Noxious

Noxious

Shane and his mate a few days ago had broken into a local chemist and
stole a few bottles of liquid, they didn't know what they were as they
had no labels on.
Being curious kids they decided they'd mix them altogether for a
laugh.
The stuff smelt fuckin terrible and made them wince when they shook it
up and took the lid off.
The other night Shane's mate Dale got pissed off being kept awake for
the third night in a row by a squealing cat from the neighbourhood.
Every morning his mum would make him go out and tidy up all the rubbish
that the cat had ripped open and strewn about from their rubbish sacks,
he felt ill as he had to scrape up old chicken bones and smelly trash
from their patio, 'That's fuckin it' he thought, I'll put a stop to
that whining shitty little cat, so just before nightfall he poured some
of the concoction from the bottle into a saucer and put it next to the
bin.
He didn't hear any more whining that night; he heard something else
though, what he heard that night kept him awake for nights on
end&;#8230;.
It was a late September morning and mist hung lightly on the horizon as
the 'Mainstone keep fit club' gathered on the playing fields.
"Ok ok, hope your all feeling fit this morning" Paul said jogging on
the spot. Paul lead the team each week and gave keep fit tuition in the
local community centre twice a week, he was a tall thin man in his mid
thirties. "Were going to do something slightly different today, last
week most of you" he said smiling and nodding to a few that didn't
quite make it "made our way through the woods and down to the lake and
back" there were a few comments and petty jokes between the group.
"Well today were going to run adjacent to the woods, through cutters
yard and end up eventually at the country park"
There were a few mutterings and sighs at this, as it would probably
total around four miles in all, much further than any previous run but
most of it they knew was flat and down hill.
"As last week, the newer members of the group will be given a four
minute head start, I want you all to do the best you can today but
remember, don't over do it and if you find it too hard then you can
walk" a few of the class were bending and pulling their feet up
stretching their muscles.
"It's not a race and there are no prises for coming in first, the only
thing you will win is your fitness and respect from yourselves, there
is no time limit but the last one in gets the drinks from the lodge" he
laughs and the group laughs with him.
Joe was new to the group, he was not particularly unfit but had put a
bit of weight on over the past few years, he had recently tried the gym
but lost interest after two months going on his own. His wife had left
him last year for another man, funny thing was he wasn't that bothered,
most of their time together towards the end they spent doing their own
things by themselves, he wasn't really sure if his wife was seeing
someone else but the thought did occur to him from time to time but
didn't really bother him. If it meant he could be left on his own to
play his records (he was an avid collector of rare records from the
last thirty years) and using his computer in the attic he was happy.
The group had given him the opportunity to get out, meet some people,
make friends and hopefully keep fit, it seemed perfect.
Joe had been to a few keep fit classes with the group but this was his
first run, he was a bit nervous, he thought if he could at least try to
keep up with the middle few, if he got tired he could slack off with
the slower ones.
Paul had his stopwatch out now and was looking at it, the group huddled
together in a line waiting for his instruction.
One lady in a pair of red jogging pants took out her inhaler and took
two sprays in one breath.
"Ok looks like were all ready, will the new members take three steps
forward please"
Joe wondered if that included him, he had been to a few of the classes
but never been on a run so he thought it was ok, he stepped forward
with four others.
"Ok" he blew the whistle and they were off, Joe was quick to start and
thought he would lead, he took it very easy and invited anyone to
overtake and take the lead if they wanted. He wondered if he would hear
the whistle in a few minutes for the rest of them.
A younger man Joe had been speaking to earlier came up and overtook the
lead, that was a relief Joe thought as the path breaks to a fork a few
hundred yards up. He wasn't entirely sure which path he would take so
he followed close behind.
It didn't take long before Joe could no longer see the man in front, he
didn't mind as he thought the others would soon catch up with
him.
Five minutes later Joe began to worry he had taken a wrong turn, he
thought it odd as he'd kept pretty much to the main path. Should he
stop he thought, he would look stupid if the others saw him so he
carried on for a while until he could see an opening ahead.
Joe began a steep decent that caught him off guard as he rounded a
bend, he managed to adjust his speed but felt something hard bash his
foot, he tried to steady himself with his other foot and found some
slippery mud. The next few seconds were too quick to react to and Joe
stretched out his hands to find the ground, he landed quite fortunately
but he'd hurt his ankle and his groin felt very stretched that made him
wince as he tried to move.
He could see the railway line ahead in the distance, he knew where he
was now as he used to walk his dog down here, this was quite a way off
the track.
Joe felt as though he had a migraine coming on, he saw blind spots in
front of him and his head felt light, fuck that was the last thing he
needed now. He thought he heard a rustling behind him as he stood up,
he hadn't sprained anything but he certainly couldn't run anymore. Joe
used to suffer immensely from migraines in the past and it sometimes
took him hours to find his vision again, now was one of those
times.
