We had no time to tally.

We were now outside the facility within a fenced off walkway leading outwards.

"Go on, I'll take the rear!" I yelled to Kaitlyn and the group as I paced myself towards the back. She nodded and took the vanguard as Tom herded Billy forward. They were going slow.

I glanced back. Through the broken door. I could see the father away door break as shamblers moved through it. They moved slowly and unfocused after losing track of their prey.

'We should be fine' I thought to myself as we fast walked forward, leaving the small gathering of hostiles behind us. My gaze wandered over to the opposite sides of the fence, towards another fenced off part. The outdoor area for patients.

Just like many areas of the facility, there were a few undead mulling about in both security and inmate clothing while there were a couple desecrated, half eaten bodies strewn around the courtyard.

We made headway to a separate small building at the opposite end of the path. A security station for staff and personal and visitors.

Our fenced off pathway split off in front of the building towards the visitation block of the facility.

I moved to retake vanguard as we reached the house and entered the security check. A simple room with a metal detector and guard station. The guard station, similar to where we had found Tom, was covered in blood and gore. There were two security guards within, one with a half-eaten face.

My entrance simulated them and they turned towards me, as well as the third that was outside of the secure checkpoint. The third made its way towards me, reaching out for me despite being on the other side of the security check.

The zombie reaching for me was quite chunky, its grey security uniform was dirty and smelled of grease.

It moved towards the metal detector to reach me as I made my move. I jogged and leaped over the lax security check's metal fence, more to herd people than for security reasons. We were almost out, only this building remained between us and open pastures of freedom. Hence the loose security.

The creature changed course as I moved. I used the handcuff cudgel to smash its left leg and distorted its balance. Despite being a zombie, the bipedal undead stumbled from losing support from one knee. But it merely slowed it for a second due to the lack of balance.

It was clear it felt no pain or hesitation as it kept shuffling forward awkwardly, its maw opening beyond normal. I watched it tear its mouth wider than possible before striking it in the head.

My actions were orchestrated with loud tapping behind me from the station as the two slammed their hands on the security glass, smearing old blood with their ichor of reddish black.

The creature stilled momentarily as I struck its head before continuing.

It took a step forward as its head turned back towards me. I had not taken it down.

An almost drowning, wet, garbled groan escaped its lips as it swiped at me as I moved backwards, out of the way of its hand.

I reached backwards and felt the guard station behind me with my palm and shifted sideways towards the left, where the open world was. My shift turned into a leap as the sizeable chunk of undead charged me.

A heavy thud rang out, and the station groaned from the impact, the security glass slightly cracking from it.

The thing realigned itself with me. I saw its palms had turned to mush from the impact.

Kaitlyn charged in from behind and stuck her spear into its back. She grunted as the force of the hit ran through the spear and down her body.

It crumpled down, as its legs gave out underneath it. She had hit its spine. It fell on its belly facing me, yet it still had some fight left as it tried to drag its body forward, towards me with its broken up hands.

The already broken bones cracked and poked its skin, but it could not move its mass forwards. Bubbling black ichor spilled out of its mouth as it tried to groan while prone.

I took a step towards it while scanning the room.

"Phew, seemed you had some trouble with the last boss." Kaitlyn said as she relaxed and breathed out while leaning on her spear. She smiled as I nodded her way and raised Jason to finish the obese boss.

As my weapon reached its peak over my head, I heard a noise before the glass shattered and I felt myself fall backwards with a pain in my chest and my consciousness flickered on and off before my chest exploded in pain and blood.

I saw Kaitlyn rush to me with Tom. Or I believe I saw it as I felt hazy. I stared towards the asylum where the shot had come.

I tried to speak, but I only coughed up blood. I raised my hand from the floor and saw it covered in blood before I turned towards Kaitlyn, who was trying to drag me outside with Tom. I grabbed her hand with my shaking bloodies hand and squeezed.

