For a minute, she sat and waited, but the terror that had her in his grip was relentless. After a while, she got to her feet. With timid steps, Lucy made her way to the front where the sounds of fighting continued. She reached a corner and peered around it.
Her eyes went wide when she saw her mother sneaking up on the monster from behind with an ax raised above her head. Her face was white but set. Her hands were fragile but steady. She did not look afraid.
The strange man still had hold of Mr. Burns who kept him at arm’s length with difficulty. Sweat poured from the wounded shop owner’s forehead, his skin pale with either shock or pain. His eyes danced from his attacker to Eleanor with desperate hope, and he gritted out a sentence between clenched teeth. “Hurry, please.”
Eleanor closed the distance and brought the ax down with a solid thump. The blade bit deep into the man’s skull, the steel grating against the bone. Lucy winced, the sound like nails on a chalkboard to her. Her bottom lip was sucked deep into her mouth as she watched the spectacle. Never in her life had she seen so much blood.
The man collapsed, taking the ax with him. Mr. Burns backed away with one hand pressed to the gaping wound on his arm. Eleanor staggered to the counter where she came up with a cloth and duct tape. Neither of the two noticed Lucy watching as they covered up the wound and taped the fabric in place.
Lucy slumped to the floor, and her thoughts winged back to earlier that day. To a happy morning spent watching cartoons with Caramel in her arms while her parents argued as always. Now she wished for that. She wished they were all back home, together. Anywhere but here.
She sank down to her haunches and hugged her knees to her chest. Everything was different now, and she wished for the comfort of Caramel’s furry body. More than that, she wished for her father.
With numb despair taking hold of her mind, she rocked back and forth. “Daddy, where are you? I need you, Daddy.”
Chapter 3
A few minutes passed. Minutes during which Lucy neither heard nor registered anything. She merely closed her eyes and begged for her daddy to show up and rescue her. A pair of determined hands plucked her from the spot, though, and she opened her eyes to gaze into her mother’s face. It was not the face she wished to see, and her heart sank. “Where’s Daddy? I want Daddy.”
Eleanor’s face twisted with disapproval, and she answered in a brusque tone. “Your father isn’t here, Lucy. Now stop your bawling and behave.”
Lucy shook her head and continued to cry. A smack against her ear prompted fresh tears, and her hearing took on the sound of buzzing bees.
“I mean it, Lucy. Stop this foolishness right now. Jared needs help, and I can’t stand here all day coddling you.”
Her mother’s voice cut like a knife, but the thought that Mr. Burns was hurt caused Lucy to swallow her sobs and wipe her face. Through the thickness in her throat, she managed a mumbled, “Okay, Mommy.”
“Good. Now come with me.”
Lucy stood up on wobbly legs and followed her mother to the front of the store. The Monster Man still lay where he had fallen, but the ax was gone, and a tarp covered his body.
“Is…is he dead?” Lucy asked, thankful for the material that covered the corpse. Her eyes crept to the side of the tarp, though, where she spotted the edge of a thick pool of blood. Her stomach churned, but she dared not be sick in front of her mother, the one person who had no time for weakness.
“Yes, Lucy. The man is dead,” her mother answered. “Now, I want you to sit here in a corner, and be quiet, please. It’s imperative.”
Lucy managed a nod and sat down on the low bench her mother indicated. She wasn’t sure what imperative meant but guessed it was nothing good from her mother’s tone of voice.
Her eyes went wide when she saw Mr. Burns nursing his arm against his chest. He was pale, and the rag that covered his wound had bled through. Eleanor fussed over him as she tightened the makeshift bandage and added another layer. “You need a doctor, Jared. The wound is deep, and it won’t stop bleeding.”
“I know. The son of a…he got me good.” Jared looked down at the body then shook his head. “What in God’s name possessed him?”
“I don’t know, but now is not the time for that.” In typical fashion, Lucy’s mother took charge, her tone brooking no nonsense. “We need to get you medical attention, and we need to call the police.”
“The police…” he mumbled, a worried look overtaking his features. He pointed toward the bloody ax that lay a small distance away. “What about that? We killed him. They’ll arrest us.”
