Amelia

"Causeway Cannibal! A road-rage sparked accident leads driver to attack other driver and cops on scene. " I glanced up at the small TV, as I flipped pancakes. The news anchor introduced some street-camera footage of a man slamming his car door shut, before walking up to the other driver and pounding on his car window.

The second driver opened his door, and after some brief words, jumped at the road-rage guy. They fought and tumbled, and the clip faded into another one as cops arrived. The road-raged man lay on the floor, gripping his face, as the cops rose their guns from a distance at the second driver.

The clip cut short immediately after a few guns jerked upward, and the second driver fell to the ground. The news anchor turned to his co-anchor, "Authorities have not released any statements. But, wow, what a clip."

His co-anchor picked up the rest, "Phil, I'd say this looks like another victim of bath salts. Remember that guy in Florida who bit that man's face off? He was on bath salts, too."

The smell of burning batter turned my attention back to the pan, "Crap." I dumped the burnt pancakes, before making some more. Chloe announced her entrance into the kitchen with a groan.

"How are you feeling?" I glanced at her, not wanting to remove my eyes from the pancakes this time.

"Shitty. My body is so sore." She shuffled to the table and slumped into a seat, resting her head down on her arms.

"Well, maybe eating would help." I plated the table and finished the pancakes, serving us both.

"Thanks. I still don't feel to good, though."

"Are you sure you don't want me to take you to the hospital?" I grimaced at Chloe's sprawled out body clutching the toilet seat.

"Positive. It's just some type of flu." Chloe groaned as she shifted to face me. Her lips were dry and cracked, although she'd been drinking a sufficient amount of water.

She opened her mouth to speak, but instead upchucked my pancakes.

My phone rang, and I more than gladly took the distraction- eagerly, too, after seeing it was Ryan calling. "Hey." I smiled into the phone, "How was your exam?"

"Mel?"

My brows scrunched at Ryan's tense voice, "Yeah. What's wrong?"

"Are you at home?" He sounded out of breath, and I could hear lots of shuffling around on his end.

"Yeah, why?" I moved completely out of the bathroom, and led myself slowly back to the kitchen.

"I don't know what's going on but-" He cut off that thought with a more urgent one, "Have you seen the news lately?"

"Yeah, which part? The flu, or the road rage guy?" I questioned, my eyes drifting towards the TV again.

"It's not just that, Mel. People are attacking other people now."

"What do you mean?" Maybe he was talking about the road rage guy?

"Like they're biting other people. It just happened on campus, I-"

My face scrunched. People were biting other people on his campus? "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Listen, I already called my parents, uh- do you mind staying with them until this passes over?"

I was still stuck on the biting people part. What did that anchor say? Something about this guy being on bath salts and a guy in Florida biting some guy's face. But how were they related? I grabbed the remote and rewinded to the clip.

I held the phone to my ear as I slowed the clip down to watch it again. When the second driver attacked the road rage guy, he jumped on him. I slowed it down some more, watching it carefully.

What the hell? He bit him. He bit his cheek, that's when road-rage guy fell, and the cops shot the other driver.

I stared at the television screen, until he spoke again. His voice was quiet, and the clattering behind his voice quieted, "I don't know what this is, Mel, but I want you to stay safe. Your family isn't here to protect you. It would just be until this thing blows over."

"Is it that serious?" I bit my lip as I focused on my breathing.

"I don't want to scare you, but I think it is. I saw someone eating someone else."

"Like a zombie?"

"Yeah."

A smile came to my lips but my eyes began to water, I wanted to laugh so bad. This couldn't be real, right? People eating other people? Randomly?

My silence spoke for me.

"Mel, please."

"Ryan, you better not be playing some kind of joke on me." I whispered into the phone, staring at the floor.

"I'm not. I swear, Mel, I swear." His voice cracked, and the honesty and fear in his voice were heard.

"Ryan," My vision became blurry as I wrapped my arm around myself. I didn't know what I wanted to tell him. Maybe that I wanted him to say he was joking, maybe that I wanted him to be here to hold me, or that even though I doubted him, I trusted him more.

