Cez Dreams: Bumps

Date: 4/30/2018

I was on a small island in New Hampshire. I was originally there to go to something equivalent to a camp therapy sesh to deal with anxiety for some rest and relaxation. And I found a paper on a billboard. When I stopped to read it I noticed something strange. It looked like some kind of crust or barnacles embedded onto the corner of the page. Curious, I scratched the crust off the edge of the paper and thought nothing of it. The next day I woke up and when I went to take off my shirt I noticed a cluster of blisters on my arm. They similarly resembled the crust that I saw before on the paper. I decided to pop one and clean it with some antiseptic. However, when the blister exploded, there was still something left inside of the wound. I carefully applied pressure to coax out the buildup, and my arm got swollen from my nails. And then I managed to get a white glob of it out- But on further inspection, I realized that it wasn't puss. It was moving. It was a slug. It squirmed around pretty quickly in the oils and advanced up my arm. I watched horrified as a small bump moved up and down my arm, then disappeared completely. And then remembered that I had only popped one of the sores. And that there was another six left. I tried to pop one, this time killing the tiny slug on the countertop. I managed to catch two others, and kill the fourth on the ground. The next I got out quickly, but it fell to the ground and squirmed away on the tile. But the last one was too fast and buried itself back in me making another hole on my skin. That's when I decided that it would be best to go to a doctor to seek medical treatment for whatever was happening. And that I would do it first thing tomorrow. The next day, I went into town and ordered pancakes at this kitschy log cabin diner. It was similarly designed like the motel I was staying in, and probably apart of the tourist appeal. Some people recognized me from the camp program and waved to catch my attention. "Well aren't you popular?" The lady behind the counter said to me with a smirk. "I don't remember the last time anyone gave me that kind of attention! Say, are you new here in town?" I sheepishly nodded, pulling down my sleeves. The pain was getting worse and talking to anyone was the last thing I really wanted to do. "Here for that _____ retreat eh? Lots of youths come by during the summer months from the cities." My eyes glazed over as I focused on the scratches on the counter. "Here's your milkshake. Why don't you sit with your friends over there? They look like they want to talk to you! Say hi at least!" I swiveled around to the group behind me at the booth. It turns out they were listening to everything and smiled tentatively at me. I got up and walked over to sit with them since it seemed forced upon me. There were 4 people apart of this group: two guys and two girls. They were all apart of the camp for a reason or another, and were really nice people. The first guy was a red head, and sported a ridiculous bowl cut. He was dorky and into a lot of fandoms he'd quote on random, a big undertale fan. The second guy didn't talk so much. He was painfully shy, and of little words. He had black spikey hair that matched his black spikey leather jacket. You couldn't tell what he was day dreaming about. His nickname was Spitzo, and he always looked lost in thought. For the girls, there was the oldest of the group. However, you couldn't tell that based off of her puppy dog hoodie and preppy skirt. There was also her height as she reached only 4'8. Her nose was buried deep beneath a ds, probably playing Pokémon or something. She also boasted on her achievements in overwatch beating several different country competitions . The last was an incredibly tall and lanky girl who had straightened hair and the kind of lipstick you'd expect to see on an office worker in her 40's. She wore kitten heels and a cut out that nearly reached to her navel. She laughed and smiled and encouraged the group to do their best at all of their interests. She dripped with charisma, but in a charming grease lightning way. Anyway, They all chattered on about their interests, working up into overlapping conversations all while eating pancakes and eggs. I tried to remain interested as possible, but the pain felt like my whole arm was on fire. "Would you please excuse me? I have..,,, bathroom...." I got up and found the nearest bathroom while they continued to talk pleasantries. As soon as I locked the door I hitched up my sleeve and gasped in horror. The bumps that I sterilized hadn't gone away- they had reformed. And legions of more barnacle blisters were forming up and down my arm in small, spread out patterns. They weren't going away. They were getting worse. I ran out of the diner. I felt bad leaving my friends like that, but it was now