Authors rambles: Hey there guys! This is the official re-write for my old fanfic "Eyes Among Smoke" which is on my old abandoned account. Please enjoy this much better version!

This fanfic does contain gay zombie sex in later chapters, so i that's not your thing please run away from you computer screaming.

Otherwise, please enjoy!

Mutated By Dawn

Chapter 1: Down to nothing

"Get back here you little shit!" The convenience store clerk ran as quickly as his aged body would let him. The young man he was chasing just looked back at him with a smirk, easily picking up speed to get away. Like hell was he going to give up the meal he just stole. Turning sharply down an alleyway, the man easily gained distance between him and the pursuing store clerk. A large fence blocked the narrow alley and it seemed like the thief would be trapped. He instead flung his bag full of stolen food over the fence and started climbing, swinging his scrawny frame over the top of the wooden structure and landing on the other side with ease. He heard the store clerk cursing in some language he didn't understand as he fled down the familiar alleyway and around the corner onto a side street.

Following the side street, the young man came to a dead end. On the other side of a metal guardrail was a large area of woodlands and in the center was an abandoned warehouse. The successful thief jumped over the guardrail and slid down the dusty cliff carefully. At the bottom, he looked around for a moment to ensure nobody followed him before dashing into the woods. He seemed to follow a mental map through the threes and bushes. When he was sure he was deep enough into the woods for anyone to follow him, he slowed down into a relaxed walk.

This was the kind of life he had to live after his home had burned down. Only him and his older sister had survived the fire and they fled the city instead of being forced into foster care. Now five years later, at twenty-one years old, Malik only had his twenty-four year old sister Kayla, the abandoned warehouse and whatever food he could steal form the nearby town. He had grown to accept that he had to steal to survive. His sister couldn't help anymore since she had fallen ill and he had to collect what he could all on his own.

After an hour of hiking through the woods, Malik came to a clearing where a large chain link fence with barbed wire at the top stood. The rusty fence had a hole cut in it and the young man easily pulled the fence open a bit and squeezed through. On the other side of the fence was a small abandoned warehouse where Malik and his sister took up living. He carefully climbed trough one of the broken windows and stood quietly in the broken down building for a moment before shouting into the empty space. "Hey sis, I'm back!"

There wasn't a response, which was unusual as Kayla always greeted her brother when he came back from gathering food and supplies. "Sis stop fooling around and answer" he called out, his voice echoing through the silent building. Malik started to become concerned and started wandering towards the back of the warehouse. Maybe his sister was outside sitting in the wild flowers as she sometimes did. The eerie silence was starting to make him nervous as he walked to his sister's favorite spot. He dropped his bag by the back windows before hopping out of one.

His sister was lying in the grass and Malik thought maybe she dozed off and sauntered over to her, sighing in relief. As he got closer he noticed something wasn't right. Kayla was lying on her stomach with her head turned off to one side. Her position looked as if she was trying to crawl towards the nearby river. Her eyes were half open and rolled up, only the bloodshot whites of her eyes visible. Her faded pink hoodie with reflective duct tape around the upper left sleeve that matched the tape around Malik's left upper pant leg had been tossed aside and her shirt was torn up like she was frantically trying to remove it. He then noticed Kayla's skin had turned a very sickly greenish grey and there was blood trickling out of her mouth onto the grass.

"Kayla?! Kayla, speak to me!" Malik began to panic, shaking her seemingly lifeless body. Her body was ridiculously warm, as if she had a serious fever and this only made her younger brother more frantic. Malik's heart nearly jumped into his throat when his sister gave a long, wheezing gasp for air. She suddenly puked blood and her body started convulsing. Malik could do nothing but watch in horror as his sister writhed around on the ground. Just as suddenly as she'd started having some sort of seizure, Kayla went still. She started making strange gasping noises as she clumsily stood up, face aimed up to the sky.

Malik backed away from his sister slowly, instinctively grabbing a broken pipe off of the ground. He'd read in a newspaper he found that there was some sort of virus outbreak that was turning people into zombies, but he thought it was some sort of hoax. Seeing what was happening to his beloved sister was making him realize that it was all too real and Malik could do nothing to save his sister now. "Kayla why didn't you tell me?! I could've gotten you some help!" He screamed at his sister, tears streaming down his face.

Kayla flinched and slowly turned to look at Malik. The usual happy sparkle in her brown eyes was gone. Her eyes were now clouded over and bloodshot. This was no longer Kayla, just a sickly creature that slowly stumbled towards the one she used to call her brother. She let out an inhuman screech before running at Malik, making a grab for his t-shirt. Malik swung the broken pipe and hit her in the side. She fell to the ground and Malik stood over her. "Kayla… I'm so sorry… I love you…" Malik choked out before plunging the pipe through his sister's skull. She shrieked and flailed for a moment before going still.

Malik dropped to his hands and knees and started sobbing loudly. His only family left lay motionless on the ground beside him, eyes still open. He slowly crawled over to his lifeless sister and closed her eyes before standing up and yanking the pipe out of her head. He screamed and tossed the bloodied pipe into the woods.

After an hour of sitting beside Kayla's body and crying, Malik wandered into the building and brought out his sister's quilt. He rolled his sister onto her back and crossed her arms over her chest, laying the large quilt over her body and covering it in flowers. Content with the makeshift grave for his beloved sister, Malik picked up her faded pink hoodie and put it on. It fit him perfectly and he decided he'd keep it to remember Kayla.

He grabbed his bag out of the warehouse and took off into the woods towards the nearby town in search of some rescue.