The Epidemic Malfunction

The sky was a sick green. I knew something was out of place. But what? The air smelled of rain mixed with a strange acidic scent, which I guess wasn't too uncommon for the streets of Hong Kong. But I wasn't feeling right particularly because I was an exchange student from the United States. I was in college for computer technology and I suppose I got a bit carried away with my thoughts at times. But later that night, I would find that I had been one hundred percent correct.

It was late after noon and I was heading for lunch to meet Demitri. He was one of the only friends I had made in Hong Kong. When he first met me, he thought I was joking about my name, Danger. And he thought it was too ironic because I looked dangerous. Bright red hair and emerald eyes were not too common in those parts. So naturally, anyone who saw me treated me like outcast. Plus I suppose I naturally looked troublesome with all the scars on my arms and legs. I even had some on my face. I was just an average rough girl. And so I didn't fit in with the naturally beautiful women of Hong Kong.

I did have another close friend. She was the one who was lucky enough to board me in her apartment during my stay. She wasn't like most of the females there. She was a bit rough like me so we got along fine. Thankfully she wasn't one of those girls who absolutely had to wear make up everyday.

When I arrived at Chan's restaurant, it was nearly 1:30 p.m. Demitri was supposed to meet me but so far he was nowhere to be seen. So I checked my iPhone to make sure he hadn't called me or texted me to put things off or meet at a different time. But I had no service whatsoever. This made me uneasy because I had always gotten amazing signal here. Plus the wifi was not working. I didn't understand because I had pretty much always come here to work on homework thanks to the excellent service. But none today. On this note, I placed my phone gently on the black, woven wired table and glanced inside the restaurant.

There was a television on inside and I noticed that there were barely any people inside. The news was on and they were talking about some strange things that had been happening to animals. Not until seeing this did I really notice that I'd seen no animals today. None at all.

"Hey Danger."

I gasped and jumped out of my seat and turned around to see Demitri standing with his arms folded and he started laughing.

"Blah. You scared me!" I said. But then I couldn't help but giggle.

"You had a funny look on your face. Is anything wrong?" he asked, wiping some of his electric black hair out his face. He sat down in the chair across from where I had been sitting.

"Yeah, a bit seems off today," I responded, sitting down across from him and looking at my phone.

As I looked up, I saw his brown eyes shifting a bit. He knew me well and knew that something was seriously wrong or messed up.

"Does it have something to do with the infection that has been spreading so quickly through animals?"

"What?" I ask, a bit startled.

"Haven't you heard? They've declared a ban against bringing animals into the streets to help protect the people and other animals. It's like wildfire!"

"No I haven't. All I saw was the tv inside was talking about something strange happening to animals, but nothing about an infection." Saying this, I glanced to the tv inside and looked back towards Demitri. I could tell that he was becoming nervous.

"Demitri," I started slowly. "Have you noticed how funny the sky has been looking? It's so eerie and it's freaking me out."

He looked up at the sky and tilted his head. He looked down at the ground and returned his eyes to mine. Then he said, "Yeah. Come to think of it, it does. How long has it been appearing as this sickly green? The air smells a bit to acidic too be normal as well."

"Yes! I'm not crazy! I just noticed it today after I left school to come here and meet you." I answered. People passing by on the streets and sidewalks gave me puzzled looks. My face turned red and I remembered my phone.

"Has your phone been working?" I asked.

"Let me check," he replied reaching for his phone.

While I waited patiently for him, I started to get hungry. My stomach growled so I reached for a menu.

"That's strange," he finally said, looking frustrated. "I usually get great service here! What's up with this?"

"Same here! I just don't get it! But I'm getting strange feelings about this. Let's get something quick to eat. Then would you mind walking me home to help me check on Lizzie? She's been acting strangely lately."

"Sounds like a good plan," he said reaching for a menu identical to mine. "Let's order some food. I'm famished."

After we ate, we walked down the main roads. Cold and hot spells forced me to zip up and unzip my leather jacket. Even the weather was acting weird. Demitri started having a sneezing spell so I put my arm around him to make him feel better and warmer if needed. And as this was happening, the sky became a darker green. Then the air started smelling of vomit more so than plain acid. We needed to hurry to the apartment building before something else happened.

As the smell became unbearable and everyone around us were seeking shelter, Demitri and I finally reached the right apartment building. We bolted inside and decided that it might be best to take the stair case because everything was so freaky at the moment, Then we finally arrived at the correct room number.

Unlocking the door, Demitri took my hand because he knew that I was scared and needed support. But I wasn't really the type of girl to let someone pamper me and keep me safe so I let go gently but I did it so our fingers were touching for a few short moments. I slightly enjoyed it but I tried not to. I really was never the romantic type. And he looked a bit hurt so I smiled at him reassuringly and then brought my eyes to the floor. I could feel my cheeks turning pink.

I eventually realized that Lizzie wasn't there. Calling for her, I looked around the apartment. She never left to go anywhere without telling me so I was worried; especially when I noticed her phone was left on her bed.

"Demitri!" I called in a shaky voice. "Her phone was left on her bed. That's like her most prized possession. This is so not okay. I'm worried sick!"

For once in my life, I let a few teardrops fall in front of someone. Even when I was little, I never really cried in front of anyone. My touch side was wearing thin. Then Demitri hugged me.

BOOM!!!!!

"Crap! What was that!" Demitri gasped moving away from me.

We ran to the window and saw that a building had burst into flames. A disfigured girl was standing right next to it. She was running around with a weird limp and started biting at cars. She kept getting taller until she was about six feet tall (One foot taller than me) and started ripping cars to shreds with her bare hands.

Her face had a chunk missing so you could see some of her teeth without her mouth needing to open. Blood was pouring down from the gash and was pouring all over her torn-up clothing. She was native to the country by the looks of her skin. But the scary thing was that she looked so much like Lizzie.

"Demitri?" I said in a small, terrified voice. "Look...look at he-her...face..."

He glanced at the girl and let out an "oh my....oh my gosh..." He looked at me and we were both shocked. Then we heard the loudest crash ever. We bolted our heads towards the direction of the noise. It was Lizzie. She was the disfigured girl down in the street. And she was coming after us.