“I don’t remember anything. Tell me what happened after I left the cove,” I ordered. What came next was a tale of someone else, hidden within my own skin.

“Right after Marab got you out, I went back for Michael. Celeste, the whole place was infested with those fuckers, the mutant ones. By the time I got inside, the militia had blocked off Level one and the stairwell up. I heard over the radio that Karen and some of the doctors got out, but they were still looking for something, and someone.”

“The militia knew about me. Who sent them?” I asked. Jasper looked beyond me, out into the rain as he cracked his knuckles, a trait that showed he hid something in his deep thoughts. I narrowed my eyes at him, ready to call out his silence, but then he spoke up.

“I don’t know.” Finally, he turned toward me.  “…but Michael knew. That’s why we had to get you out that night. They had everything planned for weeks, down to medical supplies, hidden files, even the meals they stole from the kitchen. However, that picture you discovered, the one with…” he paused, her name on the tip of his tongue, but like him I couldn’t utter it either.

“The one with his brother?” I contributed and it seemed to  bring Jasper out of his remorse.

“Yeah, that one. Well, it did something to him. After I got lost in some tiny hallways on level two, I ended up back in that board room. He was there, staring at the photo. He was so lost in his thoughts, he didn’t realize I was in the room until he swung his rifle in my face. I don’t know, Celeste, but he’s been a loose cannon since.”

Memories floated back to the picture and the look on his face when I assumed it was him. “He said he was the one who shot down the plane…” suddenly, my mind brought back everything, from the conversation with Michael to the militia’s word before the others showed up. “The militia, they said they were ordered by the president…oh shit,” I gasped and remembered who exactly Michael was. “How can he be the president’s son?”

“What are you talking about, Celeste?” Jasper asked, his eyes wide in confusion. Quickly, I retold everything I overhead. As the words left my mouth, I thought of Henri, Michael’s brother.  Why would the President only want one son back? “You don’t think…”

“Fuck, this shit,” he cursed, as the wheels turned. “First we have to deal with the Cove’s bullshit, now you think this whole mess is a government conspiracy. Celeste, you are out of your damn mind with the rest of those people. Karen and those doctors are sick fucks. They did this to us, to Violet, not the government.”

“Jasper, but what if…there must’ve been a mole amongst Karen’s elite,” I whispered and both of our thoughts went back to one man.

“Marab,” he spoke the name. Could this all be a set up? Could he be the one leading us straight into darker hands?

“Jasper,” I reached for him, but the strings resisted. “Fuck, you need to cut these ropes. We need to get away from them,” I expressed urgently. If it was up to me, I would leave now, but there was one part I was still missing. I looked at the ties around my wrist; it was Jasper’s signature knot, the one he used on Michael, too.  “Why the hell am I tied up?”

Jasper looked down at my wrist and knew that I identified him as the one who did the bidding. “…because you snapped. Sage drove until he was the last one conscious and even that ended. We were all passed out in the van when Michael heard a gnawing sound, almost like grinding of teeth, but he thought he was mistaken since that’s the sound of the undead.  However it never stopped, only grew.” He pointed to where I sat and then to the floor. “Both of you were in the back row; he was on the seat, while you were on the floor. You rose up from the belly up like so sort of resurrection.”

My eyes went to the floor, his words reimagined. I urged myself to remember, and yet, all that welcomed me was the pain deep in my abdomen.

Jasper continued on, “he watched you, Celeste. He watched you sniff the air. Even as you stood and look at everyone single person like you didn’t know them or cared; all you did was search for something. Before long, your attention was set on the trunk.”

The caravan was similar to any other van, its trunk sat open behind the last row. I turned, slightly, in its direction and observed the grey carpet. Everything appeared fine, but upon closer inspection, there was a mark. Small and light, on the edge of the door was dried, brown stain. “Blood?” I asked, in denial of my own actions.

