The Outbreak

The woman entered a building, and this time even though Milo was weakened, he could still see her movements despite her speed.

Dropping Milo on a bare mattress, she sniffed the air to make sure no one was here. She turned to Milo and gave him that annoying condescending smirk she often sported.

"I wouldn't mind fighting those dogs, but we were at a disadvantage and you got bitten. Next time, pay more attention to your surroundings." 

Milo supported himself and pushed himself up. Even in this weakened state, he was more or less as strong as a human. The heat in his arm was extremely uncomfortable as well.

"Why did you bite me? Why turn me into this?! You could have just killed me then!" Milo yelled at the woman who's eyes narrowed dangerously, but she didn't take action.

"You know, I also wondered that when it happened to me... Shit happens, get over it. Life goes on, and you either keep moving forward, or you die." Her voice was cold and merciless, similar to how it was when Milo first encountered her.

"Do you think you could survive as a human? Sure, you could probably get by, but the world is only going to get worse. I don't need your gratitude, but do not whine or I'll give you something to complain about." Milo felt a bit stiffled, but then that feeling faded somewhat.

"Would you have rather died then? Be a cold corpse on the street? I doubt it. Even if you did want that, do you still want such an outcome?" The woman spoke and Milo's brows furrowed in thought.

"Why..? I didn't want this but I can't even think of taking my life. What did you do to me?" Milo glared at the woman who pursed her lips and shot him a disdainful look.

"What do predators value above all else? The hunt is important, but it can be done again. Life. Self preservation. If you hadn't fed, maybe taking your own life would have been an option, an alternative..."

"But when your heart stopped, you gave up so to speak. A virus only cares about spreading and infecting. Sure, it changes when it takes ahold of someone, but it values survival above all else, and now so do you."

"Your emotions aren't as intense right? Extreme emotional fluctuations sometimes override rationality. But it can help in certain situations sometimes, so that's probably why we can feel them somewhat."

Milo let out a breath and leaned against the dining table, a glass table that was covered in dust. Ever so often, the heat in his arm would fade somewhat, but not entirely.

"Then why did I end up like this? Why am I not a boy anymore?" Milo would have probably been furious about this, but he now felt as if it were an inconvenience at most.

His line of thought were along the lines of if it didn't stop him from hunting, it wasn't all that important. He still wanted an answer though, not to soothe his mind, but to sate his curiosity.

"That was unexpected. Maybe it's because the virus chose a form best suited to securing a meal? If you saw the previous you at night, you might be more wary than if you saw the current you."

"How long have you been like this?" Even if he has some basic knowledge about his body somehow, he doubted he would be able to answer all his questions like the woman had.

"Three weeks. If you're curious about why I know so much, then just find others like us and ask them. They might not know, but they also might." She shrugged and sat on the counter, ignoring the layer of dust now clinging to her full buttocks and lower shirt.

Lifting his sleeve, he looked at the bite wound and realized it was already a lot better than it was before. His pale skin was slightly red around it, but even as he watched it, the red seemed to recede bit by bit and the teeth marks grew smaller.

"The heat you feel is unnatural. The two viruses are trying to overpower the other. Of course, your virus has a nigh unlimited amount of resources while the foreign one is slowly being consumed by it."

"Our body temperature is usually always at seventy degrees Fahrenheit, about seventeen degrees lower than a humans. The other virus agitates your body, making it fight it off, thus raising your body temperature a bit."

"Still, you're probably at ninety degrees Fahrenheit. If you're unable to tell by smell, you can use your hearing to find other infected. Our hearts don't beat, and those dogs all have faster heartbeats than humans do, and they smell... unpleasant." Her nose wrinkled in disgust and Milo had to agree with her.

The smell of fur and wet dog was particularly nasty now. The room grew brighter noticeably and Milo felt a heatwave surge towards him from somewhere outside.

"The sun is rising. Try not to be caught in the sun. The only thing that will be left of you is ashes and dust. Not the best way to go out mind you. Every cell will ignite and combust, and because you're fully infected, you'll get to 'enjoy' every moment of it until the burning overcomes your healing factor and you are destroyed."

"The sun... burns me? Then aren't I basically a vampire then?!" Milo could feel the heat growing steadily and realized it was rising with the sun. The woman shrugged with an amused giggle.

"We could be called vampires, but isn't that discrimination? Sure, we need blood to fuel our bodies and we burn in the sun, but we aren't monsters. Well, not entirely anyway."

"I got turned into a vampire... so those wolves outside. Are they like us?" As if offended by his question, the woman gave him a glare and shook her head with disgust.

"They can return to their human forms. It takes a few minutes for them to change, so kill them before they do if you have to. Though, their bite is still infectious to us even in human form."

"But they aren't as fast or as strong as we are unless they change, so it would be hard to get bitten. You'd have to be either incredibly stupid or really unaware to get injured by a humanoid dog."

"Oh, so can I ask a question?" Milo nodded at the woman who continued with a teasing smile that made him concerned for some reason he wasn't quite aware of.

"Since you've changed, you can't stay in that disaster of an outfit. When the sun sets, we'll go get you some clothes to make you look cute." Hearing the woman, Milo felt lost.

"I don't think I can afford any." While Milo has no major resistance to being female, he didn't want to go play dress up even if he would end up looking cute.

"No worries. Why would you pay for clothes? Just take it." Hearing the woman, Milo wondered how her brain worked. Was three weeks enough to completely throw her original common sense out the window?

"What about them calling the police? Sure we could kill them, but being a fugitive would be annoying." Milo rolled his eyes at the thought and the woman laughed at him.

"You are a fugitive. The police would have shot you if I hadn't stopped them. You killed a human earlier. You would either be killed or captured on sight by human authorities."

"Damn it!"