One Blink From Oblivion (30 page)

              Max turns to the talker who is just starting to wake and retrieves the loose bullet he had used as a distraction just moments ago. He feeds it back into the chamber of the pistol and replaces the magazine as well. He gives the lieutenant a final look to be sure that he is mobilizing his troops and proceeds back to the spot where he had left Brooke and sent Vinny. The sound of raised voices in that direction causes him to break into a run.

***

              As Max deals with the small mob one by one, Brooke stands watching silently with mouth agape. Vinny stands watching Brooke in much the same manner. His eyes shift back and forth from the melee in the street to Brooke’s expression of concern and adoration as she looks on. For the first time he can truly see the love in her eyes and he knows that something has changed this night between she and Max. A deep seeded rage bubbles up inside of him and fights its way into his eyes, mouth and hands. His eyes grow narrow, like an angry dog he bares his teeth and his hand tightens once again on Brooke’s arm. Brooke cries out from the pain of his vice-like grip.

              “
Stop Vinny
! You’re going to break my arm!”

              Vinny is too far gone to hear Brooke’s pleads. He is consumed by a desire for something he cannot have and a hatred for the one keeping it from him.

              “I see the way you look at him. He’ll never be good enough for you. He’s a hood-rat,
a killer!
”

              “Vinny you’re scaring me. Let me go!” Brooke struggles against Vinny’s ever-tightening grip. His eyes look right through her as though he no longer sees her physical form and only the idea of her remains. He is oblivious to her words.

             
“A killer is all he has ever been and will be. Is that what you like? If a killer is what you want then a killer I’ll be!”

              Vinny’s eyes turn from dark angry slits to round yellowing orbs as he cocks his head back as though he intends to howl at the moon. However, instead of a howl, he releases an ear-shattering scream of pain, desperation, shame and anger. In that moment, his clasp on Brooke’s arm falters and she reaches into the back of her waistband and produces the knife she found in the house. With it, she slashes at Vinny’s wrist. The sting is immediate and Vinny recoils his arm for a moment before lashing it back out at Brooke in an attempt to regain his hold on her. Brooke dodges to her right and bolts toward the alley in the only direction he has left opened to her. This is the opposite direction from Max but escapees can’t be choosers.

              Vinny attempts to lunge after Brooke but is doubled over by a debilitating stomach cramp as though he has not eaten in weeks. His entire body feels as though it has been turned inside out and left raw to the elements. He simultaneously experiences an overwhelming sense of euphoria pulsating around his chest, loins and just behind the eyes. He never knew such anguish and joy could coexist and he is utterly intoxicated with the feeling. The salty sweet yin and yang of his condition makes him temporarily loose sight of his mission but the sound of Brooke’s knife clattering to the pavement followed by a small muffled yelp refocuses him on task. He stands and starts to run toward the alley but is immediately yanked backward off of his feet and landing hard on the grass. After a slow blink, he finds an inverted Max standing over him and studying him hard.  

***

After hearing the morbid bawl of a newly birthed biter, Max quickens his pace and has Vinny and Brooke in sight in time enough to see her slice his wrist and run with his backpack in tow. He charges forward and slows just a few steps away from Vinny. He needs to be sure before he acts. Sure that his best friend on this earth has truly become the monster that he fears him to be. Vinny had befriended Max at a time when everyone else treated him as a pariah. Outside of his mother, Big Mama and now Brooke, Vinny was the only other person he could truly say he loves. He loves him like a brother. He is aware of the rift that their mutual feelings for Brooke have created between them but he considers it a mere bump in the road, not an end to the journey. But, since Vinny and Brooke had picked him up yesterday, he could sense that something had changed in Vinny. Maybe it had been the infection all along.

