Rise Once More (28 page)

He stopped dancing; his legs locked down as if the floor had opened up and entangled him. He couldn't feel his feet, nor did he care, every ounce of his being was held captive by her eyes. Those amazing eyes, bursting with electricity like violent thunderstorms compacted into marble sized spheres.

He felt his cheeks grow warm, his heart racing deep within his chest, until a single spark arced onto his lips. It was a reluctant zap at first, followed by a fully charged lightning bolt that rippled through his body. It had caught him off guard at first, once he realized that she was the one kissing him, he couldn't hold back any longer.

Every time he advanced forward, he had expected her to pull away, but Eve offered no resistance. Eve wasn't even sure why she was allowing it to happen, but something kept telling her to just let it all go. She hadn't felt this way in so many years, and no matter how much she might regret it later it had to happen.

She had to feel it, to be sixteen again, filled with butterflies, magic, and not a single care in the world. She needed to lose herself, forget everything that had happened, and just live in the moment one last time.

Chapter Thirty

A Shot in the Dark

Amy woke relatively early, walked downstairs, and noticed that Eicca was not in the kitchen. There was no coffee brewing, no breakfast being prepared, or any other signs of life in the house. This was very abnormal as Eicca seemed to never sleep.

Eicca was always awake before anyone else, had everything prepared, and took pride in being up before the roosters. Amy had wanted to contribute, but felt as if it was an intrusion on Eicca's role in the house. Something that Eicca had made very clear the second day she had been there.

This was her house, and she wouldn't allow anyone to take that role away from her. Amy noticed Jake sitting at the table, a blank look of misunderstanding on his face, as he stared at his empty plate. Jake might have been simple minded, but he knew when something wasn't right.

Amy walked up the stairs to Eiccas room, slowly pushing the door open, only to see her still in bed. She looked pale; several layers of blankets tucked up over her shoulders, and when Eve placed a hand on her forehead found her to be cold and clammy. Amy's touch didn't even wake Eicca, which further concerned her.

Amy bent down and gave Eicca a sudden shake on her shoulder. Eicca's eyes opened only partially and then closed tightly again. “What do you want?” Eicca said as she flung the covers over her head. Her voice seemed strange, lethargic, and angry. Amy began to panic and she instinctively stepped back away from Eicca.

She had seen many people change, they showed similar symptoms, but to her knowledge no one had any contact with the infected for quite some time. Was Eicca simply suffering from a cold, or had she somehow became infected? The very idea of it chilled Amy to the core.

It was much easier to accept the infected, their destiny with death, and the ability to write them off as just used-to-be-humans. Well, that is until you actually knew them, or at least before they got sick. That complicated things; something that Amy was not used to dealing with, unlike Haus and his ability to separate his emotions.

Amy began to cry, she knew in the back of her mind what she needed to do, but it didn't make it any easier on her. She thought of Jake, how soon Eicca would fully turn, and how big of a problem her condition could cause. She could wait until the last minute to kill Eicca, giving everyone a chance to say proper goodbyes, but the end would be the same.

There was also the risk that she could change prematurely, catching everyone off guard, and ultimately infect another.
I have to be strong. I have to be like Haus. Nothing is going to change her plight. I need to do this. I have to prove I have what it takes to survive. I must protect them!
Amy scanned the room, looking for a weapon of some kind, something to end Eicca's suffering.

She thought of smashing the mirror, using a shard of the broken glass to cut her throat, but that would be too noisy and scare the others. It could even cause Eicca to wake up and fight back, further risking the chance of cross-contamination.

It needed to be done quickly, with as little noise as possible, and effective. Amy remembered that Rednek had several guns in the living room; some were antiques just for show, while others were still fully functional.
A gun won't work. Too noisy.
Amy thought to herself, wondering what her next logical course of action would be.

Amy walked down the stairs as quietly as she could. Carefully placing each step gently on the old wooden steps, but being old wooden steps they creaked loudly as she walked. The rusted old nails were loose, and the boards shifted under the weight of her body.

