Part One: INFECTED

Chapter Fourteen

Interruption time. Sorry.

Today is the tenth. Of July. We've had a busy few months, and that last chapter or two was hard to write. I couldn't find the right way to explain just how I felt. It had taken a long time for me to write it because of that, but obviously I eventually got my feelings down on this paper.

Anyway, busy few months it was. Yes, I'm Yoda now. Neville had me out and early every night to set traps and bring back their contents.

What are we catching, you may be asking? Infected Rats. Neville wanted several for his cure that he was working on; his experiments. A lot of the different compounds he made killed the rats or had no effect, so we were always getting new ones.

We could only bring them back at night, too, so that was my job. So fun. I had to go out and pick up the several traps that had caught something in them and bring them in, then go back and reset the stupid things. Sometimes I had to let a rat or some other animal go that wasn't Infected. It was for the cure, so I had put my story on hold for the time being.

Hopefully he'll have a cure soon. He's making a new set of compounds now, as his first batch of thirty or so had turned out to be a bunch of dead ends. No promises what so ever. He's a smart man, though, so I know he'll get it eventually.

So far he's used just his blood as a base for his compounds. I offered some of my own, but he has refused for some odd reason. Maybe next time.

Until he gets another batch made, we have as many rats as we can handle, and they are vicious little things! They don't like me, though (just as all other Infected creatures), and they often hide at the back of their Plexiglas cages from me. When I'm even allowed down in the lab, that is.

I have to put them in the cages, too. Dr. Neville prefers not to get bitten all the time, and all the rats do is tremble when I pick them up, so it's safer for everyone if I do it. He might drop them if he gets bitten, then we'll have an infestation of Infected Rats.

It goes without saying that that would be a very bad thing. Especially for Samantha.

So, I'm not really all that sure when I'll get the chance to work on this story again. Hopefully once a night, but I won't be spewing out chapters after chapter anymore. Sorry, but I've got a lot going on and the next few bits get rather emotional. Words are bound to escape me.

But, I'll get on with the story now. A big fight is about to happen. I wouldn't want to keep you from that, now would I?

I'm getting really tired of putting that stupid ending here all the time, so here's a little something different for you. Variety is the spice of life, they say. It gets really repetitive, anyway.

I couldn't sleep that day. My pain and depression kept me awake, so instead I sufficed to sit against a wall, hugging myself, and brooded. I only cried like once or twice.

When the sun fell at last, I was ready. I was riled up and my spiraling depression had turned into a violent rage. I was out for some blood, and nothing was going to stop me from getting it.

Once the sun was completely under the horizon, I went into action. I traveled to another store in my Escape to find sustenance. The only thing I had eaten for that week was part of a lemur carcass. Zoo animals weren't ready for the life of city animal. I almost felt bad for them.

Anyway, the point is that I needed food as soon as possible because I was feeling weak with hunger.

So, I was going hunting! Kind of.

I stopped at a King Soopers and broke into the grocery store, then headed for the canned food isle. Some of them had pop-caps, and canned food is pretty much immortal. I could count on it filling me up.

Best of all, the canned meat!

The canned goods had already practically been ravished beyond repair I found out to my dismay, but there were still some left on the shelves. There most likely would have been some in the loading bay, but it wasn't highly probable, so I picked through the meager rations and found. . .

Canned ham.

I needed a can opener for it, though. That was alright, though. I could find one. I grabbed a can of chili, too, then headed for appliances. King Soopers didn't have a big selection, but I hoped that it would have what I needed.

It took some doing, but I found a can opener. It had required traveling to a different store and two houses to do it, but I had found one that didn't need electricity to work and still opened my cans for me. I didn't even bother to cook any of it. I had already proven I could eat raw meat, and canned food had been cooked once. Processed, at least. There were a lot less healthy things I could have done.

So, I ate the spam and the chili straight from their containers. It wasn't fresh meat or a steak dinner, but it got the job done.

With the food giving me the strength I had dearly needed, I started the hunt.

I went on foot from my Walgreen's home, leaving my Escape there. I would need some sort of surprise, and a car with its loud engine would not give me that. I would stalk the Infected before raging any sort of attack, because I wanted to make sure that I did it right this time.

Little did I know that the Infected broke into different groups during the night. It took me a few tries and cost me a few precious hours, but I found the group the Alpha male was traveling with.

Keeping my distance from the group of fifteen or so, I watched the Alpha Male. Particularly how he interacted with his peers. I didn't want anyone coming to get revenge for him. I had to be careful even though I really had nothing more to lose. Even if I did make a mistake, there would be no way to get their revenge.

