Hour 23

by Robert Barnard

  Almost at the end of his elevator ride, Jim recalled Ross’s last words when they were asked of him.

  “God is a clown, ha-ha-ha. I’m coming to see you Toby, we’ll be together in heaven forever, Toby. I love you. God is laughing like a clown, Toby.” Jim would learn later on that Toby was Ross’s cat, whom Ross had intentionally shot to death with a pellet gun just before he was brought into police custody.

  Jim remembered Edgar Ross’s restraints on the table he was strapped to, and rubbed his own wrists where he had been restrained to a gurney just hours before.

  In front of his morbidly curious audience, Ross continued to laugh and call out for Toby, before the first of three concoctions entered his veins. The first was a sedative, which didn’t do much in the way of calming Ross. The second two were the drugs which would terminate Ross’s life. Jim remembered how Ross squirmed in agony in his confines, clenching his fists and fighting to break free as the final dosage entered his body. Though it was never proven, it was gossip around town that the executioner had deliberately altered the dosage of the poisons prior to Ross’s execution. Jim had never seen an execution before, and did not know the signs of a successful one, but it was a rumor he could believe. Ross endured a painful, horrific, and just execution; one that left Jim changed forever after.

  The elevator doors opened before Jim, leading out to the main lobby of East Violet Memorial Hospital. Jim thought of Edgar Ross, writhing on the table he was strapped to as he died. Then, he remembered the last time he saw Min, and imagined him suffering the same fate. Strapped to a cold, white table. Alone. Confused. Panicked. Dying.

  With a sour feeling in the pit of his stomach, Jim walked by the nurse’s desk in the lobby, smiling and nodding as he passed.

  “Good luck out there,” a nurse wished Jim.

  “Good luck in here,” Jim responded.

  Outside, Jim quickly spotted the old Crown Victoria that Ingram had left him. Jim inspected the trunk—shot guns, riot gear, tear grenades, the works—and then slammed the trunk shut before entering the driver’s seat of the car.

  A constant stream of staticky chatter bombarded Jim as it blasted through the cruiser’s radio. From what he could understand, problems in New York City had escalated out of control and a full-scale evacuation was beginning to commence.

  “Well Goddamn,” Jim said, listening to the excitement on the radio as he pulled away from the hospital parking lot. Barricades throughout town were being overrun by citizens alarmed by the news of New York’s evacuation. The quarantine of East Violet was failing.

  Jim was immediately caught in a traffic jam once he was out on Maple Ave. Cars were bumper to bumper, many driving on medians and sidewalks to avoid the gridlock. People were running through the streets in a frenzy. It wasn’t hard for Jim to imagine the barricades around town being toppled over, if Ingram was correct in his suggestion that many officers had already fled their post.

  Just then, Ingram’s familiar voice came over to radio, seeking Officer Whiteman specifically.

  “Go ahead, Sarge, I’m here,” Jim said into the radio.

  “There’s a riot at the Shop-and-Save on Maple. I have no boots on the ground nearby. How soon can you be there?” Ingram said.

  Jim sighed, rubbing his hand on his forehead and looking at the field of cars surrounding him. So much for being left alone to patrol. “I don’t know. Maybe ten minutes?”

  “Make it five,” Ingram ordered, before leaving the radio channel. A flurry of gossiping voices returned to the speaker in front of Jim.

  Jim hit a switch beside the vehicle’s steering wheel, and the red and blue lights atop his vehicle started to flash and blink. The cars in front of him didn’t seem to notice or mind. Jim hit a small black button that triggered a bull horn in the vehicle. Wherp-wherp, it boomed loudly. That gave him a little more movement, but not much. Frustrated, Jim pulled up onto the sidewalk, and carefully maneuvered down Maple, avoiding cussing pedestrians as he drove.

  When he arrived at the Shop-and-Save, complete bedlam had broken out. He scanned the parking lot, trying to scope out any injuries or violence in the crowd of shoppers.

  Up ahead in the parking lot was a familiar face—feminine, young—dripping in blood and looking completely, utterly shocked.

  Before he could step out of his vehicle to help her, he felt the sky open up above him. A tremble rattled through his car as an orange blaze streaked across the dreary sky. It was as majestic as it was terrifying in appearance, not unlike a falling star.