Her eyes shifted into mine as I pulled hers off of me. I let go and motioned with my hand 'shoo'. It was more of a twitch, but I believe she got the message.

Kaitlyn shook her head and tried to grab me, but I swiped her hand away and used my legs and the forward motion of Tom's dragging to shift against the wall before slapping his hand as well. He let go and warily looked towards the Asylum.

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He said something, but my ears were ringing. I merely shook my head.

"Go" I hacked out. I pointed at the asylum I was facing before pointing at me. That was all I could manage as my hand fell down to the ground. I turned towards my fellow survivors with my eyes. "Live”

Tom nodded and grabbed Kaitlyn and dragged her away. She did not fight him, thank god. I watched from the corner of the eye as they left through the door. I heard them pick up the pace and soon heard a car start and drive off.

I smiled, deprecatory at how close I had got to freedom, but at the same time I felt it just. And end to a story I had wished to end so many times, yet it kept going. I dragged my hand over from my side to feel the blooming gunshot in my chest.

My eyes slowly closed as I felt myself slowly wither away. There was a certain darkness behind my eyelids, quite unlike the normal. Cold and desolate. No light beyond the tunnel or the path to damnation was present.

I heard the door open opposite to me and the sound of boots walking in. Three pairs.

"Ah, so glad we caught you before you left." someone said, his voice cold and aloof.

I opened my eyes to see a hazy figure walk towards me, and two others move behind them. One of the escorts stopped before Billy, who also had been left behind. With casual ease of a professional, a dagger left its holster on his or her belt and imbedded into Billy's cranium.

Billy fell down, never to arise again.

The leading figure stilled, and his body shifted to glance behind at the now dead. He turned and came over to me and kneeled down. I was now face to face with the leader and he was close enough to see him clearly despite my unfocused eyes.

It was a middle aged man wearing a black army combat fatigues. A rather average looking face with blue eyes and black slicked back hair.

The man poked his gunshot wound with his gloved hand, causing pain to flare up from the touch, causing me to wince.

He pulled out something from his utility pouch, a self-injecting ampule.

"You know.." He started as he played with the ampule in his hand. "Some of the higher ups still wanted to give you a chance."

He tapped me with the device. "I was supposed to approach you a week ago when most of us went into lockdown.. You know, corporate shelters.”

I pulled myself back and scowled at my former co-worker, I felt myself pass out. A laugh echoed out and then a searing pain in my chest that bought me back.

My eyes shot open, and I gasped from the pain. I saw his finger in my wound, twisting around in it. He wore an amused smile as he tortured me. "Not so fast, not so fast." He said and went over to the obese zombie and gathered some of its ichor onto his finger and coming back.

"I believe I owe you a cure." He said as his face broke out in a sneer as he took out a knife and smeared the ichor onto it. "Can't go back on my orders now, can I? Just like you." He asked as he drew close and grabbed my face. "A fucking dog who ran away from home and made a mess outside.."

"And they want to take you back." He snarled before spitting in my face and letting go.

I couldn't see, but I felt a pinch in my tight. "The cure." I heard him say. "And now the affliction."

I felt a momentary searing pain as the knife pierced my chest before I felt pain quite like anything I had felt before. I felt something still in me.

"Too bad it doesn't cure what you have." I heard before I began to spasm. I felt cold before I felt myself heat up. The floor underneath me was wet and slimy from blood.

"It was a pleasure." Was the last thing I heard from the man.

I began to scream and puke as my body temperature continued to rise. I felt myself falling apart as chunks and pieces came out with my vomit. I passed out. Ether due to blood loss or becoming a mindless creature, I did not know as my consciousness left my body.

'What an unsightly way to die' was my last thought.

I awoke. Disoriented and feeble.

I moved to push myself up, only to grow more nauseous as I watched everything move sluggishly.

My guts fell to the floor, dark reddish ichor left me as I vomited. I dismissed my earlier idea and merely let myself fell to my side.

