Virus Goes to the Show

“Where are you going, Virus?” Soot asked as Virus walked away from the fire they’d just started. The end of Soot’s poking stick caught fire and she squeaked, waving it wildly in an attempt to put it out. Virus stepped on it, the fire going out with a sassy hiss.

“I’m heading to the bar,” Virus replied as Soot examined her charred stick.

“But why? I thought we were going to head out in the morning. Normally you would be in bed before the sun’s even down so you can get up before it gets up.” Soot tilted her head. Virus shook hers.

“I found something interesting in this town. We’re sticking around for another week.” Virus turned and began walking away.

“A week?” Soot gasped. “But we’ve never stayed in one spot that long! We’ve been here two weeks already!” Virus wasn’t listening. She was already almost out of sight. “Isn’t this a little risky?” Soot shouted after her, but she was gone. She sighed and glanced back down at the fire. It was only then she noticed what Virus had used to get it started. All that remained were a few scraps and ash, but it looked like an advertisement of some kind of local event.

Virus walked with her hood up and her head down. She memorized the address of the bar so that she wouldn’t have to hang on to the poster any longer, just in case her crew started asking questions. She took several extra, unnecessary turns just to make sure none of them could easily keep up with her. Behind her, the sun slowly set. The city was coated in red before the shadows of looming buildings overtook the streets, and an early night settled. Streetlights flickered on, at least the ones with working, un-shattered bulbs. After walking for what felt like hours, Virus hopped a fence in a back alley and passed a steel door with “Employees only” scrawled on a crooked sign. A van was parked next to the door, and the open back was loaded with a bunch of musical equipment, including a drum set with a picture of a cookie with an explosion of color glistening around it. Virus stopped and raised an eyebrow at the incredibly weird sight. She contemplated swiping a little something for just a moment before deciding it would push her luck. The odds of the band noticing were a lot higher during unloading, since they would probably need all of the stuff they brought with them.

Virus cut around the building to the front door. She was surprised to see a long line of Kats, as well as a couple of humans, wrapped around the front and side of the building. She hadn’t realized the band had enough of a following to amass such a crowd. She tried not to be too impressed yet. Maybe all of these individuals were just very easily impressed, or they were coming here anyways and the band’s performance was just a coincidence. She’d seen places like this book bands pretty much weekly, anyways, so a regular crowd may have formed. She also attempted not to notice the individuals wearing shirts with the band’s logo.

Virus found the very back of the line almost another block away. It almost didn’t seem worth hanging around. She started to wonder if she was being stupid. Her careful planning was all going to waste, and for what? The Kat she’d met at the bar had been intriguing, yes, but was she really worth all this fuss? Thoughts like this buzzed around in her head until she realized she was at the front of the line. She tried to remember getting in line or waiting for what was probably at least an hour, but she couldn’t.

“Snap out of it, Virus,” she mumbled to herself as she paid her way in. Inside, the lights were still mostly on as Kats and the few humans took their seats. The humans were restricted to a single table in the corner that had been modified to fit their much larger bodies, so no more than about eight could fit, yet they had squeezed ten bodies in the little corner. Maybe this band was bigger news than Virus previously gave them credit.

Not many tables had spaces left at them, so she wandered around for a bit searching for an open spot. Just as she was about to give up and leave, a black Kat with rainbow stripes running down his back and branching into a different colored tail and a triangular stone on his forehead sitting at a booth table in the front corner waved at her.

“Need a seat?” he asked. “I was just about to head backstage.”

“Uh, yeah.” Virus only just noticed the Kats around them pointing and whispering, as well as a few giggling nervously. “You said you’re going backstage? Do you mean you’re in the band?”

The Kat laughed and nodded. “Guilty. I like to try out the food at all the places we visit, and I heard this place’s Sichi burgers are off the charts, so I had to get one. Can’t say I was disappointed.” He stood up and held out a hand. Virus took it. “Name’s Trent; Trent Floyd. I’m the lead singer.”

“Virus,” is all she replied.

“Nice to meet you, Virus,” Trent said before releasing Virus’s hand. “Well, table’s all yours,” Trent said. A serving Kat wiped the table down behind him as they spoke, so Virus took a seat. “Enjoy the show!” Trent said as he took off, pausing to wave and snap some photos with the nosy fan Kats who’d been watching.