Amy walked into the kitchen intent on retrieving a large knife next to the cutting board. That was until she laid eyes on Jake, still staring at his empty plate as if food was going to magically appear at any moment. Amy choked up, tears welled in her cheeks, and her resolve began to dissolve.

How could she explain what she was about to do to Jake. Maybe she didn't have too just yet. She could just grab the knife and walk past him, and deal with the sensitive part later. She couldn't help but wonder if Jake would resent her for it. Possibly even blame her for the whole things, as if she was responsible for the entire event. Jake couldn't possibly understand that Eicca was infected, with small invisible bugs that caused people to die; attacking people without any regard to age, relation, race, or social status.

Amy walked past Jake, acting as casual as possible, sneakily grabbing the handle and walking away. Amy had almost reached the kitchen door when she heard the innocent voice of Jake. “You makin' food Amy?”

Amy paused for a moment, clutching the knife next to her chest as if she was trying to conceal it from Jakes view. “Yes I am Jake. I just need to take care of something first. It won't take long I promise.” Amy said. Her voice was shaky, quivering with a mixture of fear, regret, and deep sorrow.

“Jake hungry.” Amy walked away just a few feet from the doorway and her eyes flooded with tears. She couldn't handle it anymore, it took too much to suppress the tears and she let them flow freely, knowing that she still had yet to do something even more difficult than lie to a mentally challenged teenager.

***

Amy clutched the knife with both hands. The long blade extending away from her, held near her midsection as she hovered over Eiccas bed. She gently pulled the covers back, just enough to expose Eiccas throat to the muggy Georgia morning air.

Eicca laid still, her forehead covered in small beads of sweat, and her skin tone was the color of plaster. Amy stared at her neck; the veins pulsed, pushing the clammy skin upward in a slow abnormal rhythm. Amy knew that the time was now, and waiting any longer might put everyone else in danger.

She readied the blade, making a slow practice motion of drawing it across Eiccas throat, next time she would push as hard as she could, moving the knife in a cutting motion, and severing the blood supply to her head. Death would be quick, relatively painless, and with any luck she would be gone before she had a chance to realize what had happened.

“
What the hell are you doing?” Haus's voice startled her as she dropped the knife onto the pillow.

“
She's infected.” Amy replied as she spun around to look at Haus standing in the doorway of the bedroom.

“
She's not infected. She ran out of her medication a week ago. Her symptoms are only going to get worse until we get her thyroid meds, and if we can't she will die.” Haus said.

“
Thyroid? It looks like she is infected to me.” Amy said.

“
Amy. The thyroid controls virtually every aspect of the body, and when it isn't working neither is the body. Eicca was born without one, she has been on easily acquired medication ever since, and I don't need to remind you that nothing is easily acquired anymore.” Haus said.

“
I'm sorry. I just thought that I could be more like...” Amy said.

“
A murderer? You were just going to kill an innocent person if I hadn't interrupted. The next time you develop homicidal tendencies, you might want to talk to me first.” Haus said. Amy's eyes turned into flood gates of emotions, the tears came out with reckless abandon, as she spoke.

“
I wanted to be more like you.” Amy thrust her hands towards her face, trying to hide the tears and ran out of the room. Haus stood next to Eiccas bed, when she opened her eyes and began mumbling, incoherent at first until she formed a complete sentence. “Did you find any meds?” Eicca asked.

“
Not yet, but we are getting close. Just hang on a little longer Eicca.” Haus said.

***

Haus and Rednek sat in front of the old Ham radio, each one anxiously waiting for the silence to break, and hopefully good news. It had taken them a while, bouncing around the air waves talking to different groups of survivors, but they had found a contact that might have the medications.

The name they were given at least sounded promising: “The Apothecary”. They knew it was just a handle, but looking for meds from a guy who chose to call himself the apothecary should yield results. Those results might be in the form of home brewed concoctions of street drugs, or they might even be legit. It was difficult to know without meeting him face to face.

The person who answered on the other side was a young female, didn't know the name of the medication off the top of her head, or whether or not they had any. It seemed that the Apothecary had an assistant. With each minute of silence passing, their hopes faded a little more, and it was looking to be just another rabbit chase on the air waves.

