The Growing Affliction

Chapter 3

Her hands scrambled to try and lift her body up only to be kicked back down by her attacker. He began to speak, but only certain words could be understood. Maddy grabbed a couple of vegetables and threw them at him, only to have the man pin her wrist above and out of the way. "You little bitch, stop screaming. No one can hear you. You shouldn't have come alone." he loomed nearer to Maddy's face, malicious intent in his eyes. Maddy's gut twisted horribly as dread washed over her. She knew what was going to happen to her now. Every place the man's hands touched left her feeling disgusting, violated, dirty.

She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. And screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

Screamed even as her voice became horse.

She screamed even as her attacker ended up having his body thrown off of hers. Screamed as she scuffled back up and besides Ann. She, however, stopped screaming when he struck Ellie instead.

Rage was all she felt. And it felt good. She grabbed the staff off of the floor and, brandishing it, plowed into the attacker.  He was knocked onto the floor, already down for the count, but Maddy kept going.  Blood was everywhere by the time she was pulled off of him.

Ann and Ellie both grabbed their bags full of food and began to leave. Maddy searched his pockets, took a retractable knife and followed suit.

The occasional "are you OK" and "are you hurt" was passed around as the three walked back, but Maddy was too lost in her own thoughts and finally came to a conclusion about a certain thought.

As soon as the three arrived the home, all the members rushed to Maddy and her blood drenched hands, all begging to know what had happened. "Get dinner started without me. I'm gonna go take a shower", no one argued against it. She walked straight past them and to her bathroom, knowing well that Ann and Ellie would fill in the details. This left Maddy time to cry and come to terms with what had happened. She scrubbed at her tan skin until it became red and raw, making sure none of the man's fingerprints were left behind. The shower ended up taking more than half an hour, leaving her prune-like and hungry.

Quickly throwing some clothes on from her wardrobe, she padded down the steps to find microwave meals already set out and waiting for her. The group all looked at her as she entred the room but very quickly became reabsorbed in the video game being played on the TV. "I'll have to check the electricity meter after this. Maybe even the gas meter while I'm at it. Yeah... Also the water meter needs-" she was snapped out of her thoughts when Max waved his hand infront of her face. "Hey, something on your mind?" he whispered. "Lie, don't make them worry", "No, nothing's wrong, why?"

Max began to smirk slightly, threatening to become a grin, "you were staring at me the entire time since you sat down and difd nothing when I did the tongue-thing that you hate." "So much for that, idiot." Maddy pulled a face and looked away from him, "Hehe, I was just thinking about all the checks I'm going to have to do. Electricity meter, gas, water, etc. You know, boring stuff." Max made a face showing he did not believe her one bit. He was right to not believe her, she did have the days event still on her mind, but she's pushed them out of the way for the time being. "Look, tomorrow, I'll go around with you doing the checks. Make things easier." he fist bumped her and headed towards the stairs while saying his goodnights to everyone else before he left.

Maddy was yet again left to her thoughts only to find she was being stared at.  Turning she was faced by Ann, pale as she could be with her milk chocolate skin. Soon,  she realized that Ann wasn't the only one staring. "What?" she asked and they all pointed towards her cheek. She touched it and felt a sharp sting. A scratch was present but the shower had washed away the blood, leaving just an open wound. "No. Don't you dare start thinking that I've been attacked by one of those things. I must have scratched myself in the fight, that's all. Come on, Ann, Ellie. You saw that guy, he wasn't infected, he was just crazy!" but her pleads fell on deaf ears as the group began to cower away and talk amongst themselves as for what to do. Soon, talk of "containing" her and possible research opportunities became the main topic, with everyone ignoring Maddy's words and now addressing her as an "it". Exasperated, Maddy marched up the stairs and into her room, sat on the bed and punched the pillow, muttering about how she's ended up with the crazy people. Even if it was a zombie scratch, nothing seemed to be happening, meaning there's nothing to worry about. She began to think about what Tim did and felt angry again. She really needed to hit something, someone. A light knock on her door could be heard. "Hey Mads, it's Max. I overheard what had happened and wanted to see for myself. Please let me in." his plead was easing a little bit of annoyance from her mood, but not by much. She reluctantly opened the door and there stood Max, a small smile on his face which quickly turned into a look of shock and desperation. "It really looks like it's from one of those things, I'm not going to lie... ". "Shut up, Max". Maddy walked back to the corner of her bed curled up into a ball, back against the wall. "Do you really think it's from one of those... Things?". Max closed the door behind him and went to sit by Maddy, an arm draped over her shoulders. "I'm not actually sure. It was only there after you came back. I really didn't think much of it until now." Maddy pulled out her phone and looked at her reflection. The wound had refused to heal and was now red in colour. "So this is it, huh? Day one of the apocalypse and I die from a cat scratch."

