Author's Note: This is my first time writing a fanfiction, so I'm very, very nervous. I'd love any helpful comments and critique on this before I start posting more chapters. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

~x~

Prologue- The Sacrifice

I tried not to flinch as the screeching, black-blue form of a Hunter slammed against the reinforced glass. It remained there for only a second before pushing off again, leaping about a hundred feet into the air. One of the scientists laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder, but it was cold comfort. I glanced down at my left hand, nervous. Clean, white bandages covered a bite wound oozing grayish-yellow pus, a gift from the Hunter in the room before me.

My sacrifice, according to the scientists from CEDA, would speed up the process for making the cure to the Green Flu. This was a reasonable bargain for my life. I was alone, separated from my family, whom I believe to be dead. I suffered the dry horror of the infection, surviving on nothing but scavenged garbage and stagnant water, always hiding, always running. I lived in Miami, Florida, where the infection had hit the hardest. I remember the city going up in flames as the infected attacked, sowing chaos and confusion as every human sacrifice became another infected soldier. Four weeks of running, hiding, and having to put down stray zombies with a fire ax.

Half-starved and badly sunburned, I managed to stumble upon the border. There, I found the base of the CEDA, and passed their health examination. And then the horror was over. No more hiding in trees, under dead bodies, or in the swamps, silently praying that I would stay alive for another day. The walls were high and thick, and gunmen patrolled back and forth like guardian angels. We began a new life within the safe walls. We survivors banded together and formed our own community, setting up canvas tents for shelter. We started to grow crops. We had medicine. The scientists from CEDA were working on a cure to save the human race. We had each other.

Slowly, day after day, my nightmares of the infected started to fade away. I slept soundly each night, and worked hard every day. I was lulled into a sense of peace, every moment from dawn til dusk spent preparing for the end to the nightmare. And then the infected attacked.

~Flashback~

We were woken in the dead of night by gunfire and shouts from the walls. The feeling of fear was overwhelming. Every survivor took up arms; every man, woman, and child was armed with crowbars and scythes. Some even had guns. The gunfire continued for around two hours, and then we heard the bellowing shouts. A Tank. We, the survivors, only knew too well what those behemoths could do. However, there was no need for panic. The Tank was struck down by the gunmen. The gunfire ceased. A quiet, sigh of relief rippled through the survivors who remained by their tents. Frightened hands that had moments ago been clasping weapons loosened and relaxed. And then the spectacle was over. There was no more need for panic. Everybody started to head back into the canvas tents. Soon, I was one of the last ones still outside. I needed the fresh air to clear my head. And then- It happened.

I was slammed into the ground with such incredible force that I heard the sound of my skull cracking against the hard dirt. For around half a second, I lay winded, staring up at the starry sky, blank shock my only reaction. That is, until I heard the tell-tale screech and a dark figure blocked out the stars. And then the screaming began as the Hunter's claws dug into the soft flesh of my stomach, easily shredding my clothing. I grabbed the claws and shoved them upward, desperately trying to keep the sharp, pointed things away from me. iI don't want to die!/i The Hunter leaned in, letting out a loud hiss, and I could tell the thing was female. It did not like me struggling, and the teeth sunk into my left hand. My eyes widened. No! Gritty tears slid down my cheek as I saw the blood oozing between the Hunter's red fangs. I knew what that bite meant. I was infected.

I heard the sound of screams, some of which were my own. And then the Hunter collapsed on top of me, knocked unconscious from the butt of the gun. The guardian angels were here, but it was too late for them to save me. My stomach was bleeding heavily, crisscrossed tears where the Hunter had managed to get me. Guards dragged the Hunter off of me, one of them snapping commands to get it restrained. Then he paused at the sight of my bitten hand, and his expression hardened. I simply put my face in my hands and started to sob. Everything was over.

~Flashback End~

I was startled back into reality with the sound of the Hunter's shriek as it smashed against the reinforced glass. The wound on my hand throbbed as I watched. I wanted to see it dead on the ground like the monster it was, but the scientists had explained everything. Capturing a Hunter was extremely difficult, as the things were highly intelligent and traveled in packs of four. This Hunter would become a lab animal, subjected to many potentially cruel tests in order to find a cure. Upon hearing this, I had volunteered myself for the experiments of well. I had signed my own death warrant with a smile. I knew that there would be no turning back, that I would be stripped of my humanity and my mind. No mercy killing for me. No quick bullet in the head to end my misery.

