Sitting on the bed, mindlessly looking out the window, scenes of what had happened that day replayed in Jake's mind. Left, with time to try and analyze what had happened, he found he was dealing with the changes better than was reasonable. After thinking about it for a while, Jake had the feeling that the external changes to his body weren't everything that had happened.

Lost in thought, the pointy end of his tail began scratching at the wood chips of the window frame, slowly removing strip after strip. When two of the pieces fell to the ground, the soft rustle made him look down at his tail in wonder. It was pointy at the tip, covered entirely in scales and thick at the base, where it connected to his back. Touching the long and muscled appendage felt like the most normal thing in the world, and he shook his head in wonder before looking out of the window. He wished he knew what time it was.

"Should have brought that stupid clock with us." He whispered.

He hoped they ran across a watch store during their trip so that he could look for one of those wind-up watches. Making a rough guess, he decided it was time to wake up Mason for his shift. As he was getting up, he heard something. Cocking his head, he wondered if he had imagined it when his ears twitched. He heard it again, louder this time. Someone or something screamed!

Putting his pointy blue ear against the door, he held his breath.

Nothing happened for a long while, and when he became lightheaded and wondering if he had imagined it, another soft scream echoed through the hall. It was cut short, but he was sure it came from one of the other rooms.

"Shit shit…" trying to move as quiet as possible, Jake inched across the room, groaning at every noise his taloned feet made on the hard floor.

Sneaking through the room, he crouched next to where Mason was sleeping.

"Wake up." He whispered, placing a hand on Mason's shoulder.

A sudden movement aimed at his face startled him, and he put his hands in front of his face while leaning back.

"Fuck, what time is it?" Masons whispered.

Looking through his fingers, Jake saw Mason pull his talons back from within inches of his face.

Swallowing, Jake put his finger on his lips.

"I just heard someone or something scream."

Seeing Mason's thick black eyebrows rise, he belatedly added; "Twice…"

Mason got off his bed, causing more noise than Jake liked and rushed to the door putting his ear against it.

After a few minutes, he looked at Jake. "Are you sure? Because I don't hear…" A short high pitched scream caused both of them to jump and turn around.

"Where are we?" Emma muttered, sounding scared. She was sitting with her back against the bed board, looking around with big blue eyes.

Jake quickly move next to her.

"We are in the hospital to get you some help." He whispered. "But you have to be quiet now, alright?"

With a scared look on her face, Emma nodded and put her hands over her mouth as if to prove she understood.

Mason walked towards them shaking his head. "Whatever it was, it was close. We need to decide what to do."

Sitting down on the bed that Mason had just been sleeping on, the guys looked at Emma.

"How do you feel little one?" Jake asked, trying to keep cool.

Emma's eyes flashed, and she hissed. "Who are you calling little?" A moment later she murmured something that sounded like 'overgrown lizard,' and Jake decided to ignore it.

Mason raised his hand. "We might be in bloody trouble, so could you two clowns take this serious?"

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Jake became somewhat irritated and was about to say Mason had no right because he was usually the first to poke fun of things. But then he saw the scared look in his friend's eyes.

"Yeah, sorry. Emma? How do you feel? Can you run?"

The little azure girl sniffed her nose her previous scared appearance gone as if it never happened. "Yes, and faster than you."

Interrupting anything Jake could say, Mason gave her a thumbs up. "Good, then you are coming with us while we see what the hell made that noise."

Jake snorted and looked at his friend. "Are you crazy? Why don't we get out of here?"

Mason looked at him for a moment before sighing. "You are not wrong, but what if someone needs our help? There is nobody else here besides…"

Mason and Jake looked at each other.

"He acted weird…" Jake said softly.

Mason nodded before getting up and moved towards the door. "Let's go see what David is up to..."

Jake got up, and together they pulled the bed away from the door before stopping and listening carefully for anything that might be in the hallway.

"Ok. I'll open the door, and you hit anything that comes through." Jake whispered, putting his hand on the copper-colored doorknob.

Mason nodded, keeping his eyes fixed on the door.

