Demi

The seemingly injured man grabbed Peter's arm, and then sunk his teeth in it.

My jaw dropped.

Peter let out a deafening scream that set my teeth on edge. The man ripped parts of flesh from his arm, with just his teeth. I could not believe what I was witnessing. Next to me I heard Olivia gasp for air.

Peter's screams attracted another figure, looking a lot like the staggering man. This figure, which looked like a woman but definitely wasn't acting like one, clawed at his throat, ripping it open. There was blood everywhere.

I quickly closed my eyes, even though I had already seen too much to possibly ever forget. What in the world was happening?

Peter collapsed and his screams grew quiet while the two figures crouched down on him. None of us made a sound, we were all paralyzed. But then Victor seemed to come to his senses again.

"Guys, exit the car, now!" He hissed at us. "Run!"

"Run where? We're safer in here than we are out there!" Nick said under his breath. Olivia had tears in her eyes.

Victor opened his car door. "Just follow me, do it! There's no time to waste!"

None of us protested.

***

"What... What was that?" Olivia looked as if she was about to throw up. We had taken this small mountainous path up and stopped to catch our breath, but we had to keep moving. Who knew how many of these things would appear out of nowhere... What if they had followed us?

No reply came. "Shouldn't we have checked up on Peter? Maybe he needed our help."

"And get attacked ourselves by some lunatics? Are you insane, woman?" Nick lashed out at Olivia, almost causing the girl to burst out in tears.

"Hey, that's enough, Nick," I tried to intervene, but he sent me a vile look.

Victor, pale as a ghost, was still trying to catch his breath. "Whatever it was that got him... It was too late anyway. Trust me, I had a clearer view at it in the front seat than you guys had, in the back."

We all quietly kept walking, consumed by our own thoughts. I had seen the riots on the news, the past couple of days, and there had surfaced many rumors about the ones causing the riots, but the news kept reporting it was under control and nothing life-threatening. But this... What we had just witnessed seemed to come straight out of a bad horror movie, yet I had seen it with my own two eyes. I had just seen a guy getting ripped to shreds. I pinched myself, hoping to wake up, but all it did was leave a red mark on my skin.

Victor made eye contact with me. "We are close to Ben's house, I propose we go there. There's no way I'm going down there again tonight. Maybe we can spend the night there, and we'll think of a plan tomorrow. For now we need to get to safety as soon as possible."

I wanted to recalcitrate, but I knew this wasn't the time. Victor was right. My house was barely in walking distance, and with what we had just witnessed, I surely wasn't going to try. As much as I hated to come face to face with Ben again, I knew I had no choice.

"Fine. We'll go there."

***

I had never been so relieved to see the house of the man I once loved, looming up from behind the trees. Ben lived in a pretty secluded area, shielded from the highway and our town, somewhat up in the mountains. He owned a small manor, but definitely big enough to lodge the four of us.

Unless he would send me off. Would he do that? I swallowed. We didn't exactly end things in peace, after all.

Victor seemed to be reading my thoughts. "It's gonna be okay, Demi. I'll talk to him. There's no way he would kick you out." He sent me a comforting smile.

"That's what you hope," Nick sneered, his curls bounced on his forehead. "The guy hates her guts."

I took a moment to take Nick's appearance in. He was a rather short and chubby guy, with thick brown curls, dark blue eyes, and a shirt that exposed half of his belly. I had seen him around before, and I knew he was friends with Ben, but I never had the pleasure of meeting this guy. Or displeasure, actually, since I started to honestly dislike him.

"Is he even home tonight?" Olivia asked, inspecting the house. "It seems deserted. The lights are off. Where do we go when he's not?" Desperation resounded in her voice.

"Oh, he's home. I know he is," Victor replied, fixating his eyes on the parked car on Ben's driveway. I quickly looked around, but there was nothing in sight. These streets were deserted. Nothing that even remotely indicated what happened to us earlier.

Victor knocked on the front door. "Ben? Please open the door."

A light ignited, and we heard someone stumble to the door. Olivia and I looked at each other, not sure what to expect as soon as the door would open. What if the creatures we encountered earlier had been here already, and injured Ben? Or worse...