  ELEVEN

  “Let me in!” A voice hollered from the hallway.

  Bam. Bam. Bam.

  The hammering on the chemistry lab door was relentless.

  “Let me the fuck in!”

  Chloe sat cross legged in front of the door. What do I do? What do I do?

  Her chest heaved between breaths. Jared was collapsed in the corner of the room, handcuffed. Nolan was sitting at a desk and staring off into space, oblivious to the pounding on the door. Completely checked out. And Rachel Epps—some help she would be, the airhead.

  “Please, God, just let me in,” the voice beyond the door cried.

  Though her ears were ringing, Chloe realized that the masculine voice sounded familiar.

  “Find another room,” Chloe finally sputtered.

  “I can’t,” the voice replied. “They’re…they’re coming. Please open up.”

  Chloe stood up in one swift leap, and quickly surveyed the room. There was a fire extinguisher fastened to the wall by the door. She yanked it off the wall, held it defensively, then plunged the door handle in front of her downwards. With a click the door unlocked and swung open.

  Andy Kinney came tumbling into the room. As soon as he entered he spun around and slammed the door shut, locking it.

  “What the hell is your problem?” Andy asked.

  Chloe stood in the front of the room, breathing heavily, her hands holding the extinguisher with a death grip.

  “I had to be sure that you weren’t one of them,” Chloe stammered.

  Andy was equally as breathless as Chloe. “Well, I’m fucking not.”

  “How can we be so sure of that?” Chloe asked, still holding the fire extinguisher firmly.

  Andy held up his hands. “Chlo’. Come on.”

  “I’m serious, Andy. How can we be sure?”

  “They didn’t bite me, or scratch me…”

  “Who?” Chloe hollered.

  Andy gulped. “That cop who was watching us, and that farmer…they’ve got it. The farmer was wandering the cafeteria, that was the last time I saw him. We all just ran, like you. The cop is outside, though. In the hall.”

  From his desk, Nolan watched the parking lot in front of the school swell with students. Those who had driven themselves to class swarmed to their vehicles, piled in with friends, then peeled out from the junior and senior parking lots.

  Rachel noticed the commotion in the parking lot, too. She leaned towards the window and watched. Trapped in a line of cars was a familiar jet-black Camaro with bright red racing stripes. Justin Davie’s car. Justin had a crush on Rachel since junior year, and even though Rachel always turned him down, she was confident that it wouldn’t be difficult to persuade the boy into giving her a ride home.

  “You guys can hang out in the chemistry lab all day. I’m out of here,” Rachel said. She stood up and slung her backpack over her shoulder.

  “Didn’t you just hear him?” Chloe asked.

  “Yeah, the cop is in the hallway. And he’s got the virus or whatever and he’s shambling in the halls, blah blah blah.” Rachel shuffled towards the door.

  “I’m not letting you out of here.” Chloe stood defiantly in front of the chemistry lab door as Rachel approached.

  “I’ve got about thirty seconds to catch Justin Davie before he’s history. Get out of my way.”

  “No!” Chloe insisted. “You might get hurt, and we’ll risk letting someone infected in here. You saw how Alicia acted th
is morning, and she was a tiny girl. How much harder will it be to fight off a cop?”

  Rachel’s thin lips curled slightly. “Bitch, I’m not asking.”

  Chloe’s jaw dropped.

  “Just let her go,” Andy said. “I’ll watch the door.”

  “Fine. Be quick,” Chloe said. Her face was red.

  “Later days,” Rachel said, before walking nonchalantly through the classroom door that Andy held open for her.

  Once she was out, Andy again shut the door tight.

  “Someone get these off of me,” Jared said from the corner of the room. He held up his cuffed hands.

  Chloe sighed. She had nearly forgotten that the trouble maker was in the room with her.

  “Yeah, I’ll just get my handcuff key,” Chloe scoffed.

  “Yo, your dad’s a cop…you must know how to get out of these things,” Jared said.

  “You really think that?” Chloe asked. “I don’t know how. Why are you even in them to begin with?”

  “You saw how the principal was mouthing off to me, dude. I couldn’t help it. I slugged him. Emotions got the best of me.”