Virus settled in and put her hood up again. She didn’t like the attention speaking with the band’s lead singer drew to her. When the serving Kat came over with a menu, she waved him off. He nodded, but just before he left, she decided to order something. “I’ll have whatever he had,” she said, gesturing to the stage to indicate she meant Trent. The Kat nodded and walked off.

The club was packed to capacity by this point. Virus felt incredibly uncomfortable being so far from the nearest exit, which was behind the humans in the in the corner across from her. To get to it, she would have to navigate a sea of rowdy Kats. A few of the band members walked on stage with stage crew, eliciting a few whoops and whistles from Kats in the crowd. They smiled and waved before turning back to their equipment. Virus leaned her head to see if the Dexter, Kat from the bar was out yet, but she didn’t see her. She was struck with a sudden awful thought. What if the Kat from the bar had just lied about being Dexter to impress Virus? Hadn’t she lied about enjoying the alcohol to impress her, even if she denied the lies? The thought made Virus grind her teeth. Dexter could be any one of the Kats on stage. Besides, Dexter was traditionally a name used on males. Virus crossed her arms and glared at the stage, wondering which of the Kats was the real Dexter.

The server brought out the Sichi burger. Virus was almost too disgusted with the prospect of having been fooled to eat, but Trent wasn’t lying. The burger looked and smelled delicious. She sighed and pulled her hood back, grabbing the burger and taking a huge bite. As she chewed, she heard a crashing from on stage. She glanced up and saw a cymbal that fell off the drum set spinning around. She assumed that is what had caused all the noise. Someone cursed and she walked out on stage – the Kat from the bar who claimed to be Dexter. Virus crushed her burger slightly in her hands until she heard Trent from off-stage.

“Dexter, you good?” he yelled.

“Yeah,” the black Kat with wild rainbow stripes and spikes called back. “Nothing broke. Think it just came loose in the van.”

Some Kats in the crowd were laughing, and Dexter help up her middle finger at them and smirked. They went wild, cheering and whistling and laughing even harder. One the cymbal was back on the stand, Dexter walked off stage again. Virus continued eating her burger in silence, feeling even sillier now than she did when she thought the other girl had lied about who she was. Maybe she was just looking for excuses not to be here anymore. She still couldn’t figure out why she came in the first place. It wasn’t like Dexter was particularly interesting when they met at the bar – Virus met people a thousand times more interesting daily in her line of work.

The last bite of her burger gone, Virus pulled her hood up again and closed her eyes. The band was almost finished with setting up, though Virus wondered why they hadn’t bothered doing all of this before anyone showed up. Now they were just making their fans waste time while they waited. As if reading her thoughts, one of the many Kats helping set up paused at the front of the stage while carrying a large speaker.

“Sorry for the delay, everyone! We got a little lost on the way here! I don’t think the navigation wanted the band to play today!” he said, laughing. The crowd laughed back, though it was clear they were getting antsy and wanted to performance to start already. Most had already finished their dinner and were sipping drinks and chatting. Virus noticed a few glancing at the door as though debating on leaving, like she had been. The Kat on stage put down the speaker he was carrying and plugged it in. He yelled out, “Trent, that oughta do it!”

“Gotcha,” Virus heard Trent yell back. He emerged from the side stage wearing a guitar and holding a microphone. Dexter and three other Kats followed behind him. Trent headed right for front stage, the middle three spaced themselves out across the stage, grabbing their various string instruments as they waved and cheered at the audience, while Dexter went straight for her drum set without looking at anyone else.

Trent started the show off by engaging in some light banter with the audience, poking fun at a couple in the front who were holding hands, asking another to toss him their drink, and other similar playful gestures. The audience ate it up. Virus could tell they enjoyed how genuine the band members all seemed to be, even Dexter, who was mainly avoiding any eye contact and trying to look cool doing it. It was obvious how uncomfortable she was with the other members’ antics. The audience members occasionally shouted out different members’ names, and they would do something funny back at them, but no one ever shouted at Dexter. This went on for a few minutes before Dexter suddenly raised her drum sticks. Without seeing her, the rest of the band knew she had done it. It was likely due to the deafening roar from the audience the moment the sticks were high enough to be visible. She clacked them together four times and then started pounding away on the whole drum set, though it was mostly drowned out by the other instruments firing up at the same time.

