They picked their way between trees, heading roughly north. There was a back road that they would eventually run into, and from there they would have to decide exactly where they wanted to go next.

“I did some tests before we left to see if there’s any form of regular food that still tastes good,” May said.

Brian winced. “I kind of thought about doing that, but I just couldn’t make myself try anything.”

She dipped her head. “Yeah, it was a very unpleasant experience. But based on what we’ve seen so far, I wondered if raw meat would be more palatable. Trust me, it’s just as nasty as it sounds. I really don’t know what else would be a possible food option at this point.”

“There are no other options,” Noah said weakly. “It has to be alive.”

They looked at him. By now his arm was nearly fully healed, although the rest of his body was in a poor state. His limbs were like sticks and his face was gaunt. He looked like he hadn’t eaten in weeks.

With the blindfold blocking out all sense of sight, Noah’s entire world was the constant pangs of hunger wracking his body. If he were not so tired he would have been shaking uncontrollably. He dipped in and out of consciousness every few seconds.

“You’re almost there, buddy,” Brian said. All that was left of the formerly gaping gash was a dull red line. Though it was nearly gone, Brian couldn’t help but notice that the rate of healing seemed to be slowing down as it neared completion.

“I don’t think he’s going to suddenly regain all the body mass he’s lost from this,” May said. “Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if his condition doesn’t improve at all until he eats something.”

Nobody knew what to say to that.

In the next minute the last remnants of the wound disappeared. They drew to a halt, looking expectantly at Noah.

“Let’s put him down,” Brian said.

They lowered him gently onto the earth, which was covered in a thick blanket of dead leaves and twigs. Brian tore away the towel blindfold to find his eyes closed and his expression peaceful.

“Wake up, Noah,” he said.

He was as motionless as a corpse.

“Uh, maybe we should have let him run off and do his thing,” Leah said.

May shot her a dark look.

“What? Remember that kid we ran over? He only needed a tiny little bite out of Dan to heal most of his injuries.”

“Well, we’re in the middle of the woods now,” Brian said. “Not many people around here.”

“He just needs a minute,” May said hopefully. She nudged him with a foot, and his head flopped to the side.

“This whole regeneration thing kind of sucks,” Sophie muttered. “The effects from the healing are worse than the actual wound.”

“He would probably have been fine if we hadn’t incapacitated him and carried him off into the woods,” Leah said.

“Stop acting like we should have let him eat someone,” May said, exasperated.

“Look at him!” Leah yelled. “He’s a freaking skeleton! It’s no wonder he’s unconscious!”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Well, should we pick him back up and keep moving, or are we going to wait around for him to wake up?” May wondered.

“We can try to wake him up,” Brian said. “We’re far enough away from campus that it should be safe to yell, right?”

They all shrugged, so he bent down by Noah’s ear. “Noah! Now is not the time for a nap! Wakey wakey!”

They waited a few seconds, but there was no reaction.

“I don’t think you were loud enough. You should scream at him,” Sophie recommended.

“I don’t want people to think there's a murder happening out here,” Brian said.

Noah suddenly twitched, and everyone’s attention shot back to him. He slowly curled himself into a ball and let out a quiet moan.

“Noah! How do you feel?” Brian asked quickly.

“Awful,” he mumbled in a barely audible voice.

“Can you stand?”

Noah cracked his eyes open and reached up, letting Brian pull him upright. It was easy; he was terribly light.

Brian tried not to wince at his friend’s appearance. In the harsh light of the two flashlights he seemed just as pale as a ghost. His arms and legs were like trembling toothpicks and his eyes had a hollow cast. Overall, he was nearly unrecognizable.

“I’m hungry,” he said. He clasped his arms around himself and looked around miserably. “I’m really hungry.”

“You’re not going to run away, though, right?” Leah asked. “Or try to come after us?”

Brian glanced at her. Noah hardly looked capable of supporting his own weight, let alone running off or attacking anyone.

“I don’t think so,” Noah croaked.

“Great, let’s keep moving,” Sophie said. She pointed the flashlight ahead and stepped away impatiently.

“How much time do you have?” May suddenly asked her.

She scratched her head. “About an hour, give or take fifteen minutes. I want to see my parents before it starts getting close.”

“Okay. How far away are they from here?”

“Only a couple miles. I’ll be able to say for sure once we’re out of the woods and I can see where we are exactly.”

Brian helped Noah take a few shaky steps after them. Leah noticed that they were having trouble and came around to help support Noah from his other side.

“I’m sorry about this,” Noah said. He looked at Brian. “Sorry I tried to eat you.”

His friend waved a hand. “Aw, don’t worry about it. You weren’t very good at it anyway.”

“Hey,” Noah protested. “I was handicapped.”

Brian patted him gently on the back. “I don’t mean anything by it, buddy. I’m sure you would’ve made a very capable zombie.”

His words seemed to hearten Noah somewhat.

It went unsaid that Noah was absolutely in a worse state now than when he had initially injured himself. Brian was sure that without support, his friend would immediately collapse to the ground like a poorly stacked Jenga tower.

Nevertheless, they made steady progress through the woods. The sheer density of darkness within a nigh-shrouded forest is a considerable thing, and whether it was because of their newfound vulnerability in the dark or just regular human instinct, they all found themselves feeling extremely wary of their indistinct surroundings.

Before long they emerged out onto a short clearing. A dark road devoid of vehicles stretched to either direction. The woods continued on the other side.

“So, which way?” Leah asked.

Sophie looked down the road both ways, rubbing her chin. “Hmm. Right, I think. Yeah.”

“Great, glad to know you’re one hundred percent certain that’s where we should be heading. Let’s go.”

Brian and Leah helped Noah hobble onto the asphalt and they began making their way down the road.

“What are we going to do if a car comes along?” Brian asked. “There’s a chance someone might stop to try to talk with us to see if we need help or something.”

“I dunno, switch off the lights and hide in the woods?” Sophie suggested. “We probably won’t see anyone. This road is pretty much only used during big campus events.”

A small dark-furred creature suddenly scampered onto the pavement just ahead of them. None of them noticed it until it crossed directly into the path of their flashlights. It recognized their presence in the same moment and froze. A bushy striped tail and mask-like features marked it as a raccoon.

“Aww,” Leah began to say, but a second later it turned tail and leapt from the beams of light back the way it had appeared.

Without warning Noah lunged forward after it, pushing Brian and Leah away in a surprising display of strength and diving off the road after the creature.