First Date- a Novella Read online

  “Get away from him,” Daniel said, standing, but he didn’t need to say from who because most were scrambling away. Walking around the table, Daniel noticed several people staring off with blank faces.

  “Vince, I’m sorry I broke your X-box remote,” Don yelled, backing away and shoving tables and chairs aside as Vince stood up sluggishly.

  As Daniel came up behind Vince, he saw Vince pass right by Glenda, who was just staring at nothing and showing zilch emotion to the scene mere feet from her. “Vince, you’ve been hurt and need to lay down,” Daniel said, coming up behind him.

  When Don passed another coworker, Charlie, as he backed away, Vince shifted his gaze to Charlie. “I didn’t do anything, Vince,” Charlie screamed as Vince raised his arms, grasping the air as he stumbled forward, snapping his teeth rhythmically.

  Grabbing Vince’s shoulder, Daniel pulled him hard, moving out of the way as Vince fell on his back. “Stay down, Vince; I don’t want to hurt you,” Daniel said when he felt his left forearm in pain.

  Turning to his left as he heard a groan, Daniel saw Andy still sitting in the chair with his hand clasped on Daniel’s left forearm pulling his arm to Andy’s gaping mouth. Extending his right fingers and flattening his right hand, Daniel swung, striking Andy in the throat with his fingertips. He felt the cartilage break and was looking into Andy’s eyes when he hit, but Andy showed no sign he felt it, and his head only moved back a few inches.

  Feeling his left hand start to go numb, Daniel looked down at Andy’s hand as it held his forearm like a vise. Bringing his knee up, Daniel caught Andy under the chin, snapping his head back. Raising his right arm up, Daniel chopped down on Andy’s forearm at the radial nerve.

  Daniel felt the pain from the blow, but Andy’s grip never lessened, and Daniel could see his left hand turning blue. As Andy’s head snapped forward from the knee strike. Daniel dropped his body, leaning forward to drive his elbow into Andy’s nose. A loud crunch was heard as Andy’s nose broke, but he didn’t yell out or even acknowledge it. He just opened his mouth again, going for Daniel’s arm.

  Seeing Andy’s left arm coming up to grab him, Daniel lashed out with a chop, driving it away. He knew if Andy grabbed him with both hands, it was over. Yanking back and trying to pull his arm away, Daniel accomplished pulling Andy out of the chair to his feet.

  Not able to even move the fingers of his left hand, Daniel panicked and got pissed. “Fuck you, bitch!” he screamed, swinging his right arm in an uppercut as he pulled back with his left, extending Andy’s right arm out. Daniel’s fist hit Andy’s elbow, and a sickening crunch was heard as everyone watched Andy’s elbow bend the wrong way.

  Even with his elbow destroyed, Andy didn’t relax his grip. In a rage, Daniel started lashing out with punches and elbows, driving Andy back, extending his right arm again. When Andy’s arm was extended, Daniel rolled his fingers into a half fist, striking the nerves and muscle body of Andy’s right forearm.

  In a fight long ago, Daniel had that same strike used on him and couldn’t use his hand for an hour. All it did to Andy was make his grip slacken ever so slightly, and that was all Daniel was waiting for. Rolling his left arm and pulling away from Andy, Daniel lashed out with a kick, striking Andy in the chest. Andy being kicked away, Daniel pulling back, and Andy’s own weight caused his left hand to slide off Daniel’s arm.

  Behind Daniel, Vince stood, reaching for Daniel as he stepped forward. Ginger took off running, leapt in the air, and, as she came down, extended her right leg as her foot hit Vince in the thigh right above his knee. Vince’s leg folded sideways as he crashed to the ground, and Daniel turned to see Ginger snap a kick in Vince’s face as he sat up, paying no attention to his left leg bent sideways.

  “Don’t let them grab you because their grip is worse than a vise,” Daniel said, turning around to see Andy get up and snap his teeth at him. “Oh, you still want to fucking play, bitch?” Daniel said, reaching in his back pocket. “Well, come and get some,” he grinned, flipping his wrist to snap open his flip knife.

  Raising his arms, Andy moaned as he stumbled toward Daniel. Flipping the knife over in his hand with the blade resting against his forearm, Daniel looked at Andy’s right arm. From the elbow down, it just hung, but the hand was still grasping. “I’ll show you some pain,” Daniel said, bringing his left arm up and sweeping Andy’s left arm across his body as Daniel turned his right side to him.