Go-See-Someone-About-This time. I'd pay later, I thought. So I ran to the local doctor, demanding to be seen immediately. The doctor came in, coaxing me and my concerns. "All this for a couple bumps?" He whispered to a nurse on staff "this better be worth my lunch break." "Now now, a couple of blisters is nothing to worry about. It's common with stress and excerise to develop certain legions on the arms and feet, especially under duress." I was now livid, explaining how I saw things come out of them and how I was scared that more were popping up. He asked if I could lift off my shirt to see them, and I did so. Under my shirt to my own fear, were more barnacle clusters snaking up my shoulder. "Hmm, your files say that you've gotten the chicken pox vaccine before" "yes!!! I'm up to date on all of my vaccines!!" "Now for how long have you had these bumps?" "Since yesterday? Or today? I'm not sure but it's been over 24 hours" "Mmhm, and you haven't eaten anything different recently? When was the last time you've eaten?" "Like, five minutes ago?? I was eating some pancakes and milkshake at a diner now look-" "And last night?" "Look, the camp was offering meat loaf and peas and some thing else I'm nottoosurecanwe-" "Aha, just as I suspected. You might have gone through an allergic reaction. Now, I can perscribe some ointments over the counter prescription lotion that you can apply to the spots," "Sir, you aren't listening to me, this hurts a lot. There are bug things inside of me." "I'm sure this could have been brought on by an allergic reaction to a bug bite, no doubt. These things can happen in closed courters and outside. You'll be fine so long as you don't touch it." I looked down frantically at the bumps. It was the only way. "Now you can do a follow up appointment in 4 days if this persists, Nurse could you add the script to her file? Please, don't touch that, it'll only make it worse! Wait! WAIT!" I popped one. And like the other 7 times, another slug slid out and squirmed on the metal plate. My arm oozed with oil and blood. the doctor was frozen in shock, his hands paused in midair. "We need to get you to ER. immediately." "Sarah, cancel my late appointments. This case is of top priority and needs to be addressed immediately." I stared down at the squirmy slug thing. "What do you think it is." "I'm not quite sure. Frankly I'm not an insect specialist. This parasite could have been introduced Into your system based on exposure to the marina. Though it doesn't look like a leach, it could have a similar lifestyle. We are contacting the local hospital on your case. There, you will be transferred to a -" He was cut off, not by a pause in the conversation, but my now intense stare at his wrist. "Is there some thing the matter?" "You...you're..." He pushed up his cuff. At that point, I realized two things: When I scratched the paper on the billboard, the parasite had to be introduced to me somehow. And even though I popped and disinfected the legion to the best of my abilities, they still appeared and multiplied. In a parasite, there are 2 stages of life cycle: Intermediate host and Definitive host. The definitive host is where parasites lay their eggs and an intermediate host is where a parasite grows up in. Sometimes a parasite can use its whole life cycle on one host, like tapeworms but that is rare. My mistake was believing that I was only the definitive host and that the things coming out of my arm were in their recent juvenile stage after hatching. But if that was the case, then other bumps would not have appeared. I was both the intermediate and the definitive host. Who was to say that the slugs were not at their mature stage? That meant that they had to be reproducing somehow inside of my tissue. And the only way I was introduced was through the card, which meant- The gamates were being introduced by oils and pores. Everything that I touched, everyone who I talked to.... Was being introduced to the oils from my skin where sperm and eggs were traveling. By popping the bumps I wasn't just releasing the slugs. I was exposing the sperm and eggs of the parasite too. The doctor looked at his wrist in horror. My one mistake was- Believing that the bumps weren't contagious. The doctor trembled, adjusting his glasses with his non-barnacle hand. "This is bigger than I thought." "We need a quarantine." The nurse screamed from the other room, dropping her files. I thought she had overheard our conversation, and turned to face the open door. She was fixated on the open blood pooled sore on her knuckle. The pen. I signed with a pen. "Quickly! Get her into the room! We need to keep aseptic-" I ran. The pen. It had only been 2 1/2 hours I spent at the doctors. Where else had I been? I walked into town. I stopped by the post office. I ordered a milkshake. Oh no. That was nearly 5 hours ago. I