To the Bone
It took my eyes. It stripped me of my ability to speak. It put voices in my head…
This infection changed me more completely than the so called ‘survivors’ could possibly imagine.
One voice, a small voice of Reason, all that was left of the human side of me screamed in the beginning, screamed in protest of the infection’s influence, and at first I was able to resist.
I was able to resist the hunger that demanded the hunt, the rage that demanded the kill, the fever that drove me on blindly and brought forth the screams that left both my lungs and my throat raw.
Back then, there was plenty of food to keep me distracted, things I was able to find in the stores that had been looted by the humans as they passed from one ‘safe house’ to another. These forays into the lingering world of the humans were dangerous, as the humans had guns and more than once took a shot at me as I was trying to fend for myself. I took what I could, and it kept the voices at bay.
But that was weeks ago, and since then, the pickings have become slim.
There was no longer enough of the food that I required to silence the voices in my head that demanded
… flesh, warm delicious flesh…
And slowly, I began to starve. In my weakness, those whispered voices drowned out the Reason, and I truly became a Hunter.
With my first taste of blood, scavenged from the remains that a horde left behind, I was lost. The hunt became my life and my passion, but the war inside my own head threatened time and time again to undo me. It was the voices that battled one another inside me that kept me terrified and sickened of the thought of killing my own prey. It was bad enough taking what the others had killed…
It was bad enough consuming the flesh of humans.
I was already mad, the fever and the sickness driving me to wander with the rest of the horde, shabby and indecent, drooling, grunting, puking and bleeding. Those voices pushed me beyond madness, made me vicious and psychotic, stripped me of fear and inhibitions…
The growls I uttered soon served the purpose of showing me my surroundings, and the loss of my eyes no longer mattered. If anything, it made me able to hunt at any time of day, made rain very little of a hindrance. The growls also bred fear in the hearts of my prey, fear that welled up prickly and unmistakeable in my nostrils and told me exactly where they were.
Soon, too soon… scavenging for food no longer sufficed. There were too many of the infected now, and too few humans left to feed upon. There were no more kills to steal, and the hordes were silenced, standing about with their faces to the wall or sitting lifelessly or even laying down in a semblance of sleep that fooled more than one passing ‘survivor.’
It was then that I began to hunt live prey. The voices in my head could no longer be silenced… and it was during my first kill that they warred with one another the loudest.
It was a woman
…their flesh was always warmer, sweeter, innocence and vulnerability…
Lending to a far more satisfying kill.
Reason screamed to warn her, and with a terrible shriek, I made her freeze like a frightened rabbit, weapon clutched uselessly in her hands and her face screwed up in terror.
The infection said not to take her, not yet… savor it, savor the hunt.
Reason soon realized the battle was lost when my growling filled the room and my prey backed into the corner. There was nowhere left for her to run, or to hide. That smaller voice begged for me to go, begged for me to leave her alive, but the infection could not and would not be ignored.
Take her, it howled. Take her now!!
The strength in my legs carried me easily through the air, a dark blur that appeared in her vision too late for her to raise her weapon to stop me. My weight was modest, but the velocity of my pounce was enough to drive her to the ground with a yelp of pain, bones crunching somewhere beneath her
…soft warm flesh…
For a moment, what was left of the human that had become the Hunter drowned in her pleas, the eyes that stared up into the eyeless face, the anguished cry of fear and pain that escaped her, but the monster in me surged to the surface.
A scream ripped from my throat as I raised my claws
… the infection’s gift…
And tore through her tattered, bloodied clothing.
Savor it, the voices whispered, others howling for her blood, her flesh. I tried to keep them at bay…
Savor it, take your time, nothing’s going to stop you.
Clothing stripped easily away, leaving her skin exposed, and at the sight of it, the feeling like silk beneath my hands, there was such a powerful rush of emotion and sensation that I found myself becoming almost painfully aroused.
Her chest heaved…
My chest heaved…
Breath quick and claws ready, the first strike caused blood to well up, red and alive, the smell making a scream of delight escape me.
Yes! The voices cried. Yes!! Take her!!
The second strike cut to the bone, strips of flesh dragging easily away as she shrieked in agony.
The strikes were coming quicker now…
My knees on either side of her hips…
Warm blood splashed my face as skin was flayed away, muscle cut easily from white bone stained red, flesh that concealed the organs beneath, the frail and delicate systems that kept air moving and blood flowing and sustenance feeding…
Her heart pumped…
Blood flowed…
My body, hardened in anticipation throbbed in time.
Seizing handfuls of her as my movements became frenzied, I flung away whatever didn’t make it to my mouth, my heaving breath causing small sounds to escape me now. I pounded fists into her face until it hardly resembled a face at all, release claiming me with a drawn out howl.
My life pouring forth as hers dwindled…
Still caught up in the moment, I leaned down and closed my jagged teeth around her throat, tearing, gnawing…
Stomach filled and body spent, the frenzy continued as I abandoned my prey and turned on those infected foolish enough to linger, raking claws dragging down all those that didn’t flee from my scream of triumph and challenge.
When it was over, I found a quiet place to rest, filth from head to toe but no longer caring about such things.
Eyeless, I couldn’t weep…
But inside me, Reason wept.
Reason wept for the death of the last bit of humanity inside me.
