Silence settled over the group in response to the woman’s words.

“I haven’t a clue how they’ll manage it, and it probably won’t be as simple as they’ve implied,” she added with a sigh, “but how could I refuse that kind of offer?”

“You do know that Insight has a certain… reputation,” Leah began, trying to figure out how best to broach the subject of the infection’s more distasteful symptoms.

“I’m well aware,” the woman said lightly. “However, they do get results. Something I’ve not seen much of these past few months. And if the worst comes to worst, I’m only losing out on half a year at most. If they can extend that time frame at all, I’ll call it a win.”

The students glanced at each other.

“Have they warned you about any side effects?” Brian asked hesitantly.

“Oh, they certainly warned me that the treatment is extremely experimental, and I spent about an hour signing release forms, but my friend told me this wasn’t an opportunity to miss. As one of their first subjects, I’m getting the treatment for free, but supposedly the cost is going to be pretty much unattainable once it goes on the market.”

“The market?” Leah exclaimed, glancing worriedly at her friends.

“Are you seriously surprised Insight is already trying to make a profit off our infection?” Noah asked drily. “Think how much money there is to be made from a sickness that essentially restores your body to peak health. They haven’t just found a cure to cancer, they’ve found a cure to every disease ever. People could regrow missing limbs or recover from paralysis. Insight can pretty much name their price; nobody else can offer the kind of results they’ll be able to.”

“Only so long as they maintain their monopoly on the dust,” Brian commented. “As soon as another company gets their hands on it, the game is up and the price is down. Unless they make some kind of agreement,” he added, brows furrowing.

“Nobody else will get access,” Clarissa said solemnly. “Insight’s making sure of it. Every single person at Oakridge is being tested for the infection. Last I heard, there were no outside instances of it; Insight is in complete control.”

Leah shook her head. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the government tries to force them to make it publicly available, or at the very least enforce a price cap.”

“I don’t think we’re concentrating on the real issue here,” May broke in. “For every person who is healed, another will have to die.”

The woman, swiveling between them as they spoke, finally rounded on May with a startled expression. “What did you say?”

“She’s right,” Noah said neutrally. “You won’t be able to heal from anything serious without eating people.”

Her eyes somehow bugged out even further. “What nonsense are you speaking of?” Nobody said anything about- about eating people!”

“Of course they wouldn’t,” Leah said. “Who would agree to that?”

“How would you even know?” the woman said angrily. Then her gaze slowly shifted to the blood stains spattered about Noah’s clothes.

“I don’t suppose you were injured earlier,” she said, swallowing.

“Oh, I sure was,” Noah said, and the woman’s visible relief lasted approximately two seconds before he continued, “Everything healed up quite nicely after I got a couple bites of my friend’s dad. Oh, and a doctor.” He squinted contemplatively. “I think there was a raccoon in there too, somewhere. Although I’m not sure how much that really did for me.”

Her mouth curled in disgust. “Are you joking?”

“He’s not joking,” Brian grumbled. “It’s not entirely his fault, though. It’s what the infection does to you. You’re gonna be in the same boat pretty soon, if not worse.”

“I don’t understand,” she said, eyes darting back and forth. “How does healing translate to cannibalism?”

“You should talk to a doctor. They can answer whatever questions you have. If you’re having any second thoughts, it’s not too late to get the dust sucked out before the healing kicks in.”

The woman looked conflicted. “I think I need to have a conversation with my friend. Thank you for sharing this information with me.”

Brian nodded. “I know it probably wasn’t what you wanted to hear, but better off knowing now than after you’ve been fed some poor sap, yeah?”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

She shuddered and nodded, and with one final glance, hurried past them down the hallway.

Noah turned to watch where she was headed, curious if she had stairwell access. Rather than continue all the way to the stairs, however, she stopped at a vending machine recessed into the wall and pressed a button on the display. She glanced back, saw Noah watching her, and quickly turned back to the machine.

“That poor woman is about to discover she can’t eat normal food anymore,” May said, peering at her as well. “We probably should’ve mentioned that symptom.”

“Eh, it sounds like she just got infected. She might be able to stomach the food,” Leah replied uncertainly. “And if not, well, she’ll figure it out real quick.”

