Infected

Chapter 3

It was almost night time on their first day in the house when the front door barged open. Everyone grabbed the nearest weapon to them and aimed it at the person who was now standing on the welcome mat.

    "Who are you?" Jisung demanded, aiming the barrel of his gun in the center of the intruder's forehead.

    "I'm not here to hurt you. I didn't think that anyone was here," The person said calmly, holding their hands up in surrender. "My name is Chae Hyungwon."

    "Okay, Hyungwon. How do you know that you're not infected?" Minho questioned.

    "I've never been within arms length of a zombie," He said, beginning to grow impatient. "I just want a place to rest. You can check me if you want."

    Jisung took the invitation and checked Hyungwon for any visible injuries but couldn't find any. As much as they didn't want Hyungwon there, they felt like they had no other choice but to let him stay.

    "Fine. You can stay the night," Seungmin sighed, lowering his gun. "Stay in whatever room you want, but don't go into the guest room near the bathroom."

    They watched as Hyungwon disappeared down the hallway, taking up residence in the master bedroom and immediately falling asleep.

    Felix peeked his head out of the guest room door, watching as Hyungwon walked past.

    "Who's that?" He asked, motioning for Chan to look. "Is he here to hurt us?"

    "No. If he wanted to hurt us, the others wouldn't have let him past the front door," Chan said reassuringly. "Now get away from the door before he sees you."

    Felix obediently moved away from the door, beginning to pace around the room. By now, all three of them had come down with dangerously high fevers. All of them knew that at this rate, none of them would survive to become zombies.

    "Thirsty...Water..." Changbin begged, trying his best to sit up without success.

    "I'll get you some water," Chan said. "I'll be right back."

    He left the guest room, avoiding going anywhere where Hyungwon could possibly see him if he woke up. The others had specifically instructed the three of them to not leave the room until they were cleared, no matter the circumstance.

    He turned on the faucet, watching as the almost crystal clear water began to fill the cup he was holding. When he turned around, Jeongin was standing behind him, a shocked look on his face.

    "What are you doing out here?" Jeongin asked.

    "Just getting a glass of water," Chan said calmly. Was that really why he was out there?

    "Okay. Just go back quickly," Jeongin said urgently, feeling the need to guide Chan back to his room. Unfortunately, the sound of running water had woken Hyungwon.

    "What's this?" Hyungwon asked from the entrance to the hallway, eyeing the bandages on Chan's arm. "You check me for being infected and threaten to shoot me when I enter, but you let this guy stay?"

    Hyunjin lifted the rifle he had taken from his bedroom and aimed it at Chan's throat.

    "You can thank me lat-"

    A gunshot tore through the air, Hyungwon's body falling lifelessly to the ground, a bullethole in the back of his head. His blood splattered the rotting wood floors with crimson.

    "I'm sorry. He was going to hurt Chan," Minho said, less-than-apologetically. "I'll clean it up."

    Jeongin rushed Chan back to the guest room, looking at the ceiling to avoid seeing Hyungwon's corpse. As they walked by, Minho picked up the corpse and carried it outside, tossing it over the side of the hill.

    "What just happened?" Felix asked, rushing up to the door. "I heard a gunshot."

    "We were going to let a guy stay the night, but he saw Chan hyung and tried to shoot him," Jeongin explained.

    "Wait..There was an intruder?" Felix questioned, tilting his head to the side. He was sure he had seen someone walk in but it now seemed fuzzy in his mind.

    "You saw him walk by. Don't you remember?" Chan asked, concerned at the others' uncharacteristic forgetfulness.

    "Sorry, I've just been busy with Changbin. I guess it slipped my mind," Felix said, laughing softly.

    Jeongin left the room and came back a few minutes later with Hyunjin, telling him about the small changes in the others personalities. Hyunjin walked in, his lips pressed together, medical kit in hand. One of them was definitely infected.

~~~

    He can't seem to remember anything. No one in the room seemed familiar to him anymore. There was a guy with long hair that would treat them but he couldn't remember his name. He felt like he should, but the name wouldn't come to him.

    His thoughts were nothing more than static now. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't form a thought that he could understand. Understanding the words around him became a struggle. The words he once knew looked so foreign. What did they mean?

    Most frighteningly of all, he was beginning to develop a craving for human flesh. He didn't want to be here, but he couldn't escape.

    Someone please kill me.