The World Now
The Savior1. The savior
I rolled over my bed and groaned, turning on the side of my wife Melissa. I thought about all the people who were already at work, or had the possibility to sleep in. My skin crawled at the imagination of being the only one working. I could call that my only problem these days. The sun peeked through the white lacy curtains of our neat bedroom, annoying Melissa's sleepy and puffy eyes. I tried to sit up, but my body seemed to be stuck at some point and not being able to move. Opening an eye, I found Melissa smiling at me and rubbing her eyes in the sunlight.
Melissa and I are married for six years only. We were, disgustingly said, forced to marry each other, when our eldest son Anthony was growing in her womb. We were together since college, going out, dating, loving each other and planning on our future. There were many questions about it, because Melissa was one of a kind beautiful girl, who loved the attention of men. If I haven't caught her three times cheating, I would be lying. Yet there was still that bond, that kept us coming to each other, over and over. And few months later, we discovered our first baby.
The clock read 7.30am and it was time to make breakfast and wake up the kids. Melissa was the first to enter the bathroom, which was a ritual to be honest. I got my police uniform and got dressed swiftly.
My head was on fire, God knows why. I got up in search for some painkillers in the drawer of Melissa's night stand. I took the whole box into the kitchen, poured myself some clean water into a glass and downed it all at once with the painkiller. After putting the glass into the sink, I sauntered back inside the bedroom and exchanged Melissa inside the bathroom.
Morning hygiene was not my strong side since childhood, because it was a long process for me. Cleaning teeth, shaving, brushing the knots out of my hair-nest. After I splashed some water on my face, I got that need for coffee.
I glared at my reflection, the brown irises darker even more against my red eyes. I walked over to the night stand, wiping my face with the soft towel, and tried to get some eye drops from Melissa's drawer again. She was the house's medical assistant, she was a doctor by job too.
After some hard trying, I finally got some drops into my eyes.
I walked out of the bedroom, just to see Melissa cooking at the kitchen on the very end of the hall. I smiled at the sight and the smell of freshly baked bacon with fried eggs. I entered the room on the other side, where my two little angels were sleeping. I stepped up to Anthony first. Laziness had always been a problem for him and the attempts to wake him up were much higher. I shook his shoulder very softly, just to earn some grudging and groaning. He cracked his eye opened to look at me and yawned. I changed sides and walked over to Megan, my four years old daughter. She was hugging onto her pink fluffy bunny doll, which she always carried around. The trying wasn't that hard at all. In her case a simple caress on the hair was enough. She opened her eyes slowly and with a tiny cute smile snuggled more to her bunny.
„Wakey wakey!“ I said silently and stood up straight, walking out of the door. „You both have one minute to get done with washing and dressing up. Otherwise no breakfast“ I threatened, but it was a joke. A traditional joke that the whole family understood. Anthony giggled and jumped up on his bed and left the bed messy, his blue striped sheets crooked ridiculously. Megan just sat up on the bed and rubbed on her eyes. That little angel...
Melissa was already done cooking, when I managed to enter the kitchen. She asked me to set up the table and without talking back I was already putting clean plates on the table...
Once I sat inside the police car with my fellow police partner and good friend, Will, we got a report about a burglary in the local fast food restaurant. We both laughed at the report our dear Mrs. Collins, our dispatcher lady, gave us. It was a funny thing around here to hear. Atlanta was a quiet place, especially our location and department. Nothing much happened around here, mostly some rebellious punks harassing an old lady or painting graffiti on the walls of the public toilets, but nothing much. And the robbery now in a fast food, it sounded like a joke to us.
„I bet it's the freaking Shindong kid again“ Will suggested with a deep laughter from his throat. I shrugged and chuckled out a bit more.
„Yeah, he has never enough of those little sausages“ I gestured with my fingers how small those sausages were. I spread my thumb and index finger and stretched it mightily to show how they were.
„Honestly, I wouldn't blame him...“ Will continued and leaned his elbow out of the rolled down window of the passenger side. „Crystal makes the best of them“ the timid tone he used for this sentence made me raise my eyebrows.
„You haven't talked to her yet, have you?“
„Maybe not... but Rick, how can I? She is the most amazing girl I've ever seen... And I've seen a lot, dude“ he spoke, his deep voice and accent almost made the car tremble. „It's not like you and Melissa.“
„I believe that, mate, but you have to get some guts!“ I sighed and turned left to stop at the robbed fast food.
I stopped at the parking lot in front of it and stopped the engine. Jim let out an exhale as he rolled out of the car. He held out his notepad, to write down what happened. I got out of the car and shut the door. The place looked like ...
The windows were broken and stalls were lying outside the building. Someone must have been in much adrenaline to throw the stools out the window. I looked over at Will and he just motioned his head towards the crushed place.
I peeked inside from the broken glass door, hand securely placed on the handle of my gun. I was not afraid, it was not about that, but the thief might be armed. There was no one inside, not a single soul. There was no noise at all, nothing suspicious, nothing seemed like the thief was still inside. I walked inside, carefully aiming towards the cashier counter. The cash register was closed, not robbed at all. Strange.
