Chapter 2 – When in Doubt, Use a Bat

The next few days passed way to quickly for Eric. The events on the highway stuck in his mind like a splinter he couldn't shake. Despite his best efforts to focus on his usual routines, he found all the weird things that happened lately, well weird and because of that feeling, he spent hours tinkering in the garage, taking apart his bike, cleaning its parts, and putting them back together, though there wasn't anything wrong with them in the first place. But, it was his go-to method of keeping his hands busy when his mind wouldn't stop wandering.

On one of those nights, Eric sneaked out to Sarah's house again. It had become almost a routine at this point with him waiting for her parents to fall asleep, before climbing the side of the house like some kind of low-budget superhero, and sneaking into her room.

"What's up with you lately?" Sarah asked him one night, propped up on her bed as Eric leaned against the window. "You've been… I don't know... with your mind somewhere else?"

Eric hesitated for a second, not because he didn't trust his girlfriend, no it was more like he didn't want to admit how much Rick's injury or the weird reports were getting to him. "Just tired, you know? All the odd jobs, school... it piles up."

Sarah frowned crossing her arms under her chest, not buying whatever second rather excuses Eric was saying. "That's not it, babe."

He gave her a faint smile. "And here I thought I was good at keeping secrets."

"You're not," she said firmly, thought Sarah did dragged her boyfriend back to her bed forcing his head on her lap. "You can talk to me, you know?"

"I know," Eric replied quietly, glancing out the window into the dark. "Just… some stuff happened on the highway the other day. Cops were chasing someone. Looked bad."

"Eric…" she said softly, leaning closer.

"It's fine," he said quickly, brushing it off. "But, uh, Rick got hurt."

 "The nice cop? The one who—"

"Yeah, him," Eric cut in. "Shane said he's in the hospital. Nothing life-threatening, but still…"

Sarah reached out, taking his hand. "He'll be okay. He's a good guy. Guys like him are tough or so my mom says."

Eric nodded, wanting nothing more than to smile, but for some reason he didn't knew if that was true.

A few more days passed just like that. For the most part, when he wasn't busy working, Eric stayed home more than usual, partly because he didn't want to risk running into more trouble and partly because he felt strange lately, almost as if his body was keeping him on edge. The radio he kept in the corner buzzed faintly with static most of the time, occasionally breaking through with news or the local weather.

This morning though, as he worked on straightening a short metal sheet that had bent during one of his repair jobs, the radio crackled to life with an emergency broadcast.

"...local authorities are advising residents to stay indoors as reports of violent behavior continue to rise across King County and neighboring areas. Officials have confirmed an unidentified illness as the cause of the aggression. Symptoms include fever, confusion, and erratic behavior. If you or someone you know exhibits these symptoms, contact emergency services immediately…"

Eric froze as so did the hammer in his hand. It was rare enough to hear an emergency broadcast, and so, not wanting to miss anything important, he turned up the volume.

"...citizens are urged not to engage with anyone showing signs of aggression. Stay in your homes and lock your doors. Repeat, stay in your homes and lock your doors. We will provide updates as more information becomes available…"

The broadcast looped, repeating the warning "What the hell…"

Before he could continue cursing, a knock at the garage door startled him, and his heart jumped to his throat. He grabbed a nearby baseball bat—old but sturdy—and moved cautiously toward the door.

"Eric, you in there?"

When he realized it was Shane, Eric sighed in relief and opened the door

"Hey, kid. You okay?" Shane asked, glancing past Eric into the garage.

"Yeah, I guess. Just heard something weird on the radio about a virus making people go crazy."

Shane nodded grimly. "That's why I'm here. Listen, things are getting messy out there. With Rick's still in the hospital, and the department's stretched thin, there a lot of shit on our plates. I need you to promise me something."

"What?"

"Stay home. Don't go wandering around, and for God's sake, don't go looking for trouble. You see anything weird, you stay inside, got it?"

Eric nodded. "Yeah, sure."

Shane placed a hand on Eric's shoulder. "I mean it, kid. This isn't like the usual crap we deal with. People are scared. Scared people do stupid things."

Eric swallowed hard, nodding again. "Got it."

Once he was satisfied, Shane gave him a small, reassuring smile. "Good. Now lock up and stay safe. I'll check in on you later, and call your sweetheart, tell her what I've told you."

As soon as Shane drove away, Eric quickly closed the garage door, before rushing to the table where his phone was sitting, and just as he reached for it, the phone started ringing. It seems Sarah had the same idea as he had.

