The three hikers who had stopped to see if they could help, a young brunette woman, a young blonde woman, and a dark haired young man, took all of this in, as they stood there, frozen in shock.
Tracy spoke. “Ray Ray, what the fuck?”
What used to be Raylene no longer was. Still bent over, it inhaled loudly and deeply. Turning as it rose, it spewed a long stream of blackish red liquid over the newcomers. Taken by surprise, they backed away, trying to wipe the gooey liquid off of them. They felt the branches of the nearby shrubs against their backs as they stared back at what was previously a pleasant, somewhat attractive young woman.
What they saw now was a primal, rabid creature covered in sweat, blood, and that god awful mixture of blood, bile, and chunks of flesh.
The same material that had struck them.
Former Raylene turned towards them. Advancing a step without looking, she clumsily stepped on the slightest edge of a large rock. The rock, unbalanced, gave way, twisting her right ankle awkwardly, causing her to fall onto a pile of loose rocks. She slid downward, wedging her right foot further under the rock.
Throughout all of this, her blood red eyes never broke contact with the trio. The eyes never shifted when it forced itself upright, her ankle still twisted unnaturally under the rock. She was only able to rise three-quarters of the way before body mechanics prevented further movement. She shrieked in anger, a terrible, inhuman sound that rattled their very cores.
The creature clearly didn’t understand its predicament, and grew more agitated with every second of further delay. It continued to scream as it pulled harder and harder against the immobilized leg. The movements were violent and powerful. Further injury seemed of no concern to the crazed woman, something confirmed by a loud snap as the small bones of the ankle broke in unison.
This broke the blonde girl’s trance. She pulled on the young guy. “Joshua! We have to run!” She screamed, and they did, pulling the other young woman with them as they ran down the hill, down a different path.
Tracy still stood there, unable to believe what she had seen. Her former friend had nearly ripped Amara’s arm off of her body in one quick movement, sprayed reddish, blackish bile over three strangers, and then willingly broke her ankle out of nothing more than frustration.
The creature’s gaze settled on Tracy. Maintaining eye contact, it yanked its broken leg free of the rock, leaving the shoe behind. The ankle had already begun to swell. Incredibly, the creature tried to stand on it, oblivious of the damage that had been done. Her damaged leg, however, didn’t care if she knew what had happened. The body’s remaining human instincts still tried to protect itself, causing the leg to retract from the sudden pressure, throwing the creature off balance. It fell, face first, into the rocks, making no effort to brace itself from the fall. Former Raylene’s face collided squarely with a large rock, shattering her nose and splitting her lip. More blood flowed from her, gushing out onto the rock.
The creature screamed again. Not in pain, but in frustration.
Its head rose, blood running from the eyes, nose, and mouth.
Its eyes found Tracy.
It screamed again, blood and teeth flying out in her direction. That broke her concentration. She danced backward, ensuring none of the blood hit her. She didn’t know if it was contagious, but the likelihood that it was safe seemed pretty fucking remote.
The creature began to work its way back to a standing position. Any remaining human instincts were gone at this point, and it planted its damaged leg firmly without the slightest reaction. Only rage showed on its face. A snarl formed on its face, a primal fury so unchecked that it froze Tracy in her place. Fear took over her every sense, and she felt a warmth spread from her crotch down her inner thighs as her bladder let go.
She turned to run, praying that God would save her from this nightmare.
The creature’s movements were faster than hers, though, and it crossed the space between them in a flying leap, tackling Tracy and taking her to the ground.
The two of them tumbled down the slope, sliding, scraping, and smacking into rocks as they did. The creature’s right shoulder smashed into a large rock, dislocating it from its body and causing it to lose its grip on Tracy. It screamed out in anger again, producing that same, bloodthirsty sound that Tracy would never have thought could actually come from a human. Watching the creature creep towards her with a badly damaged leg and one arm flopping loosely at its side, she reminded herself this thing was far from human.
