#RawMeatChallenge
1,000 words > Flash Fiction > Body Horror
Blurb:
When a young patient arrives with mysterious symptoms after participating in a viral "RawMeatChallenge," Dr. Singh discovers that some internet trends have horrifying consequences.
The following story is rated H for horror.
It is intended for a mature audience.
Reader discretion is advised.
DUN-DUN
(No, seriously, though. Reader discretion is advised.)
#RawMeatChallenge
"Hello, I'm Doctor Singh. And you're—" The chart looked filled out in a hurry, and she could barely make out the important bits from the scratches. Caucasian. Male. Nineteen. Complains of stomach pains, nausea, headache, weakness, and diarrhea. "Seth. Looks like you have a whole smorgasbord of issues. Care to tell me about that?"
Ragged breaths heard through the stethoscope placed on his chest were his only response. Through the nitrile-gloved hand on his shoulder, she could feel his skin burning.
"Feels like you have a fever."
She waited a full thirty seconds, and again, she got no response. The only sound was the scratch of pen on paper as her nurse wrote notes.
Her pen light got no reaction from his jaundiced eyes.
"Clammy skin. Grey-green pallor," she said to the nurse as she took a seat on the room's rolling stool. "How long have you had these symptoms?"
Nothing.
"Seth. I know you feel bad, but you need to work with me so I can help you."
No response. Just his vacant eyes and a pained grimace.
"The chart says this started after he did a TikTok trend. Something called the RawMeatChallenge," the nurse said.
How he could make out the chicken scratch written on there Singh couldn't know. It was helpful, though. If Seth was playing with raw meat then she had a good starting point. Parasites could explain a lot of the symptoms.
"Is that true?" Singh asked.
Finally, the boy said something. What, she didn't know. All she heard was a wheeze.
"What's that?"
"Bathroom," Seth said. His eyes were focused now. They darted around the room like it was on fire, and he was searching for an exit.
She pointed to the heavy wooden door behind him. Seth clambered up, his body moving faster than his legs, and nearly fell. Only with her and the nurse helping was he able to make it.
"Help," Seth wheezed. She looked down and saw the boy was struggling to undo his pants.
She shared a stare with the nurse. A silent argument ensued in their eyes: "I'm not doing it." "I'm not either." "I'm the doctor, though." "Shit." "Ha."
The belt was barely undone before Seth aimed his ass at the toilet and screamed, "Arrrgh!"
Singh and the nurse jumped back. Their bodies catching up with their hearts, and that felt like they tore from their chests to run in fear.
Seth strained. His face blossomed a bright shade of blood red. Veins and ligaments bulged like tension wires begging to be cut.
The sound of bowels releasing wasn't new to either of them, but it'd never been like this.
Singh slammed the door. Partially to give Seth privacy but mostly to block the smell. "I am not cleaning that."
"Is it supposed to smell like that?" the nurse asked.
Singh shook her head and covered her nose, but her thin scrubs couldn't protect her as the smell of human waste and infection hit her like a physical assault.
Then, as abruptly as it started, the screaming stopped.
Silence filled the room, growing until its weight bore down on them, forcing them into action. Singh knew they should check on Seth, but she was afraid of what she'd find on the other side of that door.
The handle rattled.
Slowly, the door opened.
Seth shuffled out, pants around his ankles. She could honestly say she'd seen better-looking corpses.
"I think something's wrong," he said.
"I'd say—Dear god!"
Trailing behind Seth as he walked into the room were long white strands of flesh. They stretched to the toilet. Five feet long, at least. As he walked, they were pulled out of the commode and hit the floor with a wet slap, then were dragged behind him, leaving a thin trail of blood.
The nurse bolted for the door, knocking Singh to the ground in his panic. She didn't even hear his scream over the ringing in her ears. She didn't hear her own either as she crawled out of the room.
She needed air.
Needed away.
Needed away.
She didn't stop until she hit the wall on the other side of the hall.
Her lungs refused to take in more than a spoonful of air at a time. Her vision turned to nothing but pinpricks of light. Still, underneath the primal fear her body coursed with, her well-trained brain churned.
Parasites. Worms, obviously, but she'd never seen it so bad. In bears, yes. Not in humans.
A meaty thud behind her caught her attention. She didn't want to look but couldn't help herself.
Seth had collapsed. His eyes were glassy and fixed. She'd seen enough death to know it without checking a pulse. As her medical training urged her to move forward, to check vitals despite what she already knew, a movement behind the body stopped her. The strands were moving independently now. Then she heard the screams. Tiny high-pitched wails like they were coming from far off.
No.
They were coming from the worms.
They flailed in the air now. Whipping, curling, searching, reaching out for a new host.
Singh gasped as she tried to put more distance between her and the creatures. Her feet pushed hard against the linoleum. She felt the hallway drywall break behind her back as she pushed.
Footsteps rushed towards her, slapping against the floor.
"Thank God you're here, Doctor."
Singh looked up to the new voice. The head nurse.
"There you are. Doctor, we need you. We've got an outbreak of some kind. The emergency room is full of people. We got nearly two dozen kids in there. All of them sick. Apparently, they did something called a TikTok challenge."
No.
She can't deal with more of this.
No.
She could still hear their tiny screams.
No.
One had broken loose from its brethren.
No.
It writhed towards her.
No.
She tried to stand, but her legs wouldn't hold her weight.
No!
She kicked at it and was rewarded with a small shriek.
But now it's on her shoe!
Now it's crawling up her leg!
No!
She is screaming.
The head nurse is screaming.
It is screaming.
No!!!
I'm going to rethink my plans to start a raw meat diet now!
Pretty nasty. Well done!