Noah’s heart dropped at the sight and he looked around to see if anyone had noticed. There were a couple of people standing further down the aisle, but none of them were looking in his direction. Waving his hand quickly through the cloud to dispel it, Noah gave up trying to find his particular brand, grabbing a random carton of milk and hurrying away towards the front of the store where the cash registers were located. He noticed Leah was already paying for her absurdly large amount of canned soups and decided to get in line at another register.

Are our lungs all full of dust? He wondered, growing more anxious with every passing second. This could be even worse than we thought.

It came his turn to pay and he pulled out his wallet. His fingers were so numb that it took him a lot longer than it probably should have to pull out the appropriate number of bills. He had been unpleasantly aware of the pins-and-needles sensation pricking at his hands all morning, but only now realized how much it interfered with his fine motor control. Luckily for him, he only had to extract a few dollars. Most of the items sold at the Corner Market were just as cheap as one would hope from such a tired looking store.

He held the money out to the guy manning the cash register, none other than David himself, and realized with horror that he was about to cough again. Realizing he wouldn’t be able to stifle it before it came out, he tucked his head down into his elbow in the hope that David wouldn’t be able to see the dust he feared would appear.

Unfortunately, there was to be no hiding the thick expulsion of dust, as it clouded around his arm like it wasn’t even there and filled the air around the checkout station. The tiny particles coated the lenses of David’s glasses and clung to his clothing.

Cringing, Noah squeezed his eyes shut momentarily and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry about that,” he said as David stared at him in surprise. “I’m a little sick at the moment, I sincerely apologize.”

David waved his large hands through the cloud and coughed loudly to clear his lungs, drawing the attention of everyone nearby. May and Brian had gotten back from the bathroom at some point and looked over curiously from where they were waiting by the exit. Their eyes bugged out of their heads as they recognized the odd dust from the mausoleum drifting through the air around Noah.

“That’s not a healthy habit, son,” David said as the air finally began to clear.

Noah’s attention shot back to him in surprise. “Oh, that’s not- I mean, I don’t smoke,” he was quick to assure the man.

David smiled at him and took his glasses off, beginning to clean them on the hem of his shirt. “You don’t need to bother with any of that, son. I’d just like you to know that your lungs won’t thank you for the habit. Take it from me. I was hooked for twenty years before I managed to quit.” He held his lenses up to the ceiling lights, peering closely at them. He frowned and brought them back to his shirt, rubbing the lenses more fiercely.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Noah held his hands up, feeling his cheeks turning red. “I appreciate the advice, sir, but I don’t need it. I’ve never smoked in my life.”

David continued as if he hadn’t said anything, “The best way to do it is to replace the habit with something else. Start substituting one for the other and before you know it you’re chewing gum instead of giving yourself a dozen chronic diseases. It’ll be hard, son, but I believe in you.”

Noah buried his face in his hands. “Thank you, sir.”

He grabbed the milk and hurried out of the store. His friends looked at him worriedly as he rushed by, but he just shook his head and gestured for them to follow him outside.

“What happened?” Brian asked as soon as they were back out under the sun. They set off along the street, continuing in the direction of Oakridge Community College.

“Well, David thinks I’m a smoking addict now. Because of this,” he said with a sigh, and forced a cough. Dust spewed out in a sinister mass.

“Oh, no,” Leah said. She glanced around and let out a small cough of her own. Dust flew into the air, mixing into the cloud Noah had produced and making the air around them even hazier.

They all stared at the dark haze, feeling dread weighing on them.

“Are we dying?” Brian asked.

Leah punched him. “Of course not. It’s just a little dust. We have soup, we’ll be fine.”

Brian didn’t look very reassured, so Noah added, “Plus we’re also going to the doctor. We can see if the office is open as soon as we get back on campus. I’m sure they’ll give us something to clear everything right up.”

May smiled. “Especially if they know where the dust came from.”

Leah rolled her eyes. “Oh, come off it. Did anything about that zombie’s pendant look like established science to you? They’re not gonna have a clue what has happened to us.”

Noah looked anxiously back at the store and said, “I hope it’s not contagious. If so, I might have just gotten everyone in that store sick.”

They all looked back in the direction of the Corner Market, though by now they were in the middle of the Oakridge campus and the store was out of view. Eventually Leah rubbed her neck and shrugged. “It’s too late to do anything about it now. Either the dust is harmless or we’re walking safety hazards. The best thing for us to do is just get back to our dorms and lay low until we can see a doctor.”

Noah nodded. “Yeah, I need to put my milk in the fridge regardless. And I’m taking a shower before we do anything else.”

Brian exhaled. “Oh boy, a shower sounds so nice right now.”

A few quick minutes later they arrived at Leah and May’s dormitory and the two girls stepped away to the main entrance. May disappeared inside while Leah paused on the threshold, holding the door open with her foot. Noah doubted she’d be able to open it again if it closed, what with her hands full of soup.

“Oh, do try not to cough on people! You don’t want to be responsible for infecting half your dorm!” she said.

“I’ll be careful,” Noah said seriously.

Leah smiled. “See you guys at the health center in half an hour?”

Brian looked at Noah before nodding. “See you then.”