Gerry had his dreams come true that day. It didn't matter that he was ordered to close shop early. Everyone came to the shop before curfew. The questions were endless.

"Which one of you saw them?"

"DID THEY TRY TO BITE YOU?"

"Aren't you worried they'd come back? You know they always strike twice."

"We need them to build stronger q-zone walls! We need to be safe!"

Gerry basked in the attention, serving everyone coffee with a grin. His very line of the day? "You never know when they'll be back. So come by more if you want to see them!"

It was like Bundo's was a dangerous exhibit and he was selling tickets.

But 6:00 P.M. came quicker than we thought. Still needing the hour to clean, sort, and organize, Gerry begrudgingly flipped the store's sign from "Opened" to "Closed." He pressed his forehead against the glass.

"Don't do that," I said from the register, "the grease stain is annoying."

"I'm not greasy." Gerry pushed off the door and came over to me. "What are you trying to say?"

I wasn't sure. Selling large amounts of coffee to the desensitized public mesmerized by the potential danger of death at our doors; pretty greasy.

I pointed at him with my cleaning rag. "That you need a better cleanser. Look at those pores!"

He smirked and laughed, rounding the counter to stand next to me. "Thank you for caring about my appearance, but have you looked in the mirror today?" He popped the register open. "You look sick as a dog."

Did I? After we talked this morning, it took about an hour, but I thought the color was coming back to my face. My teeth didn't hurt anymore, either. Unless I got used to it; occasionally I tasted copper.

"If you don't feel better in a few days," Gerry pulled out the cash and closed the drawer, "see a doctor."

I sighed. I should. But a part of me doubted a doctor could help. If what I was feeling happened because I got too close to Riley, it was it for me. Kyle was near them and turned; ready to bite my face.

What confused me... why weren't they like that? And why would affect us, the uninfected, so quickly?

I wiped at the counter. "I'll do that, boss."

"Good." Gerry counted the bills. Every so often, he licked his thumb. I scrunched my face in disgust; money was the dirtiest item in the world...

He paused and glanced at me because I'd stopped moving. I was stuck on his decision to lick money-grime off of his thumb. "If you're done, take out the trash," he said.

I wasn't done. Looking at the counter, I spotted the crumbs, the fingerprints but I guess it could wait. Tossing my rag on the barely visible mess, I nodded, "Sure thing, boss."

I wasn't going to argue with him. Tossing out the trash was probably easier than scrapping dried coffee stains.

I turned for the back kitchen, letting the heavy door slam behind me. Gerry already sorted the garbage into bags. He was efficient and made my job simple. Grinning to myself, I wrapped my finger around the neat, secured tied trash bag.

Then a knock came on the back window.

My head snapped toward the sound. I half-expected it to be one of the "terror scene" fans that rushed the shop today. Their obsession with death was too much.

But that wasn't who knocked. It was Riley. I knew those beautiful curls anywhere.

Biting my lip, I dropped the bag back in its place. I shouldn't go to her. But there was a piece of glass between us. I spent so long believing she'd died, I needed to talk to her.

And gnaw at her flesh.

"Riley?" I went to the window. It was wide enough that I pressed my hands flat against it; I saw her perfectly. Her adorable face, with her button nose; her glowing eyes always complimented her brown skin. They sparkled when they saw me; I was the love of her life.

"Axel," she breathed, pressing her hands right with mine on her end of the window. Her voice was muffled by the glass.

I chuckled nervously and grinned. "Why are you here?" Shaking my head, I sighed. "You shouldn't have come back."

"I needed to know that last night wasn't a dream," she said, chewing on her bottom lip. "I know this is wrong and I should go back. I know I need to, but I can't."

My brows pinched together. "Can't what, babe?"

Babe. Shit, I missed saying that. I missed her. Even this. Her parents never approved of me and there were many nights I talked to her, like this, from her bedroom window.

