head and asserted, “I’ve never heard of any sickness like this. Go talk to the four who are still conscious and try to find out when the whole group was first assembled. Beginning from that point, find out where they went and what they did. Ask if they came in contact with any animals or insects. They must have all been exposed at the same time for them to all get sick at the same time.”
“That makes sense. I’ll talk with them and see what I can find out.”
“Good luck, keep me posted,” Doc shouted and turned back to his car.
The conscious tourists had all moved to the same table. Three of them looked really bad. The fourth appeared to be fine. Lawrence was halfway to them when he excitedly yelled, “We have another dead one moving!”
Chapter 5
I immediately turned my gaze to where Lawrence was standing. The second to die was trying to sit up twenty feet away from him. “Lawrence, get behind me,” I hissed excitedly. “We don’t know if this one is going to be like the last one.”
Within five seconds, the sixty year old man was sitting up. He had the same lost look in his eyes that the woman had. His gaze seemed to penetrate right through me. His head cocked to the right and then to the left in a jerky, bird-like motion. Then he turned back to me and our eyes locked. Apparently, he could see me after all.
He leaned forward and pushed himself upright. His feet were solid on the ground and he was sitting on his haunches with his arms hugging his knees like I imagined a Neanderthal would do while looking quizzically at something on the ground. The only difference was there was nothing quizzical in his face. His lips retracted as he barred his teeth at me. He tilted his head slightly to the left, still in jerky fashion, and snapped his teeth together twice. Click click. He looked past me to the left and focused his gaze briefly on the ladies and then jerked his attention back to me and snarled. Other than his appearance, there was nothing human about him. Everything I was seeing and hearing screamed, “Wild animal.”
The dining room was a disaster. Chairs were knocked over and tables had been flipped by people desperately grabbing them for support as they fell. Silverware and glasses were spread across the floor. Some had broken on the hard tile, others were still intact. All had spilled their contents, leaving puddles of water and soda littered with cubes of glittering ice. Table cloths had been pulled from upright tables, leaving crumbled piles of checkered linen amongst the rest of the disarray.
Lawrence clambered over a chair while navigating the obstacle course between himself and me. I could tell from his stiff movements he was trying not to make any noise. The beast’s eyes were still locked on me with laser beam intensity. Lawrence had crossed nearly half the distance between us when he kicked a glass. The glass rolled and bounced across the floor. Its octagonal sides made a racket as it thumped across ten feet, coming to rest against a corpse. The noise drew the beast’s attention. He instantly raised himself upright as he turned to face Lawrence and then sprinted toward him, bounding over the tables and chairs in his path.
I have always heard that a man with a knife could easily cross twenty feet and cut your throat before you could draw your gun and shoot him. I had even seen demonstrations. I had no doubt it was true. Yet, I was still awed by how fast he moved. When he came up on his haunches, I had drawn my gun. When I saw him start toward Lawrence, I realized Lawrence was in trouble. The creature had crossed half the distance before I could get a shot off. By the time he had nearly reached Lawrence, I got three shots off. The first shot tore through his side just below his arm pit. There was no way it could have missed his vitals. The second shot was a complete miss. The third shot hit him
“That makes sense. I’ll talk with them and see what I can find out.”
“Good luck, keep me posted,” Doc shouted and turned back to his car.
The conscious tourists had all moved to the same table. Three of them looked really bad. The fourth appeared to be fine. Lawrence was halfway to them when he excitedly yelled, “We have another dead one moving!”
Chapter 5
I immediately turned my gaze to where Lawrence was standing. The second to die was trying to sit up twenty feet away from him. “Lawrence, get behind me,” I hissed excitedly. “We don’t know if this one is going to be like the last one.”
Within five seconds, the sixty year old man was sitting up. He had the same lost look in his eyes that the woman had. His gaze seemed to penetrate right through me. His head cocked to the right and then to the left in a jerky, bird-like motion. Then he turned back to me and our eyes locked. Apparently, he could see me after all.
He leaned forward and pushed himself upright. His feet were solid on the ground and he was sitting on his haunches with his arms hugging his knees like I imagined a Neanderthal would do while looking quizzically at something on the ground. The only difference was there was nothing quizzical in his face. His lips retracted as he barred his teeth at me. He tilted his head slightly to the left, still in jerky fashion, and snapped his teeth together twice. Click click. He looked past me to the left and focused his gaze briefly on the ladies and then jerked his attention back to me and snarled. Other than his appearance, there was nothing human about him. Everything I was seeing and hearing screamed, “Wild animal.”
The dining room was a disaster. Chairs were knocked over and tables had been flipped by people desperately grabbing them for support as they fell. Silverware and glasses were spread across the floor. Some had broken on the hard tile, others were still intact. All had spilled their contents, leaving puddles of water and soda littered with cubes of glittering ice. Table cloths had been pulled from upright tables, leaving crumbled piles of checkered linen amongst the rest of the disarray.
Lawrence clambered over a chair while navigating the obstacle course between himself and me. I could tell from his stiff movements he was trying not to make any noise. The beast’s eyes were still locked on me with laser beam intensity. Lawrence had crossed nearly half the distance between us when he kicked a glass. The glass rolled and bounced across the floor. Its octagonal sides made a racket as it thumped across ten feet, coming to rest against a corpse. The noise drew the beast’s attention. He instantly raised himself upright as he turned to face Lawrence and then sprinted toward him, bounding over the tables and chairs in his path.
I have always heard that a man with a knife could easily cross twenty feet and cut your throat before you could draw your gun and shoot him. I had even seen demonstrations. I had no doubt it was true. Yet, I was still awed by how fast he moved. When he came up on his haunches, I had drawn my gun. When I saw him start toward Lawrence, I realized Lawrence was in trouble. The creature had crossed half the distance before I could get a shot off. By the time he had nearly reached Lawrence, I got three shots off. The first shot tore through his side just below his arm pit. There was no way it could have missed his vitals. The second shot was a complete miss. The third shot hit him