Endemic Rise of the Plague (40 page)

It only took Roxy a matter of minutes to make it the gas sign. Seeing a small service station and a diner sparked a rising glee in Roxy. As she approached the diner, she frowned at the sight of the sign, Dizzy’s Café. This diner is where she was supposed to meet Mattie today.

She hustled toward the
café as the delicious aroma of breakfast, drifted by: pancakes, eggs, fried potatoes, butter and...sausage. Although she’d been a vegetarian for years, it had never stopped Roxy from appreciating the appetizing aroma of meat. Now it seemed that her cravings for meat were getting stronger than ever, like nothing else could satisfy her hunger. As the swirl of scents danced on her nose, she stopped short. There was something extraordinarily familiar about this place. A familiar smell lingered in the air, but the scent that piqued her interest wasn’t food. She inhaled again and again. She knew this smell, but she felt so hungry that she just couldn’t focus on it. Frustrated, she entered the diner hoping that the scent would still be in the air after she left.

Inside the diner, the scent
smelled even more powerful. It seemed more like a collage of acquainted smells, but she needed food, now. She felt unsteady on her feet, as though she could lose consciousness right there. She looked around the restaurant, everything seemed normal, except her.

The diner had a comfortable atmosphere and the scent of
breakfast and coffee lingered in the cool air. Antique kitchen instruments and appliances were hung from the walls and ceiling as works of art. The dated countertop and booths showed their ware from decades of visitors. Everyone seated looked like they were happy to be there. Roxy felt relieved to see regular people on a regular morning, eating breakfast at a regular restaurant. The approaching waitress greeted Roxy, looking her over carefully, and then sat her at the counter.

“Hey Maggie, is your cell getting any reception?” A man sitting with his family called out. The family of four all had cell phones out tapping away at their touchscreens, shaking their heads.

“Just a second Mr. Anderson. Can I start you out with somethin’ to drink hon?” The lanky waitress asked, sliding a menu across the counter, chewing a piece of gum. Roxy could smell that it was nicotine gum.

That wasn’t all she could smell. The woman stood too close to Roxy. An insidious urge crept over Roxy, one that she fought out of her head the moment it formed, an urge that terrified her down to her very core.

A craving.

An insatiable craving for…protein—meat specifically—surged through every cell in her exhausted body. She bit her lip and stared at the bare skin on the waitress and listened to the rhythmic throb of her heart.

Deep down Roxy knew that she had no choice but to submit to her craving for meat, before she did something that she would most certainly regret.

“I’ll take a water, and steak, rare with two eggs over easy,” Roxy said, pushing the menu back to the woman, in hopes that the waitress would distance herself from the counter.

“
Comin’ right up,” Maggie said, jotting down the order, then slapping the ticket on a circular trolley and spinning it.

Roxy looked around in an attempt to occupy her mind until her food was ready. There weren’t many people in the diner. There was a man in a booth beside the entryway sipping coffee and reading the newspaper.
The family in the corner booth, eating their breakfast and a couple on the other side of the diner finished with their breakfast—dropping cash onto the table. Roxy had the overwhelming desire to race over and eat the left over biscuit and half bacon strip left behind on one of the plates, but she maintained what little self-control she had left.

This
jittery feeling in her body was a whole new sensation. In her entire life she’d never felt this starved.
I ate two candy bars this morning and I ate last night and at Angora and at Mattie’s garage. It’s not like I haven’t eaten. It’s like I have tapeworm or something.

Roxy’s order was up in record time. The waitress couldn’t put the plate down fast enough. Roxy began
slicing into the eggs and shoveling them into her mouth. She was so hungry that she’d only chew two or three times then swallow. Devouring the food at a record pace, she moved onto the steak. She loaded the bites into her mouth so quickly that she could barely taste the meal. But in some way, that made little sense to her, she could feel it. She could literally feel her body absorbing the nutrients contained within the meal. It was as if her body became recharged by the animal protein.