As she tried to get to her feet, the thing’s left arm shot out and grabbed her left ankle, pulling her feet out from under her. She fell forward, her right knee hitting the ground, sending waves of pain shooting through her body.
Teeth bit into the meat of her left leg as the creature attacked her. The pain in Tracy’s knee was forgotten as new pain shot through her body. She tried to pull her leg away from the monster, but it wouldn’t let go. Using her right leg, she kicked the thing with everything she had, knocking it sideways. It’s teeth still didn’t release its grip, though, and a thick chunk of her calf muscle was torn from her body as the creature rolled away. Waves of nausea rolled through Tracy as she tried to maintain consciousness.
Impossibly, the thing kept coming. It lunged forward again, crashing on top of her, its left arm clawing at their face and neck as its right arm swung back and forth aimlessly.
It’s face came down, closer to hers, as it tried to bite her, slash her, rip the skin from her body, to do anything that would inflict pain and damage. As she smelled the odor of rotting flesh coming from her former friend’s mouth, Tracy knew her resolve was running out. She fought back, but her strength was fading fast.
In her mind, she pictured her sister and her niece, and wished she’d had one more chance to tell them she loved them. As her left hand wedged itself under the thing’s chin, fighting to keep the snapping teeth away from her, she turned her head away, not wanting to see the face of the thing that would soon take her life.
Her eyes settled on a jagged rock the size of her fist within her reach. Grabbing it, she swung it upward towards the thing with every bit of strength left in her body. The rock crashed into the thing’s nose, pushing the bridge up into its brain, killing it instantly. The monster that had been Raylene collapsed, a dead weight falling onto Tracy.
With a sudden burst of adrenaline, she wormed her way out from under it and stepped back away from it, watching its body, the rock still clenched in her hand. After several minutes of waiting, she forced herself to believe that the thing was actually dead.
She lifted her face to the sky and let out her own primal yell at the top of her lungs. Unlike the monster’s sounds, this was one of triumph, not rage.
She cautiously moved away from the thing, limping on one leg, looking back every few seconds. Making her way over to where Amara still lay, she gingerly lowered herself down onto one knee. She shook the woman gently, eventually managing to wake her.
Amara’s eyes opened wide as she tried to focus on Tracy’s face. “Unnhh…” was all she could manage.
Tracy wrapped her arm around Amara and helped her to her feet. She took the woman’s sweatshirt off of her waist, tied the arms in a knot, and looped it over her head, forming a sling. “Come on, sweetie, let’s get out of here.”
The two slowly, desperately, began the long walk back towards their cars, grateful to be alive.
Unaware that it was already too late for them.
CHAPTER TWO
‘Getting old sucks’ Daniel Alvarado thought to himself as he worked his way up the long hill. It was Saturday morning, and with the sun still low in the sky, it was a nice, cool morning to run. Even with perfect weather, Daniel still struggled as he slowly jogged up the dirt path. His right knee was acting up again, limiting his stride, and it frustrated the hell out of him. He’d already decided to forgo his second loop on the path that morning, which made him feel irrationally guilty. He worked out regularly, always pushing himself, so taki
ng it easy one day wasn’t a sign of going ‘soft’, even if the voice in his head tried to convince him it was.
Looking up ahead, he saw three women in a group reach the top of the hill. He was fairly certain it was the group he saw here every Saturday. Refocusing his attention, he reached up and hit the button on his Bluetooth headphones, skipping to the next song. Def Leppard’s “Photograph” came on, and Daniel began singing along in his head as he continued his way up the hill. His pace wasn’t fast, but it was running, not walking, so at least he had that to feel good about.
Reaching the top, he continued with his slower pace for about ten yards, allowing his breath to even out, before picking up the pace and lengthening his stride. His knee was feeling slightly better now, but he wasn’t going to push it. He had a race in Big Bear in less than six days, and he expected it to be challenging.
