Rotten

Chapter Seven

My brain snapped out of its fuzzy state in an instant. Like BAM, someone had pulled the trigger to a loaded gun and the reaction was immediate.Adrenaline and fear pulsed through my limbs and gave them extra strength the second I felt Craig's teeth bite down against the soft skin of my bottom lip. A screech ripped through my throat; it was loud, ugly, and desperate. I didn't care what it attracted to the small car we were in as I continued to scream, my hands finding purchase on Craig's chest and shoving him with such force that he grunted and fell backwards, his back hitting the opposite door.Craig looked up at me in surprise, but the hungry glint in his coal black eyes was what fueled me to assault him further. I had no idea whether or not the skin he'd bitten had been broken. I was too terrified to even check. Instead, I let pure anger and betrayal rule my actions. Hot tears sprung from my eyes as I shoved a heavily booted foot in Craig's direction, kicking him relentlessly against the small car door.The hungry, blank stare disappeared from his eyes as I continued to kick him. He groaned in pain, trying to escape my angry thrashing as my foot pounded and crushed his ribs. I couldn't stop—wouldn't stop—even as he desperately tried to push my foot away. The only thing that was running through my mind was, he bit me, he bit me, he bit me, HE BIT ME!"You bit me!" I wailed, halting my lashing legs to blindly reach between the seats for my bat. I was irrational, and didn't care that we were in a tiny car, and that I probably was about to do some serious damage."T-Tweek!" Craig sputtered, falling back against the doorframe once again. "Fuck! Stop, you don't know what you're doing!"I kept my gaze fixed on him as my fingers wrapped around the base of the baseball bat. The voice inside my head scoffed at Craig bitterly.I don't know what I'm doing? My life is over because you couldn't stop yourself!Craig's eyes flickered from my face to my searching arm, and he lunged forward, knocking me back against the hard leather seats—causing me to drop my bat.I shrieked, convinced Craig was going to bite me again. My body thrashed desperately underneath the zombie's grasp. Screams ripped from deep within my throat until it felt like sandpaper."Tweek!" Craig snapped. "Just fucking stop!""Craig!" I found myself running to catch up with said boy through the bitter January weather. School had just let out, and the students of South Park High School rushed out of their temporary brick prison to relish in the short time of freedom before they were forced back.I had seen Craig while tripping down the front steps, and rushed to get beside him. We've sort of set up a routine after school since we've started…well…our interesting relationship. He didn't wait for me today like he usually did, but I ignored that important fact; too blind by a crush's fog to even notice."H-hey." I sputtered as I slowed to an awkward walk, playing with the end of my jacket. Craig seemed distant, and didn't even acknowledge my presence. Irritated, I grabbed at his hand selfishly. "So, what do you want to do today?" I asked. Craig glanced in my direction and I was happy to receive his attention. It quickly turned sour though."Nothing." He spat, yanking his hand from my grasp.I frowned, a little confused. Craig hadn't rejected an invitation from me ever since he came looking for someone to screw around with. In fact, he was usually the one initiating them. So, you can't blame me for being a little bewildered."Ngh—okay..." I answered, more than disappointed but trying to hide it from my features. "What about tomorrow?""No." Craig stuffed his hands into his pockets and glared in my direction. His icy blue eyes were impenetrable, and the only emotion I could find within them was anger."Did I do something wrong?" I snipped, unable to hide the small snarl that crawled into my words. But seriously, whatever Craig was going through, he didn't have to take it out on me.Suddenly Craig rounded on me, successfully stopping both of us in our tracks. A lone car passed on the icy street, and I momentarily regretted getting a little sassy with him. Maybe I actually did do something wrong?"Yes Tweek," Craig hissed, "you did do something wrong. In fact, you did everything wrong. What the fuck is wrong with you?" I backed up a step. I've never really seen Craig angry before, he was generally a chill kind of guy, but clearly something was eating at him…and apparently I was the cause of it. "You're a