dashed to the diner. There was electric poles down and fires everywhere. How could've this happened? My arm was now puffing up from infection. People were running the opposite direction screaming. I got into the diner. There was no one there-Almost. "Hello? Is anyone there? Hello?" "Help me." I looked across the counter. It was the diner lady who had spoken to me before. My lip quivered. "Pamela?" Her back was turned towards me. "I saw this thing... on my forehead...and something came out...." "...................Pam?" "Then more bumps came and I kept on popping them." "They just kept on multiplying." She turned towards me. Her face was unrecognizable, covered in scars of blood poring down and bits of tissue. "I tried to fix it but THEY JUST KEPT COMMING" "I'm,,,, sorry,,, I don't know how to help you." "HELP ME FIX MY SKIN" "Emergency services are on their way. We need to sit tight and-" "NO" I could see now the slugs moving in between the pores, sticking outside of the wounds. Dried blood caked onto her uniform and her mascara. "I know,,,, I'll-- I'll fix my own skin! Yes that's right! I'll fix it! I'll fix-" She choked on her unsure laughter. "I know I can fix it..." She stared tear off chunks of her cheeks off slowly. I stood and watched as she dismantled what untouched pieces of flesh she had left on her face. She ripped off bits and pieces of hair, ears, lips, all while laughing at nothing. "Stop it, please." I begged. Her face was beginning to look undistinguishable from a human being. She started tearing away muscles running down the length of her arms, tendons flayed and dangling. But she wasn't laughing anymore. She let out bursts of gurgling sounds now from the blood pooling into her mouth and throat. "STOP IT, PLEASE" The fires outside were growing larger, and sneaking their way into the building. "We need to get out of here." But she couldn't hear me anymore in her passions. "I'm not leaving here without you!!" But the flames kept growing. I could hear people outside. A brick was thrown at the diners window. I had to leave. As I walked back behind the counter looked back at the babbling woman. "I'm sorry." I opened the door to the kitchen and slid out the back entrance. ------------------------------------------------------ 5 hours. What I knew about the parasite: 1. It was Endoparasitic. It could not last outside a host as an adult. 2. The parasite grew and dumped its gamates into the hosts tissue relying on natural oils to mix to make a fertile egg. 3. The oils succreted could transmit eggs small enough to get into skin pores. 4. If any of the oils or eggs or host made it's way into the blood stream the results could lead to personality change and/or death. 5. They could mature in less than 2 hours. 6. I'm infected. I ran past the post office. There were some scattered in the streets. Most had bumps. Several were dead. I saw a group in the corner of my eye. Someone stood out among the crowds. It was that orange haired kid. "You're going to take it whether you like it or not." "Please! let me go!" The man squirmed between the gangs grasps. "Oh?? Did you hear what the man said????" He swiveled towards the mob. "He said he wants to be let go. THE PURE BLOOD WANTS TO BE LET GO." He smirked. I realized his hair was different. I couldn't point it out, but it was slicked up with some sort of gel. His arms were full of holes. And his orange hair looked more of a red color now. "Why? Whatsamatter, Purist? You don't like my friends?" In his hand he held up a fist of squirming white. "No please! I'll give you anything! My wallet, keys! They're all in here!" "You're going to have to do a lot BETTER THAN THAT." He took his fist and jammed it down the man's throat. I realized there was something off about this mob. They all had bleeding bumps and scars on their bodies. "YOULL HAVE TO FIGHT FOR IT" He turned to his brain dead audience. "AND THAT GOES FOR ANYBODY! ANY PURIST WHO GETS IN MY WAY! AHHAHAHAHAHAH" "Stop." His eyes were now fixated on me. "Eh?" "Put him down, ____." He pushed his arm off of the now unconscious man. "Oh, well well well, it seems like we have a little purist on our hands." "Hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but he's one of us now." I held my ground. "Oh? It looks like somebody wants a couple new friends! Wouldn't you like that now, hm?? NEW FRIENDS??" He lifted his hands up revealing more slugs, squirming in and out of his swisscheese hands. "You can't keep doing this to people." "Oh, yeah? What are you going to do about it, Purist?" I picked up a piece of wood. "I'm going to stop you." He smiled. "I was hoping you'd say that" " FIGHT ME PURIST. GIVE ME YOUR BLOOD." I'm screaming now. Hitting any person that's in proximity. When I get to Orange hair I give it my all. He's punching back (and hard) clamping down on my arm. But I keep