Vital Signs

I stared at the bag. My curly dark brown hair fell to curtain my view from everything happening outside. without warning, I punted his bag and shot trey an angry glare which he met with an apologetic gaze. His gray eyes turned my anger into sadness, tears blurred my green eyes as I melted away. Trey cupped my face and wiped my tears pulling me into a hug. I squeezed my eyes shut. I wanted to stay like this for a bit longer but… it didn't last as long as I wanted.

"What the fuck Bax? Bax. Bax!?"

He pushed me away softly and made me turn around.

We both stood and watched in horror as the Tiana girl started puking blood while still on the snowy patio, her body was twisted to avoid puking on herself she continued to adjust herself until she was puking on her hands and knees. Her skin slowly went from a nice tan color to a pale greyish color. As she looked around frantically for help you could see her veins in all of her exposed skin turn black and form almost a spider web under skin. Brandon screamed for me through the glass. He was panicking more than she seemed to be… when she finished puking she crawled to the closest handrail and propped herself up against it. She appeared to lose consciousness before she was surrounded by a large group of curious or nosy resort guests. I watched Trey walk over to the door and stand there for a moment through the corner of my eye. Brushing off this action as him debating to go help, I returned my attention to the slowly dissipating crowd. Most of the people who walked away were people with children and mainly solo or paired women… the majority of the males stayed and tried to “help”. I looked around for Trey but couldn’t see him anywhere. Feeling slightly uneasy I preoccupied my mind by thinking of all of the possible medical things that could be wrong with her. 

It could be a stomach ulcer… Gastritis… esophageal varices… Hell, it could even be gastrointestinal bleeding. But what about her veins hmm… Uh, well let’s see, it could be varicose veins, it could even be a vascular disease. If any of this was true, that means she needs immediate medical attention from a hospital. I dialed for an ambulance and was told that there was a shortage in responders since yesterday afternoon and that they would try to send one over but I would need to be patient. I did what was expected of me as a doctor by attempting to get help or render aid so I remained inside and closely monitored the crowd. Brandon walked straight to the glass and pounded on it screaming “Fix this.” and “Get out here!” Of course, his blatant concern for a woman he was cheating on me with made me not want to help even though the little voice in the back of my head was screaming at me. Warning me that she could die if someone doesn't take action. A man in the crowd turned and said something to Brandon which made him glare at me. 

“This is your fault!” My jaws clenched as I chose to say nothing in return. Trey was still missing as I rolled my eyes and searched for him. I really wanted to just run out and help that woman despite her being the woman I was cheated on with, a life is a life and I wanted to help save it but my body refused to move. A woman in the crowd screamed and pointed at Tiana.  

“She’s alive, looks like she’s moving.” My attention shifted to the crowd where Tiana was pushing off the ground.

She didn't look okay. She had a lifeless sway to her… the way she moved made me uncomfortable. I got dirty looks from people in the crowd as she wobbled and struggled to her feet. I turned and called for Trey. My voice echoed through the fairly quiet food court but I got no response. 

Did he leave me? Was he mad at me for what I did? Should I apologize to her? No, I should leave alone. She probably blames me for what just happened. I'm sorry. It is my fault. I’m so sorry.

I watched Brandon hobble back over to rub her back like that would make her feel better after she literally puked up the contents of her heart. I almost ran out to attempt to apologize and help… but I froze in place to stare at Tiana… she looked… brain dead. I don't mean to be rude but she looked like she was high which was weird. 

Is she alright? What's happening to her?

I looked at Brandon then back at Tiana scooting closer to the glass as if that would give me a better view. Somehow Brandon had got her on her feet now, a position I’m not sure her body was ready for just yet, she folded him into a hug, after doing so she buried her face into his shoulder. I straightened out my posture and clenched my jaw. I could feel the anger rising up in my chest again so I averted my eyes and looked around once again for Trey.

Where is that man? I wanna go home… I need a hug.

