Infection: Dying Days

"Hey Desmond, where are you going?"

Seeing me walk towards the door leading out of the apartment, Big Sis asked. Without turning around, I opened the door and told her.

"I'm going to see whether or not my neighbor made it back from her job okay. If you're hungry there's food in the fridge and drinks in the bottom cabinet."

Leaving them with this, I closed the door and walked towards the one not too far away from me. 

I went to turn its handle.

"Locked."

And unsurprisingly, it was locked. But not to worry, there's a way around this. Starting from the top, I start feeling around the entirety of the door frame.

"Didn't she mention that it was somewhere around here? Ah, there it is."

It didn't take long for me to find the spare key. It was close to the bottom hidden in between the door frame and wall. The hiding space was so well hidden that if one didn't know about it, they would've never known it was there. 

And as for how I know, well it's because I bought it. 

One day, because of bad weather and troubles from her workplace, my neighbor forgot her house keys, leaving her distressed. When I asked why she can't just go back and get them considering it's only a 15 minute walk from here, dejectedly, she said that by the time she does, the owner would be long gone and the place closed.

 Finding her situation somewhat funny, I took pity on her and allowed her to stay with me that night. And on the contrary to what you'd expect considering I'm a young teenage boy and she's an older woman staying in close proximity to each other, nothing didn't really happen that night (much to my disappointment). You could even call me a proper gentleman. I had her sleep on the couch while me and Marco slept in my room with the door locked. 

Anyways, the next day, I went with her to the place she worked at, which was a local bar that went by the name of ' The Devil's Lounge'. From what she told me, she worked there as a part-time Bartender. After retrieving her key, I suggested that we get her a spare one made just in case, to which she agreed.

However, when we went to the hardware shop to get the key made, we found out that she didn't have enough on her to pay for it and embarrassingly asked me to do it. She said that she was flat out broke after paying her bills but I knew it was a lie. This woman loves spending her money on pointless stuff such as beer and partying. But despite this, I begrudgingly bought the spare key.

After that, we went back to our apartment complex and I had her hide the key somewhere that's not so easy to find, but easy to get to. Too which she mentioned, that there's a spot in the bottom of the door frame she could use.

"And a good spot it was."

Looking at the dusty and slightly tarnished house key, I put it into the door's lock and unlocked it. Once that was done, I slowly pushed the door open…

========

(Andy's POV)

"I must say *slurp*, I wonder how Desmond was able to afford all this. Do you guys know?"

Sipping on a drink I found in the bottom cabinets of the kitchen, I looked towards David and his girlfriend and asked. I never expected Desmond would have an awesome pad like this. He's got a surround sound system in his living room, a gaming computer setup in his bedroom, and a weight set. Not to mention, his fridge is filled with meats, vegetables, and junk food.

Doesn't all this require money? And lots of it?

At my question, David rubbed the back of his head and answered.

"Other than knowing he does tutoring lessons online I don't know."

"Tutoring lessons? What does he tutor in? I hate to say it but Desmond doesn't seem like the sciency math tutor type of person."

His grades in those two classes can attest to that.

"No, he doesn't do anything like that. He gives people music lessons. People send him emails and he sets up appointments so that he can teach them via video. He said a few of them were his Mom's former clients. He has a special room for that over there. You should check it out, it's amazing."

Sara suddenly interjected as she walked towards a room close to Desmond's. With our interest peaked, Me, Amanda and President Yang follow behind her. When she opened the door, the sight was immediately breathtaking. Hanging on one wall were three guitars. One was an all black acoustic guitar, the other one was a red electric guitar and the last one was an old and worn acoustic guitar. 

On the other three walls were posters of various music artists. The few I knew were, Guns & Roses, Johnny Cash, Tupac and J.Cole. There were a few other ones but I didn't know their names.

Below these posters, were a camera tripod, a keyboard, an instrument case and a few waist high bookcases, and placed in them were songs categorized according to their genre. I saw a shelf that was for pop music, I saw a shelf that was for rap music, I saw a shelf that was for classical music, I even saw a shelf dedicated for K-pop. These shelves housed music from all around the world! 

Awesome! This room is awesome! 

"Cool right? Because his mom was a music teacher, Desmond grew up loving all kinds of music. A few of these were from his Mom's collection...I haven't been in here in a while."

Sara said with a wry smile as she looked around the room.

...I'm not going to get into the meaning behind that smile since it's not my place to speak on it. Those three will figure it out eventually. But I'm always rooting for my bro!

"This room is spectacular!"

With wide eyes and a book of some kind in her hand, Amanda said amazed. 

"Toccata and Fugue in D minor...Grand Fuge...Nearer, My God, to Thee. Seeing a room like this, no wonder Desmond was able to go to Pelican Soar Academy on a music scholarship."

Spitting out names of songs that I don't know as she looked at the Classical genre, President Yang nodded with realization.

…

Wait, what?

"Desmond had a music scholarship? I thought he paid full tuition to go?"

From my understanding, he was always part of the going home club. Went school was out, so was he. I never saw him attending music classes like band or orc.h.e.s.tra?

"Yeah. In fact, he has two. He has one for music composition and for playing the guitar."

"Who knew he'd such musical talents. If I knew this I'd have him write me some songs so I can get a girlfriend. Girls love a musician after all."

Ignoring the glares of the three girls, I say regretfully.

Damn, I let such an opportunity slip by!

==============

(Desmond's POV)

"This place is forever messy as always."

I whispered under my breath as I slowly moved down the dark entrance hallway. The light from the outside was shining in, giving me enough visibility to not trip over the heap of clothes laying in the middle of the floor. As I walk by, I start flipping light switches.

"Erika, you in here?...You're not an infected are you?"

In a voice that's not too loud or not too quiet, I call out.

"..."

I hear nothing. 

"Phew, the smell is strong as hell in here!"

However, I did smell something. And that something was alcohol. The smell was so intense that I started to taste a little bit of it off the fumes. 

"Damn, what happened here?"

I asked myself this question as I stood in the middle of the living room. There were articles of clothing strewn everywhere, there were multiple cans of beer spreaded out atop a coffee table and there was an empty bottle of liquor sitting on the floor.

What kind of party was she having here? This place is even more messed than how it usually is.

I take a step forward…

CRACK!

"Hmm? Glass?"

Looking down, I see shattered pieces of glass that seem to be from a cup. Seeing this, I furrow my brows, pull out my pistol and adopt a Center Axis Relock (C.A.R.) stance.

Something Definitely happened here.

Realizing this, I no longer try to call out for Erika and silently start searching around the apartment while simultaneously keeping an eye out for anything dangerous. 

Worst case scenario, Erika could've already became an infected. And if so, I don't want to search these rooms all willy-nilly. Although, I don't want such a thing to happen to her, I got to prepare for the worst. After all, caution is the parent of safety.

"Zz..zz...zzz."

Hm? What's that noise? It sounds like a pig being strangled. It's coming from...the back bedroom? Isn't that Erika's room?

Placing my alertness to the max, I slowly move towards the bedroom. As I get closer, the noises get louder.

"Zzzz!"

I'm standing right in front of the door right now and the noises are pretty easy to hear. Placing my free hand on the door handle, I slowly pushed it open.