bashing in his face, screaming like a banchee. His hand clasps around my throat. "You don't have the guts to kill me, purist? You were always the antsy one in camp you-" I punt him in the stomach. His Swiss hand loosens enough for me to free myself. I take the board and jam it into his rib cage. He stops. The crowd that's still conscious disassembles. I'm alone now, watching his blood leak onto the pavement, clotted with hundreds of bodies. I need to hurry. The ambulances will be here soon, and need to separate the town so no more people are infected. Which, at this rate will be impossible to do with crazies like this running around. I run back into the local doctors office. Empty now. Ironic, I think, given the crisis at hand. I pick up a box of sterilized gloves and put them on. If I see any one who's not infected at least I can interact with them now. I bandage up the blisters making sure not to pop them. Several pop anyway from the pressure. I feel them burrowing back into my arm. I'm clumsy. I realize I hear a faint sound in the distance. Sirens? Could it be????? I adjust my shirt and take off in pursuit of the sound of the noise. Finally Help! Sanitary quarantined help! I see a bunch of ambulances in one, long, line. But something's wrong. Something's in the way. Not something, someone. clank. Clank. CLANK. I realize why the ambulances aren't moving anymore.There's a bulldozer in the way.And someone's riding it. With a speakerphone. "HAHA TAKE THAT PeWNS! EXTREME CRITICAL DAMAGE POINTS!!" The bulldozer smashed down on the ambulance below. "HAHA, LIKE THAT? FEEL MY SMASH BUTTON!!" I looked over at the huddled people, hiding behind debris. The ambulances became more crushed than ever. "HEY." The wrecking ball swiveled over my way, crashing into a few buildings. The gamer girl. "LISTEN TO ME. STOP THIS INSTANT. YOURE REALLY SICK." She paused her havoc. A loud speaker clicked on. "WHAT DID YOU SAAAAY?" "I said, STOP THIS MADNESS YOU'RE REALLY SICK. PLEASE STEP OUT OF THE VEHICLE WE NEED TO GET YOU TO THE HOSPITAAL." "WHAAAAAAT?" "I said YOURE REALLY SICK AND WE-alright yanno what? JUST GET OUT OF THE VEHICLE" She laughed. "FAT CHANCE, PURIST!!! IM HAVING SO MUCH FUN, AND IM GOING TO BRING THIS WHOLE TOWN DOWN WITH ME! YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD BE FUUUUUUN?" I stopped. "IF WE PLAYED A GAME TOGETHER! WONT THAT BE FUN, PURIST?" I thought about it for a second. "NO, it WOULDNT" She laughed. "TOO BAD!" And now I have a bulldozer speeding towards me. I have to think fast. I run across the street and hide behind a building curve. WHACK There's debris falling everywhere, and half of the building has been taken clean off. "FOUND YOU." I'm running now, anxious to get to safety. I run, trying to get to the nearest parked car. WHACK. "TOO SLOW." The bulldozer has now impounded the car, smashed in front of me. Im trapped. How'd in think this would work?? Momentum. A bulldozers slow. It needs balance. I'm running now. I have to be careful through, I zigzag between the cars and trucks. I'm running, sprinting as fast as I can, towards what could only be a dead end. I hear the rubble of cars and bricks topple before me, but I can't look. Back. Only toward at the brickwall before me and the big ball trying to kill me "GIVE UP NOW PURIST. I ALWAYS WIN." I can feel the sweat around my bandages. My arm feels like it's burning up. I feel tiny bodies worming their way into my skin. I run as close as I can to the brick wall And then I swerve. The ball whacks away at the wall with one solid swoop. But the bulldozer is still in motion, and can't stop or go back. The bulldozer tips forward and goes driving straight into the building. It slows and crashes, lifting a cloud of dust. Coughing, wheezing on dust I make my escape through a hole made in the building. ------------------------------------------------------ It grew dark out. I met up with a group of survivors that managed to remain unblemished in all of this. They pitched a tent near the now abandoned ambulances and Maybe they were resistant. Maybe they were lucky. They bumbarded me with questions about the bulldozer fight questions like how I knew that would work and if I knew that person in it. "I didn't know it would work. I just knew I had to try something." They shared their experiences as they huddled next to the dumpster fire. One guy was an ambulance driver, and remained unscathed because he was last on the scene. One man watched his iminocompromised kid die in his wife's arms, who already got infected from her daughter. He had to leave both behind. Others saw more violent ends to people they know. According to the survivors, the infected act like rabies raccoons except for a few like Carrot Head and Gamer Girl. Many died from accidents and attacks rather than the parasite. I cried a yelp in pain and excused