  Like a scorpion’s tail, Daniel’s right arm flashed out, driving the blade of the knife into Andy’s side from his armpit to the bottom of his ribcage half a dozen times. Pushing Andy away, Daniel stepped back and brought up his hand. He lashed out, dragging the blade across the left side of Andy’s neck.

  Kicking Andy in the back of his knee, Daniel watched him collapse to the floor. “Should’ve stayed the fuck down,” he said, turning around and seeing Ginger snap a kick into Vince’s left arm as he reached for her. Glancing down at Vince’s body, Daniel saw both of Vince’s knees were bent sideways, and now, both arms were broken at the elbow, but Vince still flopped around, trying to get close to Ginger.

  A scream made everyone jump, and they turned to see Susan biting Monica’s shoulder. “Daniel, behind you,” Ginger shouted, and he spun to see Andy almost on him.

  “Communist motherfucker!” Daniel screamed, snapping a kick out and sending Andy through the air, crashing down as Malik ran past him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Malik do a Superman punch on Susan, sending her off the table into the wall, but she did let go of Monica.

  Hearing movement, Daniel turned to see Andy struggling to get up. “Are you the evil Energizer bunny?” Daniel cried out in shock as Andy stood and started for him. Mad once again, Daniel flipped the knife around to the normal hold. “Where the fuck are your batteries then?” he growled and charged Andy, bringing his right arm wide and swinging it in.

  The tanto tip drove through Andy’s skull, and all movement stopped except gravity took over Andy’s body. Rearing his knee back to strike, Daniel was taken aback as Andy just collapsed, pulling the knife from his hand and sending his knee sailing over Andy’s head as the body fell to the floor.

  Not believing it, Daniel jumped over the body and started stomping on Andy’s legs, breaking them at the knees. After both legs were broken, Daniel stepped back, panting and looking at the still form of Andy. Reaching down, he yanked his knife out of Andy’s skull and wiped it on his pants. “Now I know where your fucking batteries are.”

  Glancing up, he saw Malik had Susan in a full nelson against the wall. Looking over at Ginger, he took off running as she stomped on Vince’s head but didn’t see Glenda coming up behind her. “Ginger, duck!” he screamed, diving at Glenda.

  Hearing the yell, Ginger dropped down as Daniel tackled Glenda, taking her off her feet, and both sailed over Ginger’s head, crashing into some of the coworkers that were standing around watching them fight. When they hit the ground, Daniel rolled away immediately and heard some of the ones they crashed into screaming as they tried to get away.

  Seeing movement from the corner of her eye, Ginger swept her left arm out in a block as she moved to her right. Feeling her arms hit something, she turned to see Tony spin away from her block, striking his arms as he reached for her. Snapping out a kick at the side of Tony’s knee, Ginger watched him crash down. Remembering Tony had been staring off, Ginger stepped back.

  Glancing around, she saw Teresa crying as Daniel beat the shit out of Glenda. “Teresa, get back. Move to the back,” she snapped, seeing four more people just staring off. Teresa took off running to the back of the room and put her back on a corner as she watched the battle continue.

  Seeing Tony attempt to stand, Ginger jumped in the air and came down on his lower leg, filling the air with a sickening pop as the knee joint blew out. When Tony dropped to the ground, a locomotive shoved her to the side as it dove on Tony, driving hammer fists into Tony’s face.

  As she saw Tony’s face slowly disappear, Ginger looked up at
Daniel driving his knife repeatedly into Tony’s face. Seemingly satisfied, Daniel slowly stood up, wobbling, and turned around to see Malik fighting Susan. Breathing hard, Daniel wobbled over to Andy’s body and pulled the claw hammer out of his tool belt. Folding his knife, Daniel slipped it in his pocket as he walked over and raised his right arm high.

  Bringing his arm down hard, Daniel buried the hammer’s head in Susan’s skull, dropping her instantly. With his grip weakened, the hammer was pulled out of Daniel’s hand. Putting his foot on Susan’s skull, Daniel pulled the hammer free, making a repulsive slurping sound. Panting hard, he stood up and looked at Malik. With wide eyes, Malik wanted to move back, but the wall was in his way. Daniel was covered in blood and gore.

  “Troglodyte whore,” Daniel panted, looking down at Susan’s crushed skull as something thumped against the closed door.

  Clearing his throat, Malik swallowed nervously. “I thought you liked Susan.”

