Feeding Frenzy (Watty Award Winner)

Hero Costume: Chapter Eighteen

Tonya rode her bike along the path to the cemetery. It was getting dark, and she didn't have time to walk or even run. On the bike she must have looked insane, wobbling along the path with the yellow Hazmat suit tangling and impeding her legs as she pedalled. With the hood limiting her vision to one small plastic window in the front, more than once she drifted off the path and almost crashed into a tree, but there was no other way. Ducky had taken the car to look for Priya, and neither of them were answering their phones. Tonya was left to prevent disaster alone.

As soon as she neared the cemetery, she stashed her bike in the bushes and pulled the loud hailer Donna gave her out of her backpack. Tonya knew this was it, the moment which would define her career at the university, and her life in Loon Lake.

There are those who give their lives in battle. Others sacrifice themselves at sea, like the valiant captain who goes down with the ship. This was Tonya's weigh-in on the scales of Fate, and henceforth she would forever know her worth. Heck, the whole town would know. And so, for the good of the many, she had come fully-equipped to sacrifice herself, on the altar of social suicide.

In the hospital Hazmat suit, Tonya walked with the straight-kneed grace of Frankenstein. At least, as she lumbered her way through the forest, she was protected from inhaling infected air.

The bonfire became visible, as she got closer. Tonya could make out the flames and hear the shouts of university students, gathered around. The path streamed with couples and groups, laughing and screaming as they encountered Priya's monsters. She doubled her pace, unsure how to convince these merrymakers to listen, but certain that every moment spent in the cemetery, was another chance they would catch the disease.

Tonya stopped running when she saw a couple pass through the cemetery gates, headed towards the Ash tree where Rudolph died. Tonya ran past the bonfire to catch them. When she was within earshot, she yelled through the plastic window of her Hazmat suit:

"Leave the forest immediately!"

They stopped and turned to look at her and she rushed to catch up.

"This area is quarantined!" Tonya shouted.

"Funny!" said the guy.

"Ugly costume," said the girl.

Tonya was close enough to speak normally now. "No I mean it. It's not safe."

"Don't you fret," said the guy. "We'll use precautions."

The girl giggled and punched him in the arm. They turned and continued on their way, as if compelled to visit the Ash tree.

Tonya watched couples, singles and groups leave the bonfire and walk across her Aunt's field, as if drawn by some unseen force. To anybody else, they might appear to be wandering randomly in the dark, but that didn't explain why so many were leaving the comfortable bonfire to walk towards the Ash. Tonya was convinced it was drawing victims for a sinister purpose.

Wearing her Hazmat suit, Tonya tried to turn back groups and couples. They were in danger, but when she warned: "Go back or die," nobody listened to her.

"Very scary," some said. Others appreciated her costume's "authenticity," but not one listened. For a moment, she stood there, too frustrated to do anything. The way these students ignored her brought back school memories of being chosen last in gym class, but there were no team captains to pick her or leave her now. She had volunteered for this job herself.

Tonya walked back and stood between the bonfire, which was just outside the gates, and the Ash tree, which was closer to her Aunt's store. Standing in the middle of the path, she pressed the button on the loud hailer with her bulky gloves, and shouted:

"Attention! Attention!"

No sound came out. All she could hear was her voice, shouting inside the muffling plastic of her thick Hazmat hood. She held the handle up to her face and angled it this way and that, to see what was wrong through her rippling plastic face shield, but it was too dark. She pulled a flashlight out of the suit pocket and looked again. The buttons were clearly labelled. She tried every one. Nothing. Even the power light didn't come on.

Fumbling with her gloves, she pressed a release and snapped open the back. No batteries. It couldn't work. Why then did Donna tell her she had tested it? And what should she do now? With the suit and hood on, she could never shout loud enough to warn people in time. There had to be another way to get their attention.

Tonya replaced the flashlight and took out her phone. She removed the bulky outer glove so she could work the touch screen. The video cameras were hooked up to a feed that broadcast online. She would be able to see whatever was happening by the tree, as soon as the page loaded...

The first thing she noticed were the flowers, garlands and photos attached to one side of the massive trunk, in memoriam for Professor Rudolph. It seemed Priya had removed the evil-looking mouth and teeth out of respect for him, but the image was dark and it was hard to see much more on the phone's tiny screen.

Just then, a woman came around the side of the tree, dressed in a loose, white costume and carrying a bow. Tonya had another look. The woman wasn't visible because of light reflecting off her white body and dress as Tonya first thought. She glowed from within, like a goddess. Her dress was a toga. It must be Diana, Goddess of the Hunt. Tonya watched as Diana knocked an arrow to her bow, stepped around the tree, and fired a shot into the darkness beyond. Priya's creations were breathtaking, which made what Tonya had to do, that much harder. It was likely Priya would never speak to her again.

With a few taps on her phone, the worst was done.

Tonya ran.