Josiah and Cody watched as the bullet struck the hideous enraged man in  front of them.  Josiah kept his pose  ready to fire another one if needed.  His knees shook slightly as he fought to maintain control of his emotions. Even though they had been threatened by this man he could not help but feel some remorse that he had been  forced to act out with such degree of force to keep his fellow companions and himself protected.   He stood  positioned ready to defend, with his gun aimed at his target. Fear and the need to control the situation dictating  his every move.

Cody stood still at the right side of him, watching the man fall back as the bullet struck him. The two men stood side-by-side with Doc close behind,  so deeply connected to each other, because of  the events that were now playing out before them. Both Cody and Josiah were unsure exactly  what to do next, accept wait. They watched as the figure before them thrashed briefly on the ground. Slowly he began to rise again. He gurgled and growled as he pushed himself up right. He shook his head wildly as he fought for his balance.  They noticed he too had amber glazed over eyes, the same as all the others that had tried to attack them.    Now, an open gash was visible on his left side where the bullet had tore him open.  still he kept coming towards them as though it did not notice he had been hit with led.

Josiah wiped at his brow.  Perspiration dripped down the sides of his face.  Cody leaned towards him in a  half whisper and said  more demanding than suggesting.   "You're going to need to fire again.  Aim for the head".  Josiah cocked his gun once more.  Another  shot rang through  the air. His aim was dead center.  He sent a bullet to the center of the mans forehead. Instantly the figure fell down.  They both watched as there attacker dropped to the floor.  It was a gruesome site  as pieces of skull flew in different directions.  Several seconds passed before either of the three men spoke again.  Doc Keller was the first to break the deafening silence.  In an almost gruff like voice he said "I think that one is down for good." "Its the skull that has to be hit with a bullet." Josiah looked at the Doc as he spoke. "Its like nothing else stops them from attacking until the head is hit."he said slowly, as he tried to understand how and why this could be.  It simply seemed impossible that he could put a bullet through the chest and yet the man still rose.

Outside the sound of shots brought the officers running toward the compound before Eve could warn them of the danger inside. Eve quickly ordered Marie to stay put, and frantically ran after the officers.

Before Josiah or Cody could even move the four uniformed officers rushed through the doorway.  They abruptly halted in their tracks as their eyes dropped to the corpse now laying in a heap, with only half  of his head remaining.    It was hard to tell which officer spoke first but several exchanges of  "What the hell -just happened here" were shouted.  Just as Josiah began to offer an explanation to Dave the eldest of the officers, a body lunged forward from behind the four men and grabbed at Tyler, the rookie of the foursome.  With in seconds he had pulled Tyler down and was on top of him biting fiercely into his throat. Tyler completely taken by surprise  fought screaming.  He felt  shreds of flesh being ripped from his neck as he desparately fought to free himself.

 The three officers grabbed at the enraged animal like man pulling him off  Tyler.  Wildly he thrashed about until he found another fleshy piece of meat to bite down on.  Dave screamed out as he felt the pain in his left arm. He slammed his right fist into the side of his attackers  head.  Sending him careening backwards into the hallway. The other two men cradled Tylers head as doc Keller rushed to his side.  His bite was deep and blood flowed steadily from the open wound. Josiah rushed past the group with his gun after the crazed monster.  He fired just as the creature man  was ready to attack Eve.

The sirens could be heard now.  Approaching closer and  closer by the second.  It sounded like to Eve to be three cars coming in their direction.   As she sat and listened to the sounds grow louder she  drifted off in her thoughts.  She wished for  this nightmare to be over.

She could not help but feel  responsible for what was happening.  She had had her own suspicions.  Why oh why, she wondered to herself, did she not insist on answers from Copelands' headquarters. Why did she not demand they hire a security guard for night patrol or at the very least ask for backup staff help when she first felt things were not quite right.  Why did she not act on her own tuition.  She had let fear- her fear, control her.  That was her first mistake she thought to her self.  She had fled for her own safety.  She had not  acted responsible-  In the way she should have, and that bothered her deeply.  She did not put the safety of her staff and study participants first.  Now because of her failure to control the situation, lives had been lost.  Everything was so out of control.  Eve fought hard to stop the tears that were beginning to form in the corner of her tired eyes.  Her heart ached for the people that had been hurt by this terrifying ordeal.