The knob turned, and Jake gently opened the door. Without any lights, the hallway was dark and shadowy. Luckily his improved sight helped him see things better than his old eyes ever could, even in the gloomy hall. As Jake looked around, he suddenly froze.

A tall grey figure was standing hunched over in the hallway.

Next, to him, Mason tensed. After a few breaths, with nothing happening, they exchanged a glance.

Signaling Mason with his eyes, Jake sneaked into the hallway, his eyes never leaving the grey figure. He thought it looked an awful lot like David as he got closer. Almost there, Mason, who was a step behind him, scraped with one of his talons along the floor.

A soft moan scared them half to death, and at the same time, the figure in the middle began turning around. As soon as they saw the face, they knew it wasn't David. Its mouth hanging open due to a dislocated jaw, something that could only be described as a zombie stood before them. Bloodstained hair fell across a long red slash at the place eyes should have been, and thick white drool dripped from its lower lip. Little maggots were moving around the ghastly wound in its face, drilling in and out of the flesh. A pungent odor drifted their way.

"ROAAAARRRR"

A startling roar came from the zombie, and it rushed forward, its arms stretched out towards Jake.

In a desperate bid to get away, Jake jumped to the side.

He almost got clear, but a set of dark claws scratched him across the shoulder, tearing long gouges in his flesh.

Falling to the ground, Jake howled as a burning pain began spreading from his shoulder. A sudden wave of anger tinged with something else caused him to bounce back to his feet. Looking at the thing, that something inside him had labeled a zombie, he growled, and his teeth to flashed brightly.

Rushing forward, he tore at the things back with the talons on his hands. From the side Mason joined in, ramming his hands against the zombies head.

Flesh flew through the air, ripped clear of the bones, and an even stronger rotten smell began to fill the area.

The zombie tried to turn around but was kept off balance by the attacks it was suffering and soon lurched forward. Staggering, it dropped on one knee.

Growling as an animal Mason rushed forward slamming both of his hands against the tip of the zombies head. A sharp snapping sound followed, and the zombie toppled over.

Jumping the downed foe, Jake sat on top of it and began tearing away at its neck. Within moments the razor-like nails cleared away most of the meat, leaving the head dangling from some scraps and a cracked spine.

A red glow, he hadn't even noticed before, faded from Jakes vision, and he stopped hitting His breath came in ragged heaves while his heart was hammering like crazy. Looking up, he saw Mason glaring at the zombie, ready for anything. Behind his friend, standing in the door opening was David, an evil smirk on his face. Meeting Jakes eyes, the grin vanished so fast Jake almost thought he had imagined it.

"You! How did this thing get in here, and what was it?" Jake growled dangerously.

Mason turned around in a flash, baring his teeth.

"Easy now. I had no idea one of those things managed to get in here." David stuttered backing up inside the room, putting his hand on the door.

Getting a bad feeling, Jake rushed forward and rammed his foot between the closing door.

"Jake, move!!" Mason roared.

Jumping to the side, Jake only just got out of the way when Mason rammed into the door, crashing through it reducing it to nothing more than splintered wood fragments.

Part of the door, still attached to the hinges, collided with the wall causing a tremendous ruckus. Loose wood and glass flew everywhere, hitting David who had failed to get out of the way.

Jake sprang into the room, keeping his eyes glued on the Fiend. Mason had his foot on the Fiends chest, forcing him into the ground at the same time looking around in the room for any further threats.

"Shit!"

His curse, made Jake look up, preparing for more battle. It proved unnecessary.

Inside, the room was dark. Curtains hang in front of the windows, and a stale smell permeated the air. The well-shaped outline of a female, naked for a towel draped across her was strapped to the bed. She had long furry hair that kept growing from her head all across her back. On the top of her head were two brown, wolf-shaped ears sticking through the mattered, dirty hair.

The figure heard the commotion and turned around. One bright green eye open, the other was shut tight by bruises that also covered her face. She tilted her head, making soft sounds.

"It's not what you think!" David groaned from the ground.