Noah didn’t give Brian any time to change his mind. He leapt from the seat like a man shot from a cannon, flying across the room in an instant and latching onto the man.

“Woah! Watch it!” Travis yelled in surprise. Then Noah tore away a small piece of his arm, and the man shrieked, wrenching himself back and pointing the knife at him. “Ow! What the- you’re another one!”

Noah barely heard him. He gnawed on his prize, a blissful expression passing over his face as he finally felt some of his energy return to him.

“I don’t know what I expected,” Brian groaned, watching Noah chewing happily away. “I just need you to keep him off us, Noah!”

Leah shot her brother an irritated look. “What did you think would happen, you idiot?”

“He looked like he had himself under control,” Brian protested. “Noah, stop!”

Noah registered Brian’s words and chose to ignore them. Travis presented a perfect opportunity; he could satiate himself while also protecting his friends. Besides, now that he’d started eating, he didn’t feel like stopping so soon.

He stepped forward eagerly, but Travis waved the point of the knife threateningly at his chest, making him hesitate.

“That’s right, don’t come any closer,” the man warned. “I’m going to walk past you now. Don’t try anything.”

Noah stared at him unblinkingly. If this man was willing to kill his own daughter because she was a so-called ‘zombie’, he would have no issue slaying him as well. Noah narrowed his eyes. The guy was trying to get him to lower his guard.

With an angry yell, Noah leapt forward.

Travis’ eyes widened and he braced the knife in front of him.

Noah didn’t pull back. He wrapped his hands around the man, pulling him close, and chomped at the base of his neck. He paused just long enough to observe that Travis had driven the blade of the knife deep into his chest, and shrugged before planting his face back between the man’s neck and shoulder. Usually that would be a concern, but with the lack of pain, it didn’t seem like an issue that needed to be immediately addressed. Heat spread in pulsing waves from the wound, siphoning away his energy, yet Noah found any vitality lost was replenished as soon as it disappeared. He just had to keep eating.

Travis scrambled weakly to escape Noah’s gruesome assault. He was already backed against a wall, leaving nowhere for him to run. He let go of the knife and tried to press Noah’s head away, but Noah just chomped on the man’s hand in an automatic motion as soon as it neared his mouth.

Travis screamed raggedly, gasping for air between his cries. He slowly dropped down the wall, losing strength, and Noah leaned down after him easily.

“Noah, stop,” someone pleaded beside him. Noah looked up to see May.

“Do you want some?” he asked after he swallowed his current mouthful.

She choked back a tearful gasp and shook her head. “Noah, this isn’t right. You’re going to kill him if you don’t stop.”

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“Okay,” Noah said, picking at a bit of Travis stuck between his teeth. “I’m still hungry.” Why couldn’t she just leave him alone? He itched at the warm spot on his chest.

May finally noticed the handle of the knife stabbing a hole through his shirt into his ribcage, and she grimaced. “Oh,” she muttered. “Let me take that out for you, okay?”

Noah glanced longingly at the man cowering against the wall, but he nodded grudgingly. “If you must. But be quick.”

“Come over here, I need better light,” May said, guiding him gently away from Travis’ shaking form.

“Come on, it’s plenty bright,” Noah complained.

“Let’s go in the kitchen,” she suggested.

“Why?”

“Stop complaining.”

Noah followed her into the other room. She pulled out a chair at the table and gestured for him to sit down.

May pulled a face at the knife, but set her jaw and took hold of the handle. She heaved back on it and the blood-streaked blade came silently unsheathed from Noah’s chest.

“Ugh,” she mumbled. “That’s horrible.”

Noah stood up. “Thanks.”

“Wait,” she said quickly. “Sit down.”

“What now?” he asked crossly.

“You’ve already eaten plenty,” May said calmly. “You don’t need any more. Just stay here until the parents leave.”

“I need to eat,” Noah said, aggravated. He pulled up his shirt to look at the wound, but it had already closed. He poked at it in confusion.

“See?” May asked. “You’re all healed. Don’t let your hunger control you. You don’t need it right now.”

Now that Travis wasn’t sitting enticingly right in front of him, Noah found he was able to consider his current state more carefully. The urgency he had felt as his energy was being actively drained away had disappeared. “I can stay here,” he said slowly, surprising himself. “But I don’t know how long I can resist. He’s- he’s right there,” he murmured, nearly standing up to wander back into the sitting room before he got ahold of himself and he forced his body to relax.

May smiled at him. “Good. I’m going to go help Travis get outside. All you need to do is stay right here. If you feel like it’s getting too difficult, you can call for me and I’ll come right over to make sure you’re okay. Is that alright?”

“I can do that,” Noah said quietly. He began to feel ashamed that she had to treat him like this. Like some kind of dumb needy child. I won’t need her help, he promised himself.

Suddenly Travis burst into the kitchen, flinching at the sight of Noah, and skittered across the room to a door beside the stove. He flung it open and stumbled through, descending the staircase that was revealed.

“Hey, where are you going?” May called after him. “You need to get out of the house!”

Travis’ only response was a distant frightened yelp.

“That idiot,” May muttered, staring down after him into the basement. “What does he think he’s going to do down there?”

“I can go help him,” Noah offered.

“I think you’re confusing ‘help’ with ‘eat’,” May said. She looked towards the living room. “Let’s forget about him for now. Cassandra still needs help, though I have no idea how Sophie is winning out against three people. She's not exactly a large person.”

She left Noah behind to hurry into the sitting room.

Noah wished he could help too, that he could be assured that he wouldn't just make their job twice as difficult. He wanted to team up with his friends to save Sophie, and maybe even Sophie’s mom too. Yet even as he thought about going over, another part of him knew he was just trying to make up an excuse to get closer to Cassandra. He couldn’t even trust his own motives, he thought angrily.

As he was ruminating over the exact rationale of his thoughts and desires, a distant “A-ha!” came floating up from downstairs.

A second later, every light in the house went out all at once.