“Violet bled; no one knew. She slept in the trunk, but you had to get through Michael first. He saw it in your eyes, Celeste. The yellow was there.” That was the hue which haunted your dreams at night, it was the color you saw whenever your friends were taken down, or watch a Z reanimate. It was the sign of the disease, the identifier of the sick. People whispered that its what gave the Zs such good ability to hunt at night, see through the dark. However no one has ever returned from the other side, except…

I looked at my companion, and noticed that his hazel eyes seemed lighter, golden actually. “It happened to you,” I voiced and then realized it happened to me as well. Violet witnessed saw them change. We were trapped in the room full of Zs, when I felt the energy take over me. “What happened,” I demanded.

Jasper responded immediately, his words animated with the tale. “You reached for her, but Michael didn’t let you. He stopped you, but you attacked with vigor. The commotion woke everyone. I tried to grab you, but you punched me in the throat. You knocked Miriam unconscious, and went after Sage. He cut himself, and while the wound closed somehow it reopened. Fuck, you moved so quickly; pinned him down before anyone knew it and grabbed his throat.”

“Did I kill him?” my heart rate echoed in my ear, as I continued to ignore the pain, but with every second it became hard to breath.

“No. Michael managed to grab you and pulled you from the van. Marab gave him a syringe filled with a tranquilizer, and when he got the chance, he sent it deep.” Jasper pointed to a spot right in the middle of my stomach. “You fought like an ox, put a couple of bruises on his white ass, but he kept you at bay, until you passed out. We’ve kept you out for the past three days.”

I tried to digest everything he said, but I couldn’t wrap my head around it. The last time I lost control, I was still conscious, aware of my actions. Was I getting worse? Did Karen inject me with the virus like she did to Jasper? How long would it be until I completely transformed. “You have to tell them, you have to tell the others that I am fine,” I stuttered, even though I didn’t believe one word. Even now, I fought against overwhelming hunger pains. I pinched my lips shut, forced my teeth not to chatter, and kept the saliva back. The pain only grew.

“Of course, you are fine now. Celeste, whatever they planted inside of you is not normal. It’s not just a fucking parasite.” He spat, and his words became bullets, aimed at my sanity. I turned away from him, in fear that he would see the struggle, but he was right. “It’s in all of us, you, and me, even Violet.  That’s why my senses are heightened, that’s why Violet is so sensitive, and that’s why you morphed.”

“Then, explain to me why I’ll the only one that’s tied up…” I snapped, and Jasper paused. His eyes narrowed as my breathing became labored, and my heart rate sky rocketed. Goosebumps covered my body, only to bring chill down my spine. Before long, my body temperature dropped. “Oh, no…” I whispered. “You need to leave, now,” I demanded, feeling my control ebb.

“Let go, I need to see it,” he said. Too absorbed in my own demise, I didn’t hear the birdcall he let go, or see the figure move from the shadows.

“Ahhh!” I screamed as pain exploded from my groin. My hand jerked out, but the restraints stopped me from grabbing him.  My body left the seat as the pain came again, this time with a promise to rip me apart.

“I’ve morphed before...”he began. “Sometimes, when there’s danger, it takes over. I get chills all over and my heart slows. For a split second, I feel like I’m dying, but then there’s a surge of energy and my reflexes goes into overdrive,” and suddenly, he described everything I felt at the moment.

As my body dropped back to the seat, I was left paralyzed; my head hung from my neck, and arms fell limp against the leather. My blood no longer pulsed through my body like a crazed river; no it slowed, nearly stopped in its track. My nerves were lit with electricity and I felt everything. The tiny strands of wool from my sweater smothered my skin, while Jasper’s light breathes slapped at my face. My hearing intensified to the point where I could hold his wet, beating heart in my hand and it wouldn’t be louder.

Beyond the van and the rain, I heard the snap of a branch. It was a sharp sound that ignited a direct alert in my body. The tiny hairs on my neck stood, while the air became musky, filled with iron.  I zoned in on…him. “He came back to finish the job?” the words left my lips, wrapped in a deeper resonance than my normal voice.

Eyes opened wide, and I saw red. Everything was shades of copper, just like in my dream. The transformation was complete. My head lifted and I took in Jasper’s smirk. “I guess their experiment were successful,” he voiced, but then I noticed his heart beat was gone; he’s eyes were no longer hazel.