“It was self-defense, but don’t worry about that for now. I’ll handle this.” Eleanor turned away from the wounded shopkeeper and fumbled in her bag for her cell phone. She pushed a few buttons then waited for the call to patch through.
After a few seconds, she said, “Hello? Is this the police station? We’ve got a situation here. A man just attacked us, and he injured someone quite badly. We need an ambulance here right away.”
A tinny voice spoke on the other end, the words not discernible to Lucy’s ears.
Eleanor frowned as she listened. “What do you mean you can’t help us right now?”
Mr. Burns’s head popped up in surprise.
“But we need help. Jared is seriously hurt,” she protested.
The voice babbled something more.
“Yes, I tried to stop the bleeding, and no, we’re not in immediate danger anymore.”
A quick reply.
“Look, I don’t know what’s going on here, but we need the police right now.” Eleanor’s voice rose as her displeasure made itself known. “I killed a man, for God’s sake. Don’t you care about that?”
Her mouth dropped open as the dispatcher replied, the answer clearly not what she expected to hear. Before she could respond, the line died. This left her staring at her phone with an expression of total disbelief. “What in the world is going on?”
“What did they say?” Mr. Burns asked.
Eleanor glanced at Lucy who had watched the entire time with a sense of growing horror. Her earlier feeling that something was wrong, now intensified. But not wrong in the sense that she was used to, like when her parents fought, or when she got caught being naughty. No, this was much worse. This was the kind of wrong you experienced when your beloved grandmother died like hers had the previous year. Lucy could still feel the intense grief and sorrow she’d felt then. It was always there, a ball of ice knotted in her chest that never melted or went away.
Now her mother hesitated, as if unsure whether she should say more in front of her daughter. That was strange in itself because Eleanor rarely stopped to consider her words. Realizing that her mother was hesitant, Lucy sat upright and lifted her chin. “It’s okay, Mommy. I’m strong.”
Eleanor gave a curt nod, but a slight smile spoke of pride at Lucy’s actions. She turned to Jared. “The stupid woman said we had to wait here until somebody came, but it might not be for quite some time. Apparently, we are not a high priority at the moment.”
“Why’s that?” he asked.
“It seems…it seems this man is not alone.” She indicated the corpse on the floor. “There are other individuals with the same affliction. They’re attacking people wherever they go. An illness. The police are responding only to those in immediate danger.”
“What?” His face spoke of disbelief. “Like a virus?”
“I don’t know.” Eleanor dropped the phone back into her bag and paced up and down. Her blonde hair gleamed under the fluorescent lights, immaculate as ever. “She even spoke of cannibalism.”
“Well, he did take a chunk out of me, and I swear I saw him swallow it.”
“The whole thing is ridiculous. The fantasy of overwrought minds. It can’t be true.”
“What if it is? Why would she tell you something like that if it wasn’t true?”
She shook her head, lips set into a thin line. “Let’s see for ourselves, shall we?”
With those words, she strode toward
the shop front and peered through the glass. She tut-tutted in disapproval. “You really should clean these windows, Jared. They’re filthy.”
His cheeks colored, bright against the paleness that had set in after his injury. “Sorry.”
She continued to stare outward, twisting her neck to get a better view through the grime. “I see…I see people running. There appears to be someone chasing them.”
“Shit,” Jared mumbled.
Eleanor tossed him a sharp look over her shoulder. “Do not use that kind of language in front of Lucy.”
“Sorry.”
She sighed, her expression taut. “It seems there might be some truth to the dispatcher’s fantastical story. Either way, we can’t just sit here waiting for help. You need medicine, and I need to get Lucy home where she’ll be safe.”
Jared Burns nodded, his burly shoulders taking on a determined set. “Right, how about this? I’ll take the ax there, and you arm yourself with something from the shop. Together, we’ll make a run for the pharmacy across the street.”
Eleanor straightened up “What do we do there?”
“Old Cairns can fix up my arm, maybe even call the police again. After that, I’ll make sure you two get back into your car so you can get home. How’s that?”
