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Chapter 8: And it All Falls Apart...
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I awaken so much earlier then I usually do that I only had really slept for an hour. Zoey was about to head out and I had to tell her good luck. Hopefully my teachings would be enough for Rose to pass as a human. I could only hope that this wouldn't cause the end to my reputation and my life. Feeling troubled, I went to go see my parents in the A sector. My parents had been the very first family to arrive at the compound, so as a result they were able to pick the biggest and roomiest cabin there was. I run up the steps and politely knock on the door. My original mother couldn't sleep so she was just listening to the emergency radio signal. She came over and, once she saw who it was, she happily opened the door and I gave her a hug. She kissed me on the cheek but I didn't kiss her back. I wouldn't risk her getting infected, and she understood this and didn't mind very much.
"So how is my son doing?"
"I've been doing good Mom, Zoey is about to go on her run and I just wanted to go tell her good luck. Still having problems sleeping?"
"Yes! These hot flashes are going to be the end of me, I haven't been able to sleep soundly for a few days!"
"Once the governors ice machine is ready you could go get some ice from him. He is grateful for all I've done around here and I'm sure he will give you some once it's ready."
"Really? That would really help me cool down! Good to know, thanks Zachary."
I frown at her, she used my false name again. The name I no longer went by. That wasn't my name anymore, it was the name of the voice in my head. My conscience from when i was still human. She realizes her mistake and quickly corrects herself.
"I-I mean... oh, I'm sorry Hunter. I know you don't like it when I call you, the name..."
"No, it's fine Mom, really. If that's who you want to remember me as, go ahead and use the name. I don't mind as long as it comes from you."
I hug her one last time before I depart and she begins to cry again. She missed her son, and I didn't have the heart to tell her I wasn't her son anymore. It depressed me and also confused me why I would feel like this. Why did I have to lose my memory and who I was!? Then again, this virus wasn't exactly gods gift to man. So that would explain why I was so changed.
I make it to the front gates just as Zoey is getting ready to leave. I go over the plan with her again and after she understands everything she is supposed to do she leans forward and gives me a kiss on the cheek. She laughs as she sees me blush and then gets in the car with Ezekiel. As they drive off, I see her stick her head out of the window and she waves bye to me. I wave back, eager for my partner to get here quickly.
It takes a few hours for them to get back, and as I wait I go get something to eat and then just wait on the encampment walls. This morning, I completely ignored the sunset. I was only focused on the road.
7 hours after they leave they return with a truck full of much more supplies than usual. They must have gotten a very good haul. As they step out of the truck, I run down quickly to meet Rose. But as I get to the entrance and push through. I smell the heavy copper scent of fresh blood.
My eyes go red, and I feel it happening and pull my hood down further over my eyes. I look at my skin and it begins to turn grey again. I run over to Zoey, and I see her...
Carrying Roses limp body. Covered in blood.
The whole camp comes out and circles around Zoey, Rose, and me. I, however, don't notice as I take Roses body from Zoey and lower her to the ground. I put my eat to her chest and I don't hear a heartbeat.
I suddenly can't take It. I feel tears gather in my eyes, and I look up and let out a deafening, "NOOOO!" The yell sounds very Hunter-like, and I hear everyone in the camp gasp.
As my hood falls off, and everyone sees my eyes, and my grey skin.
"Infected!"
"He's infected!"
"Kill him, he's infected!"
"Kill the Hunter!"
I look around in distress as everyone backs away from me and points fingers in my direction. What had I done to deserve this?! Had they forgotten my kindness? Had they forgotten that I SAVED ALMOST EVERY ONE OF THEM?!
"I don't care what you do to me! Get a doctor and don't let this girl die!" I yell at them all as they call the guards.
Elizabeth pushed her way through the crowd and tries to pull me away from Rose.
"Rose! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen! Please Rose, forgive me!"
Elizabeth and a few guards break me away from Rose.
"Forgive me!" I continuously yell as I am dragged back into the compound. I see a stretcher rush past me back to Rose. They were going to help her, that's all I could hope for.