That irony smell intensified as the car door unlocked. My head snapped toward the window to see Michael just outside the door. The heavy rain rolled off his coat in waves, but his scent was still strong. Jasper moved from his seat toward the front row. I watched as he reached for something. “Is it fresh?”

“Still beating…” was Michael’s response and then he joined us. Between the smell from the bag and the new addition, my senses went hay-wired. My arms struggled against the ropes; the fibers cut the skin. The hunger became too intense to fight; it consumed my body and began to take down my mind.

“Good. Either shut the door, or get out,” Jasper ordered behind his back and came back to the middle row. Once the door closed, Michael didn’t hesitate and the locks were engaged.

Jasper pulled the strings from the bag and spread the opening.  My eyes closed and head fell back as the fresh smell was almost too good to digest. “What’s happening?” I managed to spit out as my jaw fell open and my tongue reached out to taste the aroma.

This time it was Michael who broke the silence. He watched me; curiousity, anger, fear, and even disbelief were written behind that cerulean orbs. He kept his hood up, his handgun in his lap, and right hand on the trigger. “You sure this is going to work?” He asked Jasper, who let go a low growl. I watched the men exchange a silent conversation before Michael looked back at me.

“You said you had something to tell us, now say it,” Jasper growled, his hands strained against the opening of the bag. I heard the slight tap of Michael’s finger on his handgun in response to Jasper’s tone. That sulfur smell cut through the air, and I realized it wasn’t pain, but fear. Michael was afraid. My head tilted slightly in recognition as I felt his eyes come back to me.

“Say what you need to say, Seal,” the words slithered through, almost sultry challenge. His heartbeat spiked for a moment, and a salty sweat lined his palm. I smirked through the pain, satisfied in his response, but I knew his words held weight. “Say what you know!” The yell alerted everyone, but I couldn’t hold back from the pain anymore. I would cut off my own arms if I didn’t…

Finally, his deep voice filled the van. “Marab said, before the war, the government’s plan was to create a military weapon that would annihilate the threats of chemical warfare, and Karen offered a promising proposal, however no one expected the leak so soon…” Even though Michael spoke, it was Jasper who stole half of my attention.

He took off his gloves and revealed red stained fingers.

 “…but, the Cove never stopped, until they found a link. If nature allowed the Zs to adapt so quickly on their own, then there needed to be a way for humans to counterattack evolution. So Karen set out to create a new race, a hybrid to train and protect what was left.” Michael continued on.

Jasper reached into the bag, pulled out something small and covered in mud.

“If the match wasn’t carefully planned, than the carrier would die, become a mutant. She would need the mutation to start in the DNA.”

With his machete, Jasper laid the object on top of the bag and brought his raised arm down. He tore into the animal, until its limb ripped apart. Those mutated eyes looked at me in earnest, and before I knew it he picked up the morsel and threw.

“That’s what’s taking over both of you.” Michael was direct as he watched. “Marab said you bonded with the virus, Jasper,” and then he looked at me. “Celeste, however, you are not infected, but your child is. What if Karen was successful, what if you carried the cure?” He paused and watched with Jasper as I fought an internal battle. My hands reached for the fleshy bit, raw and bloody. My mouth opened in anticipation, but my mind held back.

“It’s the only way!” Jasper spoke; urgency and concern laced through his words. I didn’t see him look at Michael, but the smell of his fear intensified. The safety came off his Beretta. “If you don’t feed, then he will kill you. I can’t protect you if that thing takes full control. Celeste, eat, dammit! Eat and maybe you’ll save us all,” and Michael’s hand rose, the pistol aimed right for my head.

 Before I knew it, my wrists ripped free on the restraints, my fingers held the flesh in my hands. I grew dazed with desire as I smelt every drop of blood left in the tiny rodent’s still warm body. My hands shook as the adrenaline coursed through my limbs with excitement. “Ahh!” I screamed as pain burned from my inside and engulfed me; my mouth was wide and waiting.