fucking slut, man." He snarled.Ow. Okay. Those words stung. In fact, I can still feel the sting of them today—like a slap in the face. Like…Like being thrown naked into an ice cold lake. My eyes began to water, and my brain was digging for information—anything that I might have done to upset Craig. He was my crush after all. I was giving him the benefit of the doubt, and I could feel him slipping away. It sucked, because I finally thought I was CLOSE. So close to cracking Craig's stone heart, and just a little farther until I'd have it.Call me naïve."What?" I sputtered, reaching out to grab onto Craig's jacket, but he slapped my hand away. I moved closer though, desperately. My lips searched for his. I was so close damn it!"Tweek!" Craig barked, shoving me back hard enough that I lost my clumsy footing, and crumpled on the frozen sidewalk. "Just fucking stop!""Get off of me." I cried, my voice whimpering out in a sad croak. My life was over. I wouldn't be as lucky as Craig. My brain would rot and I'd soon be a pile of decaying mush walking around and moaning for something to eat.And it was Craig's entire fault."Y-you killed me." Warm tears seeped out of my eyes and crawled down my face for what felt like the millionth time today. It's funny, how miserable Craig makes me.Craig stared down at me apologetically, which really didn't help with my current situation. I wanted him off of me, but he seemed to have selective hearing and made no move to let me go. Craig's coal black eyes never left my face. For a moment, a flash of that hungry, distant look appeared and I panicked. However, it was gone in almost an instant and Craig slouched in a defeated manner.Craig mumbled something, and I barely caught it, unable to interpret the quiet words."Ngh—what did you just say?" I hissed, my voice cracking in protest as it begged me to stop using it."I didn't break the skin." He said again, a little louder—just enough for me to hear."W-What?""I'm sorry, I lost control for a sec." I could feel Craig's hold slacken on me as he spoke. His words were rushed, and maybe a little desperate if I listened hard enough. "But I didn't break skin, I stopped myself. I swear. Don't freak out." He got off of me cautiously, as if I were some kind of rabid animal on the verge of an attack. And maybe I was.I slowly and shakily sat up as well, trying to process the information Craig had just told me. I didn't believe him. I also wasn't willing to "forgive and forget" just because Craig managed pull himself away. How heroic of him, I thought sarcastically.My hands itched for something to hold, and my anger still wasn't tamed. Without really thinking about it, my arm dipped between the seats and grasped onto the end of the baseball bat. Craig caught the movement, and his eyes widened in alarm."Tweek…" he lifted his hands up in mock surrender, but I didn't care. I quickly swung the bat, and it caught on the headrests of the front seats before finally reaching its destination: the side of Craig's face.The zombie yelped in alarm and dizzily began scrambling away from me as fast as he could. Craig's pale, dead hands fumbled with the door handle, and he flung it open, falling out of the car—looking a little disoriented—as he tried to get away from me before I brought the bat back to hit him a second time.I dropped the makeshift weapon, though, and lunged forward, slamming the car door shut and locking it. I shuffled quickly into the front seat, and clicked the button to lock the rest of the doors so Craig couldn't get back in. I immediately sought out the small indoor lights, and turned one of them on quickly. Looking at the rearview mirror, I pulled my lower lip down cautiously.There were only a few faded teeth marks marring my soft skin. I checked thoroughly before relaxing and sitting back against the driver's seat in relief.It didn't last long though; an angry knock on the window beside me jump-started my heart. I turned to see Craig banging on the window in frustration. There was an ugly black bruise forming on the side of his face, which made him look more terrifying than he already was."Let me back into the fucking car!" Craig growled, his voice muffled."No!" I snapped, receiving a rotted middle finger in return.Our heated exchange happened for a few more minutes, in which Craig continued to bang on the window furiously and I'd reject any invitation to allow him back in. I was still angry. And maybe I should have been concerned that Craig would leave me…but for some reason, I knew he wouldn't. What