The waitress stood back, looking at her with a minor level of disgust.
“Rough night?”

“You have no idea,” Roxy said with a mouthful of food.

“I figured. This here, is hang over food. You look like you’ve been through the ringer. And it looks like you lost your shoes somewhere. Normally, we don’t let shoeless folks in here, but you seem harmless and we’re not that busy this morning. You from around here?” She asked.

“Not really, I… have a cousin I’m visiting,” Roxy lied between mouthfuls. After the war zone that Port Steward became last night, she thought it best to not speak of
her hometown or why she was in Bayberry Hollow.

Roxy looked down at her b
are feet. They were filthy. Her chipped, pink, toe polish reminded her of an old chair that’s paint was deteriorating from weather damage. Dirt and grime had snuck under her toe nails, and dried sand clung to her heel and calf. Her thighs were smeared from her sweaty hands wiping against them on the way here. Her clothes were equally grimy; looking as if she’d not washed them in a week and rolled around in the parking lot a few times before coming into the diner. Taking a moment to examine her hands, she would have been repulsed by their grubbiness, had she not felt so famished.

“Really?
Who’s your cousin? I probably know ‘em. I’ve lived here, my whole life, ya know,” she said.

“It’s not important. I really did have a bad night and just want to eat. I’m just not much for conversation right now. I’m sorry,” Roxy said.

“Point taken. Ya know, we mostly just get regulars ‘round here. You aren’t the only stranger I’ve seen this morning. I’m actually surprised, with the explosion on The Witch’s Boot. I half expected to see flocks of people from Port Steward show up here. They must have gone deeper into Bayberry Hollow to have their breakfasts, near the hotels and such,” she said, as she walked over to the booth, to clear the dishes the couple had left behind.

“There was another stranger here this morning?” She asked
, chewing her steak.

Roxy positioned the chrome napkin dispenser in front of her and examined her face. It appeared much like her thighs with dirt smudges on her cheeks. Her brown hair was
n’t as tangled as she would have imagined, although it felt slightly stiff from her salt water swim last night. Her face had healed the scrapes and gashes caused during her fight with Randy. She looked at her eyes. Blue. Vibrantly blue. Just like Randy’s. Her eyes had transitioned from soft brown, changing hues several times until now, they were finally electric blue.

“Yeah, well
, actually there was four of them. Four men, they wasn’t much for conversation neither,” she said, butchering her grammar.

“Oh,” Roxy said disappointedly. She thought for a flickering moment, that it might be her family. “No girls?”

“Nah. But they did have a dog. One of them vicious Pit Bulls. Red-nose, I think they call ‘em. They had it in the back of their El Camino when they ordered. I saw it when I took out the trash. The thing damn near scared me to death,” she said softly.

Roxy nearly choked on the bite in her mouth. She wanted to tell this lady exactly how she felt about Pit Bulls and how thinking like that is what perpetuates their bad reputation. But this was no time to stand up for Pit Bull rights, “How long ago did they leave?”

“Well, right before you walked in. I packed up their food in to-go boxes. They said they needed to get back out to that dog. I was none too happy about it. That dog looked mean, probably would have scared off some customers having that thing out in the parking lot, unsupervised, not even tied up. Never did see them pull away, sure hope they’re not still parked out back,” she chuckled.

Roxy fished out a crumpled up twenty from her shorts and slammed it on the counter. She took a huge gulp of the water and grabbed the rest of the steak with her bare hand and dashed for the door.

“Thanks! Keep the change. Oh, and by the way, it’s mean people that make Pit Bulls bad Maggie.”

Roxy raced around the front of the store. The familiar scent had been a blend of Rogue and her dad. She was sure of it. Rounding the side of the building to the back, she stopped and felt as if the air had been removed from her lungs.

A blue El Camino was parked with two unknown men in the back leaning up against the cab and two more sitting with their backs to her. All were eating out of Styrofoam take out boxes. Rouge was on the ground, near the back bumper eating out of a container herself. Although she couldn’t identify the men—she knew her dog. Rogue looked up at Roxy and began to whine with excitement, before dashing toward her human. The men in the car turned her way, and she could see that her father and Dave were in the back.