  “No, I don’t know,” Chloe said. “Chaplik could be a dick, but I’ve never had the urge to punch him. Maybe you’re better off keeping those on.”

  “Fuck you,” Jared said. A blob of spit flew from his lower lip as the words left his mouth.

  Nolan stood up at his desk, as if awoken from a trance. “Watch your mouth, dickhead,” he said lowly and quietly. “She saved your ass this morning.”

  “Oh, great. The baby has woken up from his nap. Hello space cadet, come in space cadet—do you copy? Earth to space cadet.” Jared clapped his hands mockingly, the cuffs jingling as he did so.

  “Knock it off, Jared,” Chloe said.

  Andy charged to the front of the room. “All of us have got to shut the fuck up and take three seconds to breathe, and figure out what to do next.”

  The room went silent.

  “My truck is parked outside. I can get us all home.” Andy pulled a tin of chewing tobacco from his jeans, opened the cap, took out a slimy wad and stuffed it deep under his lower lip. “If you’re all up for it.”

  No one answered.

  “What other choice do we have?” Nolan said.

  “The other choice is that we stay right here and wait for help. I think that’s what we should do.” Chloe leaned back against the chalkboard behind her and put her hands on her hips.

  “Jesus Christ,” Jared groaned. “There’s no help coming, can’t you see that? We’ve been stuck here all morning, and the only one they sent to help us is now roaming the hallway doing his best Night of the Living Dead impression. We’re all fucked. F-U-C-K-E-D fucked. Andy’s right, we should get out of here.”

  “Thanks for the input,” Chloe said, and she crossed her arms. “Are you really on board with this, Nolan?”

  “It’s risky,” Nolan said. “But I still think that we’ve got to go.”

  “That settles it,” Andy said. He hocked a wad of spit and tobacco juice onto the floor beside him. “Let’s go. We can’t do it alone.”

  The lights in the chemistry lab flickered.

  “That’s a good sign,” Chloe mumbled.

  “Yeah, Chlo’. It’s a good sign that we get movin’ before the power goes out. Come on.” Andy walked over to the chemistry lab door.

  Chloe took a deep breath as the four students convened at the front of the room. Once everyone was together, they all looked to Andy to lead the way.

  “All right,” Andy said, and he extended his hand towards Chloe. Chloe looked at his hand, and then the extinguisher, and then back to his hand. Reluctantly, she handed the makeshift weapon over. “We’ll get over to the library, then cut through there. That’s the quickest way back to the front entrance. We ready?”

  The group nodded.

  “Let’s do it.”

  Andy was the first to peek his head from the classroom door. He looked left and then right. No sign of Officer Blankenship or Rachel Epps. The hall was eerily quiet and empty.

  After Andy stepped out, Chloe, Nolan, and Jared followed close behind him. The four students crept forward through the hallway the same way a young child would sneak downstairs after bedtime for a cookie.

  Nolan couldn’t help but try to peek through each narrow classroom door window as he passed. Some rooms were full of students, huddled together and giving the foursome a puzzled look. No one stepped outside to join them. Other rooms were completely empty.

  Once they reached the end of the science hallway, Andy tiptoed forward and turned right to get a glance of the hall that led to the library. Nothing but rows of lockers on either side, and flickering fluorescent light bulbs above illuminating the way.

  “We’re clear,” Andy whispered.

  Drip. Drip. Drip.

  “Do you hear that?” Nolan asked.

  “Hear what?” Chloe said. She tugged Andy’s shirt to keep him from going any further.

  “Guys, let’s go, we’re almost there,” Andy said impatiently.

  “Sh,” Nolan said.

  Drip. Drip. Drip.

  Nolan said, “It’s coming from the stairwell behind us.”

  “Well,” Andy said, his hands on his waist. “Luckily we don’t need to take the stairs.”

  “Someone might be hurt. Shouldn’t we check it out?” Nolan asked.

  Andy grabbed Nolan by the shoulders and shook him. “Someone probably is hurt, Nolan. We’re not the rescue party. We’re the get-the-hell-out-of-here-alive party.” Andy snapped his fingers. “Let’s. Go.”

