The apartment building looked as though it’d
been relocated to the middle of hell. It was surrounded by cement
blockades, burnt out cars, bodies in various states of decay, trash and blood.
He’d only known Sarah for about a month and a
half but their relationship had gotten serious very quickly. When shit
hit the colloquial fan, all Jac could think about was her. His mission
became clear within hours of hearing the first reports of attacks on the
news. He only had a few weapons, but he gathered what he had, loaded them
into a backpack and at the first rays of daylight he left for Sarah’s apartment.
He reached her apartment quickly, it was only
a couple miles away. He encountered one creature on the way. He
dispatched it quickly. Perhaps too quickly, he thought as he surveyed the
path he’d take to the apartment building entrance. Desperate times call
for desperate measures but Jac was suddenly uneasy with the complete lack of
care he’d taken in killing the creature. He shook his head, quietly
hoping it would shake the images out of his mind’s eye.
His heart was racing, he’d seen enough movies
to believe this would be the real challenge. The lack of creatures
encountered on his way over had him terrified that this would be the
hotbed. He was utterly shocked when he made it to her door unscathed.
He let the adrenaline from the run up wear out
of his muscles a bit before knocking on Sarah’s door. Each rap of his
knuckles on her door pushed it open a crack at a time. This spelled
trouble and the adrenaline flooded back into his system as he pushed the door
the rest of the way open.
“Sarah?”
He heard a groan from the kitchen and raised
his gun in front of him. As he rounded the corner of the kitchen door,
his heart leapt into his throat. Sarah was on the floor, pressed against
her cabinets, her eyes barely open. Her bare body was wrapped in her
geometrically patterned shower curtain.
“Sarah!” He called, “Sarah are you ok?
Talk to me please.”
“It came in while I was showering. I
killed it, it’s in the bathroom.”
Jac lifted Sarah up and carried her into the
living room. He laid her onto the couch and held her face in his hands.
“Oh Sarah. I’m so sorry, I came as fast
as I could.”
“Oh stop!” Sarah laughed, softly.
“I know you did. I’m a big girl, I can handle myself.”
Jac smiled and kissed Sarah. Overcome
with emotion, Jac pulled Sarah up and led her into the bedroom, the shower
curtain falling away in their wake.
—-
As Jac stood to put his clothes back on
Sarah rolled onto her stomach, a smile melting her face. Jac’s heart
dropped. As his eyes moved over Sarah’s body he was quickly drawn to the
gaping bite mark on her back. How could she have not noticed the bite?
“I’ll be right back” He said, his head tilted
to the side as he left the room. Once in the living room, he picked up
his gun and checked to ensure it was loaded. He tucked it into the back
of his waistband and returned to the bedroom doorway.
“Sarah?”
“Yes sweetheart?”
“The bite mark on your back. It bit
you?”
She stammered a response but his ears were
deaf to it. He’d seen her the day before and she’d been bite free.
He knew when it had happened.
“I’m sorry, Sarah. Really sorry.”
Sarah rolled onto her knees and just as her
hand stretched out in protest the shot cracked through the space between them.
A single drop of blood inched down Sarah’s forehead.
“It was just too good to be true.”
Jac pressed his back against the door frame
and slid down to the floor. He laid his head against his knees and stared
at the body slumped over the end of the bed.
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