However in a sudden movement I heard a glass clicking inside the kitchen. I looked behind at Will, who put away his notepad and took out his gun. I nodded my head at him in agreement and pulled out my gun as well. I slowly and especially quietly walked towards the fleeing door of the kitchen. I placed my hand plat on the door and slowly pushed it open, holding my gun up, finger on the trigger. I peeked inside and the only thing I saw was a person, hovering over the cooker and reaching inside the pot, that was placed on top of it. I let out a frustrated sigh and put my gun now, walking inside and turning on the light. The person stopped at what he was doing and turned around with a shocked expression. He was having some sauce smeared all around his face and he couldn't even move.
„Shin Donghee... we meet again huh?“ Will walked inside from behind me. The person was a kid, nineteen years old chubby kid Shindong. He was reported many times for breaking in the exact same fast food and stealing food.
„Mr. Downson, I...I just-“
„Yes, I know Shindong, you were just hungry. But you know, there is a thing called money and it solves almost every problem these days“ I responded, butting in his speech. I walked over to him and took his dirty, sauce-covered hands and secured them in handcuffs. „Where are the workers?“ I asked.
„They... They ran away... Miss Kay is in the locker room with Mr. Kay“ he confessed. He was trembling and stammering. I shook my head and looked at Will, holding Shindong securely by the forearm.
„I'll check on them“ Will said without any order and walked out of the kitchen, across the restaurant, opening the locker room, where the staff had their belongings.
I was curious about this kid's mental health. It was the third time this month that he stole some food from here. He was a smart kid, at least his father used to speak about him that way. His mother is Melissa's assistant in the hospital and they are somehow good friends.
„Have you done this mess as well?“
„It wasn't me... I swear it wasn't me! The owner started yelling at me and was pretty aggressive with me, but-“
„They are OK, Rick“ Will walked out the locker room, holding Crystal Kay be his side, while her father, Mr. Dwayne Kay was on her other side.
„You can say that“ Crystal said, hissing slightly and holding on her bleeding wrist. She looked up at me with blood shot eyes and her face was all sweaty, like she just returned from the running marathon. I gave Will the what-the-hell-happened look.
„Mr. Kay, could you call the ambulance?“
„Son, I've already dialed their number around ten times... you think I would let my daughter bleed out?“ I sensed some tension and anger in his voice, which was understandable, but why didn't the ambulance came already? „I don't know where the hell they are!“
„Didn't the dispatcher say something?“
„The woman at the 911 said that they have sent out all the ambulances and they have a huge rush in the hospital and that they are lacking doctors and ambulance cars“ his anger state aggravated and the color of his face turned red.
„Please calm down, Mr. Kay, we will take care of everything“ Will said just to make the old Kay glare at him.
„Right, as always“ the level of his sarcasm in this sentence was higher than the temperature of the boiling water. Mr. Kay walked out of the messed up place and took his cellphone out, calling the ambulance, I suppose.
„What happened?“ I asked holding the forearm of Shindong, gripping on it tighter as I felt him struggle a little.
„She said she was bit“ Will spoke up and walked Crystal to the booth with the less glass pieces on the seats. He helped her sit down, but it almost felt like she will faint anytime soon.
„Bit?“ I looked at Will with confusion, Crystal gained my attention then, right after she raised and lowered her head, making it look like she was nodding.
„That one... costumer. He was a regular, coming in every Friday after work. Getting some black coffee and a toasted sandwich with extra dressing. He was a nice person, I mean... all... the time he arrived, his presence seemed to change the air into a positive optimistic aura. He always smiled and everything. Today, he was seeming somehow not himself. He was all pale, almost looking like a corpse, colorless. He looked tired and sick, when I asked him if he was feeling alright, he just said that he was feeling hot and dizzy, so brought him some cold water and made his regular order. When I came back to pour some of his coffee, he was lying on the table, face down and motionlessly. I was scared... I was so afraid“ she started to cry out of nowhere, making it even worse to understand what she was saying. „I patted his back first, trying to get some attention or any response... but he wouldn't move. He was just lying there, so I grabbed onto his shoulders and tried to seat him up. He looked bad, even worse than bad. I checked his temperature, but he was cold. Ice cold to be exact. And then it happened. He bit me“ she finished, taking a deep breath. Crystal looked very bad herself, maybe it was a post-traumatic state, but she wouldn't be so talkative. She would probably have some memory loss, but she spoke clearly. „It was scary“ she continued. „You would think a person is dead or unconscious when he won't respond to you any way, but he suddenly opened his eyes“ she swallowed hard, the fear showing in her eyes. „I will have this nightmares for the rest of my life. Those eyes, those grey, lifeless, empty eyes will haunt me in my sleep.“
Will and I exchanged looks, both dumbfounded and puzzled. What the hell was going on? I looked at Shindong, who was staring at Crystal with huge opened eyes, not even blinking just swallowing with difficulty.
„That was why the owner threw the stools, he was aiming for that guy“ Shindong added some of his own story, until Mr. Kay backed inside.