I coughed and wheezed as I tried to hold myself together till I reorient myself.

When the world no longer spun around, I rose up to sit. I placed my hand over my chest and felt the knife still imbedded in my chest. Around it, the skin had scabbed over. I frowned as I felt no pain. I scratched the scab to see if there was pain from it, but it merely flaked off me and revealed scarred skin.

I looked around; they had dragged me into an open mass grave, countless bodies were below me. I checked my pulse and felt it, albeit weak, most likely due to the knife stuck in it.. I think?

I looked around to see if there was anything to secure the knife in my chest. No way in hell would I want to pull it out and most likely kill myself..

I paused.

Should I just pull it out? I mean, fuck it. I'm as good as dead. By some miracle, I wasn't yet turned into one of the zombies or dead despite getting probably infected and my heart pierced.

I grasped the handle and calmed myself before yanking it out with all my strength.

The knife came out with a splatter of dark ichor and pain. I bit deep into my lips and tasted the taste of blood and sweetness as the pain stuck through me and I passed out again.

I awoke, this time frowning because I hadn't died even now. Also, there were some corpses now on top of me. I pushed them off me.. With remarkable ease? Not superhuman or anything, but I felt far stronger than before.

I felt my chest again and once again I merely felt a scab over my wound, that was now flaking off from touch. I looked down and saw a fresh scar, but nothing else. I stared at it for a while. Something just crashed in my head as I couldn't compute how I was still alive and only left with a scar.

I would've probably stayed staring at my chest for a while if it weren't for talking coming near.

I interrupted my pondering and creeped to hide at the edge of the grave where the sounds were coming form.

As the voices came closer, so did their voices intensify, till it sounded like screaming. Yet they still became louder and closer.

My head spun again and nausea was growing as even their steps now sounded like gunshots on the gravel path. I clenched my teeth and endured; I wasn't even able to pick up what they were talking about because of the sheer intensity I was hearing.

I tried to lessen their sounds, to drone them out and, to my surprise, I could.

"Almost cleaned up now." One of them said as they came over to the grave.

I felt something stir in me.

"Aye, but I can't really appreciate the fact we're in the loonies." The other said.

A hunger.

“What? This is just a facility.”

A corpse fell into the pit. Before the other one responded as a second corpse fell down as well,

"A creepy ass facility. There is a difference. Besides, all that blood and gore isn't helping."

I heard them turn around and arguing, the first calling the other a coward. But I barely paid attention as I leaped up, over to the ground. Something was driving me forward and my gut was telling me I needed this.

My landing alerted them to my presence. The two men dressed like the ass who almost killed already had their silenced assault rifles ready and faces turned towards me as they turned the rest of their bodies and firing.

Despite the military professionalism and minimalistic turn, they seemed to move slowly in my eyes. I moved forward in zigzag as they opened fire, but I had already reached them despite them trying to move backwards to widen the gap.

I leaned down before pushing up as I pushed the first one's weapon up and striking his stomach with my knee. He groaned and flew slightly upwards from my strike, and I saw his eyes flipping over to show his whites.

I barely noticed the other one hitting me in the shoulder due to being driven forward by whatever I was feeling. Hunger?

He caught my attention because of grazing my head with a shot. It would've been a head tap had I not.. did I almost dodge a bullet? Not quite.. Odd.

I dropped the passed out figure and doing an odd pirouette on my toes to the side. The bullet grazed again on my left side. It seemed I somehow barely sensed the danger coming my way, but my body could not act in time.

I broke off into another erratic zigzag as I saw the conglomerate goon open his mouth. I leaped and landed on him while grabbing his face and ripping it to the left as I landed on top of him and pushing him down.

I felt his neck crack from the pull and he was dead before he hit the ground. I felt the urge to rip out his throat, and so I did. I sank my teeth into it and ripped it open.

I threw the skin and flesh off my mouth and drank greedily from the blood that still came out with pressure despite death slowly taking him.

So Thirsty.