He reaches for Vinny’s collar just as he is about to break into stride after Brooke. He grabs his shirt and yanks Vinny off of his feet allowing him to slam hard to the ground. He hopes the shock of impact will buy him the time he needs to look into Vinny’s eyes. Now Vinny lies on his back staring up at Max. Max thinks he sees a brief flash of shame cross Vinny’s face but the expression is immediately swallowed by one of anger. Vinny rises to his feet and Max does not try to stop him. Now standing face-to-face Max can see the yellow in Vinny’s eyes and wonders if it had been there all along. Maybe Max had subconsciously chosen not to notice the changes his friend was going through.

“When? How? I checked you after the jail. You weren’t bitten.”

Vinny pauses and debates whether he should answer or just rip Max’s head off.

He decides that there is no need to limit himself to just one or the other, “Yesterday morning. After the earthquake, I cut myself on that stupid hooters mug. Must have gotten infected then. It was small, not much more than a scratch. Guess that’s why it took so long.”

“I’m sorry Vinny. If I had known then maybe I could have…”

              “Please spare me your troubled-hero, black-knight bullshit. I don’t need your saving. I’m not a damsel in distress waiting on high for you to come rescue me from the evils of the world. Finally, I am the strong one and you are the weak. How about I play the hero for a change and rescue Brooke from a lifetime of regret with you?” 

              “I know you aren’t yourself Vinny and don’t mean what you’re saying but if there is anything of the Vinny that I know left inside of you then you’ll stay away from Brooke before you hurt her.”

              “There you go again, thinking you know what’s best for everybody,” Vinny’s voice cracks and returns a bit deeper and slower, more controlled, “the wonderful thing about my current condition is that I no longer have to give a shit about what you think is best because now I’m the one with the power. How ironic that all I needed to do to step out of your shadow, was step into the darkness. Now walk away, she’s mine and you no longer matter.”

              “You know that’s not happening.”

              “I was hoping you would say that!”

              Vinny aggressively steps toward Max with his hands coiled into weapons and a slight grin on his face.

              “Sorry Vin.” Is all that Max says before drawing the pistol from his waistband and firing a single shot at Vinny.

              The gun is immediately returned to his waistband and Max moves off in the direction of the alley. Behind him, Vinny lies on the ground gripping his right knee and writhing in pain. He had anticipated a fair fight, but as usual Max was once again a step ahead. He isn’t sure how or when but he makes a vow here and now to ruin Max and all that he loves.

***

                Max knows that leaving Vinny breathing may come back to haunt him but he also knows that he hasn’t the heart to put a bullet in his best friend’s head. He has done, and remains capable of doing, some horrendous things. This night has certainly proven
that
, but pulling the trigger and watching his best friend’s brain plume out of the back of his skull is not one of them. Besides, if he is too late for Big Mama then maybe Vinny can find him later and do for him what Max would never be able to do for himself, but right now Max must find Brooke.

              Max runs to the alley and checks in both directions for signs of Brooke. Something on the ground catches the moonlight and he recognizes it as one knife from the set of kitchen knives. Brooke was a smart girl. She would never drop her only weapon and not pause to retrieve it, unless… unless she was unable to. Max removes a flashlight from a deep cargo pocket and examines the alley around the knife for traces of blood. He finds none. The roll of duct tape from the backpack lies several feet away from where he found the knife. He pockets it and widens his search area.

              “
Max!
” Brooke’s voice calls from the distance.

              Max shines his light down the alley in the direction that he and Brooke had previously been traveling and catches a glimpse of two shinning yellow eyes. It’s the freeway-man, and Brooke is draped over his shoulder kicking and scratching with all she’s got. Johnny Buckets only smiles his sardonic smile and laughs as Max breaks into a sprint toward them. In a flash the freeway man is gone… along with Brooke. Max runs to the spot where they just stood and pans his light franticly looking for signs of what direction they went, he sees nothing. He holds his breath and closes his eyes to listen but hears only the distant sounds of the newly infected.

Something cold and wet nudges his right hand, which he immediately recoils like a startled snake. At his side stands the German Sheppard waiting patiently for another rub.