Shards of translucent light filtered through the trees above as he
rubbed his eyes. Joe span round quickly as he heard a shuffling and
inaudible grunts behind him, he could make out something was moving on
the ground in front of him but he couldn't see what it was. Joe backed
away to try and get a better view when the thing pounced on him, the
shock of it knocked Joe over, he tried to shield his face and beat the
thing with his fists but the thing seemed to be stuck to him. 'What the
fuck was it' he thought, he felt a twinge on pain in his ribs and found
blood on his hand when he touched them, not a bit of blood but a lot.
Part of his vision came back to him now and he saw a rabid animal
tearing away at his clothes in a frenzy. It only then began to sink in
that he was not only bleeding bad but this thing was intent on ravaging
him maybe to death! Joe mustered up all his strength and as quickly as
he could he grabbed the thing by it's neck and pulled as hard as
possible. The thing came free but it took ribbons of flesh with it, Joe
staggered to his feet and stamped on it with his heel. It squealed and
spluttered but was certainly not dead. A few yards in front of Joe he
noticed a thick dead log, he managed to pick it up and returned to the
animal. Joe looked down through watery eyes and held the branch above
his head, he knew at any second the thing could leap up and attack him
again so he didn't stop to see exactly what it was.
It took him five blows before he was convinced it was dead, he felt
some blood spray up from the thing on the forth blow and hit his
cheek.
Two weeks later most of Joe's injuries had healed but left some telling
scares. The largest wound just above his ribs hadn't healed fully and
kept weeping a pale liquid. He hadn't considered his injuries serious
enough to attend hospital or to see a doctor but now he thought he
might, he seamed to have developed a severe itching on his body around
the wounds, at times it was unbearable. Joe used to have mild ecsthma,
as a child that caused him to itch but nothing like this, this was
torturous.
The following Friday Joe had taken off work, he knew of a shop in town
that provided natural remedies for skin disorders as they had helped
him a year ago when he had caught scabies.
Joe checked he had all the things he needed and set out to the station,
it was only a short walk towards the bottom of the village and it was a
warm evening so he decided he wouldn't need the car.
Joe passed his local and looked in through the window, he remembered
the last time he was in there with his now ex wife, they had done their
best to sort things through that afternoon, he felt like a drink now,
Joe remembered a sign up in the bar saying 'Wife and dog missing,
reward for dog' he smiled as he thought of that.
All of a sudden Joe felt another Itching surge tear through his
abdomen, it was painful in a way, it itched so much he could have torn
a chunk right out of his stomach to stop it. He could also feel a
twinge in his upper arm, he could deal with that but it was red and
very sore from him scratching it earlier.
There were a few people walking about in the village, mainly in
couples. The station was pretty quiet for a Friday evening, most
commuters had now gone and only a middle-aged man sat in the waiting
room reading a magazine.
Joe bought his tickets from a self-service machine on the platform. If
the train was on time he had just over ten minutes to wait so he went
and sat down in the waiting room.
Not long after he had sat down a new wave of prickly irritation rushed
through his body, it was so intense it made him jolt forward and cry
out in pain. The other man looked up slowly over his magazine. "Ah, I'm
fuckin burning" Joe shouted jumping to his feet. Every cell in his body
now began to prickle immensely and he felt he could do nothing about
it. He had only a t-shirt on as it was such a warm evening.
"What the fucks happening to me" he shouted as he pulled off his
t-shirt. Joe looked down at his chest and saw it literally bubbling, he
couldn't bare to touch it, he then felt an overwhelming angry pressure
build up just inside his forehead, he gritted his teeth and clenched
his fists, he tried to take in air slowly but his throat had swollen up
quite a bit by now and he could feel liquid running down his chin. Joe
looked over to the man who was reading and saw a blurry figure now
standing up. The man then slid against the wall towards the door. Joe's
hands wanted to grip something tight, he thought it was the only thing
that could relieve his pain. The man now had hold of the door handle
and pulled it slowly as if he could slip away un noticed. Joe moved
quick and gripped the back of the mans neck, his neck felt thick. The
man then swung round a fist that caught Joe on his cheek, he didn't
feel the blow but it knocked him back a bit. Joe lunged forward and
grabbed the man's neck from the front this time "Don't fuck with me you
useless shite" Joe bellowed, splattering the mans face with saliva. He
could still feel the pain, it was wrong to take it out on this innocent
man but he was far from rational tight now, he had to take it out on
something or he would go mad.
There was a tingling in his fingertips now, without thinking Joe
plunged his other hand, fingers first through the man's back, he didn't
actually realize he had done it till his hand felt warm and wet. Joe
saw something moving coming out of the man's stomach, it took him a
while to realize it was his own hand.
A loud rumble outside indicated the train was on time.