Pandemic

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. The brightness of the flame cut through the night, attracting moths and bugs, yet there was nothing and no one else around to see the peculiar happening but those inside of the dilapidated structure. Three friends, bereaved and spooked, sat on the floor together in a circle, staring worriedly at a box in one of their hands, a Ouija board pushed to the side and forgotten.

“Alison loved to keep secrets,” Mike was saying, his hand sliding along the wood, “Maybe that’s the reason we feel like we barely knew her now.” He was staring at a worn, Oak box, the contents of which the group had yet to discover. The man was taking his time with it, which was only making everyone else’s anxiety about the matter worse by the second.

“Maybe,” Penny said impatiently, “Open it, Mike.” Mike regarded her ruefully. He could see that she was not bothered by Alison’s many deceptions as he had been. She’d told lies - big time lies - but Penny had not been the victim of any of them. Mike had.

Jaedyn shook his head, “No, leave it be. Put it back. We shouldn’t even be here right now - this place is totally not safe - if the park rangers find us, we’re totally fucked!”

“No one will know,” said Cheyenne, Jaedyn’s girlfriend, touching their arm sweetly, “With the virus going around, law enforcement is scattered, you think the park rangers are still walking around? In the rain? At night? They don’t have the same power anymore anyways, and I doubt they’ll care about what three twentysomethings are doing out amidst the panic.”

“If they catch us, they’ll check us and send us home,” Mike explained to Jae, his blue eyes a bit more light blue than usual, “Nothing more.” Jaedyn didn’t look entirely convinced, but after looking at Cheyenne, they nodded. They were in.

Mike opened the box gingerly, but nothing jumped out at him as perhaps he had expected. His eyes squinted when he saw what was there, as though it was difficult to see. It appeared to be a singular piece of paper. His heart hammered uncomfortably against his beaten ribcage - another secret. The rest of the gang craned their necks for a better look. Mike spoke finally, “There’s a note … “ He snatched it up, looking somewhat panicked. Everyone in the group shared an uneasy look.

What was in the box?

Mike threw the paper suddenly over his shoulder, “I can’t read it,” he huffed, “My eyes … my eyes … something is wrong with my eyes … “ The man rubbed his eyes which had begun to water heavily. It was caused by a mixture of tears and grief, he reasoned, nothing else but his own inability to hold things together in front of his friends and the horrible things that Alison had done. He couldn’t forgive her for any of it, no matter if it had been her fault or not. Mike knew that was awful, but that was why he didn’t say it aloud - thinking it hurt no one but himself, right?

Penny took the paper with one hand and put a reassuring hand on Mike’s back, thinking that he was crying or simply couldn’t handle what Alison had written. He had been hurt the worst by Alison’s lies and secrets and everyone knew that. HIs pain was no doubt the worst after finding out that his girlfriend of over 8 years hadn’t been the person she’d said she was. Penny unfolded the paper and frowned as she read the word on the paper.

Zombies.

“How could you not read this, Mike?” Penny asked incredulously, “It’s one wo---” But before she could finish her sentence, she broke off, sensing a disturbance in the room as everyone scattered and a sudden, an excruciating pain somewhere on her arm. She looked at her arm wildly, the one that had been comforting Mike, and she saw white eyes, his teeth fixed upon her wrist.