He really wasn't a very nice, very kind leader. He was always shoving people around and roaring at them. I had a feeling he wasn't going to be missed at all when I was through.

More importantly, though, he didn't have a new mate that I could see. There was no surprise there after seeing how he was treating his other subordinates. Why would a female put up with him willingly when he was so abusive? I sure as hell wouldn't even want to be in the same town.

While I watched them go about their nightly lives, my rage boiled inside me and got me ready for the fight. I didn't even have to rely on the Infected's various noises and smells. I was feeding off of my own fury and sorrow now.

Once I was sure that I could safely engage the Alpha and kill him with little or no repercussions, I started my attack.

Moving silently, I circled around the group in order to get closer to them without being noticed at all. I wanted surprise, badly, and I was going to go out of my way in order to get it.

When I thought that I was close enough, which was hard to do with the group constantly changing positions in the city, I struck.

They were in Central Park, and I was on the upside of some stairs, creeping along the edge not very far behind them, but it was covered and protected by growing weeds and shrubs. I was downwind, so they couldn't see or smell me.

The Infected never knew what hit them.

Out from my hiding place I leaped. I landed on top of one of the grunts, and the Infected screeched with surprise. Exactly what I wanted to hear. They started to scatter, and I let them get away with it. In front of me stood their leader. He was all I wanted in this scenario.

I let the Infected that was under me get my and scamper away as I squared off with the Alpha male. He'd move to one side and I would mirror that move. I wasn't about to start that circling crap. Foreplay. That's all that was. I had no time for it.

He had this look on his face that informed me that he knew what I was there for. He knew why I had come. At least he knew why he was going to die. What his fatal mistake had been. It didn't look like he knew he was about to die, though: his expression showed no fear, only smugness.

I couldn't hold myself back any longer. I wanted this creature dead. I wanted him dead as soon as possible. I snarled and charged him.

The Alpha looked completely taken off-guard, like he hadn't been expecting me to attack. That made me wonder what he had actually been expecting. I only wondered about that for a second. I didn't care right then. I knocked him flat on the ground and pinned him down. He roared in rage and tried to push me off, but I slammed him against the cement and managed to stay on top of him, glaring at him while I thought of a befitting cause of death.

Suddenly, the Alpha let out a distressed wail or something. I looked around, snarling a dare to anyone who wanted to help him or even try to.

No one did, though. There were several watching, but none acting.

I looked back down at the trapped Alpha. He was glancing around wildly, barking and growling to his subjects. I let him call for that back-up all he wanted to: no one looked remotely intent on aiding their leader.

Shock and betrayal played on the Alpha's expressions. He had thought that his subjects were loyal to him. Sucks to be him!

Just as I was about to kill my prey, another Infected male stepped forward, his movement catching my attention. I stepped hard on the Alpha's chest to drive all of the air out of his lungs in order to keep him somewhat docile, and I stood up to face the male, growling a warning.

He looked like a strong, muscular Infected with broad shoulders. He was wearing torn, dull-gray pants and a green jacket that was slightly tattered. He stopped moving toward me and looked down at his leader. I followed his gaze and saw hope in the winded Alpha's dim eyes.

I looked back at the new male, narrowing my eyes at him, and stomped on the Alpha's chest again. He never blinked, even though his leader yelped with pain like an injured dog.

Then, the male smirked.

Several emotions danced across the Alpha's face when I looked back down at him; shock, betrayal, hurt, then rage. He didn't like how this was playing out. Confused, I looked up at the other male. He met my gaze, then nodded and walked away.

The Alpha Male roared in fury and I slammed my foot in his gut to silence him once again. Had I really just been given permission to kill this Infected? From one of his own men? I actually started to laugh a little. It was rather a maniacal laughter, really. His own subordinates hated him! How better could this get?

These new creatures, half feral and half human, were a very interesting species.

I turned on the gasping Alpha and picked him up to his feet by his left shoulder, then I threw him into the wall that I had jumped from and continued to do so a few more times.

For several minutes I just caused the ex-Alpha as much pain as I could. I didn't just want to kill him, I wanted to torture this person-thing.

And so I did.

The entire time I was performing the most inhumane and heinous things to the Infected male, it was like I was watching it all from a distance. It was like I was just a bystander in during it all.

An appalled bystander.