Noah looked up and down the hall at all the doors, wondering how many other people were here in the hopes of curing themselves of terminal or even simply inconvenient conditions. As incredible as it was that there was even a way at all for them to be healed, the treatment would come with a cost that he doubted most would be willing to pay. The majority of people he interacted with were strongly opposed to the idea of consuming other humans. He shrugged to himself. They’d get over it.

“Let’s get to our rooms,” Brian suggested. “Before someone who isn’t infected decides to take a stroll down this lovely corridor.”

“Great idea. I am in desperate need of a nap,” Leah muttered.

“Set an alarm for later,” Noah said automatically.

“Sure, but I’ll need a time for that.”

Noah looked at Brian, who shrugged. “Most employees go home around five, right?”

“In a normal workplace, maybe,” Leah responded. “We have to assume that not everyone will clock out exactly as expected.”

“Midnight, then,” Brian said.

“That’s really late.”

“Correct.”

“Fine,” she said, throwing up her hands. “I’ll see all of you then.”

“Noah, if you sleep past the time, I’m banging on your door until you wake up,” Brian threatened.

“Aw, it makes me glad to know you care.”

“You are the one with the keycard. We’re not getting out of this hallway without you,” he said flatly.

Noah rolled his eyes. “Alright. Don’t you worry about me, I’ll be here.” He stepped down the hall to his room, and a green light exactly the same as those above all of the non-residential doors throughout the building lit up. He waved goodbye to his friends and entered his new quarters.

Noticing the room was cast in darkness, Noah quickly reached out to flick the nearby light switch before the door could shut behind him. He then went around turning on every light he could find in the small bedroom and attached bathroom. There was only a blank wall where a window would usually be located in a typical hotel room, which meant that a power outage would leave him quite helpless until the lights came back to life and restored his mobility. He wondered if he should have asked Brian or Clarissa for a candle or flashlight, but shrugged to himself after only a moment of consideration. He would probably be fine.

Only satisfied once he was burning enough electricity to power a small household, he collapsed onto the small bed and allowed himself to finally unwind. Events were unfolding nearly faster than he could keep track of. We ran away from school to avoid ending up here, and now we have to run away again. Except this time, it’s not as simple as a walk through the woods. We had enough trouble with that; how will we fare navigating the fortress that is Insight?

He tried not to worry overly much about it. It could be fun to run around and cause some chaos. Ideally, they would build an escape plan into their schedule, and be as far as possible from Insight by the time the next morning rolled around. Although he wasn’t sure how far they’d be able to get on foot.

Maybe we can call a taxi or something. He wondered if he would be able to endure a full taxi ride without eating their driver, and his thoughts went to that device Insight was developing to delay their patients’ hunger. He knew it wasn’t a permanent solution, but it might last him through a short car ride. If all he needed to employ the stop-gap measure was a bit of dust, perhaps he could bag some from the vats before they blew them up.

Though even as he considered that as an option, he could feel his stomach turn in disgruntled protest. He would much rather consume living flesh than subsist himself off someone’s dispensed dust.

We’ll see what happens. There will surely be a wandering guard or two to solve the issue.

A wave of tiredness passed over him despite the wildly early hour and he realized he was in danger of falling asleep if he didn’t move, so he sat upright and pulled out his phone to set an alarm. Upon unlocking the device, he immediately noticed he had quite a few missed calls and texts. He realized he had missed the notifications as they came due to his phone currently being set to vibrate.

Kicking himself for that oversight, he rectified the phone’s settings to account for his numbness and then looked closer at who had been trying to contact him.

All five missed calls were from his father. Noah felt a twinge of guilt at that, knowing the man was surely beside himself with worry. There had to have been some form of news coverage on the events currently transpiring at Oakridge campus, and to make matters worse, Noah had never gotten back to him about the results of their school getaway attempt.

Resolving to call his father before he went to sleep, Noah then looked at the texts. They were both in the freshly created group chat and had only just been sent. A text from May read:

Just got translation results back

Noah felt a burst of excitement as he stared at the attachment. This could be the answer to so many questions. He tapped to open the screenshot of a forwarded email and his eyes latched eagerly upon the translated text. As he began reading, however, a frown slowly grew across his face.

Here lies our cherished one, embraced by the inheritance of rebirth. At the world’s twilight, when the final dusk descends, every clasp across the lands shall burst and bring life anew. The silent shall stir and join their brethren in their second dance. Beware, for the veil between life and death shall then be torn, and the once still shall walk again.