The cops never did come by to pick me up. Or even take a statement for that matter. Guess they had other things to do. That evening I heard sirens going back and forth along the highway a few blocks from my house.
That night sleep was restless at best. Normally I can't remember all of my dreams. Most of the time all I get are bits and pieces. Just enough to know if it was a good or bad dream. I remembered enough to know that all the dreams I had were universally bad. That woman's smashed and disfigured face haunted me. And so did the nurse's screams of pain and fright.
I woke up later that morning and had to rush to get ready for work. Jumping out of bed, I brushed my teeth, threw on my work clothes and was out the door in a little more than ten minutes. Stepping into my father-in-law's WS6 Trans Am that I was borrowing, I fired up the engine, pushed in the clutch and slipped the shifter into first. Heading off down the road, I turned on the radio and surprised to hear a news report instead of the usual morning mix.
"A state of emergency has been declared for much of U.S. People are being urged to stay in their homes for the next few days. National Guard forces are being deployed and most of nation's service personal abroad is being disengaged from around the world and recalled as quickly as possible…"
Turning the radio off, I seriously considered turning around and going back home. Then again, with Prime Wheel there is no reason not to come into work as far as management is concerned. "Prime Wheel is your obligation. Everything else is a personal problem." True story, I actually heard that said once.
A few miles out from work, I was only going slightly over the 45 M.P.H. speed limit. Watching the sides of the road in this area was very important since deer were known to jump out in front of cars all the time in the area. There was also a bicycle trail that cut through the forest.
Just before I arrived at the mouth of trail an older man came running out into the road in front of me waving an arm frantically over his head. Quickly hitting the brakes and engaging the clutch, the car quickly came to a stop. Although I was still forced to get into the other lane to avoid having a new hood ornament.
The first thing that caught my eye was large, bloody circle on his left shoulder. My mind flashed back to the crazy lady in the road yesterday, and I very nearly got moving again. But the desperate look on the man's face as he ran up to the car door made me think twice.
"Please! Please you have to help me!" The man rapidly patted on the window with the palm of his hand. Reaching over, I unlock the door and the man quickly pulled it open and all but jumped in the seat. "Hurry! Get going before that guy catches us." Not really wanting to find out who he was talking about I got the car moving.
About a mile down the road, I asked, "What happened?"
The older man closed his eyes and took a steadying breath before he answered. "I was jogging down that trail when out of nowhere some guy tackled me from the side. He knocked me to the ground and fell on top of me and bit me on the shoulder."
"He bit you?" Again memories from the day before came to the surface, but I quickly pushed them back down.
"Yeah. The crazy bastard tried to take a chunk out of me." In the corner of my eye I could see him pulling open the collar of his shirt presumably to get a better look at the wound.
"There should be a towel in the back." I motioned with my thumb for emphasis. "We should get you to the hospital." When he turned and reached into the back seat, his wounded shoulder was in full view. There was a good sized hole in his shirt which revealed the ragged bite mark. Reaching into a pocket on the front of my shirt, I pulled out my cell phone and offered it to the man. "Do you want to call the cops?"
After quickly wrapping the towel around his shoulder (sort of), the man took the phone from me and flipped it open. As he tapped out 911, he said, "Thank you so much for stopping. I'm Herald by the way."
"Danny," I replied quickly as he lifted the phone to his ear.
Herald sat unmoving with the phone pressed to his ear. Finally he snapped the phoned shut and placed it in the cup holder between us. Placing a hand on his wounded shoulder, he leaned his head back against the seat's headrest. "Busy signal," he stated slowly. Hissing through his teeth, he continued with, "My shoulder feels like it on fire."
"Well that did look pretty nasty."
Shaking his head, Herald said, "Not burns as in it hurts. I mean it feels like there is a fire spreading out from my shoulder." Not liking what I was hearing, the drone of the engine got a little louder as my foot pressed harder on the gas pedal. As the car's speedometer climbed, I started thinking of the quickest way to the hospital.
As we slowly approached Washington Regional's off ramp it was plain to see that there was no getting close to the facility. The police had set up roadblocks and looked to be turning most people away. Some were being taken out of cars and led to some large tents raised in the parking lot surrounding the building. As I gazed on those tents for some reason I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.
Pulling up to the roadblock I noticed immediately that it wasn't the police who were running the show. The two men walking up to either side of the car were wearing military fatigues, body armor, gas masks, and packing M4s. Quickly taking the car out of gear, I set the emergency brake and made sure both hands were on the steering wheel.
"What's your purpose here," the soldiers muffled voice demanded.
"Some guy bit…" Herald started saying, but before he could finish the soldier on his side was already opening the car door and haling him out.
"Sir, are you wounded?" There was no concern in the soldier's voice as he stared at me, only grim determination as his hand was already moving to the door's latch.
"N-no," I stammered. "I was on my way to work and saw Herald…"
The soldier cut me off with, "Sir, you need to leave this area immediately."
Feeling truly lost, I asked, "What's going on? Why are you guys here?"
Instead of answering my question, he stepped back from my car started motioning for me to move along. "Sir, we are advising everyone to return to their homes and stay indoors." The matter apparently settled, he started moving to the car behind me.
Not knowing what else to do I looked around for Herald as I released the car's E-brake and pushed the shifted into first. Unable to see him, I silently wished him luck and started forward. Another soldier pointed me onto a nearby onramp and back onto the highway.
From its place in the cup holder, my phone started buzzing, demanding my attention. Picking it up and flipping it open revealed a text from one of my co-workers. Not many people showed up. Someone died and they're canceling production and sending us home. Snapping the phone, my mind raced trying to fathom the latest development.
Prime Wheel canceling production. The world must be ending.