I closed my eyes and took a deep, deep breath. The first signs of infection would show soon. I reached into my pocket and drew out a tarnished photograph, worn down and creased many, many times. A small, black haired girl with bright blue eyes and heavily tanned skin smiled out of the photo. This was my one and only sister, Lily, and I hoped that if she was actually alive out there in the savage world, she would understand my sacrifice. Only the thought of her smile kept me from begging the heavily armed guards just outside the door to put a bullet through my head. I remembered her sad smile as she waved goodbye to me; it was the last time I had seen her. Days before the infection turned the world into a hell, she had left with my father to visit a relative up north. The thought of her, wandering through the streets as an infected was unbearable. I clasped my hands together in a beseeching manner, the way the priests do when they pray. I squeezed my eyes shut and focused on the person I wanted to see the most: Lily. I offered up a small prayer to the heavens for my beautiful, innocent sister and her kind, gentle smile. I turned at the sound of a door opening behind me. A petite, red-haired woman wearing a lab coat entered, smiling sadly. "It is time, Alex. Are you ready?" she said, and I nodded, unclasping my hands and walking towards her. I handed her the photograph, my most prized possession. "This is my sister, Lily. If she ever comes here, please tell her what happened to me. She deserves to know," I said, fighting to keep back tears. The woman took it silently; she knew the value of the photograph.

"You have my promise..." she whispered, tucking the photograph away into her lab coat pocket. I gave a small sigh of relief. And then the pain hit. My lungs felt fit to burst, and I hunched over as I started to cough; it sounded disgusting and wet. I covered my mouth with my non-bandaged hand and it came away splattered with blood. The scientist backed up quickly, and then gently took me by the arm. She led me out into the stainless white hallway, quickening her pace as my coughing increased. The infection was spreading already! My vision started to blur, and the gentle light of the hallway became piercing rays of white light. -Toobrighttoobright.- A cough rattled out of my lungs, drawing out into a long hiss. Everything started to hurt all of a sudden. The pain started in my toes, and spread upwards with the creeping slowness of poison. I gave a low moan, punctuated with a wet, hacking cough that splattered the white hallway floor with tiny specks of red blood. The pace quickened, and I stumbled to keep up with the scientist as the pain in my legs mounted. It hurt to walk on two legs, and I tried to drop on all floors. My progress was halted by the heavily armed guard, who simply picked me up by the back of the neck and flung me over his shoulder. Blood dripped from my mouth as I coughed again, causing the guard to pick up the pace even further.

"Hurry. He's already changing," the scientist's voice was clouded by fear as she heard my coughs. All I could see was the blinding light of the hallway, but I heard the click as a door was unlocked, and then I was brought into a room. It was blissfully dark inside, and my eyes quickly adjusted.

-Nomorebright, gooddarknessgood.- The guard lowered me gently to the floor, where I remained still. It hurt to breathe, every breath rattling in my lungs and throat. My hands were secured behind my back with chains, and my ankles bound tightly. I moaned a little as an ill-fitting dog muzzle was strapped over my face, but otherwise offered no resistance as an iron bar was forced into my mouth and prevented me from biting down.

"I'm sorry, Alex, but it has to be this way." Yes, I knew. I was already less than human by this point, and I did not need the scientist to remind me. It was my choice to be the sacrifice. My vision blurred and swam before me as I felt my body convulse once, twice. My blood was boiling, and I knew I was going to die. Not in the physical sense, but I felt my mind receding into an empty blackness. Frightened, I turned to face the scientist to remind her of her promise to me, but when I opened my mouth all that came out was bloody vomit. My stomach clenched at the sight of the mess and I convulsed repeatedly, each time spewing up more and more revolting bile. After a few minutes there was nothing left in my stomach to throw up, and I choked slightly as the stench hit me. I lay on my side, lungs heaving, trying to block out the smell of the vomit that now stained my pants and jacket. All I wanted was for the pain to stop, but my body wasn't done yet as the infection took root. I started to cough again; wet, shuddering coughs that brought up blood every time and shook my body from head to foot. The taste of the bile remained a constant factor; the iron bar wedged in my teeth was coated in the stuff. Minutes passed, hours even, just a repetition of suffering and agony. Finally, I could not take it; my mind was almost gone. I started to thrash again, cracking my head against the hard floor. Again and again, the feeling of blunt pain in my head slowly dulling the feeling of my body changing, filling me with a twisted bliss. I felt my eyes close as the last of my mind was absorbed by the darkness. The sacrifice... -Killkillkillkill, freee!~-