“The guy’s crazy,” Noah yelled, running forward to help their driver.

Dan was shouting incoherently, shaking his leg and causing the student’s head to wag back and forth. As soon as Noah was within reach, Dan grabbed hold of his hand and managed to tear himself free of the kid’s grip. They stumbled towards the van, while the student fell backwards onto the grass.

Dan and Noah stared down at the guy chewing fixedly on a small piece of Dan’s leg. Even as they watched, the scratches across his upper body started knitting themselves rapidly closed, leaving behind unblemished skin. His leg popped a few times but remained in a visibly broken position.

Noah looked on in disgust as the student swallowed and pushed himself upright. He took a step toward them, wobbling slightly on his yet unhealed leg. Everyone backed up quickly, but the guy didn’t move further.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Leah bellowed at the student. “He was trying to help you!”

The student blinked, and to Noah’s surprise, spoke coherently. “I know. I’m sorry.” He wiped his mouth and stared at Dan in a way that made Noah uneasy.

“Then why would you try to eat him, you maniac?”

“I don’t know,” he said, sounding shocked at himself.

At that moment the growing sounds of sirens reached a crescendo and an ambulance pulled around the corner. It pulled to the side of the road right in front of their parked van and a couple workers leapt out. They seemed thrown off when they saw the injured guy standing on his own two feet right in front of them.

“Are you the one who got hit?” a worker asked.

“I guess so,” he said, looking around. “It doesn’t even hurt, though.”

“We were told you had not survived the crash,” a second worker said. “Someone took your pulse and found none.”

“Wait a moment,” the first worker interrupted. “Are you another one of those people with that infection?”

“What infection?”

“The one that everyone on or nearby campus got five emergency emails about,” the worker said slowly. She rubbed her temples when the guy just shrugged cluelessly.

“Well, it’s easy enough to check,” she sighed. “Do us a favor and force a few coughs.”

“Uh, okay.” He did as instructed, and to no one’s surprise, dust came out.

“That’s been happening since lunch,” he said, unconcerned.

“And you didn’t think to call the health center?” the worker yelled, exasperated. She blew out an irritated breath. “Oh, forget it. You might not be in any pain right now, but that clearly doesn’t mean you’re not injured. Get in the ambulance, we’ll take you to urgent care.”

“Be careful,” Dan warned them as they approached the student. “He attacked me right after I checked his pulse.”

The workers stopped in their tracks and turned to him with raised brows. “How so?”

“He bit me,” Dan said, sounding like he could hardly believe his own words. “He seems reasonable enough now, I guess, but he did this to my leg.” He pointed down.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

A small red gash marred the skin above his right ankle. Blood flowed freely from the wound, running down and staining his socks dark red.

They all looked back at the student, who seemed to shrink. “I don’t know why I did that,” he protested weakly. “I won’t attack anyone else. I’m not some lunatic.”

“We might want to call in campus safety for this,” one of the health workers said. He turned to Noah and his friends. “And you’ll need another driver. Just sit tight for a minute, please.”

Dan let the workers help him into the ambulance and lay him down on a bench. Noah watched through the back door as they cleaned the wound and poured antiseptic fluid over the whole leg before wrapping it up.

Meanwhile, a few other health workers cautiously stepped closer to the injured student.

“What’s your name?” one asked.

“It’s Jack,” he answered. He suddenly threw his hands up and shut his eyes tightly. “Stop! I’m sorry, don’t come any closer. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Everyone backed off cautiously.

“I’m so hungry,” he said. His eyes started to glaze over, and he stepped towards the closest person.

One of the workers standing by the ambulance noticed what was happening and shouted in alarm. “Everyone back up! You four students, get into the ambulance.”

Noah gladly retreated after his friends towards the emergency vehicle. He kept a careful eye on Jack, but the unstable student barely seemed to notice them hurrying to safety. They scampered around the back of Dan’s van and stepped up into the back of the ambulance. It looked exactly the same as the one they had been in earlier, except this one was staffed by a different crew. A worker shut the door as soon as they were all inside, and they gathered around the window together to peer out anxiously at the scene unfolding outside.

“So, May,” Leah said under her breath. “When you said you were hungry a few minutes ago, this isn’t what you meant, is it?”

May looked at her nervously. “I- I don’t think so. I mean, it’s not that bad.”

Leah held her gaze for a few moments before nodding and looking back outside. “You better tell me if that changes at any point.”

Jack seemed to have regained a measure of control over himself. He wasn’t chasing after anyone at the moment, at least. The few workers unfortunate enough to be left standing outside were surrounding him in a very loose circle, trying to keep him contained until campus safety arrived.

Before long the sound of sirens heralded the approach of security. Two SUVs pulled up behind the van and the ambulance, forming quite the line of green campus vehicles, and safety workers spread out to replace the cordon around the injured student. Jack seemed willing enough to let them guide him into the back of a vehicle, although he snapped like a wild dog at anyone who got too close. Each time that happened he would immediately draw back and look miserably at the ground. Noah almost felt bad for the guy, watching him cringe back and forth.

“If we can’t find another driver for you, we can bring you to your dorms,” a health worker said.

“We were actually headed to those housing units for students with the Wager,” Leah said. “And no, we don’t have the Wager ourselves. It’s a different sickness.”

“That’s fine, we can drop you off there,” the worker said without batting an eye.

The last few people who needed to board the ambulance did so quickly, eager to get away from the scene, and they were soon back on the road.

Noah and the others kept glancing at each other, full of questions, but there was an unspoken agreement to wait until they were alone to discuss anything.

“It’s been a busy day,” the worker beside Dan sighed. “Lots of calls. Everyone’s getting sick and there’s been half a dozen minor car accidents on the roads around campus because the driver supposedly couldn’t feel the pedal."

Noah swallowed. “That’s terrible.”

“Well, nobody’s been seriously injured, thank goodness. I just wish people would take all the warnings going around more seriously. We’re lucky nothing worse has yet to pass.” He looked outside as the vehicle slowed to a halt. “Is this your place?”

“Yup,” Noah said, standing up. “Give the driver my thanks for the ride. And Dan,” he added, “I’m sorry all of this happened while you were just trying to get us home.”

“Don’t be,” he said firmly. “It wasn’t your fault. I’m not sure what’s going on with you guys, and to be honest, I don’t want to know. I wish you the best, though.”

They clambered out onto the sidewalk.

“I hope you heal up quickly,” Brian said.

“Thanks. You seem like a nice bunch of kids. Try to stay out of trouble, yeah?” He held his hand up in a wave as the door shut and the ambulance pulled away.