4.

After the contractions stopped, he opened the sink faucet and drank a large amount of water. He gargle with the water and spit it out. He had his hands at the sides of the sink and when he looked at them he noticed that they were shaking too much. From the first moment he arrived at the bathroom he did not look at his face in the mirror, he just kept his face pointing at the sink. He raised his head and wanted to get out of that place as soon as possible. He stopped with his face in front of the mirror and an expression of dread on his face. He was pale, just like his friend. What struck him most was the reddish color of his eyes. He approached the mirror with a scowl. He walked away after seeing the state of his eyes.

--Fuck! -he exclaimed at low volume.

--Ag! -shouted Joseph.

The heart jumped in Carlos' chest. He took one last look at the state of his face and then left the bathroom quickly. As soon as he came out, he felt a discomfort in his neck; it seemed like something was moving in there. The contractions in his abdomen came back. Carlos' cheeks were again swollen. He walked right into the bathroom and stopped at the sink. Once again he spat out a large amount of saliva. His arms were shaking even more. He looked up at the mirror, where he saw that the state of his face had worsened. He had giant dark circles under his eyelids and some parts of his cheeks turned a deep red color. The contractions came back, but they were not intense enough to make him vomit, the vomiting of saliva. He put his right hand on his left cheek, then on his right and finally felt his neck. He felt something strange in those parts, an internal itching. He approached the mirror, swallowing saliva and filled with fear of what he would discover. He opened his mouth as wide as possible. He didn't see anything abnormal inside her. He closed his mouth, but felt those parts again. Suddenly, he felt something inside his mouth, in his cheeks and on his tongue he noticed that something moved. It was like throwing a bucket of cold water at her. He brought his open mouth back to the mirror. He paid close attention to every detail in those parts that felt itchy. He didn't see anything strange... Something caught his attention in his tongue. That part was a little pale, but it didn't make any impression on him, except for a part where he saw a yellow spot. On his right cheek he also saw a yellow spot. On the other cheek he didn't see anything. He saw his right cheek again after it was itchy in that part. He wasn't sure if it was there or somewhere else nearby. He put his index finger in to open his mouth further, to see the state of his lower teeth. At the base of one of them he could see that same yellow spot and he also noticed another tiny yellow spot. He took his finger out of his mouth and walked away, with a frightened expression.

--What the hell is that? -he said.

He went closer and opened his mouth again to look at the yellow spots, which looked more like thick cholesterol drops. He paid close attention to the yellow spot on his tongue. He noticed that it had changed color slightly. Now it was a semi-transparent color. Then he noticed something strange inside that spot. He frowned, looking closer to the mirror. At first he did not recognize anything inside that spot. Then it would be his horror. He moved his face away from the mirror and shortly after came back closer, not believing what his eyes were seeing. He also checked his right cheek and the bottom of his teeth. In those parts he saw the same pale spots where something could be seen inside. It seemed that he had a blister or a bubble full of water on his tongue, where he could see something moving. It took him a while to realize that it was a worm, or a tadpole, thin, perhaps the diameter of a hair. He walked away from the mirror and looked at the ground.

--No, no, no -he said in an intimidated voice.

He saw the state of his mouth again. He frowned. The blisters on his tongue and cheek grew in radius, larger than before, and so did what was inside there. He blinked several times, without taking his eyes off the very thick worm that was shaking in the middle of the blister on his tongue.

--No, no, no. What is that? -he said, upset.

He blinked several times. He frowned. As he looked closely at the blisters, he saw how they grew in size and how the worms grew thicker. Now I felt them moving inside the flesh. He walked away, his hands shaking. He pointed his head down, breathing heavily.

--Ag! -he heard Joseph grunt.

