Chapter 25- Overturned

"There's definitely a change occurring." Mr. Munn said, turning off his flashlight. he had been peering in my mother's eyes, searching for something. "It's the same symptoms we saw in your colleague Lucas, but it's advancing at a much slower rate." I pressed my finger to my lips, deep in thought. Lucas went mad in the janitor closet at work and died within minutes. "My neighbor had the same thing." I told Mr. Munn. "He'd been acting odd all day and went crazy and tried to hit me with a sledgehammer. I dodged out of the way just in time, but he collided with a truck and died on impact." Suzie looked at me in shock. I glanced over at her, giving her an understanding look, and continued. "And after that I was out to lunch with a friend when a homeless man jumped on me. He went crazy, tearing at my throat, like he wanted to kill me." Suzie interjected suddenly. "What did you do?" she asked with a mix of fear and anticipation. "Nothing. The last thing I remember is my friend jumping on my back, pulling on his neck. I think she killed him." Suzie gasped in horror, and Mr. Munn shook his head, looking at the floor. I continued. "Then my mother's neighbor attacked us, he was the most aggressive of all of them. He smashed through the wall of a wooden shed like it was nothing, and tried to grab us. He almost bit my mom." Mr. Munn looked at me. "He tried to bite her?" he asked, suddenly every interested. I nodded affirmatively. "He probably would have too, but I smacked him in the skull with a shovel. He's the reason my mother was in the hospital in the first place. When he grabbed her she crashed to the ground, hitting her head. She went into a coma and when she came out of it she was like this." Mr. Munn looked at Suzie, who was backed into the wall, as if to distance herself from this horrific story. He looked back at me. "Did these events have anything in common?" He pressed, looking into my eyes. I hesitated, unsure of how much I could trust him. "Madness." I said. "Crazy, almost automatic psychopathic behavior with no sense of remorse or conscience." I bit my lip, hesitating. "And their eyes. All their eyes were the same." Mr. Munn put his hand on my shoulder, trying to comfort me. "Their eyes looked like that, didn't they?" he asked, pointing at my mother. I barely had the strength to nod yes.

My mother was laying on the bed in Mr. Munn's guest room. The room itself was sparsely furnished, as though this were only a temporary living situation. Based on the quality of the bed and furniture I guessed it was probably rented. There was a single window looking out into the back yard. Large shade trees made the back yard seem dark, even though it was almost mid-day. I could see a German Shepard in the yard, gnawing on a tennis ball. His ears perked up and he looked toward the fence, then went back to chewing. "Mom, can you hear me?" I called out to her, rubbing her hand. No sign of recognition. What change was going on in her right now? Would she suddenly snap and attack me like the others did? Susie walked in the room holding a mug. "Hot Chocolate?" she offered, extending the cup to me. I waved it away. "Too hot." I said, looking out the window again. Susie sat on the bed and looked at me. "So..." she started with a sigh. "You really saw all those things happen?" I could tell it had been on her mind since I mentioned it earlier. I nodded, somber with the reality that my mother might suffer the same fate. "What did you do?" I thought about it. I hadn't really "done" anything except defend myself. Hitting Mr. Lawrence with that shovel was more instinctual than calculated, and all the others had either committed suicide. I assumed that Tracy had killed the homeless man in the restaurant, but with no media coverage and no one at the restaurant who remembers, I don't actually know. I looked at Suzie, who seemed to be eyeing me carefully. "Why did you help me?" I asked. She blushed a little and replied quietly "You seemed like you needed my help." She looked into my eyes. I could see how vulnerable she was, like she was almost begging me to say something, to give her some kind of sign that her sacrifice meant something. I looked at the floor for a moment and then back at her, and saw her expression fall. "I..." I paused, unsure of the words to use. "We..." She looked at me expectantly. Suddenly Mr. Munn walked in with a yellow box. It had the VL logo on it. "I need to treat you both against possible infection." He said, matter-of-factly. He lifted the lid of the box to reveal a case exactly like the one I was given days ago. Opening the silver case revealed a syringe filled with a glowing green liquid. Suzie looked at him and smiled knowingly. Realization wiped across Mr. Munn's face but before he could react, Suzie put a foot onto the bed and used it to spring into the air, launching herself high above his head. As she landed she bent her arm so her elbow landed squarely on the top of his head. His body crumpled like a lifeless rag doll and she grabbed the case. Turning, she gave me a wink "Thanks!" she said with a sneer of derision. Then she disappeared out the door.

I rushed to Mr. Munn's side, shaking him. He held his head, standing groggily and looking towards the door. "Stop her." He pointed, blood running down his forehead. I raced out of the room to the open front door. Rushing out into the street I got there just in time to see the tail lights of my jeep disappear over the hill.