"Hey," Eric answered as calmy as he could. "I was just about to call you."

"Babe," Sarah's voice came through, but unlike him, she sounded worried. "Did Shane came to you?"

"Yeah, he was just here. Told me to stay inside and lock up." Eric ran a hand through his hair. "He visits you guys too?"

"Mhhm, my mom heard from some of her hospital contacts that there's something seriously strange with whatever is going on. People are getting aggressive, showing up with these weird symptoms. The emergency rooms are getting overwhelmed to the point they are treating patients in the hallways."

Eric walked to the garage window, carefully peering out. The street looked quiet, almost too quiet. "The Government and even Shane said it's some kind of illness causing people to go crazy."

"My mom thinks it's worse than just an illness. She said some patients are coming in with bizarre wounds, almost like... like they've been bitten by another person."

Upon hearing what his girlfriend just said, a chill ran down Eric's spine. The highway incident from a few days ago suddenly felt less like a random event and more like a prelude to something bigger. "Are you okay? Are you staying inside?"

"Yeah, my parents are home. We're locked up tight." There was a pause. "Eric, I'm scared."

"Hey," Eric's voice softened, trying to sound more confident than he felt. "We'll be okay. Just stay inside, stay safe. I'll see if I can come visit you later, ok?"

"Don't do anything stupid, you hear me! Love you, and see you soon!"

And with that Sarah ended the call, while Eric still looked out of the window. Before he could leave though, he saw Mrs. Williams, his 44 years old neighbor leaving her house. A few meters away from her, their other neighbor, an eighty something years old Vietnam veteran walked… well, more like shamble out into the yard and the second Mrs. Williams stopped, the old man turn his head and look at her, before reaching out with his left arm. Then without saying a word, he staggered forward towards their neighbor who walked forward to give him a hand, as she usually did when Mr. Nelson was getting his newspaper from his mail box. But when she was short of a meter away from him, his hand grasped her shoulder, and his head snapped forward to her neck so fast that there was no time to react. "Jesus fucking Christ!" Eric yelled, watching as blood sprayed over both of them. 

For a few seconds, Eric stood there frozen in place not knowing what he should do before he remembered Shane's words. Prying his eyes from the horrifying sight that he just witnessed, Eric called Shane, only for the voice mail to respond.

"Hey, this is Shane. Right now, I can't answer the phone, but if this is important, leave a message and I'll call you back when I can. If this is an emergency, please contact our local dispatch or 911."

Hearing the beep, Eric did his best to explain what he just saw.

"Shane, this is Eric. I just saw something... something really bad. Mr. Nelson, the old Vietnam vet next door, just attacked Mrs. Williams. There's blood everywhere. I don't know what to do. The old man literally just bit her neck, and she's not moving. I'm freaking out here."

By now, the old man had dragged their neighbor down and was taking bites of her neck and face. Surprisingly enough, Mrs. Williams was still alive, struggling and screaming, trying to get him off, but I could see she was weakening from the loss of blood. The old man bent down and tore another chunk out of her neck, and the woman convulsed once before going still.

While the old man was eating the poor woman, Mr. Williams, who had just stepped out of his house hearing the screams of his wife, let out a blood-curdling scream of his own when he saw his wife motionless on the ground with Mr. Nelson hunched over her mangled body. In that moment, Eric saw pure terror and rage explode across Mr. Williams' face and before he could make sense of what was going on, the man charged forward with a speed that seemed impossible for someone his age.

By some godly miracle, Mr. Williams managed to tackle the crazed Mr. Nelson to the ground and somehow, through sheer will or luck, Mr. Williams ended up on top. Not wasting any moment, he drove his knee into Mr. Nelson's neck, pinning the crazed man to the ground, forcing him to "eat" the asphalt.

"Help! Somebody help me!" Mr. Williams screamed as soon as he managed to subdue his wife's aggressor.

Looking between the man whose wife most likely died and his garage, Eric didn't knew what he should do. Shane wasn't answering, the cops probably wouldn't get here fast enough, and staying inside meant leaving Mr. Williams to fend for himself.

"This is crazy," Eric muttered, gripping his bat tightly. But deep down, he knew he couldn't just stand by. His mother had taught him to always try and help whenever he could as long as he wasn't going to lose anything or endanger himself.

Before he could second-guess himself, Eric threw open his front door and sprinted across the street.

When he reached the two men, the sight stopped him cold. Mr. Nelson wasn't just struggling. No, the old man was snarling, doing his best to bite Mr. Williams.

