"OK... Jason... why did you come here, of all places?" Kyle sat down in one of the chairs across from me, clearly putting as much distance as possible between us. He had his hood up, making it difficult to read his emotions. I could tell he was holding the bat firmly in his hand. I watched his eyes do a quick cautious scan over me, as if not quite knowing if he should run or fight.

I leaned back farther into the couch, hoping that if I seemed relaxed he would do the same. But it was clear he wanted an answer. "It's amazing what one will put themselves through on the search for someone like them." His expression was one of immediate confusion, I could tell he was pondering what I said. "What I mean is..." It was then I noticed his eyes were focused directly on me. The candle light reflected them well. What made me stop short was exactly that. In the dim light, which my eyes were a bit more accustomed too, I saw his eyes were different. The right looked human while the left was definitely a Hunter's eye. What Andrea and I saw of him in the streets was not a strange Hunter gone insane. But of one who wasn't yet a Hunter... and clearly not aware of it yet.

After coughing a few times I continued. "I've been... alone for awhile. Traveling around, looking for any others who may have survived the change." As I spoke he loosened his grip on the bat. I was instantly relieved, one less thing to worry about. I smirked. Either he's way too trusting or he's a fool. I couldn't believe he was buying my lies. He must not have seen any of us special infected if he actually thinks I'm still human.

"You're telling me you've survived by yourself this whole time?" I was a bit surprised, I thought he had bought it hook-line-and-sinker. I nodded. What he did next baffled me. He was laughing. Complete with shaking shoulders, a bright white smile and bloody hands clutching his sides. White smile... oh shit no...

"You're hands..." I leaned forward over the coffee table and took one of his hands in mine. I turned it palm up, getting a better look at the deep gashes I watched him receive moments ago. They had bled well through the current bandages that were clearly a few days old on his hands. I took the edge of the wrap and began peeling it off. It was then when he stopped laughing and yanked his hand away suspiciously.

"What are you doing...?" He held his hand close, smoothing the cloth back down into the blood. It was as if I had crossed some sort of line. I saw his hand inching back towards the bat.

I turned my head away, avoiding his gaze and put my hands up in a defensive position. "I saw you're hands were bleeding... pretty bad." I glanced at him, he was looking at his hands. I slowly reached forward and took them in mine. I turned them over a few times and sighed. "You had no idea what you were doing bandaging these... were you?" He neither retreaded nor spoke. "If you had trouble the first time, maybe you shouldn't have continued to do this to yourself."

It was that that made him speak. "How would you know this happened before?"

I trailed my finger lightly over his palms, carefully avoiding his still bleeding gashes. He flinched a few times, which was all I needed. "You have unhealed cuts and dried blood all over your hands. It's pretty obvious."

Once again his hands left mine suddenly. "Alright, alright. I suck at first aid. It's not like I have a hospital full of supplies to 'nurse myself back to health'."

I smirked. "Good thing I found you then. I actually have a pack of medical supplies and, lucky for you, skills in healing." I stood up. "I leave it where I sleep for when I search for something still... edible." I extended my hand out hoping to touch him, see if he was warm or cold. He flinched away. Disappointed I settled for the top of his head, gently pushing it back to look at me. "Let me help." I headed for the door before he could say anything else.

I was just about to leave when he called out, "Wait!" I continued anyway.

Finally in the hallway I released a deep breath of frustration. I quickly found the stairs, swung myself over the railing and fell to the first floor. Landing on my feet I took off, exiting the building. Once I was in an alley a few buildings away I couldn't take it anymore. I slammed my fist into the wall, releasing a loud frustrated growl. At the sounds a few commons began to leisurely wander into the alley.

"Bright white smile..." I muttered. "… his eyes... it's like only half his body is succumbing to the change..." I let my tongue fall out of my mouth. Just by looking at him it's obvious he's to become a Hunter. If he truly had never seen anyone of us 'thinkers' then how'd he not just change into a regular 'mindless'? There had to be some sort of factor that let in the special strain of the infection. My mind went back to when Andrea and I first saw him… or heard him. He was coughing… like he was sick. Perhaps Kyle had had the some sort of sickness before thing whole thing blew through the city, lowering his immune system. But why hasn't the change been completed? His smile was white, not even slightly bloody like the rest of us. "He hasn't been getting the right nutrients… not to survive the change at least…" All too quickly an idea formed into my mind. My original reason to find Kyle was curiosity; his behavior was strange and intrigued me. Now I felt his life was in my hands and I had three options. First was to kill him myself. He's still human… partly. He would prove to be a decent meal if it was just me. Second, I could do nothing. Just keep walking and never return. He'd either bleed to death or die slowly from the raging infection. My third option was to do everything I could to make sure he lived through it. If nothing else to gain another fighter for our already small pack.

I turned toward the few stumbling commons. I caught one with my tongue and dragged it over. Unlike survivors who struggle to get free, it didn't do anything. Holding it still, I ripped the arms off followed by the legs. Blood oozed from the stumps. I dropped the torso to the ground, leaving it for the rest of the scavengers. I grabbed the limbs and carried them back with me.

One block away from Kyle's apartment I stopped. There was no way I'd be able to get near him with these limbs. He'd freak out, grab the bat... then I really would be forced to follow either option one or two. There's no way I could force him to eat their flesh and blood without repercussions; even if it helped spread the infected, saving his life. I need to be smart about this.

