02 The End

    William sits strapped into a chair, unsure of how much time has passed. He remembers the day this camp saw him feed, the way the armed men looked at him in a panic unsure of what to think and giving into baser instinct as they began to beat him mercilessly, not sure whether to call him man or monster. He felt bones crack under their boot heels as he began to pray to a god he no longer believed in. He knew any god who looked upon the world would have never done this to one of his children. He sees as the men wrap a noose around his neck and begin to drag him to a nearby tree. They strung him up and began to beat him again as he hung from the rope almost hoping for death until she came out, the woman who would become his salvation from the beating. Andrea was her name, he remembers her saying her name as they drug him through the doors after she has cut him down.

   The woman was not to be seen again for days as he was strapped to this chair and a steel mask placed upon his face. As the two or three visitors seemed to do nothing but trim skin and draw blood looking for an answer, William's body healed slowly but he can see his skin as the slight discoloration has begun. He can only imagine what he looks like to them at this point, probably more monster than man. One of the guards came in to attempt feeding him normal food and as William begged him not, the guard forced him to eat. It only took half the plate to finally force the convulsions to start as the chewed undigested food spewed from his mouth along with the blackened fluid that follows every time he has tried. The guard was startled at the quickening reversion of his body as he quickly began to look like a runner. William tried to beg them to free him before the mask was quickly clamped back around his mouth and face.

   The visits from the ones studying him become less frequent as William sat in the darkness wondering if they were simply done with him or trying to decide how to dispose of him. He knows they have not been overrun by a herd because he has yet to smell them. When he gets to this state of reverting to infected, he can smell every degree of life and death. The further to that side he reverts, the stronger the scent of all becomes and the better they all begin to smell.

   William is finally awaken by the opening of a door as the sound of guns cock and he is quickly surrounded by the guards that are off duty before Andrea comes into sight. All guns are trained upon him as she removes the headgear and begins to speak.

   "How conscious of yourself are you?" She asks as he looks up seeing the look in her eyes that quickly remind him of what he must look like to them at this point. As he begins to speak, William realizes his throat is extremely dry and scratchy. This lets him know quickly that he is regressed to the runner appearance. He begins to choke out the words knowing some will not be clear, but hopes he will be understood.

   "Must....feed.......fresher....good." Each word met with a growl before the next, leaving William hoping he has made himself clear, quickly realizing he has not as a gun barrel is pressed to the back of his head. Andrea quickly stands and points and speaks, but the sudden movements make her blood begin to pump as William fights to not consider her a meal.

   "Stand down soldier. The rest of you, bring the captured here as we get him ready to release." The words seem to be madness to the men standing guard, but they leave the room as Andrea leans down to speak with William again hoping he understands her.

    "We will take care of you, but understand this... You will go back into restraints and we will have a talk about all this. Shake your head if you understand." William fights through his growing hunger as he gives a slow, painful nod. Once the three infected have been brought into the room and chained to the wall, the room clears as they quickly release his restraints and exit the room bolting the door. William stands and turns to see the observation glass as Andrea and a few other stand watching him. He is conscious enough to know they study him and he despises the thought, but he knows the longer he goes, the less likely these three infected will be able to help as he turns towards the freshest one and quickly pounces and biting into his neck like a wolf capturing his prey.

    The audience who studies him watch in horror as their subject begins tearing this chained infected apart with his teeth and fingers as what passes for blood begins to pour. The more he ingests, the more maniacal his feeding becomes. Organs spill onto the floor as William rips meat from the bone ingesting faster with every bite. The infected meal becomes a mere skeleton twitching on the floor as William turns to the next in line attacking it with the same ferocity. The feeding process takes over an hour as William rends flesh from bone with the drive of a rabid dog.

    Once he has finished the three, William collapses to the floor as his body begins to regenerate. It is a very painful process that tells him it has been weeks since he was brought down here and locked away. The door opens once those observing decide he is unable to be dangerous as they enter walking over putting an end to William's victims. The sight of these infected stripped of their flesh and lying on the floor shaking makes Andrea feel genuinely sorry for what they may have been able to feel. The guards quickly shackle William as Andrea directs them to take him to the showers and clean him up and acquire him a fresh change of clothing.

   Once cleaned up and over the pains of his body, William is taken to a different room resembling an interrogation room where he is shackled to the bars on each side of the table and the rings that have been welded to the floor. He knows he is no longer a danger to any of his captors, but he understands and refuses to fight them as they restrain them. Once restrained, the escorts file out of the room leaving William to think about the sight he just left in the minds of those observing him. He wonders if they will even be able to look at him as remotely human after seeing what he can become.

  The door finally opens as the woman he knows as Andrea enters and shuts the door behind her. This has been the first time he has seen the woman without some kind of internal trauma as he observes her sit down to face him. In his old life, he would have been quite enamored with her as he takes in the sight of her. Her long brown hair hanging down over her shoulders as her dark blue eyes seem able to pierce the mind of anyone she gazed upon. Her full figure is that of an athletic woman who takes care of herself without obsessing. In this life, he can only see her as a person that the beast inside him would devour if need be.

   "First of all Mr. Daniels, I greatly apologize for the treatment you have received. It was uncalled for and I hope you understand most of it came in panic. I hope we can find a way past this and maybe we can work together to understand exactly why you are like this and what we can do." Her gaze is very inviting and kind, but William smells the fear that she tries to hide. Since his transformation, he smells emotions in people like most would simply smell a flower.

   "Not sure there is anything to figure out. I got bit, I died and woke up starving. The first time I fed, I became what you see now.... a thing that tries to avoid long term interactions with people." His words set off the feeling of empathy that he quickly smells emit from her. Andrea closes the file they have compiled on him and pushes it aside as she gives a nervous smile.

   "We have tried to study you in the hopes of finding a way to stop and possibly cure you and the other infected. Unfortunately, there is nothing inside you we can find that does not exist in anyone else. Discussing this folder is pointless and quite frankly of little interest to either of us at the moment. I would rather go back to the beginning. If you feel up to the task, I want to hear about the what happened to you.... the day you changed if you will." Andrea's request seems an odd one, but William can smell the easing of fear inside her as she begins simply sliding into the role of audience to hear his story.

   "It's not a grand story and really nothing that will tell you anything, but it started eight days after the infection became mainstream." William leans back in the chair as best he can while Andrea leans forward ready to hear the story of the man she sits in front of.