He no longer wanted to look at the blisters in his mouth. He walked to the door and into the room. He did not enter the room, as he felt the forces leave his body and his body temperature rise more than normal. He noticed that his friend was shivering, as he pulled the blankets closer to him; he certainly seemed to be very cold. He also noticed the great amount of sweat that came down from his friend's forehead and dripped on the floor. He put his hands on his knees and started breathing with some difficulty. He swallowed his saliva and was also having difficulty doing so. He raised his head and saw that his friend was now uncovering himself, showing the great amount of sweat that was under his neck. But then he picked up the blankets and pulled them closer to his neck. He wanted to get closer. His strength left his body again and he was short of breath. He closed his eyes as he coughed hard. He raised his head. His friend this time was calm, although he was worried about the abnormal way he was breathing. His right forearm hurt at this point. He put his left hand on top of it, as he inflated and deflated his cheeks. He spun round at a slow pace and spilled a great deal of sweat on the floor. He put his hand on the wall to lean against it. He walked at a slow pace towards the entrance of the apartment. He closed his eyes and pursed his mouth as he walked out. He felt a twinge in his mouth and then it became a terrible toothache. He put his right hand on his cheek. He turned from side to side in the hallway there. The moment he left the apartment he could hear a door closing and a slight whispering. He heard someone whispering behind the doors, but they were silent enough not to be understood in what they were saying. He looked to the right, to the left, and saw no soul in that hallway.

--Hello? -he said with effort-. Please, my friend is sick. Call an ambulance.

He heard people whispering.

--Hey! -he shouted with the strength he had at the time-. Please!

He heard whispers.

--Has anyone called an ambulance yet? -he said, crying.

He received no answer. He turned around with his hand on his lower abdomen. Every time he breathed he felt his throat split in several places. He put his hand closed in his mouth the moment he felt nauseous, although it wasn't very intense. He looked from side to side and pointed to his cell phone. He no longer had the strength to lift his feet, now he was dragging them and every time he did so he felt tired. He rubbed his right forearm over his forehead and removed a large amount of sweat. It took him a long time to get to his cell phone. He knelt down, closing his eyes and pursing his mouth. His legs hurt a lot and were also shaking.

--Wha… i.. happening to m…? -he said at that moment.

He frowned. He had heard what he had said and didn't believe it. He felt his tongue twist. Carlos put his fingers in his mouth to make sure he felt it. With his fingertips he felt his tongue moving against his will. He pulled his fingers out right away.

--Wha…'s wronggg with m…?-he said, frightened.

His hands trembled when he grabbed the cell phone. He dialed a phone number and placed his cell phone next to his ear. He heard a beeping sound, while his stomach pains returned. He heard someone on the other line. They asked he what his emergency was. Carlos didn't know where to start. First he wanted to ask if he had been called there before. As he gathered his thoughts, he heard howling at low volume coming from Joseph's bedroom. He closed his eyes as he swallowed his saliva with difficulty.

--Good! E…evening! I… I… I -he said with difficulty.

--Hello?

Carlos closed his eyes. No matter how hard he tried to pronounce the words, he couldn't or wouldn't make any sense linguistically.

--Help! -he shouted.

The person on the other end of the line cut off the call. Carlos closed his eyes and cried silently. He dropped the cell phone on the floor shortly after. He heard some shrieking coming from his friend's bedroom. He looked over there and... He heard something strange, something that made his hair stand on end and made him wonder if it was a good idea to go to the bedroom or stay there until help came. He had heard someone vomit, but he wasn't sure because it sounded like he had vomited something big, something that fell to the floor and made a deep sound. Carlos thought that his friend might have tried to get up, but he couldn't. He took a deep breath. He stood up, his legs shaking. He shuffled to the bedroom. He was slowly approaching that place and felt something strange inside him, like a bad feeling. He put his hands on his knees, breathing hard. He paid attention to his friend. There was nothing to fear. His friend was in the same position that he had seen him lately. He was trembling, but there was nothing strange about it, nor anywhere near his friend. There was no sign that he had vomited anything. It was strange. He frowned. He entered the bedroom with one hand resting on one of the walls. Suddenly, his friend stopped shaking, he didn't even move anymore. Carlos opened his eyes as wide as possible and rushed towards his friend. Something inside him told him that things were not going well. Inches away from his friend, he looked at him up and down. There was nothing... Although he found a mysterious stain on the blankets a little strange. It looked like it was wet.

