I keep watch for any activity outside.

  “Jody?” He whispers.

  I hear crying, so I turn around in order to peek inside the ambulance myself. We see Jody holding her hand. It’s bleeding.

  “What happened, Jody?” Jack questions her as he looks around at the bloody mess in the ambulance.

  “I-I- don’t know,” she chokes out. “We were dragging him. Trying to help. We made it outside. Then he just came alive and bit my hand. We dropped him. He fell to the ground. She came over to look at my hand. That’s when he got up. His eyes were glowing red. He ran over to her and bit her in the neck. She hit him and they both fell down. Blood was everywhere. Look at me. I’m covered.”

  “Remember to breathe, Jody.” Jack advises.

  “Shit. How did you make it back to the ambulance?” I asked.

  “She grabbed my hand and pul
led me to it. She said the ambulance is like a mini hospital emergency room. If we could get back in it, she might be able to treat our wounds.” Jody explains further.

  “Did she say how?” Jack asks, seeking further clarification.

  “She only mentioned... um... hydrating fluids, like when you’re sick and doctors say to drink lots of liquids,” Jody recalls.

  “What happened to the other one? The EMT guy?”

  “I don’t know. He ran off.”

  Jack and I get into the ambulance and start poking around the equipment, trying to figure out what could help and how to use it.

  “I don’t know how to use any of this stuff,” Jack complains.

  “Me neither,” I say.

  “Hydrate. Hydrate. Hydrate.” He mumbles.

  “Where’d she go? She’s not here now.” I point out. “And what’s the smell?”

  “I don’t know. She was right here. She was trying to hook herself up to an IV to pump fluids into her body since she lost so much blood, but her hands were so unsteady, she couldn’t do it. I don’t know where—”

  She stops talking. There’s an eerie, uncomfortable silence and the familiar, rancid smell gets stronger. Then we hear multiple sounds of people scampering about outside. The three of us stand there, struggling to hear or see anything. We look at each other, unsure what to do next. For a split second, I think I see red eyes staring at me beyond the open ambulance door.

  It’s then that the female EMT appears behind Jody, shrieking and moaning and ready to attack.

  “Jody! Close the door!” Jack shouts.

  She turns around and is face-to-face with the female EMT zombie.

  “Move!” Jack commands, even louder. “Move your ass! Jody!”

  She’s frozen. That’s when the EMT chows down on her. She bites her in the neck first and Jody falls. The zombie EMT then sinks her blackened teeth into her thigh. Jody screams. The EMT grabs an incapacitated Jody and begins yanking her out of the ambulance. She desperately tries to hold on to the ambulance door, but loses her grip before we can grab her. She’s screaming and bleeding all over the place as the EMT drags her out by her legs. As Jody is pulled from the ambulance, the top half of her body falls onto the ground and she bangs her head. She stops moving.