Chapter 2: Infection in McCarran International
Pulling up outside of the airport, she climbed out, her keychain wrapped around her hand to hide the fact her knuckles were turning white. She followed behind a man towards the door, keeping her distance from anyone who looked suspicious, feeling ridiculous. Pushing the door open, he stepped off to the side and smiled, letting her go in. She smiled and bowed her head as her way of silently saying thankyouas she walked by.
The airport was full, as was to be expected. People getting onto planes, people getting off, but all the same there were loved ones either joining each other once again, or leaving them. She took a seat in the front row closest to the gates her fiancée would be exiting and waited, her fingers crossed in her lap. Her eyes skimmed the crowd, hoping she didn't miss him. But there was that lingering feeling that something was going to go wrong. That feeling she had the day she resigned and took a desk job in the military.
Beside her a man sat down. He was fairly attractive with short black messy hair, probably in his early twenties. His bangs were bleached pure white, and a silver cross earring hung from his ear. He was wearing black minister robes with a high collar. But it seemed weird for a priest to have dyed his eyes shifted towards her. Feeling her face flush she looked away, wondering if he realized she was staring. In his lap was a bible, underneath it, a leather book. He continued to look at her, making her feel uneasy.
"You look nervous, child." He spoke. His voice was low and just as attractive as his physical appearance was. She nodded a bit, shifting.
"I'm sorry for staring father." Her eyes drifted to her crossed fingers in her lap.
"Don't be, you have every right to look, just as you have every right to speak and breathe." He smiled. She returned his smile and looked down at her hands which were cradled in her lap. Her skin prickled, her muscles tense as people sat on the other side of her, or in the seats in the row behind hers, or as children ran by her. Jumping when someone would cough, her head shooting up in their direction. He cleared his throat, her head snapping up to look at him. He looked at her with a curious glance and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Do you mind telling me what has got your nerves in a bundle my child?" He moved his hand down, resting it on hers, the heat calming her down a bit. She exhaled, closing her eyes. She didn't want him to judge her negatively, but it wasn't a good thing to keep inside of her. She didn't want the paranoia to make it physically impossible for her to be around people once it built up.
"I guess…I'm superstitious." She looked back down again, twiddling her thumbs a bit. "I'm afraid mainly..for what's going on in Pennsylvania, and in New Orleans."
"You mean with the flu" She looked up quickly, shocked he knew what she was talking about and nodded. She hadn't thought that word had spread around so quickly, not when everyone was seeming so calm now.
"Yes, but…how did you know?" Sighing, he leaned back, running his fingers through his poly-dyed hair.
"It…is a common fear of mine as well. Although the Lord is on my side, although he loves me, I cannot help but feel that it is his punishment for us. This infection. This…illness that is making millions suffer. I fear it will spread, I fear that the evil will consume us as well." He looked off towards the flight gates. He smiled, shaking his head, his eyes staring off across the room. "I believe that whoever is supposed to live will live. This is the lords' rapture. I feel that it is finally our time to reap what we have sown, but I cannot help but fear it. What will become of the non-believers? What will happen to those who have not found God? What will happen to those whom have not been born, their chance at life ripped from them." He looked down at his bible, gripping it until his knuckles turned white. "I guess they will be born, and grow in God's kingdom. I do not fear for myself. I know I will enter God's kingdom, but what of everyone else? That is what I fear." He trailed off.
Hearing his words left her a little unsettled, but his confidence that he will be fine, even accepting death stirred up some old feelings she had inside of her many years ago. Back when she used to attend church service's every Sunday. He looked up again as if realizing that he'd wandered off into something much more personal than she'd asked for and felt he needed to apologize for it. "Sorry, you were looking for comforting words and I probably made things worse." Shaking her head she looked off towards the flight gates as well.
"No, it helped a lot." Standing she smiled at him, swallowing a bit. She felt that same religious sense she used to, but she knew that from what he'd said, she was one of the people that he feared for. She was one of the non-believers. One of the damned. "My name is Elle, by the way." She held her hand out to him, feeling rude for not introducing herself sooner and wanting to change the subject quickly.
"And I am Father Palmer." He returned her smile, taking her hand, shaking it firmly. "May we live a healthy, long and prosperous life." She nodded. Turning she headed towards the gates wanting to distance herself from the young priest. Though he was nice, some of what he said made her dwell on the negative and in the end only made her stomach swoon in paranoia and fear.
Her eyes connected with a familiar body as it slipped through the crowd. She smiled, also wading through the crowd, trying not to be knocked around too much as he attempted to reach it. She felt a flutter of joy surge through her as she slipped by people, being pushed into other bodies as she reached for him, her small frame buried in the title-wave of weary travelers. "Jason!" she called out, trying to catch his attention once he started for a different direction. He stopped once he heard her voice and turned in attempts to find where her voice was coming from. Spotting her he made his way through the crowd, smiling warmly at her. Reaching out he grabbed her so he wouldn't lose her as he headed for the edge of the crowd.
"Jesus, the people crowding is awful today, like their waiting for the end of the world or something." He laughed. She groaned, those words not being the ones she wanted to hear from him the first time meeting him in a month. He stopped and laughed again. "Sorry about that Elle," He kissed her forehead. "I forgot you were going through your conspiracy moment." Glaring she pulled away, her lips puckered a bit.
"You're such a dick Jason; I don't know why I even bother with you." Turning, she headed the other way, shaking him off. He knew just the right words to insult her. Of course he never took what she said seriously. Just a year ago she'd gone through a scare that she'd be sterile after receiving a gun shot to the pelvis area. Jason said at least they didn't need to worry about buying diapers or wasting money on condoms. He sighed and followed after her.
