Feeding Frenzy (Watty Award Winner)

Ducky to the Rescue: Chapter Twenty-Seven

Ducky couldn't wait to get to his room and enjoy his steaming, caffeinated prize. After fighting so hard for it, there was no way he would risk having it taken away by the ravenous, mad-eyed students passing by him on all sides. The moment he reached the downstairs hallway of the residence, he flipped open the lid and finished his java in four gulps. Never had he felt so much like he had awoken in a movie, a raving director's psychedelic nightmare. 'In a world gone insane,' he imagined the movie trailer voice in his head. Yep. That summed it up. She had been right after all.

Tonya. Brave, sweet Tonya had gone up against the whole student body, to warn them. Unbidden, her image came into his mind, all curves and symmetries. Her face would entice the camera, flawless skin, prominent cheekbones, and angel lips; that is, if she wasn't drooling by now like Professor Rudolph.

Forget filming! With a slight pang of guilt that he realized it was Tonya he wanted to save, not Zain, or Priya, or the Ninjas. He raced up to the room to get his car keys.

Inside, he threw on jeans and a sweater and grabbed a coat and a blanket. He worried that when he found Tonya, she could be cold or hurt or in trouble.

She wasn't answering her number. He tried Priya, who didn't answer either, then texted them both to call him. Now he was worried about Priya too.

He took a peek out the residence window before heading out. The courtyard was filled with slow-shuffling students, their mouths and faces stained with food. Had they all been at the cemetery last night? It was hard to tell. All he knew for sure, was that he needed to see Tonya and reassure himself she too wasn't shambling mindlessly. Without a better plan of action, he headed to the residence to find her or Priya.

He banged on Tonya's door. No answer. Could she be passed out inside, like Professor Rudolph? Ducky pulled out his depleted meal card and slid it up between the door and the frame to unlock it. In moments, he was inside, unsure what to do.

It wasn't hard to tell which stuff was Tonya's. Lynette's bedspread was red with white hearts. Tonya's was simpler, striped in shades of gold and blue. Lynette had pop star posters and a fireman's calendar on the wall above her bed. Tonya had one large print, Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss."

Ducky shuffled the papers on the little desk and looked for a phone book or a scratch pad or a note on the cork-board, but whatever numbers and addresses she might have, were probably saved on her phone. He thought of trying her laptop but that would be creepy. Instead, he called Zain to ask for his help finding Tonya, but his friend was 'too busy getting end-of-the-world shots.' Ducky was on his own.

He knew Tonya couldn't have gone home after the cops came last night. Priya had told him about Tonya's parents selling the house and disappearing. She wasn't in the residence, or the cafeteria, and courtyard was overrun with food-obsessed zombies. Nobody in their right mind would be wandering around out there. He phoned the hospital, campus police, and the O.P.P., but just got busy signals. Apparently anarchy clogged up the phone lines.

That left the woods, the one place he didn't want to think about finding her. If she were there, the sooner he could get her out, the better. On his way out he sent out one more text. Time to activate the Digital Ninjas and get them all looking for Tonya.

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