--What the hell? -he said.

He knelt down, frowning at the pain in his legs as he bent them. He noticed a strange smell, it was like the smell of urine. He grabbed the blankets and stood up, pulling the blankets off his friend in one go. His friend had a large stain of urine on his pants, he had peed himself and soaked most of the blankets that were closest to him. Carlos rubbed his forearm over his nose. The smell of that urine was different and unusual. His friend began to tremble at this point and also breathed heavily, as if he had gone a moment without oxygen. Carlos knelt down again to touch his friend's arm and shake it to answer the question of whether he was okay. However, he barely even knelt in front of his friend and reached out his hand, but he didn't touch him. His friend had moved a little, just enough for Carlos to notice the state of the follicle in his back. Carlos' mouth trembled as he admired with horror that follicle growing in size and shrinking and wrinkling. It was like an endless cycle where the follicle was inflated like a balloon and contracted and wrinkled like a balloon when deflated. Carlos bent his head to take in air, rather than vomiting from what he saw. Although he wasn't sure if he should come closer, he reached out and moved it to his friend; he wanted to see the state of the edematous skin area. He got up suddenly at that moment; the pain in the joints came later. The smell was not entirely due to urine, but to something else, which was mixed with that smell. In the part of the back with edematous skin there was a great quantity of a substance... it was equal to a semitransparent gel that in one way or another evaporated. Carlos covered his nose as the vapors of that gel ascended and reached his face. His eyes started to cry because of the mentholated smell coming from his friend's back. He pulled his arm away from his face as he looked at the seeds on Joseph's back. They looked like a thin flower with its petals going to different sides. Inside the burst seeds he saw a small white substance that had a life of its own and was moving. One of those white things, that after a few moments, Carlos would recognize as white worms. It came out of the seed that contained it and swam over the gel that was bathing Joseph's back. Carlos did nothing but walk away with his right hand covering his mouth.

---Fri-fri. Go... God! Are you okay, buddy? -he said; that's all he could say in an understandable way.

More of the white worms came out of the seed that contained it and swam over the gel. Carlos took a deep breath and approached his friend. He knelt down with a frown and felt his arm. Joseph raised his head, frightened.

--Fri-Frie-Frien -said Carlos.

In Joseph's eyes there was a lot of fear. As soon as he could, he shook his legs and arms and walked away from Charles. He couldn't believe it at that moment, he couldn't believe the way his friend got out of bed and walked away. Joseph put his hands on the floor, his back was slightly raised and he looked at his friend who frowned at his strange attitude.

--Fri-Frie-Frien -he swallowed his spit-. Fri-Frie-Frien.

I wanted to ask him what was wrong. He bowed his head, closing his eyes tightly. The smell on his teeth got worse. He felt something moving inside his tongue. He took a deep breath and tried to ignore the smell, although it was useless because it got worse every second. He looked at Joseph in fear, he still remained in his quadrupedal position, his eyes threateningly fixed on Charles.

--What do you have? -he said, pausing for breath.

Joseph pursed his mouth and showed him his teeth; he looked like an angry dog. Carlos did not hesitate twice to walk away from where he was. With some difficulty and pain he stood up. He walked backwards, keeping in touch with his friend, who continued to show his teeth.

--Frien-frien.

Joseph opened his mouth with a slight squeal. By this time, Charles was already frightened. He looked back at the road he was taking. He looked forward and surprisingly, Joseph ran over hands and feet to him. Charles immediately ran in reverse, inhaling with difficulty. He bumped into the wall and watched his friend approach with his mouth open and his hands outstretched. He put his hands on his friend's face, who opened and closed his mouth every second to bite his fingers. Joseph held Charles by the neck with superhuman strength. Soon, Charles' face was a blue-purple color. He was coughing at that moment. He felt that the forces had just left his body. Joseph's face came closer to Charles. He in turn pursed his mouth and resisted more. Joseph closed his mouth and bit his friend's middle finger.

