Noah hesitated outside the store entrance, prompting his dad to glance at him. “What is it?”

  “Are we really going to go into the store like this?” he asked, tugging at his shirt.

  He had noticed that his dad had yet to directly question why any of them were covered in blood. The man’s only immediate concern had been for his health, and when it became clear that he wasn’t in immediate danger, he hadn’t pressed for more information.

  May suddenly seemed to realize she was in an equally gruesome state. She blanched. “Maybe we should stay in the car.”

  “I have a couple extra shirts,” Brian offered.

  Elias looked at him doubtfully. “They’d be huge on all of us now.”

  “It’d be better than nothing, right?”

  “I don’t think it will be an issue,” Clarissa said. “People can assume whatever they want. You might get some funny looks, but I bet you right now, nobody will actually say anything.”

  Noah considered mentioning the exchange he’d had with the random guy in the parking lot. He didn’t say anything, however, and they walked into the convenience store as they were. The cashier's jaw dropped open as they walked by, but he remained silent.

  Noah’s dad waved vaguely towards the aisles. “Grab whatever you want. If you don’t have any cash, I’ll cover it for you. I’m going to use the bathroom now.”

  “That’s very generous, thank you, sir,” Elias said.

  Noah gave his friends a slightly nervous look after his dad had walked away. “I don’t know about you guys, but I haven’t used a bathroom in three days.”

  “Oh, man, that’s right,” Brian muttered, eyes widening.

  “I’m kind of terrified at what’s going to come out when nature finally calls.”

  “There might not be anything to worry about,” Elias said. “The dust stayed in our lungs, right? It may never have touched our normal digestive systems.”

  “Speaking of which,” Leah interjected impatiently, “I’m starving. I’m going to get some soup.” She marched away with May following close behind.

  Clarissa grabbed Brian’s hand and pulled him away down another aisle, leaving Noah standing alone with Elias.

  “I think I want a sandwich,” Noah said thoughtfully. “Possibly multiple sandwiches.”

  They meandered between rows of shelves. Neither of them had ever been to this particular convenience store before, so they spent several minutes just peering around at what it had to offer. Elias came across a small tub of peanut butter, which he tucked under his arm with a grin, and shortly afterward he also grabbed a single banana.

  Noah was very pleased to find a case of plastic-wrapped sandwiches in a refrigerator at the back corner of the store. He grabbed a turkey-and-ham, and then instead of immediately closing the door, he simply stood there for a moment as the cold air washed over him.

  Elias shivered and shut the door for him. “Are you not able to feel yet?”

  “Oh, I can,” Noah said. “You know, generally speaking, the experience of feeling is pretty uncomfortable.”

  “Are you saying you preferred being completely insensate?” Elias asked, raising an eyebrow.

  Noah laughed and shook his head. “Being uncomfortable is awesome, are you kidding?”

  The look Elias gave him made it clear he thought he was bonkers, but he just shook his head and turned away without saying anything.

  Neither of them had money, so they found Noah’s dad before checking out and bringing their food to the small attached cafe. Leah and May had already arrived and had claimed a long, bar-esque table with enough seats for their group of seven. Placed before each of them was a plastic spoon and an unopened can of minestrone soup.

  “Where’s Brian when you need him?” Leah complained. “I don’t have my can opener on me.”

  Noah stared at her. “How are you planning on cooking your soup?”

  “I’m not. It comes pre-cooked.”

  Noah looked at the can. “I’m pretty sure those are cooking instructions on the side.”

  She peered down with narrowed eyes. “Mere suggestions for those weak of mind and body.”

  Brian and Clarissa soon arrived. Brian had a can of pasta, while Clarissa was bearing a loaf of unsliced bread and nothing else.

  Noah gave her a slightly incredulous look, but nobody else seemed concerned, so he kept quiet. Maybe it was normal to eat straight bread for breakfast.

  Brian slung his backpack to the floor and sat down across from his sister. He pulled out a purple can opener and passed it over to her without a word, then got out another one, which was yellow, and opened his own can of pasta. Noah didn’t bother asking if he would cook the food before eating.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  At that point Noah’s dad finally joined them and took a seat next to his son. He had bought an apple and an energy drink.

  Noah nodded at him and began unwrapping his sandwich. The last time he had eaten proper food had been… he slowly frowned. Not counting the pre-made meal he had barely touched at the housing units back on campus, the last thing he had eaten had been the sandwich Brian made for their visit to the cemetery.

  No, that’s not the last thing I’ve eaten. A sense of wrongness suddenly flooded through him, and he gagged. The noise attracted the attention of his companions.

  “Noah?” his dad asked.

  Noah looked at him. For a horrible moment he felt his hunger lean towards the man, or perhaps he expected to feel his hunger do so, and he froze, horrified. The feeling passed before he could act on it, but it left his mind disoriented and guilt-ridden. His dad was gazing at him with a slightly confused, worried expression, unsure what was wrong, but eager to help.

  Everything he had done in the past several days hit him in that single moment. He curled over, nearly planting his face in the sandwich, and sobbed.

