Fight For Survival: Vanessa, Section 2

Vanessa Romero scrambled in her room for something to wear. She had just woken up from a night of dreamless sleep to find she had slept right through the alarm. Damn it, she thought as she pulled on a pair of khaki pants and a blue sweater, I'm late for my interview! She hurriedly through her cell phone and wallet into her purse and raced downstairs. Her dad was in the living room watching something on T.V. when she ran past to the kitchen.
"Shit. Dad!" she called in frustration and panic. "Where is my coat?"
"Oh, I hung it up in the closet. You know you really shouldn't leave things just lying around like –"
"Never mind that, Dad. I'm already late!"
With that she grabbed her coat and started for the door.
"Vanessa, hold up." Her dad – again.
"I really do have to go," she shouted back.
"I don't think you want to. Come here; you should see this."
Vanessa took a deep breath to calm herself and walked into the living room. Her dad was pointing at the television. She turned around to see a "Breaking News" story. The camera was angled at a coffee shop – the local Starbucks – where an ambulance was parked with paramedics loading several people into the back. Then Vanessa saw the address. That was the store she was supposed to interview with this morning, the interview she was already late for.
"What happened?" she asked her dad, since the reporter was already finished speaking and the news program had already moved on to another story.
"Some crazy man walked into the shop and bit one employee and three customers. The police arrived in enough time to see him run off. They tried to catch him, but no luck. Then while they were taking the victims to the ambulance, several other people showed up from nearby and attacked the medics."
"Damn. That's freaky. Did they find any reason why yet?"
"No, it was apparently unprovoked and out of the blue."
"Huh." Vanessa stared past the television screen and thought about what could possibly be into people these days. Did they all escape from a rubber room? She went back to the kitchen and decided to skip the interview. She could always find another job. Pulling out a bowl and spoon, she poured herself some cereal and sat down to enjoy her breakfast. That story was so strange, though. Those injuries must have been pretty bad. But if that man only bit those people, how much damage could that do? Not much, Vanessa thought, unless he had the skills of a five-year-old.
She flipped open her laptop and typed in her password to unlock the screen – a necessary precaution against younger brothers. She decided she'd better check her email. There were several new messages, none of which were terribly important – just a few notices from colleges she didn't care about and two forwards from friends. It was then, while she was reading the other emails, a new forward appeared in her inbox. She glanced at the subject and went back to her cereal before doing a double take. The email was titled "Is The Full Moon Early This Year?" Intrigued, she clicked on it and scrolled down through the endless list of previous recipients until she came upon an article from outside a store in Columbus, a young man and several others viciously attacked a reporter from a local news station. The man lunged at reporter Jane Daniels and bit her on the arm. It took five police officers and two cameramen to pull her assailants off of her. She has been taken to the hospital, but it not in critical condition. "Could the full moon have come early to Columbus?" many have asked in the hopes of finding an explanation for the strange events of the evening.
There have also been recent reports of other such attacks throughout the city and on nearby college campuses. For now, authorities are advising all local residents to lock their doors at night and to keep an eye out for danger when they travel...

Vanessa stopped reading. That was all the confirmation she needed that something weird was happening in Ohio. She finished her breakfast and went back up to her room. There would be time to ponder this later. Right now she just wanted to relax, maybe sleep a little longer. She laid down on top of the warm blankets draped over her bed and picked up the book she had to read for English – Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. But she had only read three chapters when she drifted off to sleep.
It was six o'clock in the evening when she finally woke, a little confused as to why it was so much darker outside. The sun had been shining when she went to sleep. Now the horizon outside her bedroom window was aglow with the fire of sunset. She got up and ran her fingers through her hair to make herself look a little more presentable. Taking her book with her, she went downstairs and found her dad cooking dinner.
"Where is Mom?" Vanessa asked of Michael, her younger brother. He was currently a freshman at Summit. Vanessa was a senior.
"She ran to the store. We're out of hamburger buns."
"Is that what we're having?"
"Yep," Michael replied, handing his sister a stack of plates. "You can set the table since I helped cook dinner."
"And what did you do?"
"I handed him stuff and stirred the noodles." Michael stuck his tongue out and ran back to the stove.
Vanessa took the plates and rolled her eyes as she smiled. Little brothers. This one was always looking for an excuse to get out of chores. Vanessa set the table and soon they were all sitting down to dinner. Her parents discussed what had happened at Starbucks earlier and Vanessa decided to bring up the Columbus incident. That made them worried, but soon the conversation moved on to happier topics and they soon forgot all about the attacks.