Foolish
1440 Words
Cara stayed frozen as he approached, her heart racing as his heavenly scent wafted around her.
She’d almost forgotten how men smelled, how their skin felt as it pressed against hers. His hand lifted slowly toward her face, and she suddenly realized how much she longed for human touch. Despite everything that had been said between them, she needed it.
His hand was so close to her face that she could barely catch her breath.
Closer and closer he inched toward her, moving as slowly as a person trying not to spook a wild animal. Their eyes were locked in an unblinking stare, neither of them sure of how far they could push this.
Then her phone chimed loudly.
Bradley cleared his throat and stepped back. They broke their heated gaze and looked away, realizing how foolish they had been. It was too risky, being that close to another person. Especially a stranger.
“What was that?” Bradley asked, gesturing to the phone in her pocket. "Your followers wondering what's happened to you?"
She blinked nervously and pulled it out, fumbling a little as she did. When she unlocked the screen, a look of shock crossed her eyes.
Her post with the handsome doctor in the background had been shared nearly one hundred thousand times already. People were going fanatic over the little glimmer of hope she had offered them, and news outlets were emailing her for comment.
“What is it?” Bradley asked curiously.
Cara looked up with a wide grin, knowing she had just kickstarted their popularity as a team. This is exactly what they needed to make this app successful. She turned the phone around to show him the picture proudly.
He snatched the phone to examine the picture more closely, and as he did his horror and anger began to bubble to the surface. His face turned red with fury.
“What were you THINKING?!” He exploded. “We are nowhere NEAR ready to show things like this to the world! Do you have ANY idea the kind of people who...." He trailed off, his seething anger ready to explode again.
Cara backed away and crossed her arms, narrowing her eyes angrily. “How dare you speak to me like that?” she muttered through gritted teeth. “I am only doing what you hired me to do.” Her patience was holding on by a thread.
“You cannot make decisions like that without consulting me first!” He snapped, turning back toward his desk. “It’s foolish.”
“Foolish?” She roared. “You think I’m foolish?! You know what’s foolish?" She took a furious step toward him with her fists clenched so hard the knuckles had turned bright white. "What's foolish is this delusional idea! The thought that one person with a stupid computer program can stop a virus that has crippled the entire world and defeated global superpowers! That's foolish!” Her blood was on fire, her cheeks burning in anger when she spun back toward the door and stormed up the stairs. "Screw you," She shouted down the staircase before slamming the basement door behind her. She practically ran back to her room, trying not to catch the attention of Gus. She knew she wouldn't have the strength to leave if he confronted her again, so she avoided his attention completely. Luckily it was the middle of the night so the old man was probably sound asleep.
She bounded up the stairs and into the stale old room, then threw her things back in her bag, tied her hair up in a messy bun and bolted out of the door. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that nobody was waiting in the foyer, so she ran straight out the front door, leaving the mysterious doctor and his creepy house behind her.
Her feet crunched across the moist gravel as she ran to the end of the driveway. The trees along either side were much more ominous when on foot in the dark, making the gravel road look like a tunnel into darkness.
She realized as she ran that she would have to walk all the way home, since there was no public transportation anymore. She didn’t care, though. She just had to get out of that place.
So she ran, and ran... and ran. It could only be a few miles away, right?
Luckily she'd been running a lot lately thanks to the Herd. She was in the best shape of her life, just not by choice.
Her chest was burning as she sucked in the cool midnight air, but she still kept running. After a few miles, she decided to walk for a while to save her energy. The silent darkness seemed endless around her, and for a moment she regretted leaving the safe haven she'd found.
Too late to go back now, she thought. She pulled out her phone to get directions home, and a strange feeling of sadness came over her when she noticed that Bradley hadn't even bothered to text or call. Why do I even care? She muttered to herself.
She shook her head loose of thoughts of the mysterious man, and opened the maps app on her phone. The GPS showed a five mile walk. She let out a long, exhausted groan. It was going to be a long night. Thank God for that giant bowl of hearty chili.
The only sound along the darkened street was the soft padding of her feet on the crumbling concrete, a haunting rhythm piercing the blackness around her. She hugged herself tight, scanning the shadows in fear. Nope.... she grumbled to herself... this is definitely the stupidest thing I've ever done.
Only a few of the streetlights along the side of the road were still working, guiding her through the darkness in buzzing splotches. Occasionally one would flicker and die with a loud snap. She wiped a few beads of sweat for her forehead and sighed, listening to the musical silence around her and trying to ignore the aching in her feet.
But then the silence was broken.
Voices. Dozens of angry voices were coming up behind her. Every cell in her body began to tingle with fear.
The Herd was coming.
She immediately burst into a full-on sprint, running for her very life. Her legs were already burning from her last sprint, and her chest was growing tighter with every stride.
And yet the voices grew louder.
She chanced a look over her shoulder, and sure enough a crowd of enraged faces was rounding the corner with their leather-clad red haired leader at the front.
“We found her!” The crazed woman shouted with fire in her eyes.
That’s when it hit Cara. They were hunting her down, intentionally trying to infect her because of her “influence.” She swallowed down her fear and looked forward, once again having to force herself past her physical breaking point.
So Cara ignored the burning in her thighs and pounded the pavement with all of her might. She could hear the crowd getting closer, but she didn’t dare turn around again.
She ran harder than she’d ever run before, even though every step meant searing pain shooting up from the arches of her feet, through her thighs and up to her lungs.
Finally she came upon an old gas station. It was covered in grime and rust, and lit by a few flickering fluorescent bulbs inside. She pressed ahead, praying she could make it there in time. They had to have a security system in place. Surely they'd let her in, protect her. Right?
She took a few more paces while desperately gasping for air, but suddenly her lungs couldn’t expand any more. It was like they had turned to stone.
She couldn’t go on. She was just too tired. But the gas station was so close, maybe she could get in and lock the door behind her. She forced herself to take another step.
She felt her chest begin to close up, her body shutting down. One more step.
Her legs grew weak, and she felt like she was going to have to stop and vomit. The mob behind her grew even closer, she could hear them screaming her name.
“Cara!” They shouted, “We will infect you!”
“We are the cure!” Was the last scream she heard before she finally collapsed to the ground.
- Writer
