Aaron rattled something on the ground in front of him. It was the plastic bottle with the critter inside. Ryan groaned. “Are you still carrying that thing around?”
“Brett thinks we need to keep it, for the antidote or whatever.”
“Sean isn’t poisoned. Brett has no idea what he’s talking about.”
Aaron rattled the bottle, knocking the critter about inside. There was now green oil all over the bottom section. “Brett said I was right to capture it, so I’m holding onto it. Look, there’s more of the green oil on the plastic and…”
“What?”
“The fungus. It’s growing along the bottom. See?”
Ryan had to get up and go around Sean to take a closer look, and at first, he saw nothing. Then he noticed the narrow seam of fuzz growing along the bottom edge of the bottle. “It’s the same as…” He glanced at Sean. “It’s the same.”
Sean flinched, making them both jump. “What you got there? What you got?”
“Um…” Aaron raised the plastic bottle and rattled it. “Just something we found on top of the hill.”
Sean suddenly growled, his fuzz-encrusted left eye twitching. “Let it go.”
Ryan frowned. “What are you talking about, Sean? It’s just a bug we found.”
Sean leapt up, landing on his feet like a cat. He bared his teeth, several of them covered by a slimy green mould. A stale odour escaped his mouth. Ryan panicked, wondering if the stench meant he was breathing something in. He took a step back, moving Aaron behind him.
Sean crouched, like he was preparing to pounce. “Let. It. Go.”
“No,” said Aaron. “This can help the doctors figure out what’s wrong with you. We need to keep—”
Sean snatched at him.
Ryan pushed Aaron out of the way and then threw himself to the floor to avoid Sean’s attack. He quickly rolled along the rocky embankment until he was back up on his feet. Sean followed him, preparing to leap again. He bent at the knees, scowling at Ryan like he wished him dead. The fuzz in his eye began to quiver, something festering within.
“Bugs!” said Aaron. “There are bugs coming out of his eye.”
Ryan covered his mouth with a hand as Sean’s left eye ruptured and a disgusting mass of foul brown liquid spilled down his cheek. The liquid was filled with tiny slug-like creatures, matching those they had found on the hill.
Ryan dodged backwards, horrified by what he saw. “Sean, stay the hell back!”
Sean was beyond words; he lunged at Ryan again. Ryan kicked out and planted a foot in his stomach, sending him backwards. The bony patch beneath Sean’s belly button broke open and more brown slime oozed from his body. More four-legged slugs erupted from his flesh, raining down onto the grass with a pitter-patter.
Sean attacked again, a large flap of his stomach now hanging open and revealing his decaying insides. This time he didn’t lunge; he came forward with his arms outstretched, hissing and snarling like a ghoul.
“Sean, stay back! The hell is wrong with you?”
“It’s in his brain,” said Aaron. “He isn’t in control of himself.”
Ryan backed away, hands out, pleading. Begging. “Sean, don’t!”
“Our kid,” said Sean, before lunging at Ryan’s throat.
There was nothing in Ryan’s hands except an opened can of beer. Instinctively, he chucked the contents in Sean’s face, blinding his one functioning eye and disorientating him long enough to get out of the way.
Aaron grabbed Ryan’s arm and pulled him backwards. “We need to leg it.”
“No shit! Come on!”
Sean tried to block their retreat, but Aaron tossed the plastic bottle with the bug inside. It sailed past Sean and landed in the stream, causing him to turn around to retrieve it. Was he concerned about the bug’s welfare?
Ryan and Sean raced up the hill. The cottage wasn’t far, but Ryan wished he had wings so he could fly there. His hopes for Sean disintegrated as he became certain that his oldest friend was done for. Surely there was no cure for whatever was happening to him. There would be no treatment that would lead to them all laughing about this a month from now. There was no happy ending to whatever this was.
Brett and Loobey were on the driveway. Loobey was sitting on the front step. Brett was perched on the bonnet of Tom’s car. They were drinking beer and chatting, and when they saw Ryan and Aaron sprinting for their lives, they seemed confused. What else could they be? How could they know that Sean was leaking bugs and trying to kill them?
“Get inside,” yelled Ryan. “Get inside the cottage.” Brett shook his head and mouthed something. Clearly, he didn’t understand. “Sean has lost it. Get inside the house!”
Brett still didn’t seem to get it, but Loobey stood up from the step. It wasn’t enough of a reaction, and Ryan was frustrated when he finally reached the driveway. He clutched his side, struggling with a stitch, but he bellowed at his friends full force. “We need to go inside right now. Sean is out of his mind.”
Loobey shoved the door open. “All right, man, I’m going!”
Aaron and Loobey hurried inside, but Brett remained standing near the car, looking towards the stream. “I don’t see Sean coming. What happened?”
“I’ll explain inside. Please, just trust me. The shit has hit the fan.” Unbelievably, Brett still didn’t make a move towards the cottage. He continued looking around, searching for Sean. Ryan grabbed him. “I know you’re the smart one, Brett, but right now you need to accept what I’m telling you and get inside the cottage. Right fucking now!”
“Okay, okay, calm down.”
“I’ll calm down inside.”
They both turned towards the front door, just in time to see something bolt inside before them. When they heard Loobey cry out, they panicked and got going. Brett entered the lounge first and immediately skidded to a halt. Ryan did the exact same thing a second later.
What the hell is happening? This can’t be real.
Aaron was kicking wildly and trying to defend