"Elle, stop." He bumped into something and stumbled a bit, inhaling deeply. "Shit!" He looked back, his sleeve ripped, a cut on his pale flesh. She turned, her eyebrows furrowing in concern.
"Are you ok?" She walked over, taking his arm, looking at it. It was an odd shaped cut, not very deep, more like a scratch as if someone had dragged a long jagged fingernail down his arm. He nodded, smiling. He had a beautiful smile. He was a jock type, short blonde hair and blue eyes. He wasn't originally from the Vegas area. That was obvious by the lightness of his skin.
"I'm fine babe," He took her hands, looking meaningfully into her eyes. "We're going to be ok. They have both New Orleans and Pennsylvania barred off. No more people are escaping from there. No people are getting out; no one's getting in, so relax. We'll be alright." He spoke softly. He knew she was afraid of the news. Seeing it on TV was even frightening to him, but he didn't want her to see that it was bothering him. Sighing she nodded, closing her eyes. She trusted him, she always had, and she knew he was right. Smiling she squeezed his hand and laughed lightly.
"You're right. I should be ashamed for having so little faith in our government." She turned, leading him to the door, still holding onto his hand. Chuckling lightly he followed, linking his fingers with hers.
"Our Government might not be too good with doing anything else, like balancing our national budget, but keeping people out of places they shouldn't be and killing those who wrong us are definitely their strong points." Pushing the door open, she stepped out into the sun, grimacing as the light burned her eyes a bit. She hadn't seen Jason in quite a while, not since before his trip to Alaska. She was excited to be with him again. He was her boyfriend, 7 years running. She had just recently been engaged to him and she was overjoyed to see him again.
"Do you want to stop for some food?" She smiled, looking back at him, walking across the parking-lot, her heals clicking against the pavement.
"Sure, food sounds good." He smiled in return following her to the car. Reaching the car he stretched his arms out forward and wrapped them around her waist, kissing her neck. "Although you look tastier." Her cheeks flushed as he squeezed her tightly from behind. She squirmed a bit, feeling eyes on her even though the only people in the parking-lot had their backs to her.
"Stop." She whined, trying to push him away. Obeying he let her go and smiled at her. "I don't want you to do that." She turned around looking at him, leaning with her back against her car.
"Baby, we're going to be getting married soon and we're not even doing intimate stuff like we should." He leaned forward, one hand on the car, standing in front of her in almost a dominant sort of way. She shook her head, her forehead crinkling. She'd gone over it with him multiple times and hated that he didn't listen to her. She didn't want to have sex until she was married, and he was so hell bent on getting it out of her sooner.
"I told you why I don't want to; you have to respect my wishes." Gently pushing him back, she gave him the keys and went around to the passenger side. Climbing in she slammed the door and buckled up. Sighing he clenched the keys tightly in his fist, his knuckles turning white. She pissed him off sometimes. He's often contemplated beating the shit out of her and taking what he wanted from her by force, but he valued his life out of jail more. Plus, she was the hottest girl in his graduating class, has been for a long time. But the only reason he started dating her was because rumor had it she was a slut. He found out differently.
Climbing in he shut the door and turned the car on. She was silent, looking out the window as they headed across the airport parking lot then down the free-way. He didn't say anything either. Neither of them made a sound as they traveled, the trees rushing past them. The mood in the car seemed cold for some reason which irritated her a bit. She hated when he sulked after being rejected, but again, she wasn't sure if it was her he was mad at or not. She sighed. "I'm sorry Jason. I know you want to be intimate, I know you do, but please, just a little while longer." He stayed silent. Nibbling on her lip she looked down at her lap, picking at her clothes. She knew he was mad, she just wished he wouldn't give her the silent treatment. She never could deal with that, not since they were in high school together.
She wasn't used to people being mad at her, friend or stranger. Of course, she never really aimed to make people angry with her either. Sometimes it just happened. She'd end up hearing something in high-school which she was told was true, then someone would turn around and yell at her for spreading rumors. Or when a friend would speak to her then twist her words around horribly then the other person on the other end of it would be pissed off at her for something she didn't say. She just wished he wouldn't do it to her right now.
The car started to drift. Looking up she noticed that the buildings were getting farther away. Concerned she saw that they were drifting into the other lane. "Jason?" She gasped, her fingers digging into her seat. "Jason get on the right side of the road!" She squealed. Suddenly hands grabbed her from the drivers' seat followed by a deep snarl. Whipping her head around she stared into a pair of black eyes and grey skin. His nails dug into her as he leaned over, his teeth bared like a rabid dog, stuck in the seat by the seatbelt he wore. She screamed, snapping her arms out to shove him away, her heart racing. A loud honk caught her attention. Looking up and out of the window, she saw a tractor trailer heading her way. Screaming she closed her eyes and covered her face waiting for impact.
They collided. The impact sent the tiny car spiraling off the road and into a ditch. The car flipped, crushing the roof down. Slowly it skid to a stop and everything was silent. She groaned, her head hurting from the collision, the movements whipping her around and the crash leaving shattered glass in her flesh and ringing ears. The front end was all crushed up, pinning her legs to the inside of the door. The only way she could have gotten out is if she were to recline the seat and crawl out through the window.
Hazily she looked over, tears trickling down her cheeks, expecting to see him dead but what she found was a lot more horrifying. His arm was gone, bleeding all over the interior of the vehicle. Again he turned, snapping at her, his seat belt broken. Gasping she brought her arms up the best she could to block his attack but the sudden bang of the deploying airbag made her jump. She caught just in time the airbag snapping out, hitting his side, snapping his neck. An instant kill. She stared at the blood and still body of her soon to be husband, now zombie. Shaking she laid her head back, her vision turning red, then black as shock set in, leaving her in horror filled darkness.
