When I finished this, I kept thinking about it. It’s one of those stories that I don’t think had a real purpose, other than to flex creative muscles, which I can respect, but this was really freaky. I still don’t know how I feel about it.

It’s about a person who’s sexually aroused by viruses. She and her research team uncover some deformed, dead creature in the desert and bring it back into their facility. Overnight the pathogen contaminates one of their teammates and things quickly spiral from there. We learn more about the team’s history, which is mostly sexual because what else would you do at a research station in the middle of the desert? There’s not much drama between the characters surprisingly, at least until one of them gets infected. Things get weird fast and the imagery the narrative conjures would definitely be too much for some. (If you have trypophobia, do not read this.) I’m not one for body horror and this story does have a couple instances that really freaked me out.

It’s not a comfort read. If you’re a fan of freaky stuff, you might enjoy this, but I think it’s pretty skippable. It doesn’t really have anything to say and the characters don’t get much exploration, so they’re not anything special either. Really, if you like being weirded out or just want to experience something wholly unique, you might enjoy this short story.