Chapter 17: The Turning, The Hunted

... and then he sank his teeth onto Kazuichi's shoulders, tearing through his skin and muscles as his jaw locked in place.

Despite his teeth etched deep into Kazuichi's skin, the man still managed to smile, gnawing on Kazuichi's leg as if he was eating a chicken drumstick. Kazuichi watched in horror as the man relentlessly harassed him. There was no time to waste, Kazuichi immediately raised his golf club and started hitting the man's head like there was no tomorrow. He felt like he was playing a horror game with the monster on top of him, and he was spamming the 'a button' to attack. Hacking and slashing, Kazuichi continued to hit the man until he was a messed up pile of meat. The man's teeth didn't 'unsink' themselves, however, since it was buried deep.

"What determined little—" Kazuichi grunted, kicking the locked jaw of the man from his leg, sending it a couple of meters away as it rolled downhill.

A hiss came out of Kazuichi's mouth as he grabbed his thigh. A huge bitemark was left there by the man and he could only imagine the virus swimming through his bloodstream until it reached his brain. He dreaded the thought, but he'd rather get infected than try to desperately saw his right leg off. It wouldn't be a pleasant feeling, besides, he'd still have his appendages when he turns.

"And it's not like I'm going to die. Arisu was bitten, but she turned into a hybrid. Today, I ran into two hybrids, not including Arisu who was by my side. And well, all the people I met when I went outside were all hybrids. That's a hundred percent chance in my demographic, right? I should turn into a hybrid."

The setting sun which had its last rays shining peering through the horizon had already dipped so low that the sky shifted into a nice shade of purple. The rustling leaves on the trees got unusually louder as if a storm was brewing. "A storm? That's nice, the river would fill up and the bear would get swept downhill. This should free up our water source... what was the point of going here anyways.. sigh~"

Kazuichi grunted as he struggled to get up. Blood continuously flowed from the deep wound he had on his right leg. There was no pain though, so it was bearable. Out of anger, Kazuichi gritted his teeth and gave the dead hybrid's neck a nice kick on its stump. A gross squelching sound could be heard as his boots went inside the neck's flesh. "Ugh~" Kazuichi let out before walking away.

He half-dragged half-walked his foot as he went downhill. The skies were clear, showing off the myriad of stars that were more visible in the forest since there were no city lights therein. Kazuichi's walk slowed down as he admired the nice night view. "I'm already bitten so no infected would come near me. Besides, this is a great view, I want to etch this memory in my mind. I mean, this is the first time I went out, after all. I should at least enjoy it a bit before I turned into a zombie."

A zombie. That was the first time Kazuichi spoke of an outcome. He shook his head in slight frustration as he grunted.

"I shouldn't think about that, why am I thinking about tha... ehrmm... ehrmm..." Kazuichi felt some sort of burning sensation in his throat. And somehow, his voice had gotten deeper. "What's going on?" Kazuichi spoke, but his words sounded angrier than usual. His voice had gotten deeper, there was no doubt about it.

The burning sensation started getting stronger, and more prevalent, and his sense of smell was beginning to catch some light smells that he never smelled before. A pleasant smell lingered in the air, mixed with something slightly disgusting. He blegh'ed while shaking his head. "And now my nose has gotten sensitive."

But that wasn't the last of his transformation. The forest, which had been darkened by the night sky, suddenly got brighter. Kazuichi couldn't explain what it was, but the more he tried to focus his eyes, the brighter and clearer his sight was. "What's going on?"

And then the pain in his right thigh disappeared. Somehow, his wound healed, and he watched with keen interest as his flesh seemingly sewed itself back together. "Am I dreaming right now?" Kazuichi asked himself.

The burning sensation in his throat had gotten stronger, so much so that he was beginning to gag and grunt. It didn't take long before he started rolling on the ground. It felt as if someone pointed a lighter at the thinnest skin on his neck. He gasped, but the burning continued to intensify.

"Graargh~!" Kazuichi screamed in pain.

That's when his mind started screaming. Well, it was more like a command than a scream. And before he knew it, he started scampering on the ground, rushing towards the sweet savory scent of blood. "Hungry. HUNGRY. HUNGRY!!!" He started muttering, salivating...

... rushing towards the corpse of the hybrid man.

Without further ado, Kazuichi grabbed the man's arm and brought it to his nose. It smelled sweet, savory as if he was smelling the most delicious meat in the world. If he were to compare it to any meat, it smelled like raw veal, fresh raw veal ready to be cooked medium rare and eaten.

Kazuichi licked his lips. Despite the disgusting appearance of the hybrid man's arm, his mouth was salivating, urging him to bring the arm to his mouth and eat it.

Eat it. EAT IT! EAT IT!!! Kazuichi's mind continuously screamed at him to take a bite. He brought it closer to his mouth. Just one bite.

BANG!

Before Kazuichi could take a bite of the arm, he felt a stinging pain in his chest. When he looked up, he saw a man, wearing a cowboy hat, towering over him with a shotgun balanced on his hand. And when he looked down, he saw a huge hole in his chest where his heart was supposed to be.

"Did he take a bite from it?" Another man who appeared from behind the 'cowboy' asked. He was panting as if he ran all the way just to assist the 'cowboy' man.

"No, when I got here he was sniffing the arm. It was close though, he already opened his mouth."

"Good. Good. We're lucky this time, eh?"

"Right."

As Kazuichi slipped into unconsciousness, he watched as the two men approached him, slowly, as if he was a deer they just hunted down.