"Eric, help me hold him down!" Mr. Williams barked, as he fought to keep the old man from breaking free.

Unfortunately for Mr. Williams, Eric couldn't do anything as he stood there, frozen in shock being so up close to this scene.

"Eric!" Mr. Williams shouted again.

Thankfully, that was enough to snap him out of his from state, which prompted the boy to step forward. "Hang on!"

But before Eric could help, the old man twisted violently, almost knocking Mr. Williams off balance. Seeing that, Eric acted on instinct, bringing the bat down hard on Mr. Nelson's arm. The dull thud made Eric wince, but it did the trick as for a moment, the old man stopped.

"Push him back! Get his arms!" Mr. Williams yelled.

Eric dropped to his knees, using the bat to press down on Mr. Nelson's arm while Mr. Williams struggled to keep the old man's head pinned to the ground. Despite their combined effort, Mr. Nelson was just a lucky thrash away from breaking free.

"What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know!" Mr. Williams snapped. "But we need to—"

A gurgling growl cut him off as Mrs. Williams shuddered and twitched.

Both men froze as she let out a low, guttural moan and began to rise, much like how Mr. Nelson did moments earlier.

"Oh my God," Eric whispered, fearing the worst.

"Marsha?" Mr. Williams gasped, watching in disbelief as his bloodied wife was shambling towards him.

But the thing that was once Mrs. Williams didn't respond. Instead, it staggered toward them.

"Eric," Mr. Williams seemed to have aged ten years as he called his younger neighbor. "Get the bat ready."

Eric swallowed hard, not liking what he would have to do in a moment. But he still gripped his bat tighter.

"God damn it boy, now!"

Gritting his teeth, Eric forced himself to act. He raised his foot and stomped down as hard as he could on Mr. Nelson's arm, but that had barely any effect on the crazed old man.

"Do it!"

Eric spun around, coming face to face with Mrs. Williams—or rather, the thing she had become. Her head lolled unnaturally to the side as her milky white eyes stared at him.

"Sorry, Mrs. Williams," Eric whispered, more to himself than to her.

He took a deep breath, planted his feet, and swung the bat with all the strength he could muster and much like he predicted, the bat connected with her head sending the thing to the ground, hopefully for good, after all, nothing can survive with its head cracked open right?

Yet, just seeing what he had did to the nice lady that would always bring him cookies or dinner, Eric didn't knew if what he did was right. Mrs. Williams wasn't moving anymore, but he couldn't tear his eyes away. "Did I… is she…?"

"That's not my wife, boy!" Mr. Williams shouted, snapping him out of it. "Hit this thing, Eric! Do it now!"

The words jolted Eric into action. He stepped forward, raising the bat high above his head and just like he did to Mrs. Williams, Eric brought the bat down squarely on Mr. Nelson's skull. And just like how he cracked Mrs. Williams head open, Mr. Nelson's body went limp beneath Mr. Williams.

Eric stumbled back, dropping the bat as his knees gave out, while his hands start shaking uncontrollably.

Mr. Williams pushed himself off the lifeless body, and while his own hands were trembling, he couldn't let the kid who saved his life have a panic attack, not when more of those things could be out there.

"Hey. Hey, look at me," Mr. Williams said, crouching down beside the teenager. His hands were still shaking, but his voice was steady. "You did what you had to do. Those... things. They weren't Marsha. They weren't Nelson."

Eric's eyes were wide, fixed on the bloodied ground where Mrs. Williams and Mr. Nelson were lying motionless.

"Listen to me," Mr. Williams continued, placing a firm hand on Eric's shoulder. "Those weren't people anymore. Whatever happened to them, whatever made them like that - it wasn't human. Not anymore."

Slowly, Eric's breathing began to return to normal and so did the shaking of his hands.

"I don't know what in God's name happened to my sweet Marsha, but one thing was for sure, she came to attack us, just like Nelson."

Eric swallowed hard, finally looking up at Mr. Williams. "I... I killed them."

"No," Mr. Williams said firmly. "Whatever those things were, they were already dead. You just made sure they couldn't hurt anyone else."

The sound of distant sirens began to drift closer. Mr. Williams looked up, then back at Eric.

"You need to go home, kid. Lock your doors. Stay inside and for the love of God, don't be stupid and jump to help people left and right. Do you understand?"

Even though he wanted to say something, in the end, Eric just nodded his head before returning home, taking one last look at Mr. Williams, who went to pick his wife and bring her inside their home, leaving the body of Mr. Nelson on the ground.

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