  Spinning around and walking away, Daniel said, “I did till she wanted to skull drag our asses.” He stopped in front of Andrew, who was one of the four staring off. “You have three seconds to blink, motherfucker,” Daniel said, raising the hammer.

  “Wait!” Malik said as he and several others moved to stop Daniel, but Daniel brought the hammer down, sinking the head in Andrew’s skull. Yanking it out, he walked over to Sophia, who was also staring off.

  Reaching up and touching her eyeball, Daniel raised the hammer. Everyone grimaced as his finger pushed her eyeball back half an inch, and she never moved, much less blinked. Smack sounded as he hit in the side of the skull, knocking her out of the chair. Sophia sprawled out on the floor as blood pumped out of her crushed skull.

  “Her heart is still beating,” Holly said, gasping. Everyone turned to look at Holly, a high school intern who had started that week.

  “Bitch should’ve blinked,” Daniel said, moving over to the last two who were just staring off: Valerie and Glen. “Valerie, you better do something,” Daniel said, raising the hammer, and several turned away as he swung down, cracking her skull.

  As Daniel turned to Glen, Glen slowly stood, raising his arms and letting out a low, raspy moan. “Don’t even have to ask,” Daniel said, raising the hammer as he jumped in the air and swung down. Glen dropped, yanking the hammer out of Daniel’s hand, and everyone looked down to see the handle sticking out of Glen’s face. Daniel had driven the entire hammer halfway through his skull.

  Ginger came over as Daniel stumbled back weakly on his tired legs. When she touched him, Daniel jumped, spinning around. “It’s just me,” she said, raising her hands. “Are you okay?”

  Grabbing his shirt, Daniel yanked, sending buttons flying. Pulling his shirt off, he looked down at his left forearm. A bruise wrapped around his forearm in a perfect outline of a hand. “That fucking hurts like hell,” he said, staring at the bruise as he opened and closed his hand. His face twitched in pain when he moved any part of his hand or wrist.

  “I’ve never seen that kind of grip,” Ginger said, holding his arm and gently rubbing the outline of the bruise as Teresa came over, wiping her tears from her eyes.

  Concentrating on slowing his breathing, Daniel reached over and put a finger under Ginger’s chin, lifting her head up to look at him. “They may not move fast, but don’t let them grab you. For a minute, I thought I was going to have to cut off my arm.”

  “You’re not getting out of our date that easy,” Ginger said, smiling.

  With his breathing slowed, Daniel smiled. “Get your bike gear on and your backpack,” he said, handing her his ID card. “It can open all the lockers. See if you can find any weapons or good backpacks; we don’t have long,” he said as another thump sounded on the door, and something slapped one of the windows. Everyone but Daniel turned to look, but the blinds were closed.

  Looking at Teresa in two-inch high heels and a skirt, Daniel shook his head. “Teresa,” he said, and she turned to look at him. “Go with Ginger, and find pants and shoes—preferably boots and also a jacket but not anything huge.”

  Before Teresa could ask, Ginger yanked her to the women’s locker room. “Malik, give me your ID,” Daniel said, walking over as strength started to return to his exhausted body. “We need to move, so find weapons.” He walked into the men’s locker room.

  As he walked down the line of lockers, Daniel waived Malik’s ID, opening them until he reached his locker and opened it. Letting his clothes hit the floor, Daniel pulled out his riding gear as the door opened, and Malik, the stooges, Gary, Oscar, and Lonnie walked in.

  Turning around to look in the mirror over the sinks, Daniel saw a chunk of something in his hair. Pulling it out, he looked at it and saw it was a chunk of skull with gray brain matter attached. Tossing it down, he walked over turning on the sink and splashed water over his face.

  “Why are the lockers open?” Gary asked, storming over to Daniel.

  Malik grabbed his arm, spinning him around, and shoved him into the sinks. “Company property, and we have the right to inspect them for theft,” Malik said, stabbing a finger in Gary’s face. Gary glared at him, and Malik smiled. “Keep on glaring, boy, and I’ll snatch one of those eyeballs out and eat it.”

  The glare fell off Gary’s face as he sidestepped away. Malik turned to see Daniel pulling on his blue jeans and putting suspenders on. “You need suspenders?” Malik grinned, looking at Daniel’s muscular torso.