              Max can’t deny that he is pleased to see the animal again. He was rapidly losing all he knew. This new friend of his is not only a welcome companion but may be of great use. Max produces the kitchen knife and holds it near the dog’s nose. The animal curiously gives the knife a few sniffs before pausing to look up at Max as if to say, “now what?”

              “Go get her boy!” Max speaks feeling dubious, desperate and more than a little awkward.

              After all, that kind of thing only works in the movies, right? The dog gives the universal canine expression of confusion with a head tilt to the right.

              “Damn it!” Max yells and immediately curses himself for the boisterous outbreak that almost promises to bring the drinkers of blood.

              The dog gives a low, “whoof!” and takes another drag from the knife in Max’s hand.

              He presses his nose to the ground and with a whimper begins to vacuum up every scent-filled molecule he can locate. In mere moments, he appears to lock onto one he likes and with his head down and tail high he meanders off into the darkness. Unbelievingly, an extremely hopeful Max follows.

***

              “Let me go, you son of a bitch!” Brooke struggles against the clutch of the freeway-man’s single right hand around both of her wrists as he drags her through shadowy streets.

              “Oh hush now, such language is so unbecoming of a young lady. Your father would be so disappointed.” His bloodied smile as he speaks turns her stomach and Brooke struggles to choke back her gorge.

              “You know that Max is going to find me!” she half pleads half barks at him angrily.

              He responds again with a smile as he effortlessly drags her across grass and through foliage, “My dear, I’m positively counting on it.”

***

              Max follows the Shepherd diligently and hopes he is being led to Brooke rather than a rat, cat or tasty morsel of hungry-dog food. The animal leads on with all the determination of an Iditarod sled dog in the home stretch. His single-mindedness begins to dissolve Max’s doubt around its edges. The Shepherd moves at a slow but steady pace through the darkness.

              Max silently curses himself for allowing Brooke to be taken. “I never should have left her,” he mouths silently. If he had not selfishly sought to teach those men a lesson then he could have protected her. Once again, he was failing a woman that desperately needed him. He knows if Brooke were here right now, she would tell him that he continues to suffer from a savior complex and hit him with some psychobabble about how she and every other woman in his life are substitutes for his mother. His need to save everyone would endure until he learned to accept what happened to his mother. That being said he did not intend to stop trying to save Brooke or Big Mama, not now, not ever.

              The Shepherd approaches a low hedge in full exposure of moonlight and pauses briefly before trudging right through the middle of the thick foliage. Max pauses as well to survey the bush. A distinct shoeprint on the near side of the hedge makes his gut do a flip. This big, goofy, wonderful animal was doing exactly what he had asked of it. Despite himself, he wanted to give the dog a big hug and scratch behind the ears. That of course was not going to happen -at least not right now. Right now, he needs to formulate a plan for when he does finally catch up to Brooke and Johnny Buckets. Even an uninfected and retired Johnny Buckets was probably deadlier than Max on his best day. There’s no way Max can take him in his heightened physical state. The few bullets he has left will have to really count if he wants to survive their meeting. Otherwise, he will have failed the three people that he loves the most in a single evening. The dog pushes onward into shadows with Max tight on his heels.   

***

The freeway-man pauses in the dark recess of an atrium and watches Max and his four-legged companion. They’re a half-mile back but making slow progress in he and Brooke’s direction. His hand is clasped tightly over her mouth lest she attempt to scream and bring Max at a run before he can see his plan to fruition. His left arm is wrapped across her torso and keeping her arms pinned at her side. She writhes and kicks, trying to drive her heels into his shins but he appears oblivious to her efforts. He watches Max with such anticipation and feverish intent that all else merely fades into background noise. Eventually, he seems satisfied that Max is on the right course and again sets out into the night to continue his game of cat and mouse, only this time it’s the mouse that gives chase.