„Officers, the ambulance is on its way, I'll take Crystal to the hospital“ he spoke and looked at his pale daughter. She was Afro-American mixed with Korean origins and now she almost looked white. Will helped Crystal stand up and walked with her outside. He gave me a quick concerned look and left with the two others.
I placed Shindong on the backseats of the police car and closed the door. Starting up the car, I slowly drove off, aiming for the police station. It felt pretty strange, this young kid heard a real horror story, yet he was awaiting another horror story from his father when he gets the message about his son.
„Office Downson, may I ask something?“ Shindong spoke up from behind. I looked in the review mirror on the top of the front window and saw him looking out of the side window. „What if this happening is not an accident?“
„What do you mean, boy?“
„This might be the start of a zombie apocalypse“ he spoke up and looked up into the review mirror too.
„You play too much video games, kid“ I turned him down right away, not believing in such a fairy tales. Yet I have not had any rational explanation either. How is that possible. It already feels like it is not right, anything what was going on this morning didn't feel right. Even the news in the TV were full of some bio-hazard escape news.
Flashback
„Anthony, stop playing with the food! It's not a toy!“ Melissa rebuked Anthony when he was digging his fingers in the egg yolk, making it burst. „Jesus!“ she hissed as she took a sip of her still hot coffee. „Can this get even worse?“ she looked at me, seeking help. I shrugged my shoulders and continued eating my breakfast. The TV on the kitchen counter was switched on, playing the morning news. It was all about some celebrities and some political dysfunctions, until something caught my attention.
„The Governor has something to say to the people:“
„Shush!“ I shushed my kids and my wife, paying full attention to the TV as the cam focused on the Governor.
„There is nothing to fear, people! The whole matter is focused on the island, where the epidemic outbreak was reported. I advise everyone to continue doing their usual business and remember, that the island is isolated and anything that happens there, stays there. It doesn't concern us!“ the cam zoomed off and focused back on the reporter. „That was the Governor, ladies and gentlemen. Yet we have some information from the Saint Roy's island dispatcher: The incident is held under control, isolated from the outer world. We ask you to be always tuned and await further information about the occurs. Stay calm and don't panic, thank you! And that's all for the morning news, let's see the weather...“
I exchanged weird looks with Melissa. She stood up and hysterically started clean up the table. I stood up and rushed the kids to get their school things.
„What is that all about?“ I asked following Melissa all over the kitchen.
„I have no idea Rick... It's all messed up“ she turned around and grabbed onto her hair looking at me. I walked up to her and in instant she leaned into my embrace. Melissa works for the Saint Roy's Hospital, which works for the health organization on the Saint Roy's island.
„Please, don't go to work“ I pleaded with a whisper and leaned my head on top of hers. She silently sighed and leaned more into my chest. I heard gentle sobs and I assumed she was crying. It was obvious actually. Anthony and Megan emerged at the door way and were looking at us in great confusion yet adoring. Nevertheless they didn't understand what was going on, what I was kind of grateful for.
„Alright... Let's go kids“ Melissa pushed me away slightly and wiped under her eyes. She smiled and breathed in. She snatched her handbag and took the kids outside.
I helped her secure Megan into the baby seat, whereas she reasoned with Anthony to go to school and don't fudge. We closed the doors in union and I walked up to her for the last time. She looked down and I started slowly:
„Be careful“ she gave a me a frown and looked into my eyes.
„It's only the island, not the actual branch“ she raised her voice a little, getting the nerve. She was usually having this outburst when she was questioning my trust for her.
„I know... but be careful“ I took a hold of her shoulders and rubbed them gently before planting a kiss on her forehead. I felt her shoulders drop as the stress drained away from her. She relaxed.
„You too“ she responded and looked up at me.
„I always am...“
In the moment, we both drove away...
End of flashback
„Mr. Downson, what if this is the world end?“ Shindong spoke from behind me. I blinked my eyes fast, getting back from my memories and paying attention to the road. I ignored his comment and just drove further more. There was a huge traffic in front of us, people shoving each other and racing on another.
„What's going on?“ I mumbled as I examined the outside with my eyes. The people were rushing, like they were running from something, the cars were fully packed with suitcases and people inside. They were honking and trying to get away.
„Maybe there is a sale or something“ that kid is ridiculous!
„I doubt that“ I backed away with my car, almost crashing the behind into another car, but it slowly cleaned the way, when the driver realized that it is a police car. I drove back, trying to find another way to get across the street towards the police station. But all the streets, that crossed the way to the police station and actually led out of the city were full of traffic and hysterical people.
„Officer!“ I only heard Shindong's voice scream when a huge crush followed. My head hit the steering wheel and the front of the car sank into another car. I felt dizzy and I couldn't see straight. I heard some people scream and shout, Shindong leaving the car, and handcuffed ran towards the people in the other car. But something else I could barely see, were two people lunging at Shindong and the other person stepping out of the car. It looked like an attack... but... why were they biting off Shindong's shoulder?
I tried to sit up at least, or get out of the car... but my dizziness took over me and I fell unconscious across the two front seats, thinking about my family...
Host Cast:
Crystal Kay-herself Dwayne Kay-Omar Epps Shin Donghee-Shindong
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