The Rabid (3 page)

From the
Desk of Dr. Lisa James

October 17

"I just want to know how
you knew there were none of the infected people here." Sylvia eyed Jack over
the light of our fire while taking another swig of her beer.

Jack shrugged. "I know it
doesn't look like I listen to the news, but I do." He gave her a crooked smile.
She returned the gesture. I could already see the lust blossoming inside her.
"They say the Biters are scared of water."

I looked behind him to
the subtle waves crashing on the shore of a random beach we'd driven to.

"Hydrophobia is one of
the most common symptoms in rabies," I said.

"So what did you do
before this?" Sylvia ignored me. All of her attention was on him. I resisted
shaking my head.

"I was a mechanic."

Sylvia sat up straight,
pretending to be flabbergasted. I knew her too well. "A mechanic? With a face
like that?"

Jack grinned. "Yeah, I
know. People tell me that all the time. But it's another story when I'm covered
in grease and you ask me who's running for president next year or what
political party I belong to."

"Why would I ask you any
of that?" Sylvia's tone bordered on airy ignorance.

"You got that right."
Jack held out his beer and Sylvia clinked it with the neck of hers.

"What about you, Lisa?"
Jack took a drink. "You said you were a doctor, right?"

"Yes. I'm a doctor."

Even in the dim firelight
I could see Jack's eyes widen. "Is...there more to it than that?"

"Just don't ask her about
that rash on your ass. She's not that kind of doctor." Sylvia giggled.

"I take it there's an
inside joke in there." Jack took turns looking between us.

"Most everyone wants to
know about a rash they have in some inadvertent part of their body I don't want
to see whenever it's mentioned that I'm a medical professional. Where are the
kids?"

"Relax. Lexi is watching
over Rex in the SUV. they're a holler away." Sylvia brought the attention back
to her. "Maybe you can show
me
your ass."

A chuckled escaped our
companion. "Are you the ass doctor here?"

"Nope. I'm just the one
who's focused on the right things."

"Sylvia." My tone was
warning. "Please."

"Hey, you had your
chance. it's mine now."

"And...exactly what have I
stumbled into the middle of?" Jack's voice began at a normal tone, but
collected in a crescendo at the end of his sentence.

"Sylvia is a serial
dater." I glared at her, but she ignored me.

Jack raised an eyebrow
directed at her. Her face remained smug.

"Oh, yeah. See, I just
like to have sex. Sex is great and everyone involved benefits from it. it's not
my fault you didn't marry Chase when you had the chance."

"Can we please stay off
that topic?" I wasn't in the mood to discuss Rex's father.

"Okay, now I really need
to know what's going on." Jack had placed his beer in the sand to lean back on
his hands.

"No, you don't."

"Yes! He does." Sylvia
was beginning to act air-headed " a sure sign she was smitten. "See...Rex's dad,
Chase, had asked Lisa to marry him when she got pregnant."

"Sylvia."

Jack held up a hand. "No,
it's ok. I'm intrigued."

"Yes, but I'm not. I've
heard this story a thousand times. I've lived it."

"Then you can hear it one
more time!" Sylvia laughed and leaned forward to put a hand on Jack's knee.
Then, she scooted closer to him. "So, they were engaged, right? And everything
seemed okay until Lisa did this ultrasonic test or something"

"Prenatal test." If I was
going to hear the story again, I was going to hear it correctly.

"Whatever. Prenatal test.
And it turned out the baby had a seventy-five percent chance of having some
sort of defect. Which...well...you can see... Anyway, Chase up and bailed. couldn't
deal with it. I told Lisa she should try and go after him, but she's too damn
stubborn. Has too much pride."

"Yikes." Jack said the word
as if he'd been holding his breath the entire time. "Chivalry really is dead,
isn't it?"

"Not entirely, right
Jack?" Sylvia's hand lingered too long on Jack's thigh. When he didn't respond
within her time table, she pretended to lose balance and flop into his lap
laughing.

"Okay, sweetheart, I
think you've had enough." There was reluctant laughter in his voice as he sat
her back up.

"Momma, momma!"

We all turned as Alex
sauntered into the firelight.

"What is it, kiddo?"
Sylvia's voice sounded bored.

"I found this, see? What
is it?" She held out a gold object with what looked like a button on the end.
Sylvia studied it for about half a second.

"I don't know. Go back to
bed."

"Let me see." Jack held
out his hand. Alex turned and gave him her new toy. He looked it over
carefully, inspecting every angle. "Where did you get it?"