“All right. It’s a plan, at least. Better than sitting around here doing nothing.” Eleanor turned away from the door and armed herself with a short length of steel piping. “This should do.”
She walked toward Lucy, pausing only to sling her bag across her shoulder. “Lucy, I need you to be strong now, okay?”
Lucy shook her head, frantic at the thought of going outside toward the monsters. It was safer inside. “No, Mommy. We can’t.”
“Lucy…”
Hot tears blinded Lucy and poured down her cheeks without pause. “No, no, no. I want Daddy. Call Daddy. He’ll save us.”
Eleanor paused, a helpless expression crossing her features. “Lucy, please. Your dad’s at work. You know that.”
“No, call Daddy!” Her breaths came in shortened gasps, each tighter than the other until it felt as if she were smothering. Her mother’s iron grip closed on her upper arms, and the pain cut through the haze of terror surrounding her. “Mommy, you’re hurting me.”
“Lucy, listen to me. No one is coming to save us. Not the police, not the ambulance, and most certainly not your useless father.” Lucy shook her head in denial, but Eleanor was relentless. “You will listen to me. The only way you’ll get to see your home again, is if you listen.”
“Eleanor, maybe you should wait here with her. I can go and get help,” Jared interjected.
Eleanor cast him a sharp glance over her shoulder. “No, we’re going together. Whether she likes it or not.”
“She’s just a little girl,” he protested.
“Do not tell me how to raise my daughter, Mr. Burns.” Eleanor’s voice rose several octaves, the chords cutting into the hapless Jared in much the same fashion they did to Lucy’s father. “I will not have her be a weakling like I was. Just a stupid little girl without the backbone to make the right decisions.”
Lucy quailed, shrinking back as far as she could when her mother turned toward her again. Her fierce gaze cut deep into Lucy’s soul, stripping away all resistance. “Now listen to me, Lucy. You will stand up, you will dry your tears, and you will follow me outside without complaint. Got that?”
When Lucy didn’t answer straight away, Eleanor shook her hard enough for her teeth to rattle. “Got that?”
Lucy mustered the shreds of her courage together and wrapped it around her like a cloak. In a broken whisper, she said, “Okay.”
“Good. We’ve wasted enough time on your tantrums already.” Eleanor stood up and dragged Lucy toward the exit. At the door, she paused long enough to check that Jared was behind them, then she pushed open the door. “Let’s go.”
After the quiet of the shop, the noise outside assaulted Lucy’s ears. A car alarm blared, and in the distance, shrieks rose into the air. Two people ran past. They never even looked at the stunned trio. She shrank back, but her mother wouldn’t allow her to pull away. Instead, she yanked Lucy across the street, right between two speeding cars.
Her short legs pumped to keep up with the fast pace, and a chill of fear flared through her chest when one car narrowly missed her. Her feet stumbled across the tar and onto the sidewalk. Together, they ran for the pharmacy. The doors were closed, and Lucy’s mother shook the handles with a loud cry. “Let us in!”
Lucy looked around, mouth dry. She spotted a lady running toward them at high speed. Her mouth was agape, and two rows of teeth gnashed at the air. A monster. “Mommy!”
Her mother rattled harder on the door. “Cairns, so help me God, open this damned door!”
A frightened face appeared in the window, followed by the rattle of a key undoing the lock. Lucy hardly noticed, all her attention focused on the monster lady who closed the gap at a frightening pace. She was a fearful sight with chew marks covering her arms. Almost as if giant mice had gotten hold of her.
Right before she could attack, Mr. Burns stepped up and swung his ax with a bellow of anger. The back end connected with the side of her neck. The bones crunched in symphony with the lock and keys. She collapsed to the ground as the door opened. The last thing Lucy saw of her was the dimming brown eyes that held no spark of intelligence before her mother ushered her inside.
The door swung shut behind them, cutting off the terrible sounds from outside. A worried looking Cairns locked it again before turning toward them. “Are you all right?”
Eleanor nodded. “We’re fine. At least, Lucy and I are, but Mr. Burns has been injured. Can you help him?”
