Would you Like Flies with That?

I yanked his door open and grabbed him. Thankfully, he was not wearing a seatbelt and in my terror I had little trouble hauling him out of the car. "What are you doing?" the female passenger screamed as I jumped into his seat.

"Get out," I said, then noticed a bag filled with meat in her hands. She must be one of them!

"You get out!" she screamed and lunged at me. She let out a pained cry as her seatbelt jolted her back. I ignored her, my eyes glued in the mirror at the sight of the butcher rushing at the car. If he caught me, they'd drag me back to the shop, back to the... things. Without a second thought, I hit the gas. The car vaulted forward with the power of a couple hundred horses, slamming us into our seats. "What are you doing?" she cried out.

I had no time to deal with her as I swerved to avoid the parking assistant, wheels shrieking in anger. He flew into a fake witch hovering on her broomstick and I shot before him, the car's engine roaring. The smell of burnt rubber filled my nostrils, but I dared not slow down as we hit the ramp to the road. Sparks flew out of the low car upon its impact with the asphalt, the engine protesting with a deafening howl. "Let me out!" the woman next to me yelled.

"Too late now," I said through gritted teeth. My mind raced. How many people knew of this? And when did it happen? When did everyone start eating live meat? How could the animals be alive, when skinned and exsanguinated? I shot a sideways glance at the woman, wondering if she had any answers, and nodded towards the bag she was clutching in her hands. "What's inside?"

"Meat?" she stammered.

"What kind?"

She stole a glance at the bag. "Chicken." I sighed with relief. I had not noticed any live poultry. "And pork."

I almost crashed the car on a telephone pole, swerving at the last moment. Bile rose to my throat. "So you know," I growled.

"Know what?" she protested, her face draining of colour. It reminded me too much of the animals in the van, and I shut my eyes to chase the image away. "Watch out!" she screamed, and my eyes flew open again. I slammed the brakes to avoid crashing into the back of a truck. The car came to a screeching halt, my heart thudding in my chest.

"Get out," I growled. This time she obeyed me without a word. I floored the gas as soon as both her feet were on the road, and inertia slammed the door shut. The last I saw of her as the car roared away, she was staring at me bug-eyed. I'm not the crazy one! You're the one eating live meat!

I took the ramp to the motorway. I had to get away, gather my thoughts. Who else knew? Then, my pocket vibrated and a second later my phone rang. I had completely forgotten about it. I could ask for help. But who would help me? I fished it out of my pocket to glance at the screen.

I swallowed hard and tried to clear my head before swiping my thumb over the screen. "Hi, Lea."

"Hey!" My breath caught at the sound of her voice. "Where are you?"

"Long story." I slowed down and swerved behind a truck. The last thing I needed was to get pulled over for speeding.

"Listen..." She paused. "We need to talk."

I cringed. No good had ever come from those words. I tried to keep my voice neutral, casual. "What about?"

"Well..." She hesitated. "How you feel about me." Shit. Not cool. "And how I feel about you."

My heart skipped a beat. "How do you mean?"

"I know we've been friends for so long, but what if I wanted more?"

Was it me, or was it getting warm in the car? "Are you..." I cleared the lump from my throat. "Are you saying you want more?"

"Why don't you come over and we can discuss it?" she said in her bedroom voice.

I almost did a 180 right then and there, forgetting I was on the motorway, then it hit me. All these months I've been waiting for this, and it happened now? Just as I had stumbled on something this big?

"Sounds good," I said cautiously. "I'll see you at your place in ten."

"Ah..." She sounded apprehensive. "How about the burger joint, instead? You know, the new one? They say the burgers there are to die for."

A chill touched the base of my spine and travelled all the way up to my scalp. I opened the window and threw the phone out. I had watched enough movies to know that's how they find you. Not Lea, too! My eyes moistened, and I wiped them with one hand, squeezing the steering wheel with the other until my knuckles turned white. Crap, if they've gotten to her, that means they're everywhere!

I took deep breaths and ran my sweaty palm through my hair as I passed a police car, a copper holding a radar gun. I knew I was driving below the limit, but he looked up to stare at me. He knows! Maybe he's one of them! Trying my best to keep the car at an even speed, I waited until he had disappeared, then continued driving as far from that place as possible.

The sun had set by the time I swerved off the motorway into an exit, then into a back road. A classmate of mine lived nearby. I had not seen him in years, but he was a vegetarian. I should be safe there. Reaching a junction, I took a left, then came back as I reached a dead end. This time I turned right, to arrive at a nice farmhouse with a large garden, filled with growing, leafy vegetables. Golden fruit filled the trees of an orchard at the back.

I parked before his gate and stared at my fingers clutching the steering wheel, my mind spinning faster than the still-running engine. After an eternity, I turned it off and stepped out of the car, leaving the stolen keys in the ignition.

I stepped out of the car on unsteady legs and drank the crisp evening air with hungry breaths. A handful of early stars shimmered in the sky, providing some much-needed illumination. I wish he's turn on some lights! I covered the short distance to the porch with slow steps. My feet kicked up small drifts, ribboned by the wind. I needed to sober up, my head stuffed with wool and crowded with too many thoughts. As my finger touched the buzzer, an impatient hand tapped my shoulder.

I let out a startled yelp and spun around to see an irate older woman holding a red, plastic basket. "Are you ordering anything?" Her nasal voice grated my frayed nerves.

I blinked repeatedly to shake away my confusion before raising my eyes to look at the long queue behind her. I was back at the butcher's stall, a dozen people glaring at me, mumbling under their breath. "Come on, we ain't got all day," someone muttered, and people murmured in agreement.

"I'm..." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I'm sorry." I turned to face the butcher. "I'd like..." My gaze fell on the pig's head, the one that had triggered the unsettling waking nightmare. "Erm, you haven't got any vegetarian sausages now, do you?"

Behind me, two girls giggled. A wave of anger hit me at the thought they were mocking me, but when I spun around to face them, they were staring at the small man with the polka dot bowtie. "I'm telling you, that's him," one of them said in an excited, hushed whisper. "Doctor Hypnosis himself – the world's greatest illusionist!"

"And crusader against rudeness," he added as he passed me by to approach the girls, a wide smile spread across his face.

I opened my mouth to speak, but my gaze caught on the pig's head. I took a double take and my heart almost stopped. I could swear that the jack-o'-lantern had winked at the pig in approval.