Only when the Alpha stopped moving and making noises did I stop my acts. All motion from him had stopped completely. Not even his chest moved. Scowling, I nudged him with my foot, but there was no response. I had succeeded in getting all the revenge I had wanted, but I was still empty inside. Bobby and Cassie weren't coming back. Ever. This hadn't made them come back.

I was still alone in this bleak world.

It was suddenly like that bystander part of me was back. I was appalled at myself. I had taken the life of a sentient being in the most vicious and heartless manner one could think of. For what? Just nothing. I had gotten my friends' deaths avenged, but that was about it.

No. . . These creatures were murderers. They were sentient, but only on the lowest level possible. Yes, they could learn, feel emotion, plan, even. But so could dogs and dolphins.

Still feeling upset with myself, as upset as I could be, for being so heartless toward the Alpha Male, I headed for my Walgreen's. The sun was starting to rise and the horizon was starting to turn gray. I needed to rest and I needed to get my dark room.

And I needed some time to think.

The sun was practically over the horizon by the time I had reached my home. I shuffled to the back room, head low. I lied down on my bed of blankets and clothes and stared at the wall.

I decided to learn more about the Infected. What did they do in their spare time? How were they during that time? Where did they go? Did they have a language, and could I decipher it since I was part Infected?

Could they maybe learn to except me as one of them?

I wasn't completely alone in the world I supposed. They weren't exactly human, but at least they were some sort of company. The best way to destroy an enemy was to make them a friend, wasn't it?

There was no real hope of me befriending the Infected, though. There couldn't be: they really didn't like me, and I had killed several of their people and four of their Alphas. I say four because I must have killed the Alpha Female when I was with John: no one came to seek revenge against me.

It was worth a shot, however. If I could learn any part of their language and decipher the way they acted around each other, maybe I would be able to apologize and become a part of the group.

Despite my growing loneliness, I couldn't see myself living amongst these monsters. I didn't even like the idea on some level. However, I had to try something. I had to do something and keep busy so I wouldn't go insane. If I didn't do something productive, I would just wither away and become even more hollow than I already was. I wasn't the kind of person who would commit suicide, so I would just become a lump on the ground.

I wasn't going to let that happen, so this was that something.

It took a few hours after sunrise, but I did eventually fall asleep around noon-ish after my plans for the night had been devised.

I woke up around the end of dusk. I waited for the sun to fully set, then left my little room on foot to find the Infected and begin my observations. It didn't take long for me to find a group once they were out and about, but I kept my distance and watched them, paying close attention to their language, oral and physical.

The first night I learned next to nothing except that these creatures did have different personalities. Some were more vicious than others, some were more gentle, even though there was no extreme gentleness, like in humans.

Still my loneliness grew to be unbearable, but I grew numb to it. I learned to deal with the fact that I was alone and became numb to everything.

I kept my distance with the Infected, though I learned more and more about them than I had ever hoped to. They had different groups within a giant group that could be classified as their friends. They all had some sort of love interest in the swarm.

The newest Alpha Male was a scrawny little thing. I had wondered for some time why he had become the new Alpha, but soon learned that he had a posse of bigger males that followed him around. As far as I could tell he had no Alpha Female, though. At least that way if he got out of line I wouldn't have to deal with any repercussions. Even though I had nothing to lose.

After a month or so I had given up human rituals like hygiene. Every once in a while I would take a "bath" in a fountain that still had water in it or in the rising water line. Rivers were beginning to overflow as dams broke down and some streets close to the water line had been flooded.

A few nights out of the week I would follow the Infected to their hive and see what they did during the night. They picked windowless buildings, or buildings with entire wings that had no lighting at all. Every day they would pick a small room, gather into a tight circle, and stand with their heads bowed. I thought it was a lot like sleeping, but I couldn't be sure they were actually sleeping. A few would stay up and act like sentries, but they weren't very good look-outs. Short attention spans.

It had been a few months since I had killed the last Alpha. I thought I was ready to try to make contact. I had some understanding of what could be called their language, and with body language down to par, I could make my case.

They had a new Alpha, too. The scrawny guy hadn't lasted very long. His big thugs started to wonder why they put up with them, so he was usurped and killed. The new Alpha was the Infected that had given me "permission" to kill the old Alpha all of those months ago. He seemed right for the job, and now I had a better chance of being accepted.

I was in my Walgreen's that morning, planning. I had to get this right. I didn't want to have to try several times to be accepted by these creatures.

That night was the night I was going to make contact.

Whew! Cranking these out! I hope you guys enjoy the last few chapters! I'm still very sorry that it took me so long to update the story.