What seems to be the problem?
A deep tinny voice echoed over the speakers. The voice was so deep it made the speakers crackle a little bit, and sent chills down Haus's spine. It had a raspy sound to it, like it was shrouded in mystery, the very same sounding voice he had heard many times watching movie trailers at the cinema.

Everyone knew that voice, it was so familiar to movie goers that when you heard a strangers voice describe an upcoming film, you felt betrayed. Haus knew his name, Don, and that voice had been a staple for his entire life. Haus knew that Don couldn't possibly be the apothecary, but they could sure as hell pass as identical twins based on voice alone.

“We need thyroid medication.” Haus said into the microphone.

It's not that simple I am afraid. I don't just dish out medication for trade for no reason. I must see the patient.

“We can't do that.” Haus said.

What makes you so sure the patient needs thyroid medication?

“She was born that way. She has been on it since birth, and we ran out about a week ago. She can't even leave her bed at the moment. I don't think she can make it much longer, let alone travel.” Haus said.

I need to know the following: Age, Sex, Height, Weight, and last known dosage.

“28, Female, 5-11, 192 pounds, and 195 M-C-G-S according to the label.” Haus said.

How many do you need?

“Everything you got.” Haus replied.

The tinny voice chuckled a low almost sinister laugh.
Do you own a semi?
It was an odd question but then again the apothecary was an odd individual so far.

“
No. We don't have a semi.” Haus replied. He felt as if he was being mocked somehow by the distant stranger on the other side of the radio.

I could fill several trailers full of that medication alone. I don't think you have enough gold to buy everything I got on hand. So let's start out with a more reasonable request. How about one bottle of 500 pills? That should take care of her for over a year. Then we can renegotiate again at that time.

“Fair enough. How much?” Haus replied. Haus thought about the apothecary’s comment and wondered just what kind of operation the man had at his disposal. What did he take over a pharmaceutical factory or something?

One troy ounce of gold or fifty of silver. Refiners stamp must be on the bar.

Haus looked at Rednek, his eyes were wide with excitement, but then he let out a sigh. “I gots no gold Haus. Do you?” Haus looked back at him, his expression needed no clarification they were broke, and now this opportunity was starting to slip away.

“
We don't have any gold or silver. How about a trade of some kind?” Haus said.

That is truly unfortunate. Sorry we couldn't make a deal. Best of luck to you.

“Wait a minute! There has to be something we can trade with you.” Haus yelled into the microphone. The radio sat silent for a few moments until the apothecary’s voice came back on.

My heart goes out to your friend, but those are the payment terms.

“What about moonshine?” Haus said into the radio.

I'm listening. How much are we talking about here?

Rednek pushed Haus away and picked up the microphone. “Bourbon. 50 gallon oak keg. Still'd by Pop Eye'd Joe in 1983.” Rednek said slowly and with every ounce of seriousness that his large body could push out.

Haus stared at Rednek with a confused look on his face. Haus knew very little about moonshine, but he did know it was treasured by people across the nation. What Haus did not know, was Pop Eye'd Joe was a legend in the moonshining community.

His bourbons command a very high dollar on the market, known for its unique flavor and distinct kick. Even rarer considering the old timer passed away in 1984, which would make a 1983 batch one of the last the master shiner crafted.

You trying to pull my leg?
The apothecary’s voice had changed, no longer deep and hollow, it sounded faster with a hint of disbelief and excitement. Rednek stood still saying nothing, and Haus was beginning to wonder what in the hell the country-fried-freak was thinking.

Tell ya what. I need to taste it first before we have a deal. If it isn't Pop Eye's 400 pills and you're on your way. If it is what you claim it is. Then I will sweeten the deal to the tune of 10,000 pills. Do we have a deal?

“Deal.” Rednek replied. Haus grew even more confused, and wanted to know exactly what just had happened. Whatever it was that was 10,000 pills and he hoped to hell Rednek knew what he was doing when he struck the deal.

I will be in Nickajack in two days. See you there. Mindy will give you instructions on how to get there. Have a good day gentlemen.