“Marnie,” Danny whispered in her ear. “Get off the computer.”
He turned and looked around the office.
“Everyone, let's go get some lunch. By the way Brian, don't you like Marnie's hair? It looks nice in its natural state.” Marnie's auburn locks were usually straight, but today she wore her curly hair in a high ponytail.
Brian frowned. “Um, yeah…” Danny glared at him, daring his brother to say anything to the contrary. “It's nice. Is that your real hair?”
“Of course.” Marnie smirked at him.
“Jackson,” Danny passed him the keys. “Go bring the car around the front.”
“Sorry, it's my day off,” he said from behind the newspaper he was reading. As an afterthought, he added, “Have fun.”
Danny had forgotten. Maybe the rotten start to the day was a sign that the rest would be smooth. He tried to keep his eyes on the road and ignore the hand holding he witnessed from his brother and Marnie in the backseat. There's nothing wrong with her dating my brother. She needs a stable person in her life. Besides, addicts hooking up rarely turned out well anyway.
It didn't matter, though he still felt like kicking himself in the pants. He'd let her slip through his fingers. If only he could've done Tahoe over.
When Brian had asked for his permission, he should have told him no, she wasn't available. But Brian clearly liked her and it wouldn't do to continue making passes at his brother's girl. Danny sighed. You promised her. Even though he gave his promise to leave Marnie alone, he wished he could renege.
He turned his attention to the beautiful countryside as they traveled through upstate New York. Away from three‐block traffic jams and the beep of horns and fingers forming the F sign. He needed to forget about her and focus on staying sober.
At the restaurant, Danny ordered a drink and tried to massage away the brewing headache.
“You want some help?” Marnie scooted across the booth and reached out to him, but Danny angrily smacked her hands away.
“No. I'm fine.” He glanced at her and quickly averted his eyes. He did not want to address the hurt look on her face.
“Well,” Marnie picked up the menu. “I am fiending for some clam chowder. I hope they serve it here.”
“You just read my mind. I want some in a bread bowl,” Brian said.
“That's the only way I'll eat it.” Marnie beamed.
Danny's mood grew dark. That was our meal. He still remembered how sweet and pitiful she'd looked when she dubiously tried her first spoonful of chowder. He'd introduced the dish, and now she was creating a memory with his brother. He clamped his mouth shut and tried to appear unaffected as he watched the chemistry grow between his brother and his assistant.
“Danny, are you still going to your commercial? It's starting at 6 o'clock,” Marnie said.
“Of course.” Danny had agreed to do a public service announcement about homelessness. The scene would feature him and three other actors conducting a candlelight vigil.
He placed pleats in his napkin and wondered when they would get to order their food. The place was fairly packed for lunch time. Tables grouped with families surrounded them. A few girls pinched their siblings and waved at him.
Screams pierced through the dreary afternoon.
Danny looked up as the front door broke open and a tiger burst through. It leaped across a few empty tables and roared with a fierceness that rendered the room speechless. The fur hung loosely on it. The tiger leaped from the table. Its forearms tackled a waitress. Blood quickly soaked the carpet. Her shrieks of distress slapped life into the patrons.
Marnie gasped. “Look.”
Danny turned as two more tigers entered through the broken doorway. They slowly walked around the room. He quickly looked for an exit. His heart sank when he realized they would not be able to run past the two tigers in order to make it through the front door.
Out of the corner of his eye, Brian grabbed Marnie's hand. Danny looked at Marnie, fear was written across her face as they both scooted as fast as they could out of the booth.
His brother led the way as they jumped on the tables, making their way toward the back door exit, their hair on end as screams followed behind them. They ran into the kitchen, but were stopped by a backlog of hysterical customers and cooks who pushed and punched their way to the back door.
Danny closed the door to the kitchen and peered through the oval window. Three tigers were making a feast of one person. Pandemonium ensued in the kitchen as people continued crushing others to get out of the restaurant. Danny felt a twinge of guilt as he stepped over a man who had fallen on the ground, and been knocked unconscious. Finally, they rushed out into the streets.
“Alright, let me call 911.” Brian whipped out his cellphone.
Another group of customers pushed past him, knocking the phone out of his hand. They watched as it skidded across the street and into the open sewer drain.
“Let's head this way and see if someone will let us in so we can call the police,” Danny said.
They ran down the residential street, banging on doors, but no one answered. Danny cursed himself for leaving his cellphone in the car.
As they turned the corner to head back to their car, Brian held out his arm to stop them. A woman stood in the middle of the street. Dilated black eyes spotted them. Her gray hair hung limply against her cheeks.
“Are you enjoying my children?” She gave them an ear to ear smile while clutching a red gas can to her chest. Tilting her head, she opened her mouth and poured the pale amber liquid down her head and past her lips. Rivers of oil slid down her body, pooling at her feet. She tossed the can toward them. “They're so friendly. Will you find them good homes?” She stuffed her hand in a pocket and returned with a lighter. She touched the flame to her hair and as it snaked an outline across her face, she dropped the lighter. A line of flames sprung up, surrounding her and blocking off the street.
Danny leaned against the brick building and made the sign of the cross. He opened his eyes. Two blocks away, a tiger bounded for them. Blood stained the fur around its mouth.
