Wild For You

Chapter 3

    A moth circled the single, hanging bulb in the center of the room. It hit the light with a few small tinks before dying and falling down into my coffee. Tyler was pacing in the hallway, working his way through the contact list on his phone to see if everyone was alright. I held a pillow into my chest and bit at the nails on my left hand. On my right, they had already been chewed to nubs and were starting to hurt.

Tyler paused in the doorway. "Yeah, David, we're safe." Pause. "I know. I know. Don't worry, it's okay, it's probably nothing. Lui is fine!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Whats up with Lui?"

Tyler furred his eyebrows, making the stress lines on his forehead stand out. "Hold up, dude, I'm on the fuckin' phone with David."

I rolled my eyes and leaned on the window sill. The thick plume of smoke was growing, blocking out the sun in the sky. It had followed us, growing like cancer faster than we could drive.

"God damn, this is- this is like from a horror movie," I muttered.

Beneath the smoke cars flooded the streets, flowing out of the city like a line of ants.

"I don't know why they can't get the fire under control," I said, "and why haven't there been any more news stories?"

He ran a meaty hand through his hair. "I dunno. But I was reading some stuff on my phone about it before David called. A lot of sites are saying that people are getting really, really sick just from coming in contact with stuff the smoke touched."

"What the fuck? So they aren't even- even breathing it in?" I asked.

Tyler shook his head and sat next to me. "No, first responders and shit were coming out of wreckage puking, even if it had been aired out!"

I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. The bed shook as Tyler bounced his knee, the brass supports groaning with every small movement. He hunched over, arms crossed, staring at me biting my nails.

"Could you fucking stop that?" He snapped.

I leaned away from him. "Stop what?"

He scowled. "Stop chewing your fucking fingers down to the goddamn bone! That's gross, dude!"

"Stop watchin' me, then. I ain't making you," I said. "And quit tapping your leg. It's too- it's too damn loud!"

Tyler elbowed me and faced the television, watching empty static flicker across the screen. He stopped tapping his foot, though, so I didn't yell. I pulled my hand away from my mouth.

He switched the TV to the news on channel 4. The studio seemed chaotic; people were packing papers into boxes and rushing as quick as they could. The man speaking had a gaping tear on the side of his shirt.

"There have been reports of cannibalism in the first responders and survivors who came in contact with the smoke!" He said, "Two hospitals have become completely unreachable. The cannibalism is spreading fast, by smoke and bites from those affected. Some people who have seen those affected first-hand say that this is a real life zombie outbreak. I urge all citizens of North Carolina and the surrounding states to evacuate as calmly and as quickly as possible."

What.

I looked at Tyler. He was already looking at me, wide-eyed and shaking.

What the fuck is going on?

We both shot up, grabbing everything we could get into our duffel bags. My heart was pounding so fast it jumped up into my throat. I couldn't help but dry heave and ask myself if this was some sort of sick joke. Tyler's hands were trembling so badly he couldn't pick anything up. Looking back out the window I saw that cars lined up in front of the hotel, blocking our vehicle, and showing no signs of any movement.

"We're gonna have to leg it," I said.

Tyler looked at me like I was a fucking idiot. "We'll die, dude! There are fucking zombies out there, you heard the weather guy!"

"We'll wait a bit for everyone to get out of the city, okay? If those cars are still blocking us in an hour and a half we are lea- walk- walkin' to somewhere safer." I sobbed.

"Where will we even go?" Tyler asked, "What will we do with Archie and Kino?"

I grabbed his upper arms tight enough to leave bruises. "Tyler, we have an ho-hour- hour and a half to figure that out."