Chris withdrew his hand. “I’m sorry. Go get yourself cleaned up.”
The barista hurried back into the coffee shop, while Chris held onto his partner. Marsh’s seizure was coming to an end, but blood continued leaking from his nose. It had also began to seep from the edges of his eye sockets. The gathered spectators held their mouths and gasped.
It was then that Chris had a realisation. He has it. He’s caught the virus we’ve been sent here to look for. Shit, Marsh, what the hell have you been up to?
Then he had another, more frightening thought. He’s infectious. I need to close this whole place down. God knows how many people he’s passed this onto already.
Chris let go of Marsh, letting his body slump to the ground. He shot to his feet and pulled out his radio. It crackled as he spoke into it. The panic in his voice was obvious. “Dispatch. This is Detective Cox. The virus has spread.”
BEANS
“I can’t believe I got that dude’s blood on me,” Danny said to himself as he marched across the car park. His shift had ended at the coffee shop and he’d been heading out. He didn’t even know why he’d stopped to help that guy.
What else could I do? He was flipping the fuck out.
Danny had cleaned himself up in the coffee shop’s kitchen and then headed out the back door to the car park. He didn’t want to get drawn in to any of the commotion that was happening out on the station’s platform. There seemed to be some sort of panic going on, which was hardly surprising given the state of the dude having the seizure.
What the hell was wrong with that guy? Epilepsy?
Who gives a shit? I gots to gets my party on.
Danny had been looking forward to seven-o-clock all day. The time where he could finally skip out of work and catch his ride to Birmingham, where Joey would be throwing the party of the century. Joey was one of his best buddies and grew up in a house the size of a supermarket. It had tennis courts, a swimming pool, snooker tables, and everything else his millionaire parents could think to buy. And for the next week, the house was in Joey’s care while his parents were on a cruise. It was going to be the best few days of Danny’s life. A whirlwind of booze, drugs, laughs, and clunge.
Nirvana baby!
Danny picked up his pace and headed up the hill towards the bus station. Coming down the road, in the opposite direction, was a police car. Its sirens were on and its driver eyeballed Danny as he passed.
What you looking at, pig?
Danny rounded the corner and stopped just outside the bus station. He wasn’t due to catch a bus; Joey would be picking him up in his parent’s Audi. It was a sweet ride and if it was warmer they could have had the top down all the way up the motorway.
Oh well, can’t have everything.
Sure enough, Danny spotted Joey idling in the sleek black Audi and quickly dashed towards him. He slung open the door and hopped in.
“Hey, D-Man, how’s it going?”
“Yeah, good. Except some dude just bled all over me.”
Joey looked at him. “For real?”
Danny shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. Let’s just get this party started.”
“Hell yes!” Joey gunned the engine and the two of them got going. They sped right past a row of police cars heading towards the train station.
“You know what all these pigs are doing?” Joey asked him.
Danny shook his head and looked out of the window. “No. Maybe it had something to do with the dude that collapsed on the platform.”
“A guy collapsed?”
“Yeah, was bleeding everywhere like a stuck pig.”
“Gross.”
Danny let out a long breath as he thought about getting the guy’s blood on him. “Yeah, gross.”
“Well, I’ll be doing some pretty gross things with Stephanie later tonight. If I can get it up, that is, with all of the booze I’m gonna drink.”
Danny smiled. “Tonight is going to be hardcore.”
Joey bashed the car’s horn three times. “Hard-fuckin’-core!”