  “Biker pants, Kevlar-lined with reinforced contact points,” Daniel said, buttoning his jeans. “Heavy as hell, and if you wreck, the suspenders will hold them on so the pavement doesn’t peel you like an orange.”

  “Don’t wreck,” Malik said, moving to his locker. He pulled out his regular clothes. Like Daniel, he didn’t wear a suit to and from work. That day, all he wore were jeans, a t-shirt, and hiking boots with a blue jean jacket.

  Pulling his knee-high biker boots on, Daniel snapped the buckles closed and looked up. “Never planned on it, but for some reason, it happens when you least expect it,” he said, grabbing his leather jacket and gloves.

  “We need to get to the executive side,” Malik said, getting dressed. “They will be in here before long, and we can’t take all of them.”

  “How many you figure?” Daniel asked, pulling on his jacket and backpack.

  Malik shrugged. “Sixty-plus employees, twenty interns, and a handful of guests, but we don’t know how many went crazy,” he said, tying his boots, and Daniel moved down the lockers he had opened and saw Joe looking in another. Pulling out a nice backpack, Daniel tossed Malik’s ID to Joe.

  Catching it, Joe grinned and ran around opening the other lockers as Daniel pulled books and a laptop from the backpack. “Even if only half have gone crazy, we are fucked,” Daniel said, looking up. “Malik, Andy was dead. I cut his carotid artery along with stabbing his right lung six times, and he didn’t bleed. Yeah, he leaked some blood, but he should’ve bled out in seconds, but he still attacked.”

  “Daniel, you spear-handed him in the throat, and he never flinched. That alone should’ve killed him,” Malik said, throwing his hands up. “I snapped Susan’s arm, and she never noticed. I had my hand around her throat, and I never felt a pulse.”

  “I don’t know what’s going on, but we need to haul ass,” Daniel said, moving to another locker but not finding anything. He saw the stooges, Oscar, and Lonnie pulling out clothes. They kept some and discarded others. Gary was at the back, pulling out wallets; he opened them, grabbed the money, and tossed them.

  “Not going to argue about that,” Malik said, looking through several lockers, then pulled out a metal baseball bat. “I’ll take it,” he mumbled as a muffled scream sounded from the women’s locker room.

  Chapter 4

  Daniel flew out the door and turned so hard his boots almost slid out from under him. Keeping his balance, he grabbed the women’s locker room door, yanking it open. He saw Ginger and Monica on the ground with Ginger on Monica’s back, her left arm wrapped around he
r throat and her right arm holding Monica’s head.

  Letting out a loud grunt, Ginger twisted Monica’s head to the right as Monica snapped at the air, looking at Teresa. A loud crack went off as Monica’s neck snapped, and her body went limp. As Ginger crawled off, Daniel came over and saw both of Monica’s arms were broken at the elbows. “You okay?” he asked, pulling Ginger up.

  Panting hard, Ginger nodded. “Yeah, Monica just zoned out, and we moved back, then she went after Teresa.”

  “Good idea to break her arms first,” Daniel said as Monica’s jaws snapped shut then opened. “Jesus,” he shouted, jumping back as Malik and the stooges ran in.

  Ginger moved over and looked down at Monica’s face as her jaws snapped shut, clacking her teeth, and her eyes moved to look at Ginger. “Holy shit,” Ginger shouted, jumping back. “She’s still fucking alive after I broke her neck.”

  Grabbing Ginger, Daniel pulled her over and shook her until she looked up at him. “Nobody can live with a broken neck. This is some kind of infection that drives people to kill no matter what happens to their body.”

  Blinking rapidly, Ginger turned to look back at Monica. “They only stopped when you hurt the brain,” she said in a low voice. “Give me your knife,” Ginger said, holding out her hand.

  Pulling his knife out, Daniel flipped it open and handed it to Ginger. Ginger moved over and knelt down beside Monica. “Ginger, it’s Monica,” Teresa sobbed. “She can’t hurt us now. They might be able to help her when the police get here.”

  “I’m not leaving her here in case she figures out how to move with a broken neck,” Ginger said, grabbing Monica by the hair and driving the knife into the back of her skull. Like a switch, Monica stopped moving.

  Looking at Monica’s shoulder where Susan had bit her, Daniel snapped his fingers. “She was bit.”

  “Glenda wasn’t bit,” Teresa said, and Daniel looked at her standing in bra and panties.

  “Neither were some of the others,” Daniel mumbled then looked at Ginger. “You about ready?”