Afflicted

“What about our friends?” I asked angrily.

Reese looked over my shoulder at the rest of the group and sighed. “He made me promise not to tell them. We could bring Jason and Lacey though, I'm sure two more won't matter but the rest of them…”

“We should try and get them back too - the closer they are to Harbour City the better. If they really are going to need to isolate everyone from the outside world soon then it's gotta be better for them to be close by so that they can get in quickly. I don't know what's going on but if they're leaving a dead body lying in the street for this long then something serious must be happening elsewhere.”

“All the more reason to steal-“

“No Reese! I'm not risking my place inside the city so that you can have a joy ride.” I turned my back on him and jogged to catch up with Lacey.

“I don't like this,” she said as I joined her. “What the hell happened to that woman? It looked like something had ripped her neck open. What if there's some half starved coyote lurking around here trying to find a meal?”

“I doubt it's hungry,” Tommy said quietly, joining our conversation. I glanced up at him, his dark hair was sticking to his forehead and a light sheen of sweat covered his face.

“Why not?” Lacey demanded.

“Because it would have eaten that woman it killed.”

His words made me shudder and I glanced around between buildings in case a pair of hungry eyes was watching us.

“We’ll be fine so long as we stick together,” I said, not sure who I was trying to convince more. “Whatever or whoever killed that woman is probably long gone by now anyway. We just need to get back home and try to forget we ever saw something so horrible.”

“Yeah,” Tommy agreed. He still looked a little green around the edges and I stepped a bit further away from him in case he puked again.

“Stupid piece of shit!” Demi yelled ahead of us and I hurried forward to see what was wrong with her. “They've cancelled the next three buses,” she explained as she pointed at the digital display on the side of the bus stop.

“But we need to get back,” I said helplessly.

“Way to point out the obvious,” Demi snapped.

I ignored her jibe and looked around, wondering if there was any other way for us to get home. The street was deserted. We were right by the town centre and I'd never seen it so empty before.

“Where is everyone?” Ella asked like she'd read my mind. “It's quieter than a gnat’s fart around here.”

Kristen laughed a little too loudly, tossing her red hair over her shoulder as she glanced back up the street towards the corpse.

“They probably got a memo about the buses and caught the last one,” Spencer joked, nudging Demi playfully.

“Pick your moments Spence, you're such a jackass.” Demi stomped away from him, pulling out her cellphone.

A shriek sounded in the distance and I turned towards the direction it had come from. It sounded like some kind of animal; the sort of noise I'd only ever heard on nature shows on the TV before.

“What was that?” I breathed as I took a step towards it.

“I'm not sure,” Lacey replied shakily. “Do you think that's what killed that woman?”

“If the buses are a no go we should head to the train station,” Jason suggested behind us.

I glanced over my shoulder at the group of our friends; it didn't seem like anyone other than me and Lacey had heard the feral shriek.

“That's a twenty minute walk at best,” Tara complained, twisting her pale blonde ponytail between her fingers.

“I can't do that in these heels,” Ella agreed. I glanced at her boots but I'd hardly have called the one inch heels hard to walk in. “They pinch,” she explained as she noticed me looking.

“You can sit here and wait for the next bus then,” Reese said as he moved towards the timetable. “It looks like it'll be along in just over an hour and a half- presuming it doesn't get cancelled too. I'd rather not hang out here with the corpse for that long though.”

The rest of the group mumbled their agreement with my brother but everyone's gaze kept heading towards Demi. She had moved just far enough away so as not to be overheard and was talking quite animatedly to whoever was on the other end of the line.

She hung up suddenly and walked back towards us looking even more pissed off than she had been before the call.