My Friend the Worm

Chapter 4 The Middle of Nowhere, Literally

Something cold and wet dabbed me on the forehead, causing my eyes to flicker open. I was looking up at a tattered gap in the ceiling. The opening was as big as manhole and exposed the heavily corroded plumbing. Another drop of water fell from one of the pipes and splashed into my mouth. It tasted of sulfur, like rotten eggs. I suddenly sat up on a bed I didn't recognize and spat out the musty water. My movements caused the rusty bed frame to creak and rattle. My eyes were wide as saucers and my heart was hammering so fast I thought it might fly out of my chest. I had no idea where I was. I'd never seen this room before in my life.

The gray, grungy walls were blotched with brown water stains, and the paint was cracked and peeling, with black-green mold growing like fur out of the crevices. Plaster had crumbled from large sections of the ceiling and littered the floor. As I tried to work out what was happening, I felt another horror grip me.

Looking down at myself, I saw that I was shirtless. A scratchy, green blanket was draped across my legs and lower midsection, hiding what lay beneath. I swung the blanket off of me and confirmed my suspicions. I was completely naked.

"What the fuck!" I cried, springing up from the bed. I shouted when something sliced the side of my foot. I fell back onto the bed holding my injured foot, which was now bleeding profusely from a nasty gash.

With a grimace, I peered over the edge of the bed and spotted a long, dirty nail protruding from a loose floorboard. The crooked nail glistened with my blood. I should count myself lucky. Had I stepped directly on that nail, it would've pierced through my entire foot.

I grabbed the blanket and covered myself up as I continued to sit at the edge of the bed, which I would hardly call a bed. It was a thin, bare mattress with a gross, maroon stain in the middle of it, as if someone had bled out on it.

At this point, I wasn't going to make another move until I figured out what was going on. I tried to remember the last thing that had happened before waking up here.

The invasion had happened. I'd sought refuge in a basement where I'd met Brandon, Trinity, and Lola. Then, the very last thing I could remember was lying down on a couch and falling asleep. That was it. Now I was here.

But that didn't make any sense. None of what I remembered could explain how I'd gotten here—wherever here was. There was a gap, a huge gap, in my memory. Was I suffering from amnesia?

Or could I be dreaming? No, no way. I could feel real pain, clear as day. My hands were wet with my own blood and the cut on my foot was still burning. I could feel goosebumps running up my arms and legs. The blanket lying across my lap was making my thighs itch. I could smell mildew in the chilly air. In other words, I was perfectly lucid and in tune with all my senses. This was really happening. It couldn't possibly be all in my head.

While I may have concluded that this wasn't a dream, that knowledge didn't help me with my current predicament. I was still at square one: stumped. I was going to have to further investigate my surroundings and hope the last few hours would come back to me. But before I did that, I really needed to put on some clothes! Being naked in this situation was amping up my stress.

Other than the bed, the only other furniture in the room was a lopsided dresser against the wall in front of me. I wrapped myself with the blanket and moved gingerly toward the dresser, trying to ignore the searing pain in my foot, which was leaving behind a trail of bloody footprints. Twice I had to avoid nails jutting up from splintered floorboards.

As soon as I reached the dresser, I yanked open the top drawer. I yelled in horror as a swarm of tiny creatures flew out.

"Shit! You fucking idiot," I growled bitterly, realizing the terrifying creatures were only moths. After the last, lingering moth fluttered away, I peered into the drawer and fortunately discovered some folded clothes, enough for a single outfit. There was a black T-shirt, a pair of socks, plaid boxers, and jeans. To top it off, there was even a pair of black and white sneakers sitting neatly at the foot of the dresser, as if awaiting me.