  Chloe split Nolan and Andy apart. “God, Andy. He’s just trying to look out for all of us.”

  Jared, who stood closest to the stairwell doors, inched closer to them. “I’ll take a look.”

  “No!” Chloe said, but Jared had already leaned against the stairwell door enough to open it.

  Jared looked down at a pool of blood mysteriously growing at the base of the stairs.

  Drip. Drip.

  Slowly, Jared turned his head upwards. One flight up, leaning against a railing, was Rachel Epps. She looked pretty, almost, with her short brunette hair and trendy eyeglasses that perfectly framed her face. Pinned between Rachel and the railing was a student who writhed limply and weakly as he tried to push Rachel away. Rachel was hungrily chewing on the young man’s ear and neck. Gnash, gnash, slurp. A steady trickle of blood flowed from the boy’s face, and to the railing behind him, where it accumulated and drip-dropped from the railing to the floor. Like a leaky faucet.

  “Jesus…Christ,” Jared said. The stairway reeked; it smelled like loose change. Jared covered his face both in horror and to block the sickening, metallic smell.

  Rachel snapped away from her prey, and watched Jared peer up from the floor beneath her. She let out a guttural howl, and in one swift motion she picked her victim up and tossed him over the railing.

  Whunk.

  Before Jared could react, the lifeless body that Rachel was feeding on toppled through the air and landed on him.

  “Oh, my God!” Chloe screamed.

  Nolan ran to the stairwell, hoping that he could help Jared to his feet. Racing down the steps before him was Rachel.

  “It’s too late,” Andy said, grabbing Nolan by the collar. “We gotta’ go, we gotta’ go.”

  Nolan, Chloe, and Andy sprinted down the hallway towards the entrance of the library. Jared’s screams and cries reverberated off of the walls as they ran.

  When the three reached the library, they were confronted with yelling and chaos.

  “What’s going on in here?” Chloe asked to a girl speeding by.

  “That cop is in here!”

  “Let’s run straight through,” Andy ordered. He accidentally dropped the fire extinguisher as he started to bolt.

  With no time to question his plan, Chloe and Nolan breezed behind him, and the group waded through the crowds of students. Tripping over each other, the three darted around overtu
rned desks and bookshelves until at last they were at the other end of the library.

  “So close,” Andy cheered.

  The three of them dashed forward and towards the main entrance. Nolan glanced at the empty nurse’s station where they were corralled just a few hours earlier. Up ahead were the tall glass doors to the school’s entrance; through them, Nolan could see his school bus still smoldering.

  Andy yanked a lanyard from his pocket and clicked a remote. Up ahead in the parking lot, a mint-green F150 chirped to life.

  Chloe was the first to the doors and pushed through. Breathlessly, Nolan and Andy followed.

  A flood of students came running through the doors on either side of the trio and into the parking lot below.

  “Let’s ride, before everyone else notices we have a way out of here,” Andy said.

  “Your truck is huge, shouldn’t we wait to see who else needs a lift?” Nolan asked, and the three approached the mammoth sized vehicle.

  “Oh, there he is—there’s Mr. Good Idea Nolan. Your last good idea is the reason Jared is dead, by the way.”

  Nolan swallowed and felt his eyes start to burn.

  “Who said you were invited anyway?” Andy asked.

  “What?” Chloe cried. “Nolan goes with us, or I don’t go at all.”

  “I thought you might say that,” Andy said with a scoff. “That’s the only reason I asked him along in the first place.”

  Nolan stood sheepishly behind the two.

  “You are such a douche bag,” Chloe said, grinding her teeth.

  “Just go,” Nolan mumbled.

  Andy grabbed Chloe by the elbow. “You heard him, babe. Let’s go.”

  Chloe snarled, “I’m not your babe.”

  In a lightning-fast movement, Chloe kneed her right leg forward, making direct contact with Andy’s groin. Andy let out a huff and drooped forward. A bewildered look sprawled across his face. With one hand covering his groin and the other leaning on the hood of his truck for support, he struggled for balance.

  “You fucking bitch. You just lost your way out of here—”

  Chloe threw a balled up fist forward. It landed in the center of Andy’s face. He dropped to the cement on his back and watched the sky above, his nostrils filling with blood.