"In the glove
compartment."

"Huh...wonder why Silas put
it there. it's a straight key."

"Does it unlock a door?"

He laughed. Sylvia
announced she was getting another drink and stood to leave. "Nope. This was
used to communicate across big distances way back when. it's used for Morse
code."

"Oh, cool! I learned
about that in school. Do you know Morse code?"

"Sure do."

"Can you teach me?"

"Maybe one night I'll
show you, ok, honey?" He handed it back to her.

"Okay! Goodnight, Auntie
Lisa."

"Goodnight, sweetie."

"Goodnight, Jack."

Jack smiled. "Night,
honey."

She took a moment to
study him before running back to the SUV to sleep. Jack and I were alone. The
story Sylvia always told to male guests about my relationship with Chase was
inappropriate. Every time, I would tell her to stop, but she'd keep going. It
was almost as if she wanted men to steer clear of me. It didn't faze me too
badly, however. I had Rex to look after. There wasn't much time for dating.

"So what did you
specialize in?"

Jack's voice tore me out
of my thoughts. "Oh. When I started the program, I wasn't sure what I wanted
out of it. All I knew is that I wanted to be in medicine. I spent a semester
attending a surgeon, but it didn't quite challenge me enough. I followed a
podiatrist, but I didn't learn anything. Then there was private practice. That
was where I met Chase."

"Oh, was he a doctor,
too?"

"No, he was a patient.
he'd come in for a domestic abuse case." I paused, lost in my own thoughts.
"But it was her who'd hit him."

Jack nodded while
watching the fire.

"I actually ended up
attending at a hospital. I liked that work much better. Several new cases daily
and I had to learn a blanket of things. I was able to assess and recommend
treatments. I worked right up my delivery day."

"Wow. Tough gal."

I shrugged. "It was what
I felt I was meant to do. I'd still be at that hospital if the doctors hand't
all been infected."

"How did you get away?"
Jack asked.

I looked at him. His
attention seemed genuine. "I ran." It was a simple answer, but the truth.

He nodded again. "So, you
didn't study rashes, huh?"

"I studied dermatology
for a semester, yes, but that morphed into oncology due to so many skin cancer patients."

He paused. "That...was a
joke."

I cleared my throat. He
was decent at making humorous comments. One could hardly tell when he was
serious. He reminded me of my father.

"California and their
skin cancer..." Jack mused.

"Indeed. It was just very
easy work. No challenges. Psychology was entertaining for a bit, but it's
difficult listening to other people"s issues all day."

"Oh, so you were a
shrink?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to try and
diagnose my problems?" There was amusement in his voice, but I didn't find the
sentence funny.

"I already have."

He gave me somewhat of a
skeptical smirk. "Oh, really? Then what's wrong with me?"

"Nothing."

There was another pause.
"I don't think I've ever heard a shrink say that to anyone."

I shifted my weight to
the right. Sand was beginning to build up on the tops of my feet. "Well, I'm
not after your money, so I can tell the truth."

Jack laughed out loud.

"That wasn't a joke. It
was an assessment."

"Still funny. So... what's
my deal?"

I straightened up with a
sigh. He wasn't a very complicated person, so it wouldn't take long. "Aside
from deflecting your fear with humor, you're a very mentally healthy person
overall. You kept a stable job that you enjoyed and were able to live by
yourself without requiring companionship. But, there's something missing.
there's someone you feel the need to protect but for some reason, you won't."

Jack gave a nervous shift
of his weight. "where'd you get that?"

"When I asked you if you
had anyone to look after, there was a bit of a wistful pause."

He hummed to himself.
"Uh-huh... What about you? Do you ever assess yourself?"

"Daily."

"Oh." There was a hint of
upward lift at the end of his word. As if he'd discovered something
interesting.

"Yes. I'm very aware of
my idiosyncrasies. But I've made those personality decisions on my own. With
Rex, I have absolutely no time for fun or games. My life is dedicated to him
and that's how things are going to be for a while."

He pursed his lips, but
nodded. "I like it when someone sticks to their guns. No pun intended."

I allowed myself a thin
smile. He was quite well-timed as far as jokes went. Sylvia finally returned,
but without a drink.

"All out?" Jack stood and
brushed sand from his jeans.

"All out." Sylvia grinned
wide at him, then threaded her arm through his. "I suppose it's time for bed
now, huh?"

I could hardly hold in my
groan.