When Eve had first accepted the position it had seemed like she had just landed  her dream job.  She would finally be running her own research site.  All the years of slaving away in poorly ran labs working on weekends and Holidays and bureaucratic brown nosing, she thought, had paid off.  She was finally being accepted and taken seriously in the science field.  Working for Copeland a leader in the pharmaceutical  industry was the icing  on the cake.  As an employee for Copeland she thought, would certainly open new doors and might possibly put her on the cooperate latter in years to come.  But some how now she was beginning to see another side to all of this. Copeland may have used her.  Used her to run a warehouse to test new drugs on innocent people.  Not a state of the art research center like they proclaimed in the beginning.  Possibly used her to lure and set the bait to attract volunteers. It made sense- Why had she not seen it earlier.  All her study participants were young street people.  They came from backgrounds with no history of immediate families.   Most had been starry eyed young adults  found on the street or going form temp job to temp job looking for work. Her center offered them a safe place to stay.  A bed and three hot meals and cash for their consent to be part of a drug study to help science find new treatments to cure cancer. It all seemed to be running smoothly intill  a month ago. When her staff began noticing a change in some lab results.

 .
Eve's head throbbed. She put her hand up to the swollen wound on her head.  With the tips of her fingers she  could feel that her eyebrow had increased in size. But that hardly seemed to be anything compared to what she had witnessed just  beyond the outer walls of  the research center.  The images of  the scene inside  the building earlier flashed through her mind.  Some how as crazy as it seemed humans were turning into rabid animals.  Her humans.  The people who worked and volunteered to be part of the study that she was responsible for.  The whole chain of events just did not make any sense to her.   If she had not seen it with her own eyes she would not have believed it.  But she had seen it, with her very own eyes.  Humans taking bites of other humans. Eve shook her head as the image again flashed before her.   It was the reality that scared her now.  This was no dream.  She really  had seen a man and a woman in the courtyard earlier.  Bent over a body, a human body, bloody and growling. They had turned when they heard Eve and the other three approaching. The couple had  began walking towards her, Cody, Josiah and Doc. They walked  as though they were unaware of their own condition.  Walking as if in a drugged state.  Dazed and unfocused.  Unable to respond or understand anything that had been spoken to them. Not once acknowledging the warning Josiah had yelled out to them, before he fired the shots.  They moved  as though with only one intent -to attack.  But why,- how?  How could a body move when the  the mind appeared to be gone.  How could civil decent humans do such grotesque things.  How could ordinary people  turn into flesh eating monsters?

In her heart she knew it had to be the new infusion lines that had caused things to change within  the  studies enrol lees.  She had read the lab reports.  She had seen all the documentations from her staff, that clearly left her and her staff with a  growing concern, two weeks prior.  She was certain the new drug that had been introduced into the study was the catalyst for all the marked changes, yes, that much she was sure of.

She turned and  asked Marie how she was holding up.   Marie responded with a slight nod. " I am okay" she answered.  As the first car turned into the court yard Eve stood up and as the men stepped out she began to approach the vehicle. Right behind it rolled in an ambulance and another patrol car.
She knew she had to accept some of the blame but what mattered right now was stopping whatever all this was.

"Whats going on" said the first officer, "who is in charge here".  Eve quickly told the uniformed men that she was the one in charge and there were still people with in the compound.  Shots had been fired earlier and there were casualties inside and out around the back.  Just as she finished her last sentence another shot was heard from inside.

Eve Took Marie out side to sit down like Josiah had instructed. She needed to calm herself too. She wanted to believe, needed to believe that even if just for the for the moment,  Josiah and Cody had everything  under control.  Cody and Josiah had both given her a sense of security she had not felt since she had taken this job.  She felt safe with them.