Ahead he saw the three ladies, walking and talking as they made their way along the trail. He pushed himself a little harder, wanting to pass them before they got to the hardest part of the climb. He knew from experience that at times his mountain goat-like climbing over the rocks would knock some of the smaller rocks loose, sending them rolling down the hill. The last thing he wanted to do was send those rocks rolling down the hill towards the women.
Getting closer, he saw one of the women out in front, keeping a fast pace as she worked her way up the hill. It occurred to him that perhaps he’d been incorrect in his assumption that it was the group he’d seen so many times. He’d never seen any of them move that quickly. They tended to maintain more of a consistent, steady, medium pace than a fast moving one.
Soon enough he reached the trio, and as he did, he realized he had been right in the first place. The Hispanic lady he’d seen so many times was standing several feet in front of the others, waiting on them to catch up. She looked like she was a little thinner than he remembered, but he couldn’t be sure.
“Good morning!” He called out as he ran past, accelerating as he began climbing the hill. With his music playing in his ears, he had no idea if they replied verbally, but they did wave as he went past.
As he made it to the top of the steep climb, where the path met the service road that wound its way to the top of the hill, he contemplated turning right and heading up to the top of the hill, even though he’d said he was going to cut his run short at just over seven miles. ‘Should I?’ He was feeling better now, and was tempted to prove to himself that he wasn’t the lazy guy who was trying to make excuses to go home early.
Reminding himself of his upcoming race, he shook his head and turned left, running easily as he headed down the hill.
Back on the trail behind him, the Hispanic woman began to cough.
In his own world, he heard none of it as the distance between them grew.
Finishing his run at the bottom of the service road, he checked his running app to see the time and distance. Not bad. He felt ready for his race. Time to taper down his workouts to ensure he wouldn’t be too sore on the day of the event.
He wiped off his sweat the best he could, placed a towel over the seat of his Jeep, and got in. Starting the vehicle, he turned on his satellite radio.
“Strange flu-like symptoms that seem to go away, before returning. People are advised to minimize contact with others until -“
Daniel changed the channel to the NFL Network. ‘Yeah, yeah, until you’ve gotten your flu shot.’ They said the same thing every year. Putting the vehicle in drive, he pulled away from the curb and headed home, listening to the sports commentator provide a New York Jets team analysis. The commentators didn’t see much to inspire confidence in the team’s offense this year. Although Daniel cared little either way (his team was the 49ers), based on what they’d said he had a hard time disagreeing.
Arriving home, he carefully pulled his Jeep into the garage, knowing that there were scant inches of clearance between the top of his vehicle and the garage door in its open position. His wife’s BMW M4 convertible shared the garage, and what builders called a two-car garage was barely that, with little room to spare. Nevertheless, he loved his Jeep, and though his wife Serafina griped about how difficult it was to get into her car with his massive Jeep Rubicon there, she tolerated it.
Once parked, he carefully maneuvered between the two vehicles and made his way to the door into the house, where he took off his running shoes and hit the button to close the garage door.
Inside, he called out for Serafina, but didn’t get a response. Padding along the hardwood floors in his socks, he didn’t find her in the breakfast nook, but he was greeted by two of their cats: Tommy (a black cat who was a vigilant watchstander and hid at the first sign of visitors) and Ursula (a gray and white shelter cat who’d been named after the character from the Little Mermaid based on her roundness and attitude). In fairness, to say Daniel was greeted by her would be a stretch. Sitting up and regarding him from her window perch was the most she’d give when it came to greeting a person. Tommy came over and rubbed against his leg, though, showing some love, for which he was rewarded with a quick petting on his back.
Hearing the TV upstairs, Daniel headed poured two glasses of water and headed up there, where he found Serafina following along to Yoga X from P90X. Although there was a bit of shouting, which was strange for a yoga session, overall it was a great workout, and his wife was showing the strain of perfectly maintaining the ‘Chair’ pose while he watched.
