The Rabid (29 page)

From the
Desk of Dr. Lisa
James
Reynolds

February 8

My
stomach was churning. I felt ill. Fog filled my brain. Everything was dark. I
couldn't escape. I supposed it was how I went. Nothingness.

But slowly, my surroundings came to me. The faint beeping of a heart monitor.
The hum of fluorescent lighting. When I opened my eyes, white replaced the
black. I could hardly move. Grogginess filled my senses.

I rolled my head to the left. Sunlight streamed through a tall window. A vase
of orange flowers sat on the bedside table. Then I noticed the shackle. It was
taught around my left wrist. I still wasn't out of the water.

I struggled a bit against it to get comfortable. That was when I woke Jack.
He'd been asleep against the bed, bent over in a chair. When he saw me, he
jumped up and gave me seven kisses.

"Jesus...I'm so glad you're okay."

"How long have I been out?"

He glanced at the leather bands. "About ten hours. They want to keep you
restrained for a few more."

I nodded. "Sounds about right."

Jack slid a hand underneath mine. "I was so scared."

I squeezed. "Everything will be okay."

The door opened to Dr. Holmes holding a clip board. When his gaze met mine, his
eyes widened in what I assumed was surprise.

"Ah, you're up."

"How are my vitals?"

Dr. Holmes chuckled. "My dear, you have no trace of the virus in you. I've
already attempted contact with what's left of the government and the CDC. I'm
hoping to receive notice of their cooperation any day now."

Excitement bubbled into my chest. "That's fantastic. Can we undo these things,
please?" I lifted my hands as far off the bed as I could. Jack and Dr. Holmes
helped me out of them.

"There is one more thing."

Jack and I both froze.

While checking his chart, the doctor scratched at his chin. "We found elevated
levels of human chorionic gonadotropin in your blood. Do what you wish with
that information. I'll leave the two of you alone to discuss it."

As soon as the door closed, Jack looked at me with concern written all over his
face. I could tell he was scared to death that something was wrong.

"What does that mean? Are you sick?" He seemed to search me all over for signs
of something.

"No."

He stopped and sat on his heels. "What's going on?"

"Jack. HCG is a hormone your body makes when it's pregnant."

He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it once again. We were
silent for a few seconds, just reveling in the hum of those lights.

"What are you talking about right now?"

"I'm pregnant."

"Holy shit."

"I'm open to discussion."

"Discussion of what, Foxtrot? If this means I'm gonna be a daddy, then I'm all
for it!"

***

A few days later when the CDC finally arrived, there were only three men left
in the entire organization. After a few talks, it was established that only
those just bitten would be given the cure as the others were too far gone.

The vaccine would be distributed as denoted by birth month. The schedule
allowed survivors to be done in just three short months, this giving enough
time for the current infected victims to die off.

Jack, Rex and Alex were the first to receive the vaccine. The others I
administered to almost every person in the town. The three months passed as if
it were days. And even though there were discussions of what we'd do once let
free, we never really settled on a definite plan. But the day those doors
opened were bliss.

May 17

Now
what do we do? No idea. The four of us are just having fun running around in
the grass for a while. The sun is shining and a light breeze is stirring. To be
honest, there's nowhere else I'd rather be. Lisa says the same.

I found a nice spot to sit. Looks like it used to be a fountain. It's empty now
and crumbling with weeds sticking out of its cracks. I can see Lisa at the
gates still. She's just ironing out a few details I guess.

She's done now. And coming toward me. God, she's beautiful. Even more so now
that we're free. She sits next to me and I give her just a little kiss. It's
little because there's more to come. We have our lives ahead of us now. And she
agrees this is a life now.

Rex and Alex are running around after each other. Rex already has grass stains
on his knees. Lisa says something about how she'll have to wash them again.

And she laughs. It's such a heart-warming sound. She laughs because she
realizes it's a ridiculous statement. It's ridiculous because now we can be
normal again.

I watch her. Her hair is moved in wisps by the wind. Her face is serious —
hands folded in her lap and watching something that doesn't really seem to be
there.

"What are you thinking?" I ask.

She looks at me with a smile. "About how amazing this all is. The grass, the
trees. I feel like I've taken nature for granted."

The kids laugh in the background.

I put my arm around Lisa as I write. "Hey. We're a family now. And ever
growing."

She touches her slightly rounded stomach. "Another baby. I honestly never
thought it would happen."

"Yeah," I say, "it's a miracle."

She looks at me with that skeptical raised eyebrow. "I don't believe in
miracles."

I laugh. "Of course you don't. You never studied religion in college."

She turns back to look at the kids. "No. I didn't."

"Light! Light!"

We turn back to watch as Rex and Alex seem to be looking at

[END
SUMMARY]

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Figure 1.1 Map of epidemic:
estimated damage 5.5 billion

Figure 2.2 Radius of incident.

Figure 3.1 Missing poster for Lisa
James

Figure 3.2 Missing poster for Jack
Reynolds