.  She looked around the courtyard.  Afraid, and desperate;y hoping she would not see anything  or anyone that would be a threat.  It made no sense to Eve the things that were happening.  This was all crazy and  inside she wished it  would somehow be some terrifying dream.  She wanted  to be awaken from this horrifying nightmare.  She knew there were "things" within the study that were kept under close watch by the board of directors at Copelands main office.  Things that even she was not privy too. She had suspected there was somethings not quite right, two weeks ago, when a one of the young male participants and an orderly had suddenly vanished in the night without any word as to what happened.  When she had questioned her staff the next day know one seemed to know anything regarding the release of either.  The file of the study participant had simply been stamped withdrawn consent, case closed.  The orderly's dismissal papers turned up the next day on her desk and that was it.  No further contact.  The disappearance of the two men had bothered  her deeply.   The board of directors had given her some lame excuse that the study enrollee had changed his mind in the night. He  had contacted headquarters  to be released.  As for William  her night orderly, he had some sort of emergency and had needed to take a leave of absence effective immediately.    There were just to many details kept secret -And that was what scared Eve the most.  The unknown.  Which was now exploding into her hands.

Eve  recalled the conversation she had a few days prior with headquarters.  They had been very insistent that she handle things quietly and effectively.  If there were any unusual disturbances as  they called it, any occurances that might be questionable, were to go directly through the head office.  First, before any actions outside the compound  be taken,  she was informed for strict security reasons, under no conditions, should the law authorities or the press be contacted, without Copelands headquarters being alerted first.

Her hands trembled as a memory flashed through her mind.  A flashback of the day earlier when she had placed a call to one of the administrators at Copeland's main office. she had told them one of her staff was having a difficult time with one the first enrollees into the study.  He seemed to be having sever side effects to  one of new drugs they were administering.  At her superiors  request she was asked to asses his condition herself and that was when she was attacked. The next thing she  remembered was that she had found her way to Codys ranch.

Marie was shaken and in shock. Eve tried to comfort the woman.  They sat in silence with their arms linked around each other  as the sound of some sort of emergency vehicles siren  could be heard in the distant approaching in their direction.  Both woman turned toward the noise.

Zach collapsed just as he reached to where Josiah stood.  He felt a slight sense of relief for a moment.  What ever had attacked him seemed to be gone now.  His body trembled as a pain like he had never felt before, shot through him.  He knew he was bleeding at the neck.  He was certain he had lost  a good amount of blood just from the way he was feeling.  He felt weak, his vision was blurred and he was unable to focus.  His wound was bad and he had an eery feeling that was not all he had to worry about.  The last thing  he   remembered was fighting off  an attacker- and then something lunged at him from the side.  A person.  A crazed twisted mangled human, had blind sided him and bit him. Luckily for him it was smaller in size, in comparison to him.  It was a she, a  female he thought to himself.   None of it seemed real.  He shook his head.  But the vision flashed before him again.   Yes, he thought silently.  He had seen teeth,  heard snarling and animal like growling.  Then as he fought to free himself, he felt the bite.  The locking of teeth as it tore at his flesh.  He felt the ripping of skin and muscle as it was savagely removed from the left side of his neck.  The pain was so intense.  He also remembered feeling the gush of blood.

 The thought of dying flashed through his mind now.  "No" He cried in a muffled voice.  "I don't want to die.  Help me please, tell me how bad is it."  He was certain shock was starting to now settle in as his mind tried to accept what had happened and the intense the pain he was feeling.  The room darkened as he tried to look around.  He was slowly losing consciousness and fought hard to remain alert.

