Infestation

“Okay, good point.” Nora chuckled, letting her anxiety calm a little from that but shifting it to something else. “If this is the start of some of kind apocalypse… what are we going to do..." “Well, you know dad, this is kinda his dream. I’m betting that he has some plan in place.” Ailani threw her backpack over her shoulder and plopped down next to her sister. Sitting back against the couch, Nora let out a slow breath as she thought about just how true that was. Still, she could not ignore the throbbing needles of anxiety stabbing her back. It was not that she even worried for her family's safety, her father had made sure that they were going to have a way to escape. Mostly it worried her how the whole world would react to the end and how many lives would disappear in an instant. They finally settled on the first news channel available, watching people try to convince each other that the instances were isolated while rattling off horrific acts of violence. After several seconds of the anchorpeople announcing these tragedies, the camera shifted to footage to a reporter on a busy street, interviewing witnesses of an act of violence from earlier in the evening. One of the witnesses had been bitten by the assailant, with visible marks over her pale arms and that was the interview the girls happened to catch. On the screen, the woman the journalist was speaking to seemed visibly lethargic and short-tempered through the beginning. Halfway through, her eyes started to grow blood-shot and cloudy as she developed hollow, dark circles. Her speech became more erratic and started becoming less sensible. Soon, her irises were overtaken with white. The last thing she uttered was “hungry” before slipping completely into an apparent daze. The reporter let out a mortified scream as the woman leapt onto her, gripping a section of flesh and tearing a chunk from her throat. Blood exploded from the wound, painting the reporter's yellow hair and both of their clothes. Disgusted by what she was seeing, Ailani cowered behind her hands. Before it could go on too long, the cameras quickly shifted to an emergency broadcast screen which, prompted Nora to shut it off. “If people don’t know what’s happening just from that alone…” Ailani said, shock in her voice from the scene they had witnessed. “They have to. Or they will soon... or who knows, maybe everyone will think it's fake.” Nora responded, still aghast staring at the black screen. Shivering a little, Ailani raised herself off the couch to stand on her shaking feet. She gave her head a small shake, as if to shuffle the thoughts in her head. Without another word, she made her way toward the set of French doors they were told to wait behind. Martha was already sitting at the dining room table, staring at her hands with an intensity but not offering any conversation as they waited. Pulling a dining room chair closer to the window, Ailani plopped down in it and stared through the slatted blinds.