There was once a time when I thought Gerry's business layout was ridiculous. Now it worked in my favor.

"I just can't," she whispered, lowering her head with her forehead against the glass. "I can't open this door."

I didn't want to see her like this. "What door?"

"Life." She looked up again. "It was easier when you were dead to me. Gone. I need to go back to that. Can't we? Can't we go back to the start of this and be strangers in the dark? You here, me on the other side."

What? I knew this situation was impossible, but I couldn't go back to thinking she was dead. We needed to 'open the door,' as she said. I didn't want an empty life. I've seen her. She was alive.

And willingly coming back for a bite. What does she taste like?

"I can't stop thinking about you, Axel," she said, then stepped away from the glass. "But you're right, I shouldn't be here."

Did I say that? I didn't mean it. I don't want her to leave.

"Riley, baby..."

She shook her head. "I love you," she said.

She couldn't leave. Not like this. Fuck this virus. I could see a doctor tomorrow morning. There had to be a shot I could get or something to fix it. I had antibodies, right? Another night of bleeding, and sore gums was nothing.

"Wait!" I shouted. I rushed to the side door and pulled it open.

Riley ran to it, throwing her body against it. It slammed in my face.

Taste.

"Riley, baby," I slapped my hands against the door, "can't I just—"

"No," she whimpered. "You need to stay in there. For my safety and yours."

TASTE.

"Mine and yours?" I slid my forehead against the cool metal. "Baby, I thought you were dead. I woke up in the hospital and you weren't there. I don't care that you're infected. I just want to hold you. Can't I just hug the woman I love?"

Riley didn't say anything. I sniffed at the air as emotion swelled in my chest.

Go outside and eat.

I rolled my head around my shoulders and inhaled sharply.

Flesh dulls the ache.

"Is that what you think is happening?" Riley said on the other side of the door.

"What else is happening?" I wrapped my hand around the door handle. "It's the world we live in. The infected and us, the survivors."

"Is that... what they're telling you guys in here?"

Telling us? I pushed off the door and tried to see her through the window. She'd moved out of sight.

No. I needed to see her. What was she talking about?

Telling us in here? What are they telling her?

"Riley—" I hurried to the back door, grabbed the handle, and pulled it open. The air rushed into the kitchen. The smell of alley trash and backyard trees mixed in with the scent of the night. And her. Her lotion. Sweet, sweet smell...

Her flesh is right there. So soft. So tender.

"Riley, I—" She was a foot in front of me, highlighted by the moon. But I was able to see behind her, down the alley, past the neighboring houses. I saw him. Bitch ass Jimmy. He hurried toward us with his gun pointed.

He reached out, wrapped his hand around her arm, and yanked her back. He did the same thing last night and I was sick of his shit.

His gun pushed at my face. "Stay the fuck back, man," he said. Then he leaned close to Riley and hissed in her ear, "Why are you here? You know he's fucking dead, right? Do you want to die with him?"

"Die with me?" I pressed my tongue into my cheek. "What you need to do is let her go."

Eat their flesh. Both of them. Tear. Rip. Eat. Chew.

Riley pulled herself free, then pushed him. "Stop saying that!" she cried. "Stop!"

"Oh, you want me to stop?" Jimmy came closer, gun still pointed at my face. His thumb pulled back on the trigger. Narrowing my gaze, I cracked my jaw.

Shoot me.

"If you keep coming here, you'll be like him. Is that what you want? You want to be this freak zombie?" Jimmy didn't look at me. He kept his gun in place, but his eyes were on Riley. She hugged herself and backed away. Tears welled in her eyes.

"Freak zombie..." I repeated in a whisper.

I found myself staring into a barrel.

Shoot me.

"I just needed to know this wasn't a dream!" she shouted. "I needed to see him!"

"Well, you saw him! Now what! Do I shoot? Can I? CAN I?"

"Can I...?"

Can I eat you?

Can you shoot me?

