Chapter 2 Dinner Is Served

• *Four hours ago.*
• Liam Greene, a 20-year-old college dropout, was glued to his cushioned chair, sitting in front of his gaming computer and smiling at the webcam.
• “Welcome to Dragon Veil 2.0. The new patch is out, and we’re about to raid an Immortal Dungeon and try our luck at winning some sweet S-tier loot!” he spoke into the microphone, hyping up his subscribers.
• A wizard wearing crimson robes appeared on his screen as he entered the character selection menu.
• "My character is a level 55 Elementalist. The dungeon opens in thirty minutes, so we still have time to craft a new staff and modify our legendary familiar. If you like my gameplay, be sure to drop a like and smash that subscribe button!”
• Liam was still tinkering with his gaming avatar when the bell buzzed, and a familiar female voice called his name from outside.
• “Liam, are you still up, darling? I got drenched in the rain. My clothes are soaking wet.”
• Embarrassed, Liam quickly paused his live stream and put down his headphones.
• “Coming, Aunt June!” he yelled before springing from his gaming chair and making a beeline for the main door.
• As Liam opened the door, a red-haired woman wearing black-rimmed spectacles stepped inside, drenched from head to toe.
• “Did you forget your umbrella?” he asked.
• June shook her head.
• “I lent it to a colleague, and ever since they went digital at my company, I stopped carrying one of those folders I could use to cover my head,” she joked as she hobbled inside and closed the door. “I really need to take a shower. They want me back in the lab in a couple of hours.”
• Liam had been living with his aunt for the past seven months since he dropped out of college and decided to pursue a career as a streamer. And June was so kind-hearted that she treated him like her own son, never doubting his ambitions for a second.
• Even though Liam felt guilty about being a freeloader, she enjoyed his company and warned him not to even think about finding another lodging.
• “You must be hungry. I’ll make some spaghetti when I’m done changing. Just give me a few minutes,” she said, ruffling Liam’s hair. “Keep the rats in your stomach at bay a while longer, okay?”
• Liam, however, shook his head.
• “You don’t need to cook tonight. I already ordered us some pizza with the money I won at last week’s online tournament. The boxes are on the table, and I even made some lettuce and egg salad.”
• June scrunched her nose playfully and pinched Liam’s cheek.
• “You really have turned into the man of the house.” Her eyes widened with mock anger as she continued. “But I don’t want you spending your hard-earned money on fast food. Your aunt’s got this, darling.”
• With that, she hastened to her bedroom and shut the door.
• “You can start digging into the pizza. I need to reply to a few emails,” she hollered from the other side. “Don’t wait up on me, okay?”
• Liam breathed a defeated sigh. “Roger that.”
• This wasn’t the first time June had come home late from work, and it wasn’t going to be the last time they had sent her back with a butt-ton of files to check, even during her break.
• June worked as a junior researcher at a special government lab in Oregon, where they studied genetically modified microbes and their effects on the environment.
• Liam knew if her bosses had asked her to return to the lab in a few hours, it meant they were working overtime on some top-secret project, and there was little chance she would be coming home for the next few days.
• Instead of waiting for his aunt, he grabbed the pizza from the table and sat down to continue his gaming session for his dozen subscribers.
• The hours went by in a blur as Liam became engrossed with dungeon raids and monster hunts. And before he knew it, his alarm beeped.
• “Damn. It’s almost three.”
• Realizing how late it was, he finally wished his viewers goodnight and shut his computer down.
• But as he got up from his chair, he noticed June’s bedroom door was still locked and there was a constant wheezing sound coming from the other side.
• “It’s already ten past three. Aren’t you going to be late for work?” He asked, rapping on the door. “Aunt June, are you alright?”
• But instead of a coherent reply, he only heard a raspy groan coming from the room.
• “I am coming in!”
• Fearing that his aunt was down with fever, he grabbed the brass knob and twisted it hard. The door opened without resistance, and he quickly rushed in.
• The TV was still on, and an infomercial was playing on channel 11, between the news.
