Remnants — Episode 5

Bobby was afraid to touch her.

Kyra lay upon her back on the concrete slab of the convenience store parking lot. The bubble blisters had spread and now covered all of her visible body, and they continued to eat their way through her clothing into her flesh.

She turned onto her side then vomited a squirming mass of unknown matter on the pavement, gasping as her stomach heaved in and out.

Bobby couldn’t believe she was still breathing.

“Make it stop!” She groaned then clenched her teeth, in obvious pain. “Please.” She squeezed her eyes shut.

Bobby realized he’d only been staring down at her bizarre dissolution, incapable of action. His paralysis finally broke. He took quick steps to his car, reached through the open rear window, and ripped a blanket from the back seat.

Unfolding it as he spun back, he knelt then spread the cover over Kyra. He rubbed the blanket up and down her stomach, gently at first then brisker when she didn’t complain.

She lay suddenly still. Her eyes snapped open and latched onto his, her expression one of pain and misery.

“Bobby?” she whispered hoarsely.

He lifted the cover to see if he’d been able to scrub away the blisters.