Then Reason lay quiet and troubled me no more.
This infection changed me more completely than the so called ‘survivors’ could possibly imagine.
One voice, a small voice of Reason, all that was left of the human side of me screamed in the beginning, screamed in protest of the infection’s influence, and at first I was able to resist.
I was able to resist the hunger that demanded the hunt, the rage that demanded the kill, the fever that drove me on blindly and brought forth the screams that left both my lungs and my throat raw.
Back then, there was plenty of food to keep me distracted, things I was able to find in the stores that had been looted by the humans as they passed from one ‘safe house’ to another. These forays into the lingering world of the humans were dangerous, as the humans had guns and more than once took a shot at me as I was trying to fend for myself. I took what I could, and it kept the voices at bay.
But that was weeks ago, and since then, the pickings have become slim.
There was no longer enough of the food that I required to silence the voices in my head that demanded
… flesh, warm delicious flesh…
And slowly, I began to starve. In my weakness, those whispered voices drowned out the Reason, and I truly became a Hunter.
With my first taste of blood, scavenged from the remains that a horde left behind, I was lost. The hunt became my life and my passion, but the war inside my own head threatened time and time again to undo me. It was the voices that battled one another inside me that kept me terrified and sickened of the thought of killing my own prey. It was bad enough taking what the others had killed…
It was bad enough consuming the flesh of humans.
I was already mad, the fever and the sickness driving me to wander with the rest of the horde, shabby and indecent, drooling, grunting, puking and bleeding. Those voices pushed me beyond madness, made me vicious and psychotic, stripped me of fear and inhibitions…
The growls I uttered soon served the purpose of showing me my surroundings, and the loss of my eyes no longer mattered. If anything, it made me able to hunt at any time of day, made rain very little of a hindrance. The growls also bred fear in the hearts of my prey, fear that welled up prickly and unmistakeable in my nostrils and told me exactly where they were.
Soon, too soon… scavenging for food no longer sufficed. There were too many of the infected now, and too few humans left to feed upon. There were no more kills to steal, and the hordes were silenced, standing about with their faces to the wall or sitting lifelessly or even laying down in a semblance of sleep that fooled more than one passing ‘survivor.’
It was then that I began to hunt live prey. The voices in my head could no longer be silenced… and it was during my first kill that they warred with one another the loudest.
It was a woman
…their flesh was always warmer, sweeter, innocence and vulnerability…
Lending to a far more satisfying kill.
Reason screamed to warn her, and with a terrible shriek, I made her freeze like a frightened rabbit, weapon clutched uselessly in her hands and her face screwed up in terror.
The infection said not to take her, not yet… savor it, savor the hunt.
Reason soon realized the battle was lost when my growling filled the room and my prey backed into the corner. There was nowhere left for her to run, or to hide. That smaller voice begged for me to go, begged for me to leave her alive, but the infection could not and would not be ignored.
Take her, it howled. Take her now!!
The strength in my legs carried me easily through the air, a dark blur that appeared in her vision too late for her to raise her weapon to stop me. My weight was modest, but the velocity of my pounce was enough to drive her to the ground with a yelp of pain, bones crunching somewhere beneath her
…soft warm flesh…
For a moment, what was left of the human that had become the Hunter drowned in her pleas, the eyes that stared up into the eyeless face, the anguished cry of fear and pain that escaped her, but the monster in me surged to the surface.
A scream ripped from my throat as I raised my claws
… the infection’s gift…
And tore through her tattered, bloodied clothing.
Savor it, the voices whispered, others howling for her blood, her flesh. I tried to keep them at bay…
Savor it, take your time, nothing’s going to stop you.
Clothing stripped easily away, leaving her skin exposed, and at the sight of it, the feeling like silk beneath my hands, there was such a powerful rush of emotion and sensation that I found myself becoming almost painfully aroused.
Her chest heaved…
My chest heaved…
Breath quick and claws ready, the first strike caused blood to well up, red and alive, the smell making a scream of delight escape me.
Yes! The voices cried. Yes!! Take her!!
The second strike cut to the bone, strips of flesh dragging easily away as she shrieked in agony.
The strikes were coming quicker now…
My knees on either side of her hips…
Warm blood splashed my face as skin was flayed away, muscle cut easily from white bone stained red, flesh that concealed the organs beneath, the frail and delicate systems that kept air moving and blood flowing and sustenance feeding…
Her heart pumped…
Blood flowed…
My body, hardened in anticipation throbbed in time.
Seizing handfuls of her as my movements became frenzied, I flung away whatever didn’t make it to my mouth, my heaving breath causing small sounds to escape me now. I pounded fists into her face until it hardly resembled a face at all, release claiming me with a drawn out howl.
My life pouring forth as hers dwindled…
Still caught up in the moment, I leaned down and closed my jagged teeth around her throat, tearing, gnawing…
Stomach filled and body spent, the frenzy continued as I abandoned my prey and turned on those infected foolish enough to linger, raking claws dragging down all those that didn’t flee from my scream of triumph and challenge.
When it was over, I found a quiet place to rest, filth from head to toe but no longer caring about such things.
Eyeless, I couldn’t weep…
But inside me, Reason wept.
Reason wept for the death of the last bit of humanity inside me.
Then Reason lay quiet and troubled me no more.