For days, people kept being discovered in the streets. They were alive but with bugs crawling out of their mouths.

“It’s a new species of insect,” said one of the scientists investigating the case. “They lay eggs inside their host, then take control of the brain, forcing the excretion of hormones that make you laugh. That way, they keep victims from feeling pain while being eaten alive.”

Bugs that fed on you while keeping you happy, I thought. That’s what they are.

Within weeks, my hometown turned into bug colonies. People began showing symptoms of excessive smiling and laughing. All the while, lumps of something moving beneath their skin grew visibly.

Then—

My best friend burst out laughing one morning before her scalp exploded. Pieces of her brain went flying. Hundreds of white bugs came pouring out like a fountain. Yet, she kept laughing on and on.

I lost my parents and friends the same way. Eventually, I could no longer leave my house.

Outside, people were still moving around. Some had bug nests as big as beehives sticking out of their stomachs. Some had less than a head left, with bugs eating their brains under the sun. They were alive but already beyond saving, dancing and wobbling in the streets while laughing.

It was hell. Hell, where devils were having a party.

And soon, I would become like them. I knew because I began feeling it, too, inside my head. It was like every cell of my brain was tickling.

I wanted more than anything to just laugh out loud.