The wind cut through like a knife with each gust, the air in my lungs pushing out in cloudy puffs as I ran. Pushing harder I took a left where I normally keep straight, hoping to run with the wind to my back. I recalculated the path in my head, it would add at least another fifteen minutes to my run going this way. Better than fighting the wind for another mile and a half. The neighborhood was a bit more rough around here but at six in the morning it might as well be a ghost town. A red Sudan began to back our of their driveway I just barely avoided getting run over by slapping my palms against the trunk of the car. They slammed on their brakes, shouting what I assumed to be profanities as I ran past. I turned up the volume of my headphones, drowning out the sound of their tires peeling off. Allowing the music to decided my cadence, I lengthened my strides, the incident already forgotten, with the wind at my back and the rising sun on my face I may as well have been flying.

It happened too fast to process, a crash. A woman lie in the streets, the driver backed up and sped off.  Adrenalin pushed me foraward as I sprinted toward the woman, she layed catatonic in the street. I lay my hand on her forehead, brushing her hair back to see her face better, her left leg was laying in a sickly position, bent backwards unnaturally, broken. 

“Ma’am, ma’am! Can you hear me, are you okay.” 

She groaned in response, her eyes rollin in the back of her head before she began to convulse. I’d always been told that if a person is experiencing a seizure to lay them on their side so they don’t choke. I attempted to roll her over, but she was heavier than I thought. Securing my feet against the pavement I hoisted at her side as I screamed for someone, anyone to call 911. She began to shake violently, a sickly yellow foam secreting from her lips. With one hand securing her in place, I patted at my waist searching for my phone only to remember that I had left it on the charger this morning.

“Shit!” I swore looking around frantically, nothing. There wasn’t a soul out. I shouted out for help again, hoping someone would hear me. Looking down at the woman, her convulsions were getting more and more violent, the foam now tricking down the side of her face. Panic set in, and I was frozen with indecision, do I run for help and leave her here or hope beyond hope that someone would appear. God must have heard my plea because a car turned the corner, headed our way. I flailed, one arm in the air trying to catch the attention of the driver. They pulled to a stop so quickly that the tires left skid marks on the pavement, and a familiar face greeted me popped out of the drivers’ seat, Isaiah. 

“Oh thank God! Call 911!” I yelled from the middle of the road. 

Isaiah was my neighbor, we’d been friends from as long as I can remember. He’d always had this uncanny ability of being there right when I needed him., and I thanked the heavens his superpowers were working today. He ducked out of his sedan that was entirely too small for a man of his build and fumbled with his phone. 

“What happened?” He knelt beside the woman, his warm brown eyes questioning. 

“I think she was hit by a car, the bastard just peeled off, and then!” I threw my arms in the air exasperated, “She just started convulsing, I left my phone at home and..”

“Crap!” He hung up and redialed.

“What?” 

“It’s not connecting, I tried calling you a minute ago and I got the same thing.” He stood holding his phone towards the sky as another brutal gust of wind cut through me. I shivered, looking from Isaiah to the now unconscious woman, there was blood trickling down the side of her neck. I hadn’t noticed that earlier when she was convulsing, it wasn’t a lot, not life threating but I couldn’t find a wound, I pulled back the collar of her turtle neck to reveal what looked like a bite mark. 

“What in the world?” I leaned forward to get a better look but she started to moan. 

“Ma’am, ma’am, can you hear me? You were hit by a car, were trying to get you some help, just hold on okay?” She didn’t respond

I looked to Isaiah, “Still nothing. Come on! Get the door for me?” He lifted her in his arms, as he started to place her into the back seat she groaned loudly.

“It alright, I’ve got you. Ma’am!” 

I moved to get into the passengers seat when I heard it, a sickly crack. Isaiah had dropped her. 

Shock held me rigid as a red pool seeped from her head, her eyes opened wide, the white around her them as red as the blood seeping from her head. But she wasn’t dead, a snarl spewed from her lips. What had he done?

“She tried to bite me!” He exclaimed, hand held out.  

“What the hell Isaiah!” I screamed dropping to my knees in an attempt to help the poor woman. I removed my shirt and started to wrap it around her head to stop the bleeding when she reached for my arm. Her mouth snapped violently as I wrenched my arm away from her. 

“Calm down, I’m just trying to help.” I know people tend to act erratically especially after a brain injury or seizure, in which I’m sure she had both at this point. I reached to secure the makeshift bandage when she latched onto my arm again but this time her grip was unyielding, pulling my arm closer to her mouth. She was too strong to shake off, I then felt a strong arm latch itself on my waist hoisting me away before she could bite me. 

“Get off her!” I was pushed protectively behind Isaiah. I tried pushing past him but he shouldered me back hard enough that I lost my footing and fell to the ground. It happened so fast, she pulled herself to her feet impossibly and lunged, pushing against Trevor as he did his best to fight her off but she was overtaking him. Something was off, she looked like a crazed animal and with her leg angled in a sickly position as she grabbed at him wildly, her jaws snapping at him as he struggled to hold her off. 

Isaiah acted quickly, lifting his left leg to deliver a striking blow that caused the woman to fall backwards, her broken leg snapped this time, no longer able to support her weight she went down with a howl. She was unrelenting, now crawling towards us. I scrambled to my feet, watching in horror as she screeched, clawing and gnashing, blood running down her face in rivers yet she still tried to get to us. 

 “How is she... what...” I found myself unable to form a coherent question as I turned to Isaiah in disbelief. His face turned an ashen pale as he shook his head, pulling me by the arm towards the car. I got in without another word and we raced back toward the house. Isaiah mumbled something under his breath as he white knuckled the steering wheel. 

“Huh?” I turned to him.

“Your Dad, he ... he’s not feeling well.. that’s why I came to get you.”