I swallowed, and started to feel nauseous again.

All of a sudden the door swung open, making us all jump. A tall blond man stood in the doorway, laughing. "Woah Vic, relax, it's just me. You should have seen your face. Where's your car?" Then he looked past Victor, spotting us.

Spotting me.

He set a step back. "And why did you bring her here?" I cringed.

Victor ignored his question. "Listen, Ben. I will explain it all, if you let us in. All of us," he firmly added, following the man's gaze on me.

The latter sighed but gave in, stepping aside so we could all enter. I tried not to look at him. It felt weird, being in his hallway again. We followed him into his living room, where one of his other friends was chilling.

"Hey Vic, Nick, what brings you here at this hour? It's past eleven. I should get going, anyway. It's still quite a drive to the city." The guy stood up, preparing to leave by grabbing his coat, but Victor walked up to him and took the guy's coat from him. He looked puzzled.

"I'm afraid you can't leave."

The guy stared at Victor, and then to us, and back at Victor. "Are you okay, man? You're acting a little strange. Did you smoke something?" The guy tried to smile at Victor, but he didn't smile back. Instead he sat down on Ben's couch. There were some cigarettes burning in the ash tray that was standing on Ben's table.

I sighed. I knew what time it was. It was obvious to me that they were stoned. Again.

"Forget it, Victor. They're wasted. There's no way they're gonna believe us in this state. It's no use," I scoffed, and Ben threw me an angry look.

Victor ignored my words and addressed Ben and his friend. "I don't know if you heard about the riots. I'm starting to doubt if that's what they are." He ran a hand through his dark hair. "Whatever it is, whatever they are, they got Peter. He's dead, man."

Ben opened his mouth, but closed it again. "He... What? Is this a joke? They got Peter?" His friend looked at us as if we were crazy. "Are you sure you're sober? Because you're absolutely not making any sense."

Victor's face fell. "They looked like humans, but they weren't. They ate him."

The guy started laughing. Ben still hadn't said a word. "You're saying Peter got eaten, by human-like things? Like what, zombies?"

I stared at the both of them. Zombies? Was that what they were? Dead people coming back to life to eat us? It sure looked like it, but it couldn't be, right? That shit wasn't real. There had to be another explanation. Maybe some kind of humanoid creature. But zombies?

He shook his head in disbelief, still laughing. "You have really outdone yourself this time, Vic. Thanks for the laugh. But I gotta go now, I have an early shift tomorrow." He patted Ben on the back and pulled his coat from Victor's hands. "Good luck with these weirdos, Ben. I'll let you guys know when I encounter a zombie. I'll greet him for you, ask him for a selfie."

Victor sighed as he heard the front door close. Nick scratched his head. "You think they were zombies, Vic?"

"They weren't human. Not anymore, at least. It doesn't really matter what they are. All I know is that we should avoid them at all costs. You saw what they did to Peter. You all did, right? Please tell me I'm not going crazy." He almost looked desperate, and I could swear I spotted his eyes getting a little wet.

I placed my hand on this arm. "You're not crazy. We all saw it." He sent me a grateful smile.

"So... You're actually claiming these riots are caused by zombies, or something similar to that concept. And they ate Peter." Ben finally spoke up.

"I know how it sounds. I do. But Victor is right, we have all seen it. It was madness." It was the first time Olivia spoke up. Her face was tearstained and she had a bewildered look on her face. I had never seen my best friend like this. Normally her complexion was impeccable.

"Do you mind if we stay at your house for the night, Ben? My car broke down on the highway." The expression on Victor's face was almost imploring. He looked broken.

Ben seemed to be in deep thought, and started massaging his temples. "Honestly, I'm too stoned right now to even be able to consider this as truthful. You guys are giving me a headache. I'm going to bed now and chill out for a bit, we'll discuss this in the morning. You know where my guest rooms are." With that he took off, shaking his head.

Victor put his head in his hands, and Olivia started sobbing again. Nick tried to turn on the television for news, but none of the channels seemed to work. Frustrated he threw the remote away.

I walked up to the window and gazed outside. It was a clear night tonight, but I knew, right there, right then, that nothing would ever be the same again. Our lives were changed for good.   

***