As much as Virus wanted to deny it, the music was good. She decided that the only reason more people hadn’t shown up was simply due to the limit on how many of them could fit inside the building. She hadn’t considered how many had to be turned away at the door after she entered because there simply wasn’t enough space for them. Even now, Kats were standing around tables with nowhere to actually sit, but they didn’t seem to mind. A few had even gotten out of their seats to go right in front of the stage. They jumped up and down with the beat of Dexter’s playing, and many of them sang along. Some of the songs were ones that Virus recognized as covers, but there were a few that she never heard before. It wasn’t clear if they were covers and she just didn’t know the song, or if this band had original works, too.

After a few songs, Trent stepped up to the front of the stage again. “How are you guys enjoying the show?” he yelled, and the crowd cheered back. “How you guys feeling?” he shouted, and they whooped and hollered. “What do you guys want to hear?” He held the microphone out so that the cheers were amplified. One Kat shouted the name of a song, and Trent pulled the mic back in. “That is an excellent choice my friend!” The Kat next to him began playing a series of rapid rifts on the guitar, and Dexter joined shortly after in an intense drum pattern. Trent picked up his singing again and the crowd lost it.

On the very last beat of the song, one of Dexter’s drum sticks snapped in half. The crowd once again went insane. After the cheers died down a bit, Trent again asked the crowd what they wanted. Virus’s head perked up as she got an idea. She stood up in her chair so that she could see over the now almost exclusively standing crowd. She cupped her hands over her mouth.

“Dexter!” she shouted.

Trent’s head tilted. “Did I just hear a request from our lovely Dexter?” He turned towards Virus. She smirked at him. “Dexter! You’ve got a fan. How about giving us a song?”

Dexter looked absolutely mortified. The crowd was freaking out, though, as she stood up. She looked like she was debating on just bolting off the stage right then. Virus laughed to herself, then leaned down so that her head was next to one of the Kats standing next to her table, and starting rhythmically chanting “Dexter, Dexter, Dexter.” It wasn’t long before the Kat had picked it up too, and the chant spread across the room like a ripple in water. Before long, the entire room was jumping up in down in time, a pulsing, living ocean of bodies, all crying out Dexter’s name. Virus sat back down in her seat with a satisfied grin. She crossed her arms and glued her eyes to the black and rainbow Kat fidgeting on stage. Dexter may have pulled off her tough persona for the crowd, but Virus already wedged her way into a chip in it. She could see right through the fake confidence. She was quite certain that the other Kat was on the verge of tears, but it didn’t show.

Dexter held up her drum stick that was still intact. The crowd’s hands went up, and Virus realized she meant to toss it to them. For some reason, the thought made her squirm. Dexter chucked the drum stick with all of her might, and it sailed over the heads of the crowd. As hands reached up to grab it, it was knocked away. Somehow, Virus found the stick clattering across her table. One of the Kats standing nearby reached out to grab it, but Virus snatched it first and held it protectively to her side. The other Kat snorted and turned back to the stage. Virus felt her face heat, and she shoved the stick in one of her hidden pockets in the jacket she loved. It settled against her chest.

Dexter walked slightly off stage. Virus thought that she decided to give up in the end, but then Trent waved at someone behind the partially drawn curtain. The curtain was pulled back for the show so that only enough space showed for the band to have their equipment, but as the curtain pulled farther away, Virus realized that the stage was almost twice as long as it appeared during the rest of the show so far. Behind the curtain, a piano was hidden. Dexter was now sitting at the piano. This was not what Virus expected. Didn’t these kinds of rock groups usually let the drummer go off on a several-minutes long drum solo?

Trent set a microphone on the top of the piano before stepping out of the way. The other band members had vanished for the time being. As if Dexter sitting down to play piano at this otherwise rock-music-oriented concert, Trent stepped offstage for a few moment, only to reappear holding a violin.

Dexter glanced out at the audience one last time before putting her hands on the keys, taking a deep breath, and then playing. The piano was low and immediately emotional. After a few bars of piano alone, Trent joined in with the violin, light and soft. The two instruments flowed together in a river of sound that trickled around the crowd. They began to slowly sway to the sound.

Dexter began to sing along, also low and clear.