Not wanting to interrupt her workout, he set the glass of water on the coffee table and headed back downstairs where he took a long hot shower. When he finished, he reached in the medicine cabinet for the ibuprofen. The bottle had two left, which he tossed down his throat before depositing the empty bottle in the trash. Of course, after 20+ years in the Navy, he’d developed quite a tolerance for ibuprofen, so he knew he needed more. Holding out hope, he turned and looked into the bathroom storage cabinet for more, where he found two massive bottles of the painkiller. ‘Nice!’ Serafina must have made a trip to Costco during the week. He pulled one of the bottles from the package, poured two more into his hand and tossed them down his throat as well. Placing the new bottle in the medicine cabinet, he heard Serafina coming down the stairs.
“Thank you for getting more ibuprofen, sweetheart!” He called out.
“Of course!” Serafina entered the master bedroom, dripping in sweat. Even in that state, she was beautiful. Her dark hair was pulled up into a ponytail, accenting the lines of her face. Her athletic body, with curves in all the right places, glistened with sweat. Daniel stared at her openly, admiring her beauty. “Move, dork.” She said, pushing past him on her way to the shower. He stepped aside, but turned and smacked her butt, then slid out of reach before she could retaliate.
“I’ll make coffee!”
Serafina shook her head, eyeing him, before turning and heading into the bathroom.
Daniel threw on a t-shirt and shorts before heading to the kitchen, where he turned on the Nespresso machine. Plugging the milk dispenser in, he grabbed two cups before leaning against the counter while it heated. Their third cat, Cole (short for Colossus, who was aptly named because at 16 pounds, he was pretty big for an American Shorthair cat), came over and rubbed against his leg. Daniel reached down and rubbed the cat’s head. With the machine not quite heated yet, he decided to reward the sweetness the cats had shown and grabbed a bag of treats from the cabinet. All three cats gathered around in anticipation. As always, the cats were required to stand on their hind legs and use their mouths to eat from the hand of the person providing treats. The three of them did so dutifully, each getting five treats before Daniel returned the bag to the cabinet.
Adding a pod to the Nespresso machine and aligning the outlet of the milk dispenser, he made Serafina’s coffee first before repeating the process for his own. Once done, he sipped his coffee as he took hers to the bedroom, where she was brushing her hair in front of the vanity.
“Here you go, sweetie.”
“Thank you, honey.”
>
He leaned over and kissed her head. “I’ll get breakfast started.”
“I got it. Just relax. Your knee OK? I saw the empty bottle in the trash.”
“Ahh, just the usual.”
“Relax and ice it, I’ll take care of breakfast.”
“You sure?”
“Totally. Chilaquiles OK?”
Daniel grinned at her. “Don’t mess with me, woman. You know I love your Chilaquiles.”
She smiled as she finished brushing her hair. She reached for a hair clip. “K. Give me a minute.”
Daniel went back to the kitchen and grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and a towel from the cabinet before sitting on the couch and placing the pack on his knee. Sipping his coffee, he thought about what they’d do that day. They’d done grocery shopping the day before, so they didn’t have any errands to run. The past week had been a rough one at work, with multiple people calling out sick, so he was a bit worn out. He also knew that an extra hour or two of work on his laptop would really help him catch up on some of the things he’d been unable to do that week because of so many people having been out, but he didn’t want to suggest staying home to get work done.
Staring out the window, he noticed the morning fog had transformed into dark clouds. As he watched, rain drops began to fall, coating the ground. ‘Well, there goes that.’ He thought. As typical Southern Californians, both he and Serafina hated going out in the rain, and usually preferred to wait it out. Living in San Diego, they rarely had to wait long. Most ‘storms’ lasted less than a day or two, so their lifestyle was rarely hampered by weather.
“Shit, is it raining?” Serafina asked as she strode into the kitchen in a flowered blouse and a pair of jeans.
Surviving Rage | Book 1 Page 2
