“I’m sure he’ll be along soon,” said Ryan. “Anyway, we have something for you to look at. Show him, Aaron.”
Aaron approached Brett cautiously, the plastic bottle held up before him like some kind of offering. “Check this out.”
Brett squinted and leaned forward. “What is that?”
“We were hoping you could tell us,” said Ryan. “We found it up on the hill, coming out of the ground next to the corkscrew.”
“It only has four legs,” said Aaron, clearly savouring the reveal.
“Impossible. All insects have six legs. It must have lost a couple when you picked it up.”
Aaron shook his head. “There are a ton of them up there, and they all have four legs. They look just like this one.”
“He’s telling the truth,” said Ryan. “Four legs, every one.”
Brett moved his face right up to the bottle, but he didn’t reach out to take it. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Some kind of slug, maybe, but with appendages. How did the green oil get inside the bottle?”
“The insect squirted it,” said Aaron. “It’s the same stuff Sean got on his hands, right?”
“I couldn’t say. Possibly.”
“We should kill it,” said Loobey. “What if it’s dangerous?”
Brett shrugged. “It may well be, but having a live specimen will help Sean if it ends up being related to the substance all over him. If it’s some kind of toxin, this creature might help provide an antidote. Good job, Aaron.”
Aaron beamed, but Ryan saw nothing to be happy about. Brett was a vet, but he had no clue about what was inside the bottle. How could that be anything but bad? Suddenly, the thought of discovering a new species was unappealing. He imagined the first person to discover a lion hadn’t walked away to talk about it.
There was a noise from the cottage and everyone turned around. The front door had opened and Sean appeared on the front step. “Lads? What everyone doing out here?”
Brett moved away, holding his beer like he might use it as a weapon. Loobey moved away too, but Ryan was rooted to the spot. The sight of his friend was heartbreaking. More of the strange green fuzz had turned black and crusty, and Sean’s entire stomach now looked like it had been singed by flame, except for the bony protuberance he had uncovered earlier on his stomach. His left eye was completely ravaged, the fuzz now creeping down towards the edges of his mouth. His ribs showed through his flesh. Had Sean been so skinny when he had arrived at the cottage? Was the fungus eating him alive? Using him as fuel?
Killing him?
Suddenly, Ryan realised there was a strong chance that Sean was going to die. Whatever was happening to him was clearly catastrophic. “Y-You should go back inside, Sean. You need to rest.”
Sean’s lower lip quivered. “Please, Ryan, don’t make me stay inside when you’re all out here. I’m so hot. I feel like I’m on fire. Please, can I just stay out here with you? I don’t want to be on my own.”
Ryan glanced at Loobey and Brett. Brett was shaking his head. Loobey had tears in his eyes. Sean looked so afraid, so weak and alone.
“I-I’m going down to the stream,” said Aaron, forcing a smile to his face to remove the revulsion. “D’you want to come with me, Sean?”
Ryan looked at his younger brother. “Aaron, what are you doing?”
“He’s our friend. If you all want to keep your distance, fine, but I’m going to look after him.”
Sean was smiling, a massive relief clearly washing over him. He was so frail, like a little old man being asked to go out on a walk. “Y-Yes, I want to see the stream. I want to see the water.”
“Come on then, it’s just down here. Keep back a little though, okay? You’re not very well and I don’t want to catch it.”
Sean nodded even more enthusiastically. “No problem, our kid. I’ll keep my hands to meself, I swear down.”
Sean hobbled towards Aaron, not noticing that Brett and Loobey were cowering away from him. Aaron smiled warmly and told him that everything would be okay.
Ryan felt a pain in his chest and a stinging in his eyes. These could be Sean’s final moments, and his friends were abandoning him. “Wait, I’ll join you.”
Aaron shrugged like it was no big deal. “You want to grab a few beers then? I think Sean could use one.”
Sean started laughing, a weak and brittle sound. “I don’t half.”
Ryan went inside the cottage to fetch some beers. His hands were shaking as he opened the fridge, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he felt a presence behind him. He straightened up to see Brett and Loobey standing behind him in the kitchenette.
“You need to keep Aaron away from him,” said Brett. “His infection is worse than it was a couple of hours ago. It’s spreading fast. It’s all over him.”
“You don’t think I know that. I’ll make sure Aaron is safe. That’s why I’m going.”
“None of us are safe with Sean walking around. He’s a goddamn biological hazard.”
Loobey winced. “He’s just ill. It’s not his fault.”
“So what? It’s not worth risking our lives for, is it? He’s contagious and we need to stay away. It’s not like he has cancer.”
Ryan couldn’t help it, his eyes went to Loobey. His friend gave him a pleading expression. Don’t do it, was the message. Brett caught the silent exchange and grew suspicious. “What? What is it?”
Loobey shook his head at Ryan, but Ryan couldn’t keep a secret. It had hurt, finding out that Loobey had kept the cancer secret from him, and he couldn’t do the same thing to Brett. “Loobey has cancer.”
Loobey groaned. “Fuck, man, you promised.”
“We’re your mates, Loobey. We can help you.”
“Are you an oncologist, Ryan? Because if you’re not, then you can’t help me at all.”
“You know