“Run!” Danny yelled. He grabbed his brother by the shoulder and pushed him into an alley. He looked behind him. Marnie had fallen. She held the heel of her shoe in her hand. Kicking off both heels, she grabbed his outstretched hand to have him pull her up. He looked around the edge of the alley. The tiger was only several feet away now. He tugged on Marnie, and they continued to run. The sound of paws thundering against concrete meant the tiger was gaining on them. Marnie's grip loosened.
“I can't run anymore.” She hopped on one foot.
He guessed she sprained her ankle when her heel broke.
Danny looked around. He couldn't see the tiger. But, to be on the safe side, he hoisted Marnie on his back. He wouldn't stop running until they were safe.
“Hey!” Brian waved. “They're going to let us in.” Brian stood two blocks away on the steps of a brownstone.
Danny began to jog toward him, but the block was on a hill. With Marnie on his back, he was forced to slow down.
“Put me down,” she said.
He leaned against a brick wall and released his hold on her. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw it. Shit. He looked into its eyes. It had chased them six blocks. The tiger was coming for them.
Marnie grabbed his chin. “Go.”
He tugged on her arm, but she wouldn't budge.
“I can't run. If you carry me, I'll slow us both down.” She slid down and sat on the sidewalk. “Just go.”
There was no way in hell he was leaving her. The tiger stalked forward, slowly minimizing the distance between them, letting out an excited roar. They did not have very much time.
“Brian!” Danny motioned for his brother to come back. “Get her. I'm going to distract the tiger.”
“Danny, no. Just go!” Marnie screamed.
Her face was set in grim determination, but his will was just as strong.
He took off his shoe and jogged backwards away from her. “It's fine, I can run, you can't. I'll distract it long enough for you to get away. Okay? Get ready.”
He ran across the street and stood on the corner, poised to run when the time was right. When the tiger was only a quarter of a block away from her, he threw the shoe, hitting it in the mouth. “Hey!” Danny waved. The tiger threw the shoe out of its path then continued toward Marnie.
Something was wrong. He turned to look at Brian. His brother stood paralyzed in the street.
“Brian, grab Danny, and go,” Marnie cried out.
“Marnie, you can make it. Come on. I'll hold the door open for you.” His brother ran up the steps and into the brownstone.
What the hell was Brian doing? How could he leave her? Danny ran into the middle of the street and tore into his index finger. His gnawed until he tasted blood. He smeared the blood on his other shoe and threw it at the tiger. But he missed and it bounced off the brick building and landed on the sidewalk instead.
No.
She pulled herself up with the help of a downspout and inched forward and stumbled. Her legs gave way underneath her. The tiger lunged, closing the gap between them.
“Marnie!” Danny ran barefoot toward her. His left leg smashed into the side of a station wagon's tow ball, but he ignored the pain.
Marnie kicked the tiger, but it caught her foot in its mouth. Her howls pierced Danny's heart. He grabbed the tiger's fur and punched it in the head. The tiger raised its paw and brushed him away as if he were a sack of rice. His head smashed into a lamp post. Dazed, the wind knocked out of him, Danny desperately tried to stand. His legs, like jelly, failed him. He stumbled and stood up again. With his vision blurry, he reached for the tiger once more.
The sound of a shotgun sang through the air. The tiger collapsed on top of her legs, motionless, with half her foot in its mouth. Grateful, Danny turned around. A man in plaid pajamas with one sock on and one barefoot, and a double barrel shotgun in one hand, helped him from the ground.
“Thank you.”
Danny turned his attention to Marnie. The stranger helped him roll the tiger off of her. She squealed as Danny pried her mangled foot from its mouth. Large puncture wounds marked where its teeth had plunged. He jumped when the shotgun pierced the air again. Half a block away a panther lay wounded on the sidewalk. Its stomach poured into the street.
“We better go. I only have two rounds left.” Their savior opened the gun and fed two more shells into the barrel.
“Okay. Marnie, come on.” He grabbed her hand. His legs wobbled with each step, but he could still run. He had to.
“I can't run,” she whispered.
“I'm not going to leave you here. If you want to stay and die, you're making that decision for both of us.”
Marnie frowned and let out a huge sigh. “Alright, help me up.”
Danny pulled her and she pushed off the building. Marnie screamed all the way. Together they jog-hopped. Danny didn't have the strength to carry her, so he lobbed her forward and she hopped a few steps. The gunman walked backward beside them shotgun locked and ready at hand. They traveled the block it took for them to reach the brownstone. Brian ran out and picked Marnie up. Shouting could be heard between Brian and the occupants of the brownstone. The barrel sounded again. Danny leaped up the steps, collapsing halfway into the entrance. He quickly got up and pulled the gunman in behind him. He glanced and saw Marnie lying across the sofa. Her foot stained the beige pillows propped underneath it.
“Don't touch me,” she screeched to his brother, swatting away his hand.
“Brian,” Danny called out.
He felt dizzy and sick to his stomach, but he grabbed his brother's shirt and landed a right hook. He released him and stumbled backwards. Fortunately, someone placed a chair in his path.
Danny collapsed on the chair and put his head in hands. The world spun around him and amidst the chaos, his eyes closed and blackness overwhelmed him. He awoke to the sound of a siren blaring in his ear. He glanced around. “Hang in there, Danny.” His brother patted his arm. He was not hurt. Why wasn't he with Marnie? He couldn't contemplate the answer before blackness overtook him again.