Jen shivered, shook and clutched herself in a tiny ball on the dirty mattress placed on the floor. The icy January frost bit through the walls of the abandoned ranch. It was snowing outside, but small drops of sweat covered her body. She was waiting.
The door slammed. Fast footsteps panted towards her.
“J-Jen! I got it!” stuttered Adam as he made his way to the bedroom. Jen saw his torn boots and gave a weak smile.
“I’m glad.” she said in a brittle vice.
Adam had seen her likes this many times, hurting so bad that she couldn’t move. He kneeled down beside her and took out a plastic package from his jacket’s pocket. The package contained two needles. He took one out.
All of a sudden, Adam started to feel restless as his craving became stronger. Trying to be careful with his shaking hands, he rolled up Jen’s sleeve revealing the dark, black blisters from the previous injections. Gently, he slid the needle into her veins. Adam felt the pain of it forcing its way through her skin and then the venomous liquid circulating through her fragile body, but Jen was numb.
A bright red droplet of blood flowed out as Adam withdrew the needle. Jen sighed and closed her eyes.
Finished with Jen, Adam took out the other needle. He kicked off his boots and socks and sat on the mattress. His foot had only thin layer of skin covering his bluish-green veins with same black blisters that Jen had, except infected. Feeling like his nerves were exploding, Adam stabbed the needle into his ankle.
Soon he felt calmer and decided to lie for a while. He crawled beside Jen. She looked like a sleeping doll: her greasy brown hair hung in strands with her childish freckles showing as each passing car lights flashed across the room. Adam noticed that she was still shivering so he wrapped his arms around her as if he was a blanket. Not long, the still image of Jen became surreal as the drug kicked in.

It was the middle of the night when Adam woke up colder than ever. He had rolled to the side of the mattress, luckily not crushing Jen’s small figure. Jen was still holding herself in a ball with her messy hair clouding her face. Hoping for some body warmth Adam moved towards Jen. She was cold but when Adam felt her hands they were freezing.
“Jen?” Adam said concerned. She didn’t move.
“Jen?” he said again louder and shook her. No response. Not knowing what was wrong he began shaking her more and more violently as anxiety grew. Before he knew it he was standing up yelling. As her hair started falling out of her face Adam saw that she was not asleep. His heart froze to a stop. Her eyes were open, open so wide as if she had no eyelids. They stared at him, sucking him in like portals to death. Her skin had become grey like stone, and the soft, red lips that he used to kiss became dry, cracked and colourless. And there was that strange odor that smelled like rotted meat that seeped out of her pores. Adam felt vomit come up his throat. He dropped Jen.
“Ugh.” moaned Jen.
Adam was shocked. He thought Jen was dead, maybe she wasn’t. Fear flooded him; he could hear his heart now, beating unevenly. He stepped back; Jen stared at him, shaking. It must have been the work of the drug he considered. He moved closer to the door and Jen’s stare followed him. Adam had never been so frightened before. He turned to open the door, and Jen’s glaze burned holes in his back.
“THUMP” like something had collapsed.
Adam sprinted out the bedroom not daring to look back. His heart beat was heavy, weighing him down. There were a series of “Thumps” after. As he ran out the house Adam heard the doors opening behind him. The creaking of floor boards followed him and scratching that sounded like something heavy was being pulled.
He burst out of the house breathless, but he still could feel Jen’s stare him. Vomit filled his mouth and he swallowed it. He kept on running bare feet in the snow. He fell. Something had tripped him, but he kept on running. With each step his felt stabbing pain on his ankle, Adam didn’t care. All he wanted was to be hidden from Jen’s eyes so he ran.

Adam ran for what felt like hours until he felt his foot go numb and began to walk. He was close to the highway but still he hasn’t looked back. Jen’s face still appeared in his mind. He wondered if he had killed Jen, if he had overdosed her or she was just sick. A stab of pain ran through his ankle. He looked down and saw a bruise. It was a deep purple and it was in the shape of a small hand. Panic struck his heart, and unwillingly his head began to turn back. Light drowned his eyes and in all in a quick second Adam felt a strong blow of force, blood and silence.

Adam had died. His blood splattered on the truck, and flowed down the highway.