Infestation

Chapter 1: The Dream House

Perched in the midst of her newly acquired apartment, Emily marinated in the breathtaking view of the metropolitan skyline. Modern, opulent, and housed among one of the most elite buildings in the city, it was everything she had ever dreamt of. The room seemed like a haven above the busy streets below with the high ceilings, floor to-celling windows, and immaculate white walls.

She had put much effort on getting here. Late evenings, long hours, and many sacrifices had at last paid off. She could now relax and enjoy her creations. The penthouse was evidence of her accomplishment, and she was determined to have it flawless.

Chapter 2: First Sign

Emily noticed anything strange one week after moving in. She discovered one cockroach scuttling the kitchen counter. She thought nothing of it and squished it with a paper towel. The structure was ancient, and there had only one flaw. Nothing to provide cause for concern.

But she began to see more over the next several days. One in the bathroom, another in the living room, and then a few more in the kitchen. She phoned the building administration, who promised to send an exterminator.

Arriving, the exterminator sprayed the penthouse and departed. It appeared as if the issue was fixed for a little. Emily could appreciate her opulent new house and concentrate on her career.

Chapter 3: The Retort

One month later the bugs reappeared. These times there were more of them. Emily would discover them creeping across her bed while waking up in the middle of the night. She heard them skittering in the walls and saw them running across the floor. They seemed to be all around us.

She demanded that the building management act and phoned them once again. Another exterminator they sent promised her he had used a stronger pesticide. Still, the cockroaches persisted in showing up.

Emily started to sense being caught. She cannot eat, cannot sleep, cannot think. Once her ideal residence, the penthouse had evolved into a nightmare.

Chapter 4: The Infestation

Emily saw a cockroach on the counter one evening while cooking supper. Then yet another. also another. The countertop was crowded with them in a few short seconds. She yelled and turned away, throwing a chair over in her hurry.

When she hurried to the living room, she discovered more cockroaches. They were falling from the ceiling, slithering out from beneath the furniture, and even spewing out the vents. Emily recognized the actual scope of the epidemic and her heart surged.

Desperate, she phoned the building management once again but the line was busy. When she attempted to phone the exterminator, no one answered. She was alone.

Chapter 5: The Horror

Emily helmed herself in the bedroom that evening. Trying to keep the bugs out, she tucked towels under the door and taped up the vents. Still, they managed to find their way in nonetheless.

Something crawling on her skin awakened her in the middle of the night. She dismissed it, then felt more of them. Turning on the light, she spotted hundreds of cockroaches all about her floor, walls, bed.

In an attempt to get them off her, Emily struggled and yelled She could feel them biting her skin in her hair, under her garments. She staggered out the bedroom and saw the apartment was completely overrun.

There was no escape and the bugs were everywhere. Emily could feel them slinking up her legs, entering her lips, nose, ears, She attempted to flee, but fell on the swarm and struck her head on the marble floor.

Dazed and wounded, she laid there feeling the bugs all over her body. Though her mouth was full of them, she attempted to scream. Her eyes, ears, she could feel them digging into her flesh. Inside her she could sense them.

Emily's final thought was to the lovely penthouse she had labored so hard to get. Her grave now was the ideal house.