“KYLE!” I shout. “Hang up the goddamn phone!” With that, I point behind him. He turns with the phone still on his ear. When he sees what we are all looking at, he freezes mid-sentence. I gesture with both hands to put the phone down, but Kyle is frozen with fear.
We can all hear the growling getting more frenzied. The animal, or whatever is in the bush, is getting ready to attack. I grab the knife and again yell to drop the phone. I can’t be sure of what I am seeing, because my left eye is really beginning to deteriorate into a milky fog, but the sound of that beast is unmistakable.
I’ve had enough of the subtlety and scream, “For Christ’s sake, drop the fucking phone!”
It is too late. The animal attacks. It leaps through the bushes so quickly that even if both of my eyes were functioning perfectly, I don’t think I would have seen it. Whatever it is looks to be about as big as a medium-sized house dog, but the noise it makes is completely foreign.
Time suddenly freezes. For a moment I am ten years old again, playing street hockey in Philadelphia
…
Whatever that thing is, it’s charging Kyle. He still hasn’t dropped the cell phone.
My mind flashes down that hill in Philly where the dog jumped Dave
…
I see Kyle’s face change from shock to realization.
I stand there frozen in fear as Dave is torn apart. The dog thrashes and tears into Dave’s abdome
n
…
Kyle crouches down in slow motion and puts his arm over his face.
Dave is dead. The dog is still chewing. My best friend was killed in front of me and I didn’t do anything. How could I just stand there and watch Dave die?
How could I just stand here and watch Kyle die?
I can’t, I couldn’t.
Time suddenly becomes real again.
Without thinking, I run toward Kyle. The animal has a good eight feet lead on me.
No way am I going to let this man get torn apart in front of his father and little boy.
No way
. I have one chance. If I jump head-first at the charging beast. I might be able to grab its tail and at least slow it down.
I am running as fast as I can. The animal is like a cloudy blur in front on me. I can vaguely see a tail swinging, but my eyesight makes it doubtful that I’ll be able to catch it. I have to try. With my knife in my left hand, I hurl myself head-first at the animal. We are about two feet away from Kyle when I feel something furry hit my right hand. I don’t hesitate. I ball my first as fast and hard as I can until I feel the tail in my hand. The beast doesn’t so much as yelp or growl. It keeps charging, but is slowed down with my added weight dragging behind it.
Kyle is now in a kneeling fetal position. Willie sees his opportunity and dives at Kyle, knocking him out of charging animal’s path. I blink hard to try to get a clearer image of the animal. I can’t believe this thing is dragging me behind it. I have to act fast or this thing will turn on me. I hold onto the tail and quickly lash out. The knife easily penetrates the animal’s fleshy backside. The beast merely looks back at me as if I am little more than a fly on its ass. I pull out the knife and thrust again, this time further up its back, toward its spine. The resistance the knife encounters tells me I’ve hit something important. The animal’s legs buckle and I let go of its tail. We both roll along the ground until we come to a stop.
I can still feel the knife in my hands and start to panic because I can’t see anything or get my bearings. My eyes uselessly try to focus, but everything is a milky white. I curl into a ball just as Kyle had seconds ago.
“Daddy,” I hear Fi scream. No… I don’t want her running over here.
Please
, I think.
Someone stop her from coming over here
.
I hear the animal growl. I can’t get an image of it, but it sounds close. I tuck tighter into my fetal position, trying to protect my vital parts. I hold my breath a little too long and feel myself lose consciousness.
4
I wake panicked and disoriented seconds later. My first thought is whether Fi is all right or not. I start to look around and feel someone holding my hand. Fi.
Thank God
, I think. I look up and can’t make out the details of her face. My left eye is rapidly deteriorating. I need my eye drops. As if the situation isn’t bad enough, now all I can make out are faint shapes with my left eye. My other eye is clear, but because I didn’t get the corneal graft in that eye, I am legally blind in it. I feel helpless, but muster up the strength to stand for Fi’s sake. Someone here has to protect her.
“That was incredibly brave,” Cassie says.
“And stupid,” Kyle adds with a partial smile on his face. “Thanks, man. If you hadn’t grabbed that thing’s tail, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be standing here thanking you.” He holds out his hand. It takes me a minute to realize he is trying to shake my hand. As we shake, I try to look him in the eyes. I am probably staring into his forehead.
I notice a bloodied, white towel wrapped around his arm. “Are you all right?” I ask.
“Yeah, yeah. The bastard managed to graze me with his teeth, but you slowed him down enough for my dad to pull me out of the way. Some hero I am, eh? My sixty-eight-year-old dad saved my bacon while I was curled up in a fetal position prepared to become doggy chow.”
“This isn’t about heroics,” I answer. Then I realize the terminology he’s used. “Doggy chow? You said ‘doggy chow.’”
“Yeah,” he responds. “That friggin’ thing that attacked us was a dog, but I tell ya, I’ve never seen a dog move that fast. It was like a dog on steroids.”
A dog?
I think.
Any household dog would have surely slowed down after I grabbed its tail
. Then my mind wanders to earlier in the day.
I know that was
a monkey on the train before it derailed, and I could have sworn I saw a tiger and something that resembled a bear. What the fuck is going on here
?
Then I remember something that happened before the dog attacked. I turn to Amber: “Amber, you seemed to sense the attack before it happened. How did you know that dog was going to attack?”
Amber looks at her mom. Cassie realizes that too. “Go ahead, honey,” Cassie says. “How did you know?”
“Well,” Amber starts. “I noticed that, on the train, the woman was killed, like, a second after she picked up the radio, and then I noticed that other man was attacked when he pulled out his cell phone to call for help.” She looks around, waiting for someone to connect the same dots she has.
