Flexible Infection - Intro
#2 of Flexible Infection
"Citizens are warned to find shelter as soon a...", the voice of the anchorman was cut off as noise from off camera drowned him out. Shrieks and shouts. The anchorman looks to his left just before the camera is knocked over, barely capturing the wide eyed expression of the man as he's tackled by something and knocked behind the counter he was sitting at. For a moment, a wriggling snake like object was seen from over the rim.
The noise rouses him from sleep with a startle. He had a bad habit of leaving the television on. What channel was it? Oh well, just a technical difficulty splash now. He fumbled for the remote and dismissed the image. Feet hit soft red carpet as he drew himself from bed. He wasn't sure why, but there was something keeping him awake now. A glance at the clock showed it was barely two in the morning. Work wasn't for another eight hours.
He moved through the darkness, his confidence in his knowledge of his apartment lasting right up to the moment his shin made painful collision with his coffee table. With a loud curse, he muttered, "Damn Mike, when are you going to put a light closer to the bed?" The words did not have reply, but Mike managed to not hit anything else before clicking the lights on, sending dull white light across his small apartment.
Futon, check. TV, check, Fridge, Check. The window facing the street outside was a dark square of the wall, but he could see the street lights outside were on. His eyes strayed to the coffee table he had just recently met with, and saw something new. There, in the crystal candy holder he had received for Christmas, usually empty, now sat a very colorful egg.
It was a lot like an Easter egg, but what was it doing here, in August? He hadn't saved any since then for sure. His sweet tooth would not have allowed it. He moved forward and plucked up the thing and sniffed it. Chocolate for sure, and no wrapper? They colored the chocolate? Mike was a bit confused, then he snapped his fingers. "Cindy must have snuck over and gave it to me."
Cindy was Mike's girlfriend. She was a romantic and their relationship was very good. It wasn't that unusual a thought for Mike to consider her sneaking over mid-night and leaving something for him to find come the morning, "Probably what woke me up," thinks Mike aloud.
He moved with the egg to the door and peeked through the peephole, seeing the hallway of the apartment building. A few of the neighbors were out, looking around and chatting with themselves. Was there a party going on that he was missing? Or did they spot Cindy as she fled?
Without thinking about it too much, he started to chew on the egg. At first a nibble, then a bite, and soon the entire thing was reduced to a greasy memory on his fingers as he pushed the door open and slipped in the hallway, still only dressed in his pajamas.
Eyes turned on Mike. He hadn't noticed before, but his neighbors looked a little spooked.
"Hey man," said Chris, one of his better friends in the building, "You're dressed shitty for running."
"Why would I need to run?" asked Mike.
"I have no clue man. But I saw it on TV, they said to 'find shelter', seemed serious. Not PJ weather, you know?"
Mike shook his head, "Are you kidding with me?" And he stepped back into his apartment. Not to dismiss what Chris said though. Chris had his head on straight, and wasn't really the sort to play jokes. Mike pulled off his pajamas and moved into the bathroom to fetch some clothes.
As he stepped onto the cool linoleum, he felt a strange itching between his legs, behind his balls. He reached down to absently scratch at it, only to find that his usual taint was nowhere to be found, and that the motion was much more interesting than usual. New, pleasant, sensations were radiating from the point of contact and he gasped as he drew his hand away in surprise.
He looked around a moment in shock before he decided he had to know what was going on, and reached back down, more carefully examining himself. He found fur, soft fur, like one would expect on a cat. In the fur he also found a new entrance to his body. His time with his girlfriend made it easy to identify. He had a vagina, a furry one. Shaking fingers returning to view, he noticed his fingers were coated in some fluid, and he hurriedly stuffed them into the sink with some hot water, washing them thoroughly.
"Ok, stay calm. No point freaking out. Follow everyone else and let a doctor figure it out when you see one." He said to himself, taking deep breaths as he gazed in the mirror. Nothing else seemed out of place. He drew on some clothes quickly. They were clean, relatively, only worn twice since last laundry day. His outfit consisted of a plain grey T-shirt, some sweat pants, jogging shoes, and nothing else. He dared not put on underwear in his 'condition', deciding to go commando.
He grabbed a two liter of Sprite from the fridge, a half eaten bag of jerky, and some magazines he hoped he hadn't read too much already, and stuffed it in a small backpack. This slung over his shoulder, he stepped back out into the hallway. Chris was still there, but Lucy, another neighbor, was now gone. "Hey man," said Chris, "Waited for you. Let's get going. This tower of sticks isn't where I want to buy it, you know?"
The two descended the wooden stairs, emerging out onto the dark and cold streets. No one else seemed to be about, but the city was not still. In the distance, the screech of tires echoed sharply before a loud crash. "Holy hell," said Mike, "What's going on out here?"
Chris shrugged, and pointed south west, "I know a short cut to the bomb shelter. You know they still have those right? No bombs, just shelters." He started walking down the street, glancing back to make sure Mike was following, "I always made it a point to know where the closest one is, just in case."
Mike wanted to listen to his friend, but what was going on in his basement was becoming distracting. He felt hot down there, and increasingly like he had to go to the bathroom, but not quite the same thing. He coughed into his hand, glancing around the dark road, "Hey, forgot to go to the bathroom, any chance we could.."
Chris shook his head, "Don't be nuts. If something really messed up is going on, the last place we want to be is out in the open. Anyway, as I was saying. They keep the shelters in good condition, you know, just in case? We can hide out there until we get the all clear."
Chris approached a fence and hopped up, dragging himself up to the top of the six foot barrier, and hopping down the other side. "Come on man."
Mike looked left, then right, and clambered up. He wasn't in as good a shape as Chris, and more distracted, struggling to pull his weight up, and almost falling off the other side. As his feet slapped the ground, a low growl was heard from the street they had just departed.