“Oh my god!”
Joe exclaimed, leaping out of the car.

Roxy could barely catch her breath. She
knelt down and stroked Rogue in long motions before running toward the men. Joe wrapped his arms around her as she approached. Without warning, tears rained down her cheeks. Feeling buried by a mountain of emotion, she couldn’t find her voice.

As she felt her father’s warm embrace, she thought she could supernova with happiness. Feeling a resurgence of power as if she were recharging by the strength of her father’s sturdy arms, she smiled
—really smiled—for the first time in what seemed like a long time. Last night she had lost all hope, but now her hope soared. The last few days felt like an eternity and after it all, she was reunited with her family at last. As Joe finally released his hold, her panic and tension of the last few days began to melt away at the realization that they made it out.

Her eyes met Dave’s. A chill crept up her core, a rising energy. It was glee. It seemed as if Dave could hold back no longer. He moved toward her swiftly, pulling her into a protective squeeze. She closed her eyes and nuzzled her head against Dave’s chest and bicep. His muscular build didn’t feel as hard as it appeared. Instead, it felt soft and comforting. Feeling
deeply connected to him, she did not want the hug to ever end. He gently pulled back from the embrace, locking eyes with her. Roxy felt as if they were the only two people in existence at that moment. His thoughtful, brown eyes looked as if they could see deep within her soul. Studying his flawless face, she wanted so much to kiss him. He wanted it too. He leaned in, his forehead back and lips forward to meet hers. Her lips parted slightly, puckering as he drew nearer. As he nearly connected to hers, she turned her head, pecking him on the cheek.

Randy’s words weighed heavily on her mind about her ability to spread the infection. While she
couldn’t be sure if he was right or not, she couldn’t take the chance. She adored Dave, and wouldn’t put him in harm’s way at her hand. She would have to know for certain before she would do anything that could be a danger to his well-being.

Dave turned his head to Roxy and gave her a closed mouth grin. His expression revealed slight disappointment. Roxy shared an apologetic smirk and looked at her father as if to tell Dave, that he was the reason she did not kiss him. He understood, offering a small nod.
I’m going to have to tell him what Randy told me, but not now. I need to get more answers from Mara.

The other men made their way over, with smiles on their faces as though they’d known her for years.

“Hi there, I’m Shotgun and this is Hank,” the sturdy-looking man with a blonde, buzz cut said. He approached with a limp, while pointing to an older man at his side.

“How?
How can you be alive?” Joe gasped.

“I take it, you are the infamous Roxy?” Hank asked, extending his hand. “You are all I’ve been hearing about for the last few days.”

She smiled at Hank, shaking his hand and looking around the vehicle, “That’s me. It’s a long story Dad. Where’s Kate? And Mara?” She said looking to Joe, then Dave.

Her smile began to fade when she saw their expressions. She felt her heart sink
.
No, not my baby sister. I should have gone to that damn carnival with them. She didn’t make it.

“Mara took her,” Dave said.

“Oh, thank God, they made it. Dad, I was so worried about you guys. Are they meeting us here? What happened, how did you get separated from them?” Roxy asked, smiling with relief.

“Back at the video store, Mara took Kate…to Angora,” Dave said.

“What?” she asked, “Why?”

Joe clenched his jaw and turned away. He took a few steps before turning back to her with a look of dismay. He shook his head as if he couldn’t speak.

Roxy knew her father better than anyone else. It is a rare day that he sheds a tear. She had seen him near tears on a few select occasions, and this was one of them. There was a look that he would get on his face, just like the look he was giving right now—his brow furrowed, lips tightly sealed, nostrils flared and eyes at half-mast—that revealed the inner struggle to fight back the tears. She’d felt the same way on a few occasions, as if just one word spoken would open the flood gates.