He stepped closer. The gun touched my face. But then I fell into it.

My head rocked forward as my back hunched. My face burned; hot enough that I opened my mouth wide to scream with no sound. I stretched my fingers, open and closed, into tight fists. Breathing was a chore, but something I wanted to do. Because I could smell him. I wanted to taste him. Eat him. Kill him.

"SHOOT ME!" I laughed as my hand snapped out to grab his wrist. I twisted back, all the way back until the bone poked out of his skin. That smug face he wore every time he held this gun fell. He dropped to his knees; blood puddled around my feet.

He smells like licorice.

"Axel, no!" Riley begged me to stop but didn't come to me. She stepped back, closer to the houses behind her. "Please, don't."

I hate licorice.

"Shoot me..." I drawled, saliva slipping out the corners of my mouth. He whimpered, trying to pull back, But I tugged, I kept him close. He wanted to play. He wanted to shoot. Let's do this, let's go.

"Axel," Riley pleaded, "let him go."

My head snapped up, eyes forward. I bared my teeth. "Why?" I snarled. "He was going to kill me!"

Tears slid down her face. "Don't... please."

She was scared of me. Why? I wasn't reacting to her. It was him. This was his infection! I wouldn't hurt her, I wouldn't! I loved her!

But you'll eat her, won't you?

When I looked down at him, I quickly learned it wasn't saliva coming from my mouth, but blood. My gums hurt again. My teeth itched. And this was his fault.

Kill him, eat him, then kill her.

"Riley, go!" Jimmy struggled to shout through his tears. He waved his other arm in her direction. "Just go back to the safety zone!"

"Safety..." My voice was different. Deeper. Rougher.

This wasn't me. What was he doing to me? I thought back to Kyle and how he changed last night. But the moment I thought it, it faded, and all I thought of was flesh. Him. Teeth. Skin peeling free from bone.

"Jimmy," Riley whimpered. I looked back as she dipped into the backyard of a neighboring house. "Jimmy, I'm sorry."

And with that, she was gone. I couldn't even hear her feet anymore. Or smell her.

But I smelled him. Licorice. Sweet, spicy, cinnamon scent. I gagged and blood spilled out from my mouth. He closed his eyes, trying to pull back. "Wait," he whimpered.

Whimpering, crying—where was the cool asshole I saw the other night? The one who had it all together? I pulled his wrist back a little further. His bone cracked.

"Wait..." I sneered, repeating to him again. I couldn't do anything else.

His sweaty face pulled back, lips lifting into a grin. With teary eyes, he winked at me, and whispered, "She's a good fuck."

Kill him!

Shouting, I pulled his hand back, then kicked his chest. I yanked his arm free from its socket. He fell back into his puddle of blood, eyes protruding out of his skull. He was screaming, loudly, endlessly.

Eat him! Tear his flesh! It will calm the ache!

"Wait!" he cried as I dropped his arm beside his head, then landed right beside it on my knees. I licked my lips as my gaze traveled over his bleeding body. I needed to eat him. If I did, maybe the voices would stop. Maybe the ache would stop.

I opened my mouth wide and moved down, quickly biting into his neck. My teeth clamped down on his skin. I pulled back, listening to the squelching sound of peeling flesh.

He gurgled. He gasped. When I pulled back, I saw the dullness, an emptiness in his eyes. He was gone, dead, and his blood did dull the pain.

Leaning back, I sighed as I chewed. I leaned forward to bite again.

Then the back door to Bundo's swung open. I turned back quickly, eyes wide, Jimmy's flesh still dangling from my lip.

Gerry stood in the open doorway, a phone in one hand and a knife in the other. He breathed hard, panting, sweating. Then he moved forward and pulled me to my feet. "What the fuck, Axel!"

*

A/N:
ONC Word count: 6,256!
<3 If you're here, hi!! How did I do?
 As this is my first time writing horror, I'd love feedback :)!!