myself making an excuse up "My arm kinda hurts. Might be from the rubble. And being chased by a bulldozer. I'm going to see what I can do about it ok?" No need to alarm these people. They've lost enough from my bug bite. I went into the ambulance and grabbed some alcohol, antiseptic and some tweezers. Slowly, I began the process of unbandaging myself. The mirror revealed it was spreading to my back. I poured antiseptic on all of it. And when I ran out of that, I grabbed the alcohol. I began to dig my tweezer into the open holes. My bandages were moving on the table. Disgusted, I poured some alcohol on them too. I pulled what I could from the open sores cringing the whole time. The best part of treating your wounds in an ambulance? There's supplies everywhere. I grabbed some new bandages and held my arm steady. Most of it was numb now. I went outside. It was dark. Peaceful. The moon was out. It was ironic how quiet it was outside now. I felt I was missing something. But I forgot what. I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I didn't notice the mob behind me. The very, unsightly mob. They gagged me and dragged me down on the floor. Before I had a chance to react, I was knocked out. Everything went black. ------------------------------------------------------ I woke up in a room. Kinda officey, but I couldn't really describe it. Like a watch tower? I noticed that I wasn't alone. "Oh good, you're awake." The voice hissed to me from the corner of the room. The tall girl stepped out from the shadows, cheek to cheek with two moaning, very sick, men. Although it seemed like she had more makeup than we saw each other last, she was not pretty. At least, anymore. Half of her nose was rotted and collapsed in and her long draping cutout displayed various blisters and tunnels down to her navel. "I'm surprised you were this easy to catch. When I heard the others couldn't do it, I knew you were slippery. Some people just aren't competent~" She slid towards me. "The boss will be glad I found you. Besides," she said edging near me, "I know your little secret~" She dangled something in front of me. My bandages. I didn't realize I didn't have my bandages on. The world suddenly felt a little colder without them. "You're sick." She chuckled. "Ooooh~?" "As if you're not one of us." I said nothing. She was right. We really needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible. "Look, you're coming with me. We need to get you treated." "Sh...sh.sh.sh. No, I don't think you understand! Let me tell you something." "People like us, we're different." I spoke up. "We're infected." "This is a gift, given to us, don't you see that? I would never, ever give away this gift, oh no no no. Wouldn't dream of it. Do you know why~?" I let her speak. It might help move things along. "Before coming to this camp, this island, I had just broken up with my boyfriend." "He said that I was nothing without him, and probably slept with my roommate." "I was heartbroken. Everyone said I would get over him, but I never managed to. I came here to manage my depression!" "And now that I have my gift, I can have any man I like! Say, did you like my boyfriends last night~?" I stared at the snapping crowd of braindead zombies. They must've been the ones who carried me here You see, we're special. With our gift we can make anyone do whatever we want~" "Before when I was a purist, I was nothing! Now look at me now!" She waved her hands around. "HUNDREDS of boyfriends!" "I was so caught up over one when I never even saw my potential!" "_____, they're sick men. They are not your boyfriends. They need treatment." I paused. "And so do you." "Hmm, what's that~? Is somebody jealous?" " You know, when we take over you can have as many boyfriends as you like too~" "You can even have some of mine. I don't mind sharing. I used some of them last night when you were sleeping. You missed quite a show~" I recoiled in disgust. "These men,, your BOYFRIENDS, are going to die without treatment!" She scoffed. "There's more fish in the sea. Besides,, when we rule the world there I will have more boyfriends. They can always be replaced." "Why don't you think I'm sexy enough?" I looked at her. Maybe in different circumstances I would have found her sexy. I did have a thing for trypophillia, but this was not the time. This girl was hypnotizing sick, unconsenting to do her bidding and were being raped and eaten inside out. Maybe in another timeline or world where my arm wasn't being gnawed off as we speak by slugs and she was in a picture I might think "sure. I'd hit that." But I was forgetting something and all I knew was that I had to do something for treatment for these people. "Ohh hmm~? What's that hun?" She gazed longingly at the minion who was at this time eating part of her shoulder off. It wasn't sexy. It was sick. "Don't get