"I saw a video from the City, and I just want you to be safe."

"Okay," I forced a deep breath, glancing at the TV before moving towards the bathroom again, "but what about Chloe?"

There was a pause on the other side, "What do you mean?"

"Chloe's with me." I peeked into the bathroom to see her still clutching the toilet.

"Chloe's at your place?" Ryan sounded hesitant.

"Yeah, she got into a fight with Jason, and I picked her up. She's a little sick, but I can't leave her."

"Don't worry about it, I'll let my parents know. I'm going to send you their address." He paused, "I'm trying to come home as soon as possible."

"How long did you want me to stay at your house?" I toyed with the hem of my shirt as I watched Chloe. Getting her out of here would be a task in itself.

"I don't know how long, maybe a few days."

"Okay." I responded hesitantly. Wasn't this going to be weird? Some girl going to meet the parents of a guy- who's not really in a relationship-

"They're not going to make you feel out of place, Mel. I can hear it in your voice." Ryan added softly, I could hear the smile in his voice- even if it was a slight smile, "Leave as soon as you can. I want to make sure your safe as soon as possible." Ryan breathed as the shuffling returned.

"Okay, thanks." I sighed.

"I'll see you soon, hopefully."

"See you soon, Ryan." My heart was racing, and I wasn't sure from the typical way it did whenever I spoke to him, or from the absurd alternate reality I seemed to have stepped into.

*

"So Ryan wants you to stay at his parents' house during the 'zombie apocalypse'?" Chloe shot me a look.

"He said something's happening and I trust him." I pulled into the driveway of the Blackwood's estate.

"Mel, I wanted you to get out more and sleep around, not fall for the first guy we set you up with. He might be joking around." Chloe's demeaning tone pushed my comfort.

"You think I haven't been racking my brain on what to do? Who's it going to hurt, Chloe? Staying somewhere else for a couple of nights? If he's wrong or playing some joke, no harm done, but if he's right- he might've just saved our lives. He sounded scared, and there's no way he could fake it that well."

Chloe stayed quiet before letting out a grunt when her phone rang for the fifth time today, "It's Jason again."

"Answer it."

"No way. I accidentally puked at dinner with his parent's and they got all butt-hurt like I didn't like the way his mom cooked. If they would've paid more attention they would've realized I was sick." Chloe shook her head, her eyes drifting away from mine.

"Well, we're here, so let's get inside." I turned off the car and grabbed both of our bags since she could barely hold herself up.

My palms were moist as I rang the doorbell. This wasn't a big deal- but it was. Ryan and I weren't a thing, but I was going to meet his parents under some strange circumstances. Only a few moments after ringing the doorbell, a man answered the door, who had to be Ryan's dad.

His crew cut showed off his fading brown hair, and he was probably slightly taller than Ryan- who was at least six feet. His laugh lines showed a softer side to the stern face we were seeing at the moment.

"Amelia?" His eyes shifted from Chloe to me.

I nodded, "That's me, and this is Chloe."

He moved out of the way, glancing around behind us as we entered, "I'm Matt, Ryan's dad."

I nodded again, unsure of what to say, "It's nice to meet you."

He shut the door and turned to me, appearing a bit surprised. His face softened, "It's nice to meet you too."

Our attention turned to a woman a bit shorter than me, whose eyes crinkled like Ryan's, "Hi, hon. I'm Emma, Ryan's mom."

"Mel." I smiled.

"Come in, please." She nodded for us to follow her and we did. We made our way into the living room, dropping our bags on the floor.

"... emergency cancellation of classes has just been announced by our school districts, and students are encouraged to check with their schools to check when classes will resume." I glanced at the news on the television, before checking what made my phone beep.

Notifications from PSU:

Classes are canceled and all residence halls are now closed until further notice. All students have been relocated. Operations after this temporary close will be determined as soon as on-site conditions can be evaluated.