“Of course. Come right this way.” Cairns led the way to the back where he rummaged for his medical supplies. Once everyone was seated, he tended to the gaping hole in Jared’s arm. Eleanor positioned herself between Lucy and Cairns, shielding her from the sight.
“Do you know what’s going on?” she asked.
Cairns shook his graying head, but his eyes told a different story. “I heard something about a virus earlier on the radio. It drives people crazy, makes them attack others. People have been advised to remain indoors until the situation is under control.”
“So it’s a virus?” Jared said.
“Seems like it,” Cairns answered. “I don’t know much more than that.”
“Where are your staff?”
“I sent them home earlier, thought it would be best.” Cairns wrapped a clean bandage around Jared’s forearm. Pink patches of Mercurochrome stained the material. “Here, drink this. The sooner you start a course of antibiotics the better.”
“Thanks.”
Eleanor slumped in her seat as she wiped a slender hand across her face. “How far has this spread?”
“It’s countrywide,” Cairns said, ignoring the gasps of horror from Jared and Eleanor.
Inside her chest, Lucy’s heart grew cold. Were the monsters everywhere now? She couldn’t think of anything worse than that. What about her home? Caramel?
Most of all, what about her dad?
Chapter 4
Outside, the sights and sounds of trouble continued. Police sirens wailed in the distance, and a truck blew its hooter before pushing through a crowd of sick people. The tiny town of Bloemhof, usually so quiet, was now a mess of riotous violence. People fled in all directions, leaving their shops wide open and unguarded. Bit by bit, the main street emptied until only a few sick souls wandered its length and a few cars remained parked where they used to be.
After Cairns patched up Mr. Burns, he tried to phone the police again. He only got through to them once to be met by a firm refusal of service. They were too busy dealing with farm and other attacks to respond to anyone not in direct physical danger. After that, he phoned his wife who reassured him all was fine, and he should stay in the pharmacy until it was safe to leave.
Mr. Burns was not so lucky. He tried to phone his wife, Sue
, but never got more than an empty ringtone. At last, he gave up and sat down in a corner to nurse his injured arm. Despite the antibiotics and painkillers, he seemed no better.
To Lucy’s eyes, he looked sick. His skin had the same gray color the monsters had, and the whites of his eyes were turning yellow. Neither her mother nor the pharmacist, Mr. Cairns appeared to notice, however, and she kept her thoughts to herself.
Instead, she watched her mother pace up and down the aisles with restless energy. Eleanor seemed agitated. Unapproachable. Yet, Lucy knew she needed to ask her mother again to contact her father. She needed to gather the courage to face her.
With her mind made up, she put aside the empty cool drink can and candy wrapper she clutched in her hands. Mr. Cairn’s had given her the items, but today it hardly mattered. She didn’t even taste the ordinarily delicious treats.
Lucy got to her feet and walked over on trembling legs to tug at Eleanor’s sleeve. “Mommy?”
Eleanor paused. “What is it, Lucy?”
“Mommy, please.” Her lips quivered as her courage deserted her.
“Please, what, Lucy? I don’t have time for this.”
“Please, phone Daddy.” Eleanor’s lips compressed, and Lucy rushed ahead to cut off her denials. “I need to know he’s okay.”
Eleanor cast a glance at the watching Cairns and Jared before nodding her assent. “Fine, I’ll call him, but after that, you need to stop pestering me.”
“Okay.” Lucy bobbed her head up and down, too grateful to care about her mother’s apparent displeasure.
Eleanor dug out her phone again and dialed the number with a shrug. “Who knows? Maybe he can be of some use for once.”
The phone rang while Lucy watched anxiously. Her mother’s one court shoe tapped an impatient rhythm on the tile floor. Tap, tap, tap. She bit her lips as the seconds passed until a spurt of blood filled her mouth.
When her mother said, “Harold? Harold, is that you?” she almost cried with relief.
A faint answer on the other side.
“Harold, do you know what’s going on? Have you seen?”
Lucy's Chance Page 2