I found my way into the building I stopped by. I searched the rooms... nothing. I couldn't even find a kitchen or storage area. The only room I had yet to check had the door closed. I backed up a few steps and kicked it down. A pile of dust erupted into the air when the door crashed onto the tile floor. It was a bathroom. My first instinct was to open the drawers. Inside I found an empty first-aid kit as well as a few ace wraps, some cloth and bandages. I stuffed those into the box. The cabinets housed a range of medications that were obviously expired. I opened up one of the orange prescription bottles, a very powerful sleep-aid, and poured out the tablets. Luckily they were the kind you could reopen.

I laid the limbs down on the ground and began opening the capsules one by one. I ripped a few fingers off one of the arms and let a few drops of blood ooze into the sleep mixture. After twenty tablets I poured them back into the bottle and tossed it into the kit. I opened the last drawer and found exactly what I needed, an empty jar. I squeezed the rest of the infected blood out of the limbs and sealed the jar. I'll start with this, gain more of his trust and soon move on to food.

I packed everything up and arrived at Kyle's apartment building within minutes. I looked up at his window, dark and shut. A few windows down however was one that was open. I crawled up a pipe on the side and climbed inside. One broken door later I was in front of Kyle's room and knocking. I could hear muffled footsteps followed by a sound of a lock unlatching. "It's open..." I turned the knob and walked in.

Kyle was standing by the sink with water running over his bare hands. I closed the door behind me and walked up to him, placing the medkit on the counter. He began to reach for it but I put my hand on it. "I'll do it. Besides, you're terrible at it. You'd just make a mess trying it one handed." He glared at me before turning the water off. I couldn't help but smirk.

I patted an empty spot on the counter. "Wha- why?" He gave me a look of confusion as if wanting to ask 'is that really necessary?'.

"If you sit on the counter it'd be easier for me to tend to your hands." I turned and opened the kit, taking out the roll of bandages and the jar of infected blood. I undid the lid of the jar and scooped out a glob into my hand. I couldn't resist a taste.

Kyle was on the counter with his hands palms up extended at me. I saw his eyes gravitate toward my hand. "What the hell is that?" He asked skeptically. I took a step forward and he shied away.

I took one of his hands and rubbed the blood into the gashes. "Relax, it's just an ointment to... help wounds heal faster and kill any bacteria. Something very helpful nowadays." My mind was split between coming up with lies on the spot and getting the 'ointment' deep into the wounds. Every few seconds I'd feel his hand flinch in I was satisfied I took the bandages and wrapped his hand, from the end of the wrist to a little after the knuckles.

With one down I gathered more blood and continued onto the other hand. As I worked Kyle curiously sniffed his completed hand. Seconds later he held it far from his face, wrinkling up his nose. "Ughhh! Then why does it smell so rotten?"

I laughed at his reaction. "It's medicine. What did you expect it to smell like? Rosebuds?" Kyle laughed. When I finally finished, I looked over my work. "Do you have any other scratches?" He shook his head. I packed everything up and took out the sleep-aid bottle and tossed it to him.

"What is it?" I leaned back crossing my arms. I had taken off the label to make my excuses more believable.

"It's a bottle of pain pills. You'll definitely be needing them with those gashes." I shrugged, trying to make my desire for him to take them less obvious. He held the bottle in his hands for a moment, staring at it.

"Why are you helping me?" A question right out of the blue. At first I didn't know how to respond.

"It's surprising what one will do when they've found someone." What happened to him to question someone's reason to help? He was alone here at least until I came.

He smiled weakly. "Can I help you with anything? Like... uh... a shower?" He looked away and pretended to hold his nose. "'Cause you reak."

Jokingly, I stretched and he held his arm in front of his nose in response. "Surprisingly or not, it helps me blend in. Alone out there is hard when you smell like lavender." He laughed, in turn making me a little.

"Alright, alright." His laughter died down. "Well, then, feel free to stay if you don't have anywhere you can sleep. You're welcome here." I offered him a smile. He looked back at the pain pills. He opened the top and poured two into his palm. After observing them for a few moments he raised them to his mouth and gulped them down. He closed the lid and placed it beside him.

Knowing full well what was about to happen I stepped forward as he prepared to jump down. The second his foot touched the floor he lost his balance and his knees buckled, already asleep. I caught him before he landed on the ground. I waited a few minutes to make sure he really was asleep. "That went better then what I expected."

I lifted Kyle up in my arms and carried him into his bedroom. I laid him down on top of the blankets and sat beside him. I pushed his hood back and ran my fingers through his hair. I knew he wouldn't be up until noon after chugging those two pills. Not only would it buy me time, but along with the sleep-aids the infected blood went directly into his system. No doubt within a few short hours he'd be spotting a heavy fever, that under any other circumstances would be a very bad thing.

I let my hand rest on his cheek, running my thumb over his lips. I leaned down until our faces were inches apart. I could feel his warm breath as he slept.

A high pitched screech pulled me away.

A/N - Thank you very much for the reviews. They help me continue, knowing there are people who're looking forward to the next part. Please note I'll be attending college in a matter of days and won't have as much time to work on the next part.