Noah was glad his stomach didn’t make any grumbling sounds as they walked, because that would have been a pretty obvious giveaway that something had happened overnight. It once again raised a few questions over how much of their digestive systems had been messed with by the sickness, but at the moment Noah was just glad for the secrecy it afforded him.

After a few minutes of walking, a squirrel happened to dash across their path. Noah watched it pass in front of him without so much as a twitch. I’ve graduated to better fare than that, he thought haughtily. He glanced stealthily at his friends to see if they had such low standards so as to be tempted by the rodent, but they didn’t seem to have even noticed its passing. Eh, I guess they’re not hungry at the moment. Good for them.

“It’s eight AM,” Brian said as they reached the three-way junction and took a hard right. “People are gonna show up to our housing units back on campus in an hour. Technically speaking, we haven’t broken any rules yet-”

“Haven’t broken any rules?” Leah interrupted, laughing. “I’m not sure Dr. Jansen would agree with that.”

“We’ve already established that we don’t care what she thinks,” Noah said.

Brian gave them both a flat look. “Once it hits nine, we’re going to have to worry about Insight tracking us down.”

“That’s fine,” Noah assured him. “It won’t take that long to stop by the Corner Market.” And to grab a snack along the way.

A worrying thought suddenly occurred to him. “Hey, what do you think the chances are that everyone’s been infected?”

“Everyone?” Brian asked. “I’d be awfully surprised if everyone is sick, especially if you’re referring to the entire town population. If we’re just talking about Oakridge students… Well, it’s possible, I guess.”

“Oh, no,” Noah said.

“I know, it’s terrible,” May agreed sorrowfully. “So many people are going to be panicking and wondering what’s happening to them.”

Noah glanced at her. “...Yeah.”

All he needed was one nice, healthy, uninfected person taking a walk. He looked around with a smile. The sun was shining, the temperature was probably great. There was no excuse for anyone to be staying inside on such a beautiful morning.

“Something’s put a spring in your step,” Leah remarked. “What’s there to be so happy about? I could use some good news.”

Noah looked around guiltily. “Ah, I’m just enjoying the weather. There’s probably lots of people out and about right now, wouldn’t you agree? It’s hard to stay indoors on a day like this.”

Brian squinted at him for a long moment. “Are you feeling okay? Is there anything you’d like to tell us about?”

Noah zipped his mouth shut. Darn it, what’d I say? He mused over his words, but failed to find anything wrong with them. He settled for giving his friend a shrug and a bright smile.

“You’re never this happy,” Brian muttered. “The last time you were this happy was…” He suddenly stopped walking and turned to his friend.

“Noah,” he said, stony-faced. “When and where were you injured?”

Leah and May stared between the two of them.

Noah wouldn’t meet Brian’s eyes. “What makes you think I’ve been injured?”

“Point to the spot.”

Noah swallowed and gestured to his finger.

“When?”

Noah cleared his throat. “Just a few hours ago. During my shift. I was feeling really tired…”

Brian put his face in his hands. “Oh, you idiot. What did you do?”

“It’s not important, is it? Let’s keep walking.” He stepped forward, but nobody else moved.

“Noah, what did you do?” Leah asked.

He kicked at a small rock at the edge of the trail. “I stuck my finger into a candle.”

They all stared at him.

“On purpose? What, pray tell, made you think that was a good idea?” Brian demanded, flabbergasted.

“I would’ve fallen asleep if I didn’t do anything,” Noah protested.

“You were barely doing your job anyways,” Brian retorted. “The candles would have gone out without you saying a thing if we hadn’t just so happened to wake up in time.” He turned to the girls. “Do either of you realize that we were literal seconds from being trapped in the mausoleum? We’d still be trapped in there right now, completely helpless, if Leah had waited five seconds before opening the door. We’d probably still be there in a year, or ten. Possibly a lot longer than that.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

They turned their startled gazes on Noah.

“Is that true?” May asked.

Noah rubbed his eyes unhappily. “I don’t know. I suppose so. I was just trying my best to stay awake and not leave to get something to eat. I guess I lost track of the state of the candles at some point.”

May blinked, seeming to struggle to wrap her head around how close they had been so close to catastrophe. “You should have just woken us up,” she said finally. “I would have taken your shift for you, if you were really that bad off.”

“Huh,” Noah mumbled. “I didn’t think to do that. I’m sorry. I feel pretty dumb.”

“As you well should,” Brian yelled, punching him. “Not only did you make that stupid decision, but you also tried to hide your hunger from us.”

“I’m sorry,” he muttered again. “I thought you would try to stop me from going into town.”

“Yeah, and you’re absolutely right,” Leah replied. “You’re not going anywhere near civilization until you eat. There’s squirrels everywhere; grab whatever one takes your fancy.”

