"I'm going to call my mom," Caitlyn said.
"Ok, but try not to disturb Jude," she's hadquite a scare.
Caitlyn disappeared into Little Jane's bedroom, andJane's little sister Ruby appeared in the doorway of her room, rubbing her eyes,having just awoken from her nap. "What's going on?"
"Shhh," Little Jane said to Ruby.
Ruby pouted and ignored her older sister, as shefrequently did. She tugged on her mother's shirt sleeve and said, "Mommy,what's happening?"
"Nothing, dear. Everything is alright."
There was a scream from the backroom, and Little Janewatched as Ruby backed up against the breakfast bar that her mother was leaningon.
Her father dropped the phone from his hands and ran toLittle Jane's room. Little Jane followed, concerned for her friends. She wishedshe hadn't. On the floor, Jude was lying on top of Caitlyn, chewing on herfriend's arm. The shrill scream hurt her eardrums, and then her dad was there,trying to pull Jude off of Caitlyn. Caitlyn's legs kicked and scrambled, andthen she was on her feet, holding her arm out in front of her, blood drippingonto the pristine hardwood floors of the penthouse.
"Jude, calm down now," her father said. ButJude didn't calm down. She simply turned in her father's arms and lunged at himwith her teeth. They clacked in the air. Little Jane's mom ushered Little Janeand Caitlyn backwards. From down the hallway, Little Jane could hear Rubycrying.
"You guys wait down there," her mother said.
They hustled down the hallway, looking over theirshoulders. From behind them, they heard a thump, and then her father burst fromthe room, slamming the door behind him. There was more thumping as Jude triedto escape from inside the bedroom.
"Brian, what the hell is going on?" her momsaid.
"I don't know. Get the damn police on theline."
"What happened?" Little Jane asked Caitlyn.
Caitlyn looked at Little Jane, shock on her face, and shesaid, "I don't know. I was just trying to get my phone from my bag, andshe got up and attacked me." She held her arm out, and Little Jane wincedat what she saw. She could see the ring of teeth marks on her arm, even throughthe blood was pouring out of them. Caitlyn walked into the bathroom and beganrunning water over the wound.
In the background, the pounding continued. Her mother wason the phone. Ruby was crying. Her dad was screaming at her mother to get thepolice on the phone. Little Jane didn't know what to do, so she stood withCaitlyn. She looked through the medicine cabinet for the little brown bottle ofliquid that her mom always put on her wound. She found it and said, "Holdout your arm."
Caitlyn did as she was told and held out her arm. Thintrickles of blood ran from each tooth indentation. "This is going to stinga little," Little Jane said, copying the words that her mother had said toher countless times. She dumped the bottle on Caitlyn's arm, and to hersurprise, there was absolutely no reaction. No hissing. No sharp intake of air.No swearing. Nothing.
"See, that wasn't so bad," Little Jane said asthe liquid fizzed on Caitlyn's arm.
"I didn't even feel it," Caitlyn said.
Little Jane was thrown by Caitlyn's words. Every time hermom had poured the stuff on her arm, she had wanted to use those words shewasn't supposed to use. Caitlyn must be tougher than her.
"What's wrong with Jude?" Caitlyn asked.
"I don't know," Little Jane replied, wonderingthe same thing herself.
Caitlyn looked at Little Jane and said, "It's likeshe didn't even know me. One minute she was just sitting there, and the nextshe was on top of me... trying to eat me."
The horror of the words hit Little Jane at that moment."Eat me," she had said. She wasn't just attacking; she was trying to eatCaitlyn, just like the old man had done to Grace.
"I need to call my mom," Caitlyn said.
In the other room, Little Jane heard her mother crying."I can't get through. No one is answering!" she sobbed.
"Well, try again, dammit!" her father yelledfrom the hallway.
"I am trying!" her mom yelled back, thefrustration in her voice bordering on panic.
Ruby sat on the floor, snot pouring from her nose. Shedidn't know what to do. This situation was so far out of her realm ofexperience that all she could do was sit crying on the floor at her mother'sfeet and wait for someone to tell her something.
"Little Jane! Where are you?" her fatheryelled.
"Here, dad," she yelled from the bathroom. Shewalked out into the hallway so that he could see her. The sight of him standingat the door, holding it closed elevated her heart rate.
"I need you to go to the TV and turn it up. Maybethere's something on the news. Take Caitlyn with you."
She called Caitlyn out of the bathroom, and they walkedto the leather couch in the living room, where the orange light of the eveningsun spilled over them. Caitlyn found the remote and turned the TV on. Shedidn't watch a lot of TV, and when she did, it was mostly sporting events withher father, a football game from his old alma mater. She preferred to watchYouTube. She could find anything on there that she wished. On TV, they justplayed what they wanted you to see... which was often just boring TV shows andnews that made you feel like the world was ending... only it kind of was.
They sat on the couch, Little Jane looking over hershoulder every now and then to make sure everything was right. As the scenesplayed out before them on the TV, they fell into silence. It was terrible. Allover the world, the same thing was happening. Europe, Asia, Africa... you namethe place and they were experiencing the same situation.
The news said that the people were infected with somesort of virus, and that they were sick. Scientists were working on a cure.Other scientists argued that there was no cure to be found because the sickpeople were no longer people; they were dead. The one thing that everyoneagreed on was that things were getting worse. The army was being mobilized.Foreign units were being called back to America to assist,