• “What’s wrong?” Liam asked as he saw his aunt bent over the bed, her untied red hair falling over her shoulders. “Aunt June, should I call a doctor?”
• The words were barely out of his mouth when June turned around, her lips curled back as foam dripped from her mouth. Her bloodshot eyes stared at Liam as her neck twitched convulsively.
• “Aunt…June,” Liam mumbled nervously as he observed her from a distance.
• Then suddenly, June’s pupils dilated, and she rushed at Liam with a burst of primal speed. Pouncing on him, she sank her teeth into his left shoulder.
• “What the hell are you doing?” Liam cried out in pain and instinctively punched her in the face.
• Disoriented, she finally let go and staggered back, but not before taking a bite out of Liam’s flesh.
• Her nails had scratched through his shirt and left deep scars on his chest, making him bleed all over the brown carpet.
• Unable to understand why his aunt had suddenly gone all feral and bitten into him like he was some juicy steak, Liam staggered back, terrified and shaking.
• But June slowly scrambled back to her feet. Her bloodshot eyes seemed to have lost all sense of humanity, and even her face looked pale and lifeless.
• “Aunt June…It’s me…Liam. Your nephew!” Liam yelled, holding his bleeding shoulder. “Why the hell did you bite me? What’s gotten into you?”
• Backing out of the room, Liam grabbed a glass of cold water and splashed it on June, but it only made her angrier.
• She screamed in a raspy voice and bared her teeth like a wild animal.
• “What the hell is wrong with you?” Liam’s eyes widened in shock as he became even more confused.
• Just then, the infomercial ended, and the news reporter’s frantic voice tore across the room.
• “There have been multiple reports coming in from all over the country about people exhibiting signs of complete mental breakdown. Experts are saying it’s some sort of infection, and…those affected are changing into mindless killers!”
• Almost immediately, his female colleague joined in.
• “They are saying the infected are killing people and eating their flesh. They are unable to recognize even their own friends and family. The government has just issued a red alert! It’s an outbreak!”
• Liam slowly realized what was going on. As he looked at his aunt ambling toward him, he understood she, too, had become infected.
• Even before he could react, June rushed at him, her rabid eyes gleaming with hunger.
• In a fit of desperation, Liam grabbed the vase from the table and smashed it into her head.
• But instead of being concussed, she jumped on him, pinning him to the ground. Her jaws snapped as she tried biting into his face.
• “Damn it! Get away from me!”
• Liam held her back by grabbing her neck with one hand, but her fingernails kept ripping at his clothes.
• “Please, remember me. I am Liam!”
• But Liam’s words fell on deaf ears as June broke through his defenses and bit into his chest.
• “Argh!” He screamed and flailed around, his arm hitting the oakwood dining table. The cutlery rack tipped over, and the silverware fell out.
• Liam instinctively grabbed the kitchen knife and, in a moment of desperation, jammed it into June’s right eye. As adrenaline took over, he continued jabbing her frantically, till her blood splattered out and she rolled over, dead on the wooden floor.
• “Let go of me. Let…go…”
• Terrified and bleeding all over the place, Liam crawled back to the nearest wall, and as he slowly relaxed, he realized what he had just done.
• There was blood on his hands, and June’s lifeless body lay on the wooden floor, silent forever.
• ***
• *Present time*
• Liam sat hunched against the wall, his breathing ragged and his vision blurry. He was trembling all over, and his body temperature was soaring through the roof.
• “This can’t be happening…It’s all just a bad…dream,” he mumbled deliriously as his sensations numbed, and the only thing he could feel was his heart pounding against his ribs like a caged animal.
• Spasming uncontrollably, Liam spat out blood and slumped to the floor, overwhelmed by pain.
• “I need to…wake up. This is just a damn…nightmare,” he coughed, puking his dinner all over the wooden floorboards.
• His body started convulsing again, and his pupils rolled up. He tried to get up, but dropped to his belly again as he was hit by a sudden seizure.
• As he twitched feverishly, the world blurred around him, causing him to slip out of his senses.