We all just stare. She rolls her eyes and continues: “Well, it seems that anyone who tried to call for help was getting attacked.”
There is a collective intake of breath as we realize Amber is absolutely correct.
“Oh my God,” gasps Jessica, the wife of the man who was killed while on his cell phone. “Bill was killed because he was on his cell phone?” She looks around, desperately trying to get someone to tell her how ridiculous that is.
No one disagrees with Amber’s theory.
Even with my bad eye, I can see the blood drain from Willie’s face. Squinting, I also notice that he’s dropped the cell phone that was in his hand.
“Okay everyone,” I chime in, trying to prevent a panic. “We know we are dealing with some very aggressive animals that seem to have some level of intelligence.” To that, everyone looks at me. I continue before anyone can cut me off. “How else would they know what a cell phone does?” I look around and no one offers a counter theory. “I don’t know this for certain, but these animals may have come from a circus or something.”
Now I am getting some pretty strange looks. “Why do you think that?” Julie asks.
“Well, there are so many different kinds of animals. You saw it yourself in that open field. There was at least one tiger and something that I swore looked like a bear.” Susan and Cassie shake their heads in silent agreement. “I know I saw a monkey on the train right before it derailed.”
“So you think these animals were trained to be aggressive?” Kyle asks.
“I don’t think they were trained that way…” I take a long pause. “I think, and remember that I have no proof of this, that maybe some kind of virus spread through the circus animals. Maybe some form of rabies.” I’ve been thinking that for a while, and after saying it out loud, am convinced that it’s not such a bad theory after all. Judging by the looks on everyone’s faces, they all believe it’s a viable theory too.
“Oh great,” Kyle whines. “What about my arm?” He holds up his bandaged arm.
“Are you going to be all right, Daddy?” Kevin asks as he hugs his dad’s leg.
I can see Kyle take in a deep breath. “Of course I am, Kevin. As soon as we get out of this, we’ll go to the doctor and he’ll fix me right up.”
As blind as I am becoming, I can see the fear and doubt in his eyes.
That
, I think,
is the bravest thing I’ve seen so far
.
“So what’s our next move?” Cassie asks. “We can’t use cell phones to call for help, so no one probably even knows there’s anything wrong with the train yet.”
“Well, I think we should get back on the tracks and back track to the station,” I say.
“Walk back?” Jessica asks. “You want us all simply to walk back and just let these rabid animals pick us off one by one?” Jessica is slowly losing it. Given the circumstance, I can sympathize, but I don’t want anyone breaking down endangering the safety of anyone. Her son, Bill Jr., looks up at her, scared.
“I know you’re scared, Jessica,” Julie chimes in. “We’re all scared. This is a screwed up and surreal situation, but there’s no cavalry on their way in to save the day.” She looks around at the rest of the group. “We need to stick together and find a way to save ourselves and our children.” She pauses long enough to see if anyone is going to offer an alternate plan. When none is offered, she continues: “I think following the train tracks is as good a plan as any. I’ve never been out here before and I’d hate to get lost in these woods.”
“The tracks are over that way,” Willie says, pointing behind us. “I agree, and I think we should get started.”
We gather up all the bottled water we can find and set out toward the train tracks. Julie walks beside Fi and myself. “Is this the right thing to do?” she whispers.
“I have no idea,” I honestly answer. “But I do know that if we stand around here, those animals are just going to chew their way through us.” Then I add: “You’re around animals all the time. What do you think about my rabies theory?”
She thinks for a moment and then answers: “Rabies does answer some questions here, but I’ve never seen animals infected with rabies being so focused. Is it even possible for rabies to make an animal behave in such a way?” she asked. I let her think it through. “Later stages of rabies results in violent and uncontrollable movements, then mania before coma and respiratory failure.
”
She looks up at me. “Rabies can explain some of the more aggressive behavior, but as a comprehensive explanation, it leaves too many holes.”
“Do you think it could be some new form of rabies?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” she answers. “I do know that we better get help fast.” Then, nodding over to Kyle, she says, “If this is a new strain, then the clock is ticking for him.”
Ten miles outside Fort Hood, Killeen, TX
“Sir,” Wilder salutes as he approaches Col. Butsko. Butsko is very preoccupied, hardly noticing Wilder and his team.
“SIR,
”
Wilder almost yells. That seems to jump Butsko back to the here and now.
“Yes, Wilder.” Butsko salutes back. “Good job on securing and bringing in the cargo. You and your men should head to Fort Hood and get some rest.” Butsko doesn’t even wait for a response before turning his back.
“George,” Wilder says as he puts his hand on Butsko’s shoulder. “That’s it?”
“I don’t know what else you’re expecting,” Butsko says as he stares icicles into Wilder’s eyes.
“Sir,” Wilder says as he straightens his back and stands at attention. “We’ve been working together a long time now. I’ve run a lot of successful missions for you, most of them completely off the radar. All I’m asking you for is five minutes of your time.”
Butsko inhales deeply and looks around. The hallway is alive with soldiers and researchers running around. Some are dressed in the typical plain white lab coats, while others are decked out in high-tech hazmat suits. The stress is starting to show in his eyes. Butsko has just entered his sixties, but the dark circles under his eyes have him looking like he is in his late seventies. He keeps himself in great shape, though, at six-feet-two and with a solid one-hundred-and-eighty-pound frame.
Butsko has seen a lot in his career. He fought in the 1969 Tet Counteroffensive in ‘Nam and saw action in Panama, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Being in charge of a cutting edge research facility is new to him.
This facility doesn’t even exist. It doesn’t even have a name
. He was chosen to overlook the new project and to make sure it stayed on track. His medical background and spotless mission record were what led to this promotion.