I didn't know was whether that should concern me.The car dipped forward as Craig climbed onto the hood, and I suddenly became terrified that he'd jump through the windshield and attack me! But instead, he simply climbed onto the roof and apparently stayed there. I could feel and hear him shuffling around until he stopped moving all together. I guessed that Craig was sleeping on the roof of Bebe's beat up Accord tonight; which was perfectly fine with me.Carefully crawling into the backseat I settled down and closed my eyes. Falling asleep wasn't as hard as I predicted it would be. My body crashed quickly from exhaustion and everything faded away. My last thought was that Craig was lucky he happened to be my only way to Bebe, because otherwise, I would have killed him."We need to get gas again." Craig mumbled, eying the flashing gaslight that blinked desperately on the dashboard."B-but there are no stops around here!" I exclaimed worriedly as large trees blurred past us. We were on a winding mountain road—much like the one Bebe and I passed through a couple of days ago. It was barren, with nothing but withering trees and brown defeated grass.I let Craig back into the car a few hours ago before the sun rose. He was convinced that zombies were coming and we needed to split. I was too tired to question him, and unlocked the car silently. The faster we got back on the road, the better. I wanted to know where the hell these kidnappers were—and more importantly—what happened to Bebe."I know there are no stops around here." Craig snapped irritably. We weren't on the best of terms right now. Not that we ever were. I was careful, though, not to instigate him. Craig seemed different. He was fidgeting in his seat, breathing heavily from his mouth rather than his nose, and would occasionally send me an odd looking glance.He was hungry.And for that reason, I decided to keep my bat in my lap for now.I offered him a granola bar earlier, but Craig threw it back up and nearly crashed the car. So that was the end of that.Usually I wouldn't pray for zombies…but under the circumstances, I wouldn't mind if one or two showed up."How long have we gone?" I asked nervously."With the gaslight on?""Yeah.""About twenty miles." Craig said grimly. Fuck, twenty miles?! Bebe's car couldn't run much longer, it didn't take a genius to know that.Craig exhaled through his nose harshly. "Shit." He muttered. "This is bad.""I-I know! We're going to run out of fuel man!""Not just that." Craig hissed, causing me to pause from pulling at my hair and glance over at him warily. "I'm hungry. I'm really hungry." He murmured, so quiet I almost missed it.I swallowed, and my hands left my hair and unconsciously tightened around my bat. What if Craig tried to bite me again? He could stop himself a few hours ago…but now?"Distract me.""What?!""I said, distract me." Craig growled. My mind rushed. Why should I be doing you any favors? Although, I'm sure it was in my best interest. My eyes glued to the crescent bite mark on his arm."How—erg—did you get that?" I asked, motioning to blackened scar. Craig glanced down; his dead eyes narrowing as a conflicted look passed through them. He seemed like he was about to answer, but it caught in his throat."I don't want to talk about that." Craig said, his hands clenching the wheel tightly. It might have been psychological, but I felt like the car was beginning to sputter. "Think of something else."My thoughts raced, but before I could even try to interpret the mess inside my brain, the car lurched forward awkwardly. Craig cursed loudly and pressed his foot harder against the gas pedal. We rode smoothly for a few seconds before the car sputtered again and eventually crawled to a stop in the middle of the road."No, damn it, come on." Craig begged, twisting the key in the ignition harshly only to receive a depressing cough from the car's ignition. I leaned forward in my seat, as if that would somehow propel the car forward a few feet—not that that would help us, we were in the middle of nowhere.Eventually, the old Accord gave no reaction at all as Craig frantically turned the keys and pressed against the gas. He fell back against his seat in defeat, rubbing his blue tinted hands down his face.I swallowed, keeping my grip firm on the faded wood of my baseball bat. Well fuck. Now I was stranded in the woods with no car, and no clues to where Bebe could have possibly been taken.To add to that, the only things I had to depend on were a baseball bat…and a hungry zombie.