“Under your spell again,

I can’t say no to you…”

She continued singing and playing. She did not look at the audience. She wasn’t even looking at the piano. Her eyes were closed and she was swaying back and forth to the music like the crowd.

“Shouldn’t let you torture me so sweetly,

Now I can’t let go of this dream,

I can’t breathe but I feel…”

Dexter trailed off for a moment. She opened her eyes and gazed at Trent. Virus felt like someone had grabbed ahold of her heart and started squeezing it as hard as they could.

“Good enough,

I feel good enough,”

Dexter’s eyes remained glued to Trent.

“For you.”

Virus couldn’t breathe. She flagged down a waiter and ordered a water. Dexter continued to play and sing. Her voice was soft, yet strong. It carried over the crowd, now more subdued than even before the performance had started. The waiter returned with Virus’s drink, and she tried choking some down, but ended up coughing all over herself instead. Only then did Dexter’s eyes leave Trent, who hadn’t even noticed the other Kat looking at him. Virus watched as her pose shifted. The song started to pick up and the piano grew bolder, louder. Dexter began to belt in a strong voice full of anguish.

“And I’ve completely lost myself, and I don’t mind,

I can’t say no to you…”

Virus had never heard a sound like Dexter’s singing. She coughed again before looking up at the stage. She realized with a moment of panic that Dexter’s gaze had shifted from Trent to Virus. The two locked eyes. Virus wasn’t sure whose eyes seemed more afraid – Dexter’s or hers. Dexter did not break the eye contact as she continued singing.

“Am I good enough,

For you to love me, too?”

Virus’s heart pounded so loud that it nearly drowned out the sound of the music. The piano slowed and died down. Trent had stopped playing. He was beaming at Dexter with pride, but Virus realized there was nothing else there. It was the look you would give a sibling or child if they did something incredibly brave. It was the look of a best friend. It was the kind of look that would cause one of anguish if it wasn’t what you wanted. Dexter’s entire body had shifted at this point. She no longer leaned towards Trent, which must have happened subconsciously. It leaned towards the crowd; it leaned towards Virus.

“So take care of what you ask me,

‘Cause I can’t say no.”

The last piano note faded out. Dexter and Virus’s gazes remained fixed on each other. They couldn’t have been like that for more than a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. The crowd exploded like nothing Virus had ever heard before. Even through the previous songs played, the building did not shake the way it did not. The seats vibrated with how loud the crowd was screaming. Virus didn’t know how the band planned to follow that up. Trent cheered along with the rest of the crowd before taking the front of the stage again. The curtain dropped, obscuring Dexter, who hadn’t gotten up from the piano yet.

Virus held her chest. Why did seeing Dexter look at Trent like that hurt so much? Virus slapped her cheeks. You’re losing it, she thought. Get a grip. She shook her head and stood up out of her seat. She threw some money down on the table. She wasn’t sure how much she gave or how much she actually owed, she just had to get out of there. Virus bolted out of her chair and shoved her way past the Kats still scrambling and shoving their way closer to the stage. Dexter had them in a trance, and somehow they woke up even more rowdy than they were previously.

After what felt like an eternity, Virus reached the door. She shoved it open and burst out into the cold night air. She gasped and leaned against the building. After taking a few deep breaths and slowing her breathing rate, Virus stood up straight and smoothed out her jacket. The drum stick bumped softly against her chest, and she grabbed it. She was about to throw it on the ground, but couldn’t let go. Grabbing it with both hands, Virus tried for a moment to snap the thing in two. She failed, eventually sighing and tucking it back into the pocket. She shook her head again and walked past the building to the alley where the van was parked. Hood up, Virus kept her gaze on the ground. She passed the van and had just put her hands on the fence when a voice spoke.

“Show’s not over yet, you know.”

Virus froze. She knew that voice, the voice that inexplicably almost broke her heart not five minutes earlier. She lowered her hands and turned around. Dexter was leaning against the side of the building next to the door.

“Not staying for the rest?” Dexter asked.

“I think I saw what I came to see,” Virus replied.

“And what was that, exactly?”

Virus had no answer. She wasn’t sure herself. Dexter was looking at her, though, so she had to figure out something to say, and quickly. “I couldn’t help but notice those many posters you had posted all over town. Little excessive, don’t you think?”