October 17

"Huh...I could have sworn I
brought a twelve pack." Sylvia and I rounded the front of the SUV where I'd set
the beer. Lisa jumped in the back after saying a quick goodnight. Although I
would have preferred to keep talking to her, I let it go. She was so damn
serious and I'd almost gotten her to laugh.

"Oh..." Sylvia came around
to my front and lowered her voice. "There are still four in there, but I
thought we could keep them to ourselves." Her smile was just far too lopsided
to be accidental. Although the sentiment was odd, I smiled.

"Ok..."

Without another word of
warning, she grabbed my hand and yanked me to the front of the car. Then we sat
in the sand and opened another bottle each. Clinking the neck of her bottle
with mine, Sylvia crossed her legs, purposely letting her knee touch mine.

"I just
had
to get
you away from her." She took a long swig of beer.

"Is there something I'm
missing here?" I set my bottle down. I wasn't in the mood for alcohol anymore.

Sylvia tossed her head
back and sighed. "Lisa is the most boring human being I know." She sent me a
glance. "I can't imagine what she was regaling you with, but it must have
sucked."

Sheesh.
She
was
Lisa's best friend? "Maybe I like boring."

Sylvia scoffed. "you're
just being nice."

"I thought you guys were
like...good friends."

A laugh escaped her. "Oh,
yeah, we are. I just like to speak my mind. I'm probably the most offensive
person you'll ever meet. Just an F-Y-I."

That one statement told
me all I needed to know about the woman.

"And in that same light,
I'll get right down to the point. Jack, let's fuck."

The sentence was so
sudden I almost laughed. On instinct, my eyes widened as she leaned toward me.
In response, I leaned away.

"Hold on, there." After
putting a protective hand out, I scooted backward in the sand. "I don't think
that's the best idea."

She cocked her head to
the left. "And why not?" Her hand slowly slid up my leg toward my crotch, but I
caught it.

"you're not my type. I'm
sorry."

In an instant, she
snatched her hand away and put it on her hip. "Oh, what? I'm not your type
"cause I'm Latina?" She said the last word with tilt of her head and a thick
accent.

"Oh, come on. don't play
that card."

"Excuse me?" She stood
up, kicking a bit of sand my direction. "I'm not playing a card, man. you're
the one who's a racist!"

"Hey, hey." I mirrored
her stance. "I enjoy a politically incorrect joke every now and then, but come
on. we're fucking adults, here. there's no need to treat this like a middle
school playground."

The sassy look remained
on Sylvia's face. Her lips were pursed tightly together as if she'd spew forth
volcanic lava if she opened her mouth.

"
Lo que sea, culo.
Chico blanco est"pido
. you'll come crawling back, because you know I'll
blow your mind." With that, she turned on her heel, put up her hand and
sashayed away like a model.

I closed my eyes and let
out a long breath. "Thank God I don't speak Spanish."

***

The crashing of
the waves lulled me to sleep, but something else woke me hours later. It was a
sort of shuffling sighing noise. I was halfway awake when a thump got my ass up.

I sat up in the
sand. The fire had died down, but I could still see. A soft white light from
the moon washed over the beach. Its reflection swayed in the waves as they
jumped onto the shore. I swallowed hard.

I heard the sigh
again. As I turned, that's when I saw it. A Biter was making its way toward the
car. The fire tossed orange shadows across its weathered face, highlighting the
foam dripping from its mouth in a surreal way.

My thoughts
shifted toward an indifferent "oh well." I'd slept out in the sand because I
could protect my new friends if one them of happened by. But also because
Sylvia was one of those women who no doubt would make sure I'd get no sleep.

I shook the rest
of my sleepy thoughts out of my head and reached for my gun. Except it wasn't
there. There was only empty sand. Panic set in. My heart began to thump against
my ribcage. As quietly as I could, I searched the beach in a few inch radiuses
around me, but found nothing. I must have left it on the seat in the SUV. Fuck.

And as I looked
back toward the Biter, my stomach fell to my knees. Silas was sitting quietly
at the fire, grinning at me.

"you're in
trouble now, ain't ya?"

I swallowed hard,
trying to blink. Only I was frozen. My muscles refused to move. There was my
old friend " just sitting there like nothing had ever happened.

"Hey!" Silas
turned and waved to the Biter. "Over here! Dude! Raw meat! Over here!" When the
thing didn't respond, he turned back and rolled his eyes. "The thing"s deaf."

