The next morning, Evelyn hummed mindlessly as she straightened her freshly washed and blow-dried hair. Despite falling asleep later than she had in a long time, she was having a good morning, which surprised her. The talk Evelyn and Ethan had the previous night wouldn't leave her mind, so she tried to occupy herself as much as she could to drive those thoughts away.

"Ev, you've been in there for hours! Come out already!" Ethan called out with a sleepy voice as he banged on the bathroom door.

Evelyn rolled her eyes with affection at her best friend's playful, but dramatic behavior. Ethan had barely just woken up and he was already trying to rush her. "I'll be out in a minute!"

Evelyn quickly collected her things and turned the door knob. She must have not been paying attention because as she was walking out of the bathroom, she violently bumped right into Ethan.

"Woah, watch where you're going, Ev," he shot a teasing smile at her. All Evelyn could focus on was the feel of his hands on her waist and the close proximity of their faces. This was weird. a good weird, but still weird.

"Oh- I- uh..." Evelyn stuttered, gazing into his deep brown eyes as she tried to find the right words to say in this welcomed, but confusing moment.

"You okay, Ev?" Instead of taking his hands off of her waist, he tightened his grip. Her shirt had ridden up too, so Evelyn could really feel the warmth of his calloused hands.

She inhaled a sharp breath before answering. "Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Sorry about that," she laughed awkwardly. Ethan gave her a warm grin in return and moved past her to get inside the bathroom. Evelyn immediately set her stuff down and raised her hands to feel her flushed cheeks. What was wrong with her?! Her best friend bumped into her and now she was blushing? What was so special about that? She had to call Tara. "Pick up, pick up, pick up!" she whisper-yelled to herself as her cellphone rang, but nobody picked up. That was weird, a bad weird. Tara always answered the phone. She was addicted to it.

"You ready, Ev?" the girl snapped around as she heard Ethan's voice. "Seriously, you okay? You seem really shaken up."

"Yeah," Evelyn nodded, sounding like she'd just run a mile. "it's just- Tara's not answering the phone."

"What? But she's always on her phone," Ethan tilted his head in confusion. Evelyn was glad he believed her lame excuse. It really was strange, though. Tara pretty much never put the device down, even when she was stuck babysitting her baby niece.

"It's whatever, she's probably just busy," Evelyn tried to reason, walking past Ethan to grab her purse.

"I guess," the boy shrugged. "you ready to max out your card?"

"Of course!"

"Okay, we meet back here in two hours. Text me if anything changes. Okay, break!" Ethan joked as the pair stood in the middle of a shopping center. Ethan didn't like shopping with Evelyn (he claims she stays in the fitting room for years) so instead of shopping together, they compromised. The two would separate to do whatever they pleased. Evelyn didn't care what they did, as long as she got to go shopping. It was her favorite activity.

"See ya, Ethan," she couldn't wipe the smile off of her face as she made her way to find a store that caught her eye.

Evelyn couldn't get her mind off of her and Ethan's little moment earlier. It felt like a scene straight out of a romance movie. It was dumb. He's her best friend, it didn't mean anything! God, Tara needed to answer her stupid phone already. Evelyn was in dire need of her roommate's illogical justifications and delusion. As far-fetched as they almost always seemed, they provided Evelyn with some sort of comfort, and that's really what she needed at the moment.

Almost two hours into the shopping trip, Evelyn was flipping through a rack of shirts when the sound of screaming coming from somewhere outside made her flinch. The sight of people running caught her eye. she clutched her few shopping bags in nervousness. Her mind immediately went to Ethan. She needed to find him. Her first thought was to text him, but of course there was no service. Against her better judgement, Evelyn began making her way toward the glass doors.

Outside, people were a mess. They were obviously in a panic, which made them selfish. They were pushing and trampling over each other, the sight alone making Evelyn queasy and nervous. She had to find Ethan. She picked up her phone once again to call him. The phone wouldn't ring, she still didn't have any service. "Think, Evelyn, think!" she scolded herself as she carefully made her way down the shopping area. Evelyn froze up when she saw it. A body on the ground, laying in a pool of blood. All the air was knocked out of her lungs, and nothing even hit her. The woman was dead, and it didn't seem like that was the only thing people were panicking about. They ran past her dead body like it was nothing. They were being chased.

"Evelyn!" the familiar voice pulled her out of her fearful trance.

"Ethan! What's going on?" she grabbed onto his wrists for support.

"I don't know, Ev, but we gotta go," Ethan wasted no time in tugging her along with him, Evelyn had no choice but to follow him wherever he chose to bring her.

Evelyn didn't realize she was holding her breath until the pair reached Ethan's car. He led her into the backseat, not letting her take the time to go around and get into the passenger seat. "What are we gonna do?" Evelyn grabbed her head as Ethan recklessly drove them back to their hotel.

"I don't know, Ev," he answered with a sigh. "We just need to get back to our room. There we'll be somewhat safe," it was clear Ethan received his parents' paranoid personality the same way Evelyn did. Whenever anything happened, their minds would immediately think of the worst. It was quiet the rest of the way there, the two being to afraid and occupied with their own thoughts to engage in anymore conversation.

"Turn on the TV, please," Evelyn asked Ethan once they finally reached their hotel room. The ride there felt like it took months, maybe even years, and the two were still shaken up and afraid.

Evelyn and Ethan plopped down next to each other as they listened to the news report. "And now, breaking news from Palm Springs, California— yet another cannibalistic attack has occurred at an outdoor shopping mall. Eight people have been found dead and three others have been reported missing," Evelyn shuddered as her mind went back to the lady laying on the ground. "The government has since declared a State of Emergency as a result of this mysterious sickness, plaguing our country."

"God, that's really serious," Ethan muttered, not having any idea of what else to say.

"I need a nap," Evelyn buried her face in her hands. Ethan agreed. They didn't even bother to get in separate beds. They laid beside each other, staring at the ceiling and wondering what exactly just happened.

a/n
so i could've done a lot
better ik :') this is my
first time writing an intense
scene like this in like
a year and even back then
i wasn't good at it LMAO.
i really tried my best though,
so i hope y'all enjoyed :(((
wc: 1278
07.29.22