Max swat at her arm, "don't say that. You'll be fine. It's just a scratch. Nothing more."

Maddy began to remember how deranged Brandon became when got infected. Hot tears were threatening to spill from her eyes. She curled into a tighter ball. Max quickly caught on to her sudden change in emotion and embraced her, placing her head on his shoulder and rocked gently.  Maddy lost track of how long they spent sitting there but she quickly found herself falling asleep.

The night was presented with multiple virus-induced nightmares in which Max had to calm Maddy down. She woke with a start after a particularly nasty dream and looked at the clock.  It seemed a lot blurrier than she remembered last and had to get up and walk over to it in order to read it. 1:23am.

Now wide awake, Maddy looked over to Max, who's arm was still draped over where she was previously sitting. But, he didn't look normal. Red and yellow stood out on him and his heart was visible. Gasping, she staggered back and noticed that the room was a lot darker than before. Heat signatures. She could see his heat signature. "No. I can't be one of them... It's too soon!"

"Maddy?", Max stirred awake, "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost." Maddy quickly walked out of the room and into the bathroom, flicked on the light and swallowed back a scream. Her eyes were bloodshot red and stood out like red headlights on her face. In the reflection, she could barely make out Max's outline but could see his pulse quicken upon seeing her. The heat rushed to his limbs as Maddy turned towards him. Then she took a step forward, then another, and another, advancing onto him. "Why am I walking? I can't even feel my limbs! No... No don't hurt him! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Maddy lunged at Max, teeth glaring and she sunk them into his shoulder, ripping the muscle from the bone. A glowing white substance started to rush out of his shoulder and into her hands. Blood. She lifted her hand and and sniffed it. It smelt delicious. It tasted even more so and soon she couldn't stop herself. "STOP IT! NO! IT'S HURTING HIM! LEAVE MY BEST FRIEND ALONE! JUST FUCKING STOP!" She screamed to herself, but it was as though her body had a mind of its own. Soon her voice had drowned out and a new voice appeared. It was hers but gravelly. Raspy. "More. More. More. More. More. More."

She got up and walked back to the mirror after Max stopped moving and a heart beat could not be detected. Looking at her reflection, she saw herself smirk. Then grin. "Want more?" she nodded. "Then go get it.", and she punched her reflection, shattering it. Then it all turned dark for a split second until a sudden rush of light and Max's face was visible. "Max?" "OH MY GOD, YOU'RE AWAKE! You've been thrashing around all night..." Maddy noticed she was on the floor with Max beside her. "Oh, sorry. I was just having a nightmare. I'm fine though, don't worry. Go back to sleep, OK?" Max looked at her carefully and then embraced her, pulling her back up and off of the floor. "Tell me in the morning, alright? And don't scare me like that, I thought you were turning... ". The mood had suddenly became very serious and Maddy hated it. "Haha, you worry too much." He embraced her again, clearly shaken but very tired and soon fell back asleep as they sat back down again. She watched him for a while before looking back at the clock. 1:23am. She touched where the scratch was, only finding a scab instead of a gaping wound.

Day 1 of the apocalypse complete.
"Great... Day 2..."