THE MOMENT
Emily ran down the street with a gnawing hunger in her gut. She felt exhausted, but couldn't convince her body to stop moving; she was just along for the ride.
She saw movement ahead and her body pushed itself to run faster. Emily turned the corner and found someone she recognized. It was another girl. She had dark hair, and her pale skin had a sickly green tint to it. She normally wore a white mask over her mouth and nose; but, now her mask was mostly bright right with sharp white canines giving her a sinister look.
Emily's body stopped approaching Dara when it recognized her as another zombie. She wondered if her body knew Dara was the one that turned her. Though, she couldn't shift all the blame from herself. Instead of running away from an infected Dara, Emily was curious how she could even bite her through the mask. She found out that it didn't need an actual bite; the nanos infected anything they touched.
Emily tried communicating with Dara, but her thoughts came out as a series of moans. The zombified nanos also kept her from sending Whispers. Even though she was standing still, Emily's felt like a stranger in her own body. The sound of footsteps drew the attention of both zombies.
Emily and Dara turned to see another girl Emily recognized. Quinn was Dara's friend, but she wasn't a zombie. Both girls lunged at her; but, they froze after a single step, and Quinn giggled.
"Had enough?" she asked. Then, she shrugged. "Sorry, guess you can't answer. I'll speed it up." Emily blinked. In an instant, her hunger was gone and she felt comfortable in her skin again. She also noted that Dara lost the green tint on her skin.
"Whoaa..." Emily said. She was in awe of the experience and glad to be able to speak again. She grinned at Dara. "You're a genius!"
[Thanks!] Dara replied with red text on her mask. It reverted to its white color.
"How long was that?" Emily asked Quinn.
"72 hours from when I found you," Quinn replied. "But, the goblins can tweak it for a shorter duration; this is just what they use for their games." Emily nodded.
"If we can cut it down to 4 or 8 hours, that'd be perfect. It's just for Halloween night," Emily laughed and patted Dara on the back.
"Seriously, that was a wild ride. Having a zombie outbreak at the Halloween bash is the best idea ever."