“Oh, come on!” He complained. “Would you want to eat a squirrel?”

“No, but I wouldn’t want to eat a person, either, so I don’t think I’m the right person to ask.”

“I couldn’t even catch a squirrel if I tried,” Noah grumbled. “The things have turbo engines for legs.”

“Well, you’ll have to come up with a solution. It doesn’t have to be a squirrel. You could find something slower.”

“Like that,” Noah said, his eyes lighting up.

His friends all turned to look down the path at whatever had caught his attention.

“Oh, no,” Brian muttered.

A guy in a green Oakridge jacket was walking obliviously towards them with his dog on a leash, coming into view around a bend in the path about fifty yards away. He saw them all looking at him and waved.

Brian grabbed Noah before he could tear off towards the man. “Wait! He could be infected,” Brian said desperately. “You don’t want to eat him if he’s infected.”

Noah shook his head. The guy looked too old to be a student. If anything, he might be an alumni. He probably hadn’t been on campus in years.

“He’s not infected. I just need a little bite,” he pleaded. “Nothing vital.”

Brian glared at him. “You don’t need anything. Your finger is fully healed.”

“It took a lot out of me,” Noah argued. “You know the whole digit fell off? It takes a lot to regenerate a whole limb from scratch.”

They gave him a dumbfounded look. “From a candle?” Leah asked doubtfully. “How did you manage that?”

Noah shrugged. Brian looked like he was going to say something, but Noah continued before he could open his mouth.

“Besides, isn’t this guy the ideal target? Nobody’s around to panic or get in the way. We won’t end up with a mess like we did at Sophie’s house.”

“The fact that you’re coherently arguing your case shows that you’re still in control of yourself,” Leah pointed out.

“Of course I’m in control. I’m not being forced to do anything against my will.”

Leah shared an exasperated glance with Brian and May. “Do you even hear yourself? The sickness is literally talking out of your mouth. I get that you’re hungry, but can’t you just hold yourself back just for a minute until this guy passes us?”

“Absolutely,” Noah said, but although he wasn’t struggling against Brian’s hold, his eyes didn’t stray from the man for a second. The person was close enough now that he could probably overhear their conversation.

“Alright, blindfold time,” Brian said.

“No!”

“Yup, since you apparently can’t be trusted around people anymore, this is what we’re going to do every time we cross paths with anyone. Get used to it.” He nodded at Leah, who wordlessly circled around them out of Noah’s field of vision. Before he could think about what she was doing, something descended across his eyes. It was a thin material, to the point that light could still pass through it, giving him hope that they had misjudged their choice of blindfold. Then to his terrible disappointment, a second and third layer appeared, completely blocking out all light.

“What?! Did you plan this?” He cried out in abject betrayal.

“Of course. We’d be silly not to, especially when you gave us such a great opportunity by going to sleep so early last night.”

Noah’s limbs gradually loosened against his will. He soon heard the sound of leaves rustling below him.

“Am I being dragged?” he tried to ask, but someone must have shoved something into his mouth, because the words were incomprehensible.

Half a minute passed, and then he heard an unfamiliar voice. “What’s going on?”

Noah’s hunger reared up in reaction to the voice, which sounded terribly close. He somehow knew immediately that the person wasn’t infected.

“Free me,” Noah demanded, but the words came out as two indistinct syllables.

“Don’t mind our friend,” he heard Leah say. “He’s having a seizure. We’re used to it, though; this is the safest way for him to deal with it.”

“Are you sure? Hey, kid, are you alright?”

“He’s great,” Brian answered for him. Noah tried his very best to struggle, to break free from the void. Desperation filled him at the knowledge that the man stood so close, but even when he felt that he would give himself an aneurysm from sheer effort, he couldn’t move. His body simply seemed too far away, completely inaccessible.

“Well, I’m no doctor, so I’m not sure how much help I could offer you anyway. If you’re sure you’re all fine, I’ll leave you be. Enjoy the weather, yeah?”

“Thanks, you too,” May said.

His friends, the traitors, waited for well over a minute before they finally decided to remove Noah's bindings.

“I think that blindfold/gag combo worked splendidly,” Brian said. “It’s good to know we have such a perfect solution to Noah’s problem.”

“I’d like to see how you feel when it becomes your problem, too,” Noah snapped. “Because it will, sooner or later.

“I would only have taken a tiny little bite, anyways. You’re acting like I can’t control myself.”

“‘Cause you can’t,” Leah said. “It’s okay, though. That’s why we’re looking out for you.”

“But I still need to eat,” he groused. “You didn’t help at all.”

“We’ll find something else.”

They continued down the path, keeping a careful eye on Noah as they went along.