The Rabid (18 page)

Claire shut her mouth and fell back against the headboard. "Ouch."

"Sorry."

"Well now what?"

I turned to look at her. "Now what
what
?"

She met my gaze. "What about now? How do you feel about me now?"

Was that a trick question? "The same..."

Hope bubbled into her eyes. "You still love me?"

"Now, wait." I sat up and put out both hands as if to ward her off. "I didn't
say that. Claire, you're an ex. We broke up for a reason."

"But I haven't ever cheated again and, even if I could, who the hell would I
get? It's the end of the world and I don't feel like befriending a zombie."

I leaned back, oddly impressed by her choice of words. "That's...there is so much
wrong with that sentence."

"Give me another chance. You won't regret it."

"This is weird. It feels like a movie. I feel like you're the expendable
character only being introduced to throw a wrench between me and Lisa."

At the mention of Lisa's name, Claire went quiet. I could tell from the gleam
in her eye that she was jealous again. Jealous of what, I had no idea. The
whole reason she'd come with me was pure weirdness.

"What if I could make you forget about her?"

I stopped for a moment. While forgetting about the heartache Lisa had caused me
sounded amazing, completely forgetting about her and what we had was a scary
thought. I wanted to answer, but I was frozen. My brain had crashed. Claire
must have known it, too, because she took that opportunity to kiss me.

And it wasn't that bad. She'd always been very soft and gentle. Her warmth
seeped into my already exhausted body. Our kiss deepened. It felt never-ending
at that point. And when she pulled away and began kissing me elsewhere, she
said my name softly. And in return, I said hers.

But she sat up and looked into my eyes with anger for some reason. Then she got
up and stormed toward the door.

"I guess you really can't forget about her, can you? you're obsessed, Jack
Reynolds!" With that, she slammed the door.

"Whatever." I sighed and went back to lying on the bed.

"Good job, bro."

"I didn't do anything. She's just upset."

Silas laughed from the chair next to me. It was a relatively good chuckle at
that.

"Don't laugh too hard or your jaw will fall off."

"This?" He touched the shiny white bone peeking through his grey skin. "This is
a fashion statement, dude. And you did do something stupid just now. You called
Claire by Lisa's name."

I squinted one eye at him. "I did
not
."

"Did too."

I thought for a moment. "Whatever. Doesn't matter. I'm used to not getting laid
at this point."

***

A bright light woke me a few hours later. My first thought was a helicopter, so
I jumped up, getting tangled in the sheets on the way to window. Stubbed my toe
on the desk. Ouch. Across the way from me, I could see the lobby of the hotel.
And the light was on.

"Shit!" I untangled myself as best I could and stumbled for the door. After
throwing it open, I listened to the night. Then I heard it. The howl of a Biter.
And it was close. So I kept to the shadows and ran straight for the lobby,
Lucky on my heels.

When I slammed through the door with gun drawn, Claire, Gregg and Raychel
stared up at me like deer in headlights. I ran straight for the opposite wall
where the electrical panel was hidden.

"What are you doing?" Claire stood from her seat at the front desk.

In one swift movement, I switched every breaker to off until the lobby went
dark. Then I turned to my companions.

"What the hell were you thinking?" I kept my voice at just above a whisper.

No one said anything, because they were stunned into silence. The howls of the
diseased were closing in. Shuffling footsteps rounded a corner.

Frantic, I looked around for something — anything — to wedge against the door
so they couldn't make it in. All I found was a broomstick, but I figured it was
enough if we were quiet.

Once the door was secure, I turned back to them and motioned them to lie low
and be quiet. Raychel clung to Gregg while Claire hid behind the front desk. A
few tense moments passed as the shuffling of near-dead feet crept closer.

A hand pressed against the glass doors. It gave a slight push, but the broom
held. Another hand appeared and pushed harder, but the door remained shut.

That must have
been enough to satisfy the Biter's curiosity because it shuffled away from the
door. I stood from my crouching position and listened. I couldn't hear the
howling anymore, but I knew they were still around.

"We have to get out of here. Where are the flashlights I gave you?" I reached
into my back pocket for mine and clicked it on. The others followed suit. "Keep
one hand over the light so they won't—"

I was interrupted by a crash from behind the front desk. Somehow, a Biter had
entered the hotel and was stumbling toward Claire.

"Let's go!" I ran over and grabbed her just as the Biter reached out. Then, we
all ran toward the entrance of the indoor pool.

"Halfway
there, another Biter came from the shadows, lunging for Raychel and Gregg. They
stupidly took off down the hallway instead of sticking with us.

"What the...? Fuck! Raychel, lock the door and hide!"

"I'm not stupid!" She yelled back at me before her and Gregg disappeared around
a corner, the Biter still at their ankles.

"Come on!" I pulled Claire into the swimming area just as more howls echoed
down the dark hallways.

I shoved her inside, then bolted the double metal doors shut. Then, using the
Allen wrench hanging from a string off the handle, locked them tight, taking
the "key" with me. An eruption of pounding caused Claire to yelp, but the doors
didn't budge. It was only a matter of time before they got bored. We just had
to wait it out. But Claire was having none of that. Before I could even react,
she'd grabbed the Allen wrench from me.

"What are you doing?"

"Let me keep it safe. You always misplaced stuff."

Was she trying to start a fight? "I do
not
." I tried to grab the wrench
from her, but she backed away.

"Yes, you do. You were always putting things down and forgetting where they
were." She inched backward toward the pool. I stopped myself, watching the dark
water lap at the sides.