A thin red splatter commanded my attention as I saw and heard it lightly thudded against. The immediate realization of what it was when I fully returned my attention to the window made me jump and when I looked past it I saw Brandon's shoulder and back covered with blood. I looked around at the slowly dispersing crowd to see their reaction… I just saw pure fear as they stood helplessly. Many bystanders tried running back inside and couldn't get into the side door that led directly back into the building only to find out it was locked. Instead of making a huge deal about it… they bolted down the patio stairs and sped off and didn’t turn back. With the remaining crowd being sparse, Brandon had very little chance of help. You could hear him screaming through the glass, his voice shrill and panicked as he swung his un-injured arm at her head and sides with very little response. I too mentally pleaded with her to let him go, the little voice in the back of my head mentioned a good point… it wanted to patch him up then slap him. 

You cheated on me with a girl who smokes bath salts!?!?

I watched as a few people tried to pry her off of him while she dug her nails into his arm and shredded his flesh, he let out a new bout of screams as he struggled and tried to pry himself away. I couldn’t move even if I wanted to. It's like I was paralyzed I couldn't believe this… this isn't happening. I noticed that Brandon's fight was becoming less and less effective. His back hit the glass and Tiana tore a huge muscle off of his arm pulling it to her mouth and munching on it until it was gone. Upon closer inspection, I noticed in the process of eating Brandon's meat she lost her pinky. Bystanders tried to scatter… try being the operative word here. I guess Tiana called in some backup because the front of the crowd trying to escape was tackled and mauled in a similar way the crowd started jumping over the railings in desperation to escape. Tiana and her new friends quickly demolished more than half the crowd tearing and biting on anyone still fighting… still moving… there were screams coming from somewhere far off in the shopping district as well. 

There was no way this was happening right? Did a cult just say fuck it, we’re done with society lets all do bath salts and maul people! Like what the fuck was happening and Where is Trey?

I looked around only to find out that the entire shopping district was in disarray. I could see people screaming and running in every direction. The situation couldn't be worse. I’m short so there was no way I was going to see where I was going or what dangers were ahead if I joined the crowd now.

Are we all going to die?

I turned my attention to Brandon who was still bleeding out. My heart sank more and more as I watched him slowly turn his head and look at me through the red stain glass the action made his unsupported head slide down against the window I know I wouldn't be able to help or save him, my hand was on the cold glass as I sank to be eye level trying to see if his eyes would follow my hand… he was now unresponsive, dead with his eyes open… there was a little voice that screamed “Serves you right!” but a huge wave of guilt came rolling in and drowned it.

“BAX! BAX!!” we now had to scream to hear each other. Why was everyone so loud? 

Has no one here watched a zombie movie?

Trey came trudging back through the frenzied crowd looking more annoyed than panicked.

“TREY! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! SHIT HIT THE FAN FAST AND WE NEED TO LEAVE LIKE YESTERDAY!” 

“I HAD MY OWN TASTE OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING WHILE I WAS AT THE STORE. HERE, TAKE THIS, AND LET’S GO.” I looked into the bag only to find out that it was a shit ton of what looked like food supplies and other odds and ends.

“WHAT’S THIS AND WHY WHERE AT THE STORE?”

“AT FIRST I WAS THERE TO GET YOU SOME CANDY AND COMFORT FOOD WHILE I CALLED AN UBER TO TAKE US HOME. BUT THEN THE STORE CLERK STARTED MUNCHING ON THE CUSTOMERS SO I GOT A LOT OF THIS FOR A PRETTY GOOD DISCOUNT.” I didn't really appreciate the humor.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS? WHERE DID YOU GET ALL OF THIS?"

"THE NOVELTY STORE THERE AND THE SUPPLY STORE OVER THERE" I shot my feet

"YOU'RE ALREADY LOOTING!?"

"LOOK FRECKLES I DON'T WANT TO DIE HERE LET'S GET TO THE CABIN AND ARGUE ABOUT IT LATER."

“WHERES BRANDON?”

“... he’s dead.”

“WHAT?”

“HE'S DEAD!!” I Moved to the side to show him the gruesome image of Brandons dead body. Trey scrunched his nose and heaved a bit, choosing to avert his eyes.

There was a bang on the door to our right and our attention was immediately yanked in that direction . That one led directly to the patio where everything started. I looked back at the slumped Brandon and felt a burn in the bridge of my nose. The bang happened again. I looked from Brandon to the door that leads to his body only to see Tiana with a bloody muzzle area and scratch marks on her face… I'm guessing another victorious struggle was back and really wanted entry to the building we were in. I couldn’t stop myself from making a comment.

“I SEE THE APPEAL.”

"LETS GO BAX! PLEASE!"