fresh with me." She said to him, pulling his head softly away from her shoulder and snapped his neck around. The bodies were stacking up. I had to do something. I punched her directly in the stomach as hard as I could. And I ran. "M....mmy... boys... take... them out....." I ran through the empty hallway. All the doors opened, teaming with sick disoriented men approaching toward me. I ran down the stairs hearing moans and footsteps coming in all directions. There was an angry mob expecting me coming up the stairwell too. As I got to the final steps I hopped across the bannister, And ran for the outdoors booking it, the mob still hot on my tail. I pushed myself through a small hole in a wired fence, and kept running in the same direction. Not even a small drunk person could fit into that fence without guided assistance , let alone angry zombie mob. As I ran through to grassy outskirts of town, I headed towards the cliffs. Maybe, just maybe I could take a boat to warn the others about the island and signal for help. But there was someone waiting for me on the other side. Expecting me. Someone of whom I forgot. ------------------------------------------------------ He gazed out at the ocean, dreamily, his back turned to me. ".............Spitzo?" "You know, it could've been great." "Spitzo......." "Just us. The gang. We could've ruled this island. This country. The world." "But you and your purist ways had to get in between it, didn't you?" "......." "I know that we're sick. But when you think about it, isn't the world, too? We could make a change. We could run this joint." "That's why I am going to become its GREAT LEADER." "Spitzo, you're very ill." He turned to me. Half of his face was chewed away and he reminded me of Half Face for a second. He still was wearing the leather jacket I saw him in the diner with, but it was dirty, and chewed away. "CArot top was ill, yeah? Gamer Girl was too! But what did you do? You fought them. Now carrot top is six feet under." "When he could of been a KING" "Listen to me. We are GODS. You can see it right? The millions of lives inside of me? THEY are my people. They give me new LIFE" "It's funny, Yanno? When carrot top got the rash first at the diner, he was scared. We all were. But I stepped up as a leader, to help the group. We're friends, right?" "..............." "You never were a team player." "There's still time left. If you join me, then we can still be together as a team. I can rule this world with or without you!" A slug crawled into his eyeball. He held out his hand, full of blisters and puss. I shook it. "Excellent. Now-" I did not let go of his hand. "Spitzo, you are coming with me." "I-" "SPITZO! You need medical care! You are extremely unwell." "Heh, I'm unwell? Take a look at yourself. " He motioned to my chewed up eaten sleeve revealing my multicolored arm. Instead of an ivory, it was a dark pink and purple, teaming with inflammation and puss. It dimpled around the colonies inside of my arm. "Why do you do it? Do you want to be a 'hero'?" He twisted up behind me. "You can't even save yourself" "I am not a hero." "I did it, because I felt responsible in some way. And the fact that this is really unsanitary, and breaking a lot of OSHA codes. If it weren't for me, nothing would've happened." "I see youre not so pure after all" "Mm." "You're one of us, and yet you've cut yourself away to make you clean again. I can fix that." "No, don't-" He forced open my arm as I squirmed and cried. He sprinkled three worms on top of my mutilated skin and I screamed as they tunneled inside my skin. On the cliff looking out at the water I saw a flare from the next town over. Help was on the way. I thought, Help was on the way. I stopped squirming as tears sunk down my face as Spitzo held me "So tell me, what are you thinking at a time like this? What could you possibly be thinking about? You've lost! What is there to think about anymore? I'm curious." I looked up at the flare in the sky. I remembered why I came to this town, how I came, and what I was forgetting about this entire time. "That...that," "I can't see (my lover) in this state, with worms coming out of me. It's disgusting." ------------------------------------------------------ All of this time, I was trying to reach out to my partner through our dreams, and now I looked hideous. I woke up. I woke up and a large bolt of pain went down my arm and I was hurting a lot. "Calm down Cez, you're not being eaten by bugs." I rolled up my sleeve. No holes on my arm. I rolled up the other. It was red. I inspected it to see a small dot on my arm. It was a tick. And I picked it out but I might probably have lime disease. And that was the story of my lime disease induced dream. I probably got some of the background visuals from a real skin problem called Dyshidrosis, so you can look it up if you want.