Swallowing
hard, I kept my voice calm. "Claire, please give me the wrench back."

Just like a bad dream, she tripped. Damn clumsy woman. Trying to control the
damage before it was done, I leapt toward her, trying to get the wrench from
her hand. And my fingers just grazed it before it went flying into the water.

"Fuck!" I backed away from the dark sea of water. I could already feel my head
getting fuzzy and my breath short.

"I'm sorry!"

I put my hands out, backing away from the pool. "Okay... Okay... it's...it's not that
big of a deal. All you have to do is go in there and get the wrench back."

"Who, me?"

I spun around to face Claire. She was making my blood boil. The sheer stupidity
that followed her around was insane!

"Yes, you!"

"Um... I don't think so."

"You
know
I can't go in there."

She was silent, her eyes wide like a doe in the forest. I wanted to shake her.
I wanted to grab her and shake the stupid out. But I couldn't. Instead, I sighed
and looked around for another way out.

Lucky tugged at my jeans. I looked down to find him staring up at me. I wish I
could say that we had this mental connection where we could understand each
other's thoughts, but I didn't speak Raccoon.

"Not now, buddy. We have to get out of here."

I swear he made a frustrated little grunt before running off toward the
opposite side of the pool. I watched him scurry out of sight. Welp, so much for
that.

I turned back to Claire. "All right, then. I guess we wait for Raychel and
Gregg to come rescue us."

"I'm sorry, Jack." Claire's words were quiet. I tried to feel sympathy for the
situation, but she was so freaking dumb.

I forced a smile. "Still a chance to redeem yourself."

She stared at me like she had no idea what I was talking about. So I just
offered her a shrug and a sigh before heading over to sit next to the door.

The Biters had gone quiet. There was no noise outside the double doors. I
wasn't even sure how long we'd been sitting before someone spoke.

"Remember our first date?"

I looked up at the pools of light swimming on the ceiling, reflecting the
water. "Oh, you mean the date where you broke my toilet?"

To my surprise, Claire began to laugh. Her laugh had always been infectious, so
I soon found myself chuckling as well.

"I hand't meant to! I was nervous!"

"Nervous about going on a date with a mechanic?" I nudged her with my elbow.

"You're always underestimating yourself." Her tone turned serious. "You've
never learned to appreciate yourself like everyone else does."

I was quiet for a moment. Deep words like those were rare coming from her.
"Nah." I decided to joke instead.

"My mom adored you."

"Allegra liked everyone."

"Well, you especially." She tucked her knees under her while turning toward me.
"First thing she said to me when the outbreak happened was to go find you,
because you were probably my last hope at getting married."

"Snap."

"And then she got attacked." Claire went silent again, staring at a wet patch
of concrete.

"Bummer." It was all I could offer as far as sentiment went.

"As usual, mother was wrong." We looked at each other. "A guy like you doesn't
stay single forever."

Told you she was nice.

For some reason, no words came to me. Probably because Lisa wasn't one for
doling out compliments like they were candy. One here and one there was how she
did business. Being flattered was, well...flattering.

A bang on the door interrupted our moment. Claire jumped while I scrambled to
my feet.

"Jack!" The whisper was harsh, but I recognized the voice. Raychel and Gregg
were waiting for us outside the doors.

"Raychel?" I kept my voice low. "Are the Biters gone?"

"For the most part."

"We're kinda stuck in here right now. Can you maybe..." I stopped when I felt a
tug on my jeans. It was Lucky. And in his tiny little hand was another Allen
wrench. I knelt down. "Oh you beautiful little creature. I could kiss you." I
stood with the wrench in hand. "But I won't."

When we were finally outside, the non-chlorinated air smelled sweet. Raychel
and Gregg were right outside in the dark, waiting for us. I look at Raychel's
flashlight. There was blood all over it, casting an eerie red glow on the
walls.

"That's not yours, is it?" I asked, keeping my voice low.

She shook her head. "I got one of those things."

I nodded. "Good. Let's get the hell out of dodge."

The lobby was clear as well. While the lights were still off and it was dark,
we could see a little with flashlights. We were almost to the door when Claire
screamed.

We
all swung around to see a Biter reaching out to her. I tried to grab her, but
couldn't get there fast enough. The thing grabbed her by the shoulders and sunk
its teeth into her throat.

I cocked my shotgun just as it was tearing a chunk of her flesh out and shot it
square in the chest. It fell to the floor as I rushed over to Claire.

She'd fallen against the front desk and sunk down. A streak of red painted the
wood behind her, reminding me of Silas — alone and rotting in his own home.
Claire gasped for breath and clung to me. Blood gushed with every beat of her heart.
That thing had bitten right through her artery.

I pressed my hands against the wound. "Just hold on. Hold on, Claire. you'll be
okay."

She kept gasping. Blood poured through my fingers. I wasn't putting enough
pressure on the wound. Claire's grip loosened. Her head fell to one side and
life faded from her eyes. Her last breath escaped her in a long whisper.

I sat there and stared at her for a few seconds, blood still pooling beneath my
hands. I felt as though my own heart had stopped.

"Fuck!" I moved back and slammed a fist into the ground. "Fuck! Shit! Fuck!" I
felt no tears but a raw emptiness built inside my chest. I wasn't able to dwell
on it much longer, because Raychel screamed behind me. I spun around just in
time to see the diseased monster taking a big bite out of Gregg's ankle.

"Fuck you!" I pointed the gun at it, making its head explode in a cloud of
blood. Red splashed on the both of them. Raychel was sobbing while Gregg
writhed in pain.