I am carried to the research sector, here scientists study infected to find a cure. They literally tear off my hoodie and throw me into a specially designed government cell made to keep Hunters in. I crawl to the corner and put my head down and cry. They were goon to find out Rose was infected too, unless she could fake it. She had been able to overcome the sickness to the point her skin gained color again as well. But the smell of someone else's blood set you off again. Your skin would change color. I only hoped I had taught her well enough.
Inside the soundproof cell. I was slowly going insane. Nobody came to visit me, they probably weren't allowed to. And they fed me the arms of the dead common infected they experimented on. This exposure, or lack thereof, was causing me to become more wild. More like an actual Hunter. After a while, I forgot English. A week after that, I forgot about Zoey and the others. The only person on my mind was Rose. But I forgot her name eventually too. So I just referred to her as, 'that girl'.
They performed terrible tests on me. They basically tortured me with electricity and other such means. The didn't see me as a hero, they saw me as a monster. And I acted like a monster very much. I began lashing out at the smallest of things. The torture made me believe everything was a potential threat. The torture made me hate everything.
I'm guessing it was 3 months until the accident happened. A Tank attacked the compound and took out the power. All the infected in the lab, be it common or special infected escaped. Including me. Many people escaped. Little did I know, Rose had made a full recovery and had escaped with my family, Elizabeth, and Zoeys group. I just ran around in my mad state, attacking both humans and infected alike. Trying to vent out all of my irrational anger and hostility towards anything I could. I killed many, many creatures. I couldn't even tell if they were human or infected by the time I was done with their bodies. They were all just bloody and messy chunks of meat and bone. A perfect meal.
I was done with this dull place, I needed to hunt more. To kill more. There was no one left to kill, so there was no use staying here.
I followed a familiar scent very aggressively. I didn't even remember that this was the scent of Zoey. I just felt madly inclined to kill whoever made this sweet scent and to savor the smell on their sweet, sweet flesh. I killed everything in my way until I finally found my prey. She wore a red skin and I needed to end her. Ignoring everyone else surrounding her. I tense up my legs and leap for the kill. One of them notices me and yells 'Hunter!' and I let out a blood-curdling scream as a bullet hits my shoulder and stops my momentum dead. One of the prey things runs over to me and says, "Hunter?" Seeing me chance, I reach for her, but the wound keeps me on the ground, I couldn't get up. I was so close to ending this girl I could literally taste her flesh. An older aged prey thing circles around me and ties rope around my hands. I roar in protest and try desperately to break free.
The prey thing in the red skin gets very close to me and says, "Hunter, you're in a bad way right now, look into my eyes and remember who you are. What you have done for all of us!" I roar and snap at her. I hear multiple people pull out guns. "Please Hunter!" I yell out something that sounds like, "DIIIEEEE!" And an older lady with a slight limp yells, "Stop it Zachary, Stop it!" The mention of that name makes me angry, but it also makes me remember some things. And as I remember these things, they trigger the remembrance of more things. And eventually I remembered who I was trying to kill. How to speak. I was out of my insane state I had been stuck in. I was free again.
A roar generating in my throat dies out instantly as I broke down into tears. My eyes turned from Red to Brown. And Zoey embraced me.
"Oh Zoey" *sniff* "they t-tortured me. They changed me." I say in a very hoarse voice, "They fed me infected, they locked me in a room with no sound. I was going insane. I had all but lost myself to madness until..."
I looked at my Mom.
"Until... my Mom called me by my old name. Zachary..."
Everyone came up and hugged me. As I looked around, I saw one person who had yet to join in. Who was she? She was awfully clean and well kept. Her hair was a beautiful hazelnut color. It was Rose.
"Rose!" I yell as everyone moves over so I can embrace her. "Oh Rose. I'm so sorry you had to see me like that. I didn't remember anything."
She looked at me and calmly said. "There is nothing to be sorry about. The only thing that matters is that we are back together again, and nothing will ever change that. Right?"
I smiled and agreed. Nothing would ever make me leave Rose or anyone else in the group for that matter. I would protect them, or die trying.
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(A/N): The character that I pick from the reviews/ private messages will appear in the next chapter. It's going to be a lot longer to compensate for this shorter chapter! Good luck getting your character in the story, and don't worry. There will be more chances in the near future! See you next SUPER chapter!