--Aggg! -he shouted as he watched the blood from his finger slide down and soak his hand.

With the other hand, Carlos scratched his friend's face, but it had no effect. He squeezed his friend's eyes, on the verge of wanting to blow them out. Even with this, his friend did not stop biting him; on the contrary, he applied more force. Carlos felt that his friend pierced the flesh and was about to pull his finger off at any moment.

--Aggg! Wha-Wat! -he said.

Carlos looked down, coughing. He raised his right leg to the height of his friend's abdomen. As soon as he felt his stomach, he pushed it out. It didn't work the first time. The second time he pushed he helped his friend away from him. He felt his friend pull his finger off; thank God he couldn't do it. Carlos covered his hand with the other to stop the large amount of blood coming out. He looked in fear at his friend, who... was walking backwards with his back bent and his fingers almost touching the ground. His breath was dry at that moment. He could not breathe. He put both hands on his neck, which he stained with blood. He put his healthy hand at the level of his mouth and put his fingers in it. In an abnormal way his tongue had thickened; it seemed that he had a ball of flesh there. He made the greatest effort to breathe. His friend again pursed his mouth and showed him his teeth. By this time, Carlos was able to catch his breath. He breathed heavily, although the air flow was minimal. He paid attention to his friend.

--Fri-end -he managed to say.

He closed his eyes. The toothache got worse. By the time he opened his eyes, his friend was back. He ran over hands and feet to Carlos. He walked backwards to the door of the room and out of it. He saw his friend open his mouth as wide as possible as far as one of his legs. With his right foot he stepped on the root and blood he had taken from Joseph a few minutes ago. He staggered a little, but enough to lose his balance. He fell on his back, grunting in pain. Joseph grabbed him by one of his legs. Carlos looked up. He looked at his friend in terror, with the attitude of a wild animal, approaching him. He buried his nails in his abdomen and placed his hands back on Carlos' neck. He again placed his hands on Joseph's face, who wanted to come close to his face to bite him. His arms could no longer withstand the superhuman strength of his friend. Joseph's mouth was close to Charles' nose. He would open and close it at once to bite into some fragment of the flesh. Charles resisted as much as he could while hearing his friend's teeth bump into each other. Joseph brought his mouth closer to his nose, but he could not get very far. He glanced reddishly into a corner. He stopped fighting to bite his face and in one quick motion directed his open mouth toward his friend's shoulder. In the middle of the triceps Joseph stuck his teeth in and submerged them.

--Aggg! -Carlos shouted.

Joseph dipped his teeth further. He shook his head to the sides, grunting like a wild animal. Carlos, on the other hand, continued to scream and shake his hands over his friend's head. His attempts were unsuccessful because Joseph in no way wanted to let go; he did it once and now he wasn't going to do it again. Carlos, panting, grabbed a pile of hair with both hands and pulled it to different sides. Joseph's head moved slightly. Carlos inflated his cheeks and deflated them while pulling the hair. Still his friend wouldn't let go, despite the pain he must have had in his head. Carlos pulled harder. Thin threads of reddish liquid appeared from the inside of his scalp. It was working, Joseph was starting to let go. Carlos pulled mercilessly. He heard a hollow sound, like a branch snapping. Joseph let go of his friend to scream in pain. Carlos quickly crawled on his back. He felt his arm, which was bleeding endlessly.

--Aggg! Aggg! -he howled as he squeezed his arm so it wouldn't bleed.

