10. Not A Glory Hole!

Seth almost missed a turn as he stared in surprise at the strange happening near him. “Where did this space vagina come from?!”

“Your phone did it,” Amy reeled away from it, clutching it in her knuckle-white hands. “Please tell me there won’t be aliens coming from the other side to lay eggs in me. Oh God, oh God, I’m sorry for reading porn and becoming addicted to strange sexual fanta–”

“I really don’t need to hear about that on my last day of breathing.” Wade grumbled, already in the fifth stage of grief, accepting his near demise.

But Amy was the most optimistic among them. At least when it concerned Wade. “You’ll live.”

That could also be because she had already bought three more hours for her cousin. It completely escaped her mind that she practically cost Seth almost all of his balance. It wasn’t like he’d make a fuss about it.

Right?

[Please withdraw your 2 bottles of Ethazal Prevection now.]

[The Goury Hole will disappear at the thirty seconds mark.]

Reading that, Amy gingerly scrutinized the strange thing hovering before her. She bit her lip hard to stop herself from laughing out loud. This really was not the time for it. So, with new-found certainty, she reached out to the dissected space.

Smack!

“What the hell are you doing?!” Wade slapped her hand before she could reach in.

“I’m saving you idiot!”

“You don’t even know what it is! Remember what grandma said, no touching unknown things!”

“I know what it is called. The Goury Hole!”

“Glory Hole?!”

Seth burst into a laugh. Good thing the road was still as empty as before. If not, he’d crash a truck and die laughing.

“Stop saying nonsense!”

“It’s not nonsense. I told you, Seth’s phone did it.” Amy instantly said, showing the screen that displayed the System’s explanation.

“You did what?” Seth’s chuckle died, now replaced with a frown.

However, before Amy could dig deeper into her grave, the System reminded her again.

Dong!

[The Goury Hole will disappear in 3 seconds.]

[3.]

[2.]

And Amy quickly shoved her hand inside, feeling nothing as she grabbed only air. But the next second, the dark space split open around her hand disintegrated.

[Unauthorised person detected.]

[Failed to withdraw items.]

“What’s that?” Seth narrowed his eyes. “Don’t tell me you spent my cells and got nothing.”

Amy’s eyes widened as a heavily faked smile was plastered on her face. “You’re the one who told me to buy something from the shop! Besides, it didn’t ignore me touching around and buying things from it, unlike earlier.”

Seth groaned in frustration. There was nothing else he could do, as it’d be stupid to argue with a fucking game-like System. “How much is my balance?”

The sales girl mumbled, head down with his phone in her hand.

“Say what?”

But Amy didn’t want to face him when Seth was looking like a dragon ready to breathe fire, so she just trusted the phone back to him. It almost slipped through his fingers, but Seth caught it. Upon a quick scan, he was once again left mind-boggled.

[Balance: 334 cells.]

“Seventy–“

Taking a very deep inhale of the air, Seth tried to count to ten. Then twenty. On a second consideration, he’d count to fifty for the heck of it.

Still panicking over his looming transformation into a real extra of the Walking Dead series, Wade finally stepped in and reasoned, “Don’t get angry at her. She just wants to help me, that’s just the way it is. Amy will do everything she can to save her friend. Let that assure you, because she will do the same to you if you’re the one turning into a zombie.”

In a spiteful tone, Seth grumbled, “It’s me who paid the cost. And maybe I’ll let that slide, if only she didn’t mess up and got nothing but air instead.”

“Oh, fuck, you’re right …” Wade scratched his neck, slightly embarrassed. However, he didn’t stop scratching. He kept going on and on until his neck turned red, and blood seeped through the marks.

“Stop it, Wade,” the cousin said when Wade upped the intensity of his scratch.

“It’s itchy!” said the chain smoker, even when his nails got blood on them. And he moved to the next itchy spot, using both hands now. “I swear it feels like I’m being stung by a dozen mosquitoes under my skin. Fuck!”

Seth didn’t look concerned. “Are those the only swear words you know?”

“Fuck you!”

“No, thanks. I’m straight. Besides, you smell. How many weeks have you gone without showering?” Seth shifted in his seat, trying to get as much space as possible from the chain smoker.

“Argh!” Wade let the mocking remark go, too focused on scratching his leg. He groaned, now rubbing his body to the side door and his seat. It seemed like he was losing his mind slowly.

“Seth,” it was Amy who called him. Something was off in her tone as if she was afraid. “I think it’s the infection doing this to him.”

“Why are you whispering? I can hear you just fine!” Wade’s frustration was clear. “Argh! Fuck, I need more hands!”

Seth was about to ignore the chain-smokers wailing, but his face was struck by a heavy slap from a flailing hand. “The hell?!”

Wade was no longer scratching himself raw. Instead, his hands moved ungainly while his eyes rolled back to his head. He opened his mouth, showing his yellowed teeth and drooling himself.

“Wade?” The sales girl called, looking horizontally in fear at her strange cousin.

Dread came like a flood, washing over Seth instantly until he knew what was happening. He was brought to the edge of danger. “Fuck me sideways!” He looked back at Amy, “Your cousin is an infectore!”

“He’s what?”

“Graaaaaagh!”

Dong!

[1 infectore detected within 30 feet radius.]