  He felt a hand patting his back. “It’s okay,” his dad said quietly. “You’re not at Insight anymore.”

  Noah couldn’t bear to look at him. “It’s not what they did, dad. It’s what I did.”

  The man didn’t respond. He probably had no idea what to say.

  “It’s not your fault,” he heard Clarissa murmur. “You can’t blame yourself for what you did there. Plus, they kind of deserved it. Don’t beat yourself up.”

  Over a minute passed before he finally raised his head. He wiped his eyes quickly and looked around. To his surprise, his friends looked about as miserable as he felt. Elias was staring at his own hands, shaking, while May sat listlessly with tears streaming down her face. Brian stared down at his food with a frown, though that could just have been because he had bought himself canned pasta. Clarissa and Leah were looking around at them all with wretched expressions.

  His dad was sitting very still, eyes darting back and forth. He seemed hesitant to speak, but he finally asked in a quiet voice, “What happened?”

  “How much do you know about the infection?” Clarissa asked after it became clear nobody else wanted to answer.

  “Noah told me some of the symptoms a few days ago. Numbness, decreased heart rate and breathing… he said he wasn’t in any danger, even though that seemed impossible.”

  She sighed and opened her mouth, but Noah interrupted her in a flat voice.

  “The sickness makes you into a zombie. It makes you eat people, like a monster.”

  Several seconds passed. His dad blinked. “Oh. Oh. So all of you…”

  “Not her or I,” Clarissa said, nodding at Leah. “The rest of them, though… yes.”

  “I see,” he murmured.

  “I was hungry the whole time,” May suddenly burst out. “From the moment Dr. Jansen cut me. It never got better.”

  Noah stared at her, momentarily shocked out of his self-misery. “Really? The wounds didn’t look that bad.”

  She glared at him. “I’m glad you thought so.”

  He held his hands up. “I don’t mean to offend you. If your words are true, you’ve shown incredible self-restraint. I don’t know how you did it.”

  She shut her eyes. “It was so hard. And it didn’t matter, in the end. I failed.”

  “Yeah, but not until you got shot,” he said, genuinely impressed. “And it does matter. Think of all the people you didn’t eat, up ‘till that point.”

  She smiled weakly. “Yeah. Thanks.”

  “Kid.” Noah turned to see his dad looking right at him. “It sounds like you went through some horrible stuff. I wish you had talked to me about what was happening, but there’s nothing I can do about it now. What I can do is tell you this: you’re not a zombie, and you’re not a monster. You’re a victim. And if you don’t believe that right now, that’s okay, but sooner or later you’re gonna realize I was right.”

  Noah stared at him for several seconds, then leaned forward and hugged him. “I hope so,” he whispered.

  A long moment passed before they separated. “Now, eat your sandwich,” the man said sternly. “That thing wasn’t free.”

  Noah obediently took a bite. It tasted so good that he nearly started crying again, but he had to pause to take a drink of water before he could swallow. He hadn’t realized how dry his throat was. He only intended to take a sip, but before he knew it, he was setting down the empty bottle. He then proceeded to devour his entire sandwich in about five bites.

  His friends tore into their own food with equal gusto, and Noah’s dad had barely picked up his apple before the rest of them were finished eating.

  “What happens now?” Leah asked.

  “We go back to school,” Elias said. “What else?”

  “You think it’s safe?”

  “Well, it’s not as if I’ve seen any zombies roaming the streets, and nobody seems to be panicking. This could have been the beginning of a disaster, but by some miracle, the crisis was caught before it could spiral out of control. Classes have probably already resumed.”

  “So, that’s it, then.” Brian sighed. “Everything goes back to normal.”

  Noah shot a look at his friend. “I hope so.”

  When Noah’s dad finished eating they cleared the table and exited the cafe. Brian took one look at the car and shook his head. “I’m not going back in the trunk.”

  “Understandable,” Noah said. “You go ahead and sit in the front. I’ll squeeze in with everyone else.”

  Brian grinned. “Good luck with that.”

  Everyone did finally manage to fit into the car, though Noah doubted there was a square foot of cumulative spare space left in the back seat by the time everyone was situated. It was certainly an unsafe arrangement.

  They drove back to school.

  “Is this really the best place to put this thing?”

  Brian gave Noah a sharp look as he pulled the door to the mausoleum open. The door was just as stubborn as usual. “Can you think of a better spot?”

  “I’m still not convinced we shouldn’t just destroy it,” May murmured. She sneezed. “Sorry, allergies. What if someone finds it?”

  Leah shook her head. “It won’t be discovered. The only people who will ever know where it is will be us four.”

  Brian tugged the lever to open the tomb and they all stared down at the motionless corpse.

  “Put it as far back as you can reach,” he said.

  May gave him a long, worried look, but in the end she did as they had agreed. Brian closed the tomb.

  They didn’t linger, although Noah gave the dark room one last uneasy look as he stood by the door.

  “Just in case,” he whispered, and slipped outside after his friends.