Carlos jumped to his feet. He staggered for a few seconds. The toothache was no longer noticeable now that he was paying attention to his arm. He walked backwards, paying attention to his friend, who was looking at him furiously. Carlos became dizzy again. He staggered for a few seconds. Josep leaned on his feet and hands; he was going to attack again and Carlos knew it very well. He stepped back, but reached the wall and stopped. Joseph opened his mouth, threatening, and ran at once. Charles doesn't know if it was an impulse, an instinct, that raised his right foot as soon as he saw his friend close by and kicked him in the jaw. Joseph fell to the ground with his head pointed to the right. Carlos remained static, without making the slightest movement, except for his chest when he breathed. His friend was face down on the floor without moving, without even breathing.

--Fri-end…. Jo? -he said. Joseph? -he managed to pronounce.

His friend didn't give the slightest answer. With some fear he approached. He repeated in his mind that he shouldn't get too close in case it was a trap. He touched his head and moved his hand away. His friend did not respond. He put his hand back together and tapped his head. He received no response. Carlos blinked several times.

--Loseph! -he said, screaming.

He put his hand on his friend's hair with complete confidence. He gave no sign that he was alive. Carlos began to cry. He put his hands on his head and tried to say a few words, but by that time his tongue looked like a water bomb. He wanted to tell him to forgive him, which was not his intention. Carlos looked, confused, at the follicle. The pimple was growing and inflating, then deflating and wrinkling. He placed his right hand over his mouth. He waved it toward his right cheek, where the pain was worse. He crushed that area in the hope that it would lessen the pain. He kept his eyes on the follicle, which swelled up and remained there for quite some time before it wrinkled. Out of pure curiosity, he thought of bringing one of his hands closer. With some fear he felt the follicle with his fingertips. He felt wet and cold. He removed his hand immediately. He saw that the pimple was wrinkling and turning. Suddenly, without warning, a very thick white worm came out from inside the grain. Carlos jumped backwards and crawled.

--No...! -he grunted, crying.

Joseph's shoulder jumped as the worm came out of a thin hole in his skin. Carlos turned around and crawled to the door. The pain stopped him; he felt weaker and weaker. He looked back halfway. He revived the image of the worm accumulating a large amount of body mass in his lower body to send it to the front; it looked like a caterpillar moving. His hands shook. He looked forward again. The pain in his teeth got worse. He felt his tongue throbbing in the roof of his mouth. Carlos stopped, his skin cold. A second ago he felt his tongue split in two; he felt an indescribable burning and also felt that something was moving inside his mouth. He put his right hand on his neck, where a lump appeared that moved to the sides. With his remaining strength, he crawled toward the door, which looked far away from him. Unable to contain what was inside his mouth, he parted his lips and vomited a great deal of thick blood along with... Carlos shivered at that moment. He felt nauseous shortly after vomiting the reddish material, which he was afraid to look at. He saw the pool of blood he had vomited and paid attention to a white worm, which had also come out of his mouth, jumping out of the water like a fish. He looked up and shouted:

--Help!

A lump appeared on his right cheek and moved to the sides. Carlos put his fingers in his mouth and felt the teeth that hurt so much. Without making the slightest effort, they moved out of place. Carlos pulled them out of position and spat them out one by one. He howled at that moment, admiring the worm jumping on the ground. He put his fingers back in his mouth and in there, where he had removed his teeth, he felt a worm move to the side, looking for a way out. In Carlos' face there was fear, too much fear. With what was left of his strength, he dragged his body to the exit. He opened his eyes on the road the moment he felt his right cheek crack and something came out of that place. He didn't open his mouth, but remained that way, crawling and crying more often. He jumped up and down as something inside his jaw looked for a way out. His squealing increased. He heard the screech of an ambulance siren in the distance. His eyes filled with hope. He dragged his body to greater vigor. He jumped again. The ambulance siren was heard nearby. Carlos shook his head. He was almost at the exit. The ambulance siren was heard moving away. Carlos stopped with his eyes open like a plate. He didn't want to believe it, the ambulance was pulling away. His squeals grew louder. Full of helplessness, he opened his mouth, vomiting a lot of blood and screaming at the top of his lungs.