Finally, I shut
my eyes. And when I opened them again, Silas was gone. But the Biter wasn't. It
was fumbling closer and closer to the vehicle. It hand't seen me yet, so I
scrambled around the front of the car and quietly opened the driver"s side
door. After a brief search of the seats and glove compartment, I realized my
gun was still missing.

Behind me,
someone stirred in their sleep. I did the first thing that came to mind and
flung myself into the backseat on top of whoever had moved. All it would take
was one sound to make that thing come closer.

Fortunately, I
hand't landed on top of Sylvia. Instead it was Lisa. As soon as she opened her
eyes, our gazes met. I probably looked pretty weird since I was scared
shitless. But her almost immediate response surprised me.

She twisted her
face into a grimace. "Oh, really? Seriously? So, you're going to rape me? If
you don't get off right now, your testicles will be in your throat."

Under any other
circumstances, her statement would have made me chuckle, but instead, I put a
finger to my lips and cocked my head toward the Biter outside. After one
glance, she shut up.

"Stay here," I
whispered as I eased up.

She nodded.

"What the fuck am
I gonna kill it with?"

"they're
sensitive to light."

I looked back at
Lisa. She was clutching the blankets to her chest. Her eyes were wide with what
I could only assume was panic.

"Kill it with
fire?" My question was more of a silly statement, but she nodded again.

I took a deep
breath and exited as swiftly as I could. The Biter had drifted off toward a
sand dune, but was still too close for comfort. None of us would sleep with it
so close. And since the car was parked in sand, it was going to take a good
shove to get it going.

I crept toward
it. When I was close to the fire, I bent down and grabbed one of the logs that
was still flaming. The Biter was facing away from me and had stopped walking.
It was just standing there growling and grumbling. I was feet away when I decided
to take a swing. Holding the log like a baseball bat, I brought it down on the Biter's
head. There was a sickening crack, but the thing didn't go down. Instead, it
turned and screeched at me. In one swift movement, it knocked the log out of my
grip. The fire fizzled out in the sand.

"Well, fuck."

The Biter took a
step toward me, reaching its arms out and gnashing its teeth. I was pretty
fucked.

"Jack!"

I turned to see
Lisa with my gun in her hand. She tossed it toward me. It sailed through the
air and I caught it, only to turn around and face the creature again.

"Bye bye,
fucker." With one squeeze of the trigger, the thing"s head exploded into a
thousand bloody bits. I had to admit it was mildly satisfying. I turned back to
the SUV to see everyone standing outside with horrified expressions. My legs
felt like gelatin, but I kept my cool as I approached them.

"Whew! we're all
safe thanks to Lisa Croft here." I tucked my gun into the seat of my jeans and
smiled at her.

Her eyebrows
knitted together. "My last name is James."

"Are you
serious?"

"He's talking
about Lara Croft, Lisa. Tomb Raider?" Sylvia rolled her eyes.

"I see."

"So...where the
hell did my gun end up?"

Lisa glanced at
Sylvia whose face remained blank. "It was in the backseat."

I studied the two
of them for a moment. "She took it, didn't she?" I gestured toward Sylvia.

"Why the hell
would I do that?" She raised her voice.

"You did, momma.
I saw you put it under you before you went to sleep." Alex stared up at her
mother.

Sylvia looked
down at her with fire in her eyes. "
Mocosa! Has olvidado qui"n soy?
Go
to bed!"

"But momma!"

Sylvia grabbed
the little girl's upper arm and dragged her back inside the car. Even though
the two were out of sight, we could still hear Sylvia berating her daughter in
Spanish.

"Lovely."

"For the record,
I never saw her take it."

I looked back at
Lisa. Her face was completely blank. I couldn't read it. "You know in some
other countries people get stoned to death for lying."

"I'm not. I'm
just a terrible truth-teller."

I let out an
amused chuckle. "haven't heard that one before."

After a moment of
silence where we stared into each other"s eyes, she said, "You saved our lives
again."

I shrugged. "I
didn't do anything I wouldn't have done otherwise."

"Well, regardless
of that...thank you."

There was a
strange electricity humming through my body. I recognized it as a kindergarten
crush-like feeling. I was into her, but there was no way she'd ever go for me.
And if I didn't say anything in the proceeding seconds, she'd probably think I
was a pervert, too.

"Don't mention
it, pal."

"Well that was
stupid. But what was stupider was making my hand into a fist and nudging her
shoulder with it like she was my bro. I even nudged too hard, because she
winced.

"Ouch."

"Shit. Sorry." I
pasted a stupid grin on my face.

Jesus Christ.
What the fuck?