Dexter snorted. “I only put posters up in places I know our usual crowd goes, like that bar. The rest of those are Trent’s little brother and sister and their friends ‘helping.’” She rolled her eyes.

“Not a fan?”

“It’s not that. They’re all good kids, and they mean well. I just don’t want people to think, well, exactly what you thought. We’re not like that. Narcissists, I mean.” Dexter shrugged. She stood up away from the wall and walked a few steps towards Virus. It was only then she noticed the fence. “Where are you going, anyways?” she asked with a raised brow.

“You know, just heading back to my corner of nowhere.” She racked her brain for some way to change the subject. Her heart thudding reminded her of the drum stick. “You seemed to have lost this,” she said, pulling it out and holding it out to Dexter.

“I don’t know if I would consider throwing something into a ravenous rock crowd ‘losing,’ but yes, in a way, I did.” She turned the drum stick over in her hands. Virus hadn’t realized it before, but it was incredibly worn. There were a few grooves in it that were so deep that it’s a wonder it didn’t snap before now. Dexter’s hands held it gently. “These were the first drum sticks I ever got,” she said quietly. “I thought they were lucky, you know, since they lasted all these years without breaking.” She sighed. “I guess that means that my luck ran out tonight.”

Virus tried to speak, but something had a death grip on her throat. She swallowed hard and tried again. “You mean with Trent?” she asked, afraid of the answer.

“He’s never going to see me as anything more than that quiet girl next door,” Dexter said. Virus hadn’t seen her guard down like this before. Her whole tough-girl attitude was gone. She looked like she might burst into tears, but unlike on stage, it was plain for anyone to see, not just Virus. “It doesn’t matter, though.” Dexter shook her head and stood up a little straighter. She flipped the drum stick around expertly, whipping it around in circles between her fingers. “What do the humans say? ‘There are plenty of fish in the sea?’”

“I think so, yeah.”

Dexter flipped the drum stick around a few more times before holding it out in front of her. “I think maybe you should keep this. It might still have some luck in it.”

“Well, it is the one that survived,” Virus agreed.

“I suppose I had better get back in there. You can only do so many songs without a drummer, and no one else can hold a beat on the drums to save their lives.”

“Sounds like they need you.”

“They need a drummer,” Dexter replied. She turned away and walked to the door. Virus turned away, too, and heard the door shut behind Dexter. She once again had just put a hand on the fence when the door creaked open again.

“Hey, uh,” Dexter paused, “Virus?”

“Yeah?” Virus turned back. Dexter stood in front of her holding something small.

“Do you want one of our CDs for the road? Since you’re not staying for the rest of the show, I mean. We usually save more of our original stuff for the end so that people have it in their head when they leave.” She shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other. “It’s kind of, uh, marketing technique… thing.” She held the CD out.

Virus crossed the short distance between them and took it. “Thanks,” she said. “You, uh, sing any of the stuff on here, or just Trent?”

“There’s one on there that I sing. I wrote it, too. The last one.”

“Cool. I’ll let you get back to your roaring crowd.” Virus tucked the CD into another pocket. “Take care of yourself, Dexter.”

“You, too. Bye, Virus.” With that, Dexter was gone.

Virus climbed the fence and made her way back to camp. The streets were much darker with the sun long gone, but Virus didn’t mind. The darkness was comforting. The shadows hugged her and kept her safe.

When Virus got back to camp, everyone else was asleep. The fire was nothing more than a few embers. She grabbed what was left of Soot’s poking stick and stirred it up. Once it was giving off enough light to read, she pulled the CD out of her pocket. The front cover was a group shot of the band in a dramatically edgy pose. Dexter wore her usual studded leather jacket, Trent had a ripped t-shirt, and the others were dolled up in similar styles. The back cover was a more muted version of their logo, probably dulled so you could actually read the song list. Virus skimmed the titles, stopping and focusing on the last title. “Moving On,” was the name of Dexter’s song.

Virus opened the case and took out the CD. She put it in her player and clipped a sound device to her head. She skipped ahead to the last song. As Dexter’s voice filled her head, Virus looked down at the case again. Something was scrawled in black ink at the bottom of the song list. Virus shifted it so more of the dying fire’s light shone and squinted. Virus found, in a neat cursive handwriting, a phone number and a short note.

Call me sometime if you want to hang out. I think it’s time I met some new fish. – Dex.