The Rabid by Ami Urban Page A

around his wrists, pinning him in place. I
didn't care about my safety.
    "Lisa..."
Jack's hand fell on my shoulder. "They aren't snakes."
    In my
panic, I stared up at him. How could he not see that my son was going to get
bitten?
    "Yes,
there are. Please help me, Chase."
    He
slid me gently out of the way. "The name's Jack, but anyway..."
    "No.
you're Chase."
    I
watched as he removed the snakes from my son"s wrists. They fell to the floor,
hissing and spitting, but stayed away from him. It was as if he'd done it
thousand times before.
    "Chase
is dead, baby." When he stood up with Rex in his arms, I tried to stand too.
But a pull in my side stopped me. I looked down and noticed a rainbow leaking
from my shirt.
    Rex's
eyes were also too large for his face. "Momma bleed."
    I
couldn't understand what he was saying. "Does he have any rainbows?"
    There
was a laugh under Chase"s next words. "No. No rainbows on this buddy, huh?"
    Rex chomped
at the air.
    "Come
on, pal." He lifted my son onto his shoulders, but turned to look at me before
he left. I didn't remember Chase having hazel eyes and light brown hair. I
remembered him dead. "Need help?"
    I
shook my head. "Has anyone ever told you that you look like that actor?"
    He
tilted his head at me. "I could guess, but give me more?"
    I
searched my mind. "Van Wilder."
    His
mouth twisted into a smile. "Yeah, everybody says that to me. it's probably
because we share a last name, though."
    My
footsteps fell into place with theirs. "No you don't. you're last name is
Barclay."
    "Bzzt!
Wrong! Best two out of three?"
    "What
are you talking about?"
    ***
    Birds.
I heard birds chirping. I hand't heard birds in months. The sound to sunk into
my very core. My muscles loosened. I allowed my eyes to flutter open. I was on
my back in the soft grass. I could smell it " sweet and earthy. The sky was
visible through the tree above me. The clouds lazily moved in formation. Had I
dreamt the entire apocalypse?
    Then
the pain awakened my senses. The smell of grass and sound of birds ended
abruptly. My side was on fire. I gasped in a breath of stale air.
    "Oh,
hey..." Jack's face hovered over me.
    "Where
are we? What happened?" I tried to sit up, but the wave of pain radiated into
the entire left side of my body. Jack placed a hand behind my head.
    "it's
ok. Lie back." His voice was soft and soothing. "Were in Las Vegas. At Paris
Paris. You were stabbed."
    "I
distinctly heard birds and smelled grass."
    Jack's
features suddenly turned anxious. "Yeah...the blade was tipped in LSD. You might...hallucinate
for a while."
    I
pushed myself up slowly onto my elbows. He watched me the whole time. "Did I
call you Rex's father"s name? Were there snakes?"
    "You
did and you thought there were. No snakes." His smile caught me a little
inside.
    As I
moved, a new pain arose " a stinging burn. I winced.
    "I
also had to use super glue to stitch you up."
    "Super
glue?"
    "Yeah.
you're the doctor here. What was I supposed to do? I wasn't going to let you
bleed out."
    The
concern in his face was warming. "That was incredibly idiotic to risk your life
to save ours, you know."
    "Glad
I could be of service." He grinned at me and I felt something form in the pit
of my stomach. I pushed it away immediately.
    "where's
Rex?"
    Jack
held out a hand and helped me stand on both feet. It was a difficult process,
but I could balance well enough. Rex was trotting along with Alex about three
yards away. He seemed so randomly happy and at home in such a strange place.
    "Wait..."
I turned back to Jack. "What about all the men? Rupert?"
    His face
turned stony. "it's been taken care of. No need to worry."
    "You
killed him."
    The
surprise in his features was enough to tell me he had. "I had to."
    I
nodded. "I figured. Thank you for taking care of me."
    He
shrugged. "Hey, no sweat."
    After
feeling the wound under my shirt, I took a look around the casino. There were
still a few men left wandering around cautiously " watching us.
    "What
about them?" I