  Josiah held his arms out to  Zach as he tumbled towards him. Cody was at Josiah's side instantly to help catch him, as his slim physique slowly fell.  "Help me, please help me" Zach cried in between quicken breaths.  Cody helped Josiah gently rest Zach down on a near by lab table.  Blood dripped from his his neck on to Cody's fore- arm.  Zach's  eyes went shut for a few minutes as he took another deep breath and allowed himself to be  to laid down.  Cody's eyes followed where the trickle of blood had fallen from- the gaping wound on Zach's neck.  He felt an unexplained fear envelope him as he looked at the wound and tried to accept how all this could be happening.

 Doc Keller quickly moved in closer, to help steady the injured man and asses the wound.
Cody had seen enough bites from coyotes and wolves, that would occasionally venture on his property to prey on his live- stock, to know when he saw a bite.  He fixed his eyes on Doc's for a moment. The two men shared a long look of silence.   Just what in the hell were they dealing with he thought to himself.   He knew Doc had to know this was a bite. A bite from something.  Even before Doc spoke Cody knew what he would say.  Quietly Doc looked  down and  whispered loud enough for Cody and Josiah to hear  "its a human bite".

Josiah was on the radio again calling for an ambulance and also inquiring  where his back up was.

Doc ran his fingers through his grey thinning hair. His fingers paused slightly at the top of his head where a round shiny patch of his scalp now showed. He felt the think smooth skin under the tips of his long fingers. It was odd but  just then, an image of  a younger him flashed through his mind. A younger, slim Doc with thick light brown wavy tresses.  Briefly he saw  a  flashback of a  time when he felt sure of himself and his practise.  A time when he welcomed challenge and trusted in his abilities.  Lately he found himself missing those early years.  The years  when he first started his practise.  The 30 some  years he spent with his wife Trudy at his side.  Always encouraging him. It was almost 20 years since her passing,  and, yet some days, he still could hear her laughter as
though she still with him.  She was the love of his life.  His only love.

  He had met her when he started medical school in the 60's.  It was a short courtship that blossomed into love fast. He knew she was the "one" the night they shared their first kiss. He did not let Trudy know that night he had made up his mind about her.  But a few weeks later he popped the question and she accepted without hesitation.  He had never known a woman the intimate way he knew Trudy.  She was all he had ever wanted or could hope to have.

Trudy was a petite red headed  cutie. With a perky  nose and  beautiful large blue eyes. Her laughter and love for life was infectious.  But on the rare occasion when she would need to be taken serious and that she meant business, especially by their three rambunctious sons, she could command attention.  He  sighed briefly,  she would  always be his one and only.  He felt the presence of Cody and Josiah next to him, he suddenly felt old again.

 Doc Keller  felt a need to offer some medical explanation to the others.  But what, he thought to himself.  What could he tell them.  He did not understand what was happening  anymore than Cody and Josiah did.   Eve however, he thought, he just knew she knew something.  She worked for Copeland. She herself  was in charge of the center. Yes he was certain she had some answers

 He looked down at the figure  at his feet a again and shook his head once more. Josiah and Cody now stood  quietly at his side. He was happy to have these young strong men with him. But he felt as their elder they were leaning on him for some direction.

 Josiah  quietly spoke "I placed a call for backup."  "In the meantime we need to get her" he motioned towards Marie as he spoke "out of here. Some place safe outside, till we have help".   "Doc you and Eve take her outside and wait." Josiah looked at Eve. She did not protest and started to move toward the door guiding Marie.  Who seemed somehow  so fragile in her own slender arms. Just as the two woman reached the doorway Zach came rushing through the doorway.  Bloody and terrorized.  Doc, Cody and Josiah turned as he rushed past the woman. Their eyes stopped transfixed  at the huge bleeding gouge on the side of his neck.

Josiah looked at the Doc. He knew what he needed to do. But somehow he wanted reassurance from the elderly man that there was no  other choice, than firing his gun again. He respected the wisdom of his elders.  as a boy he growing up he had a very close relationship with his father.  He shared all his ideas and dreams with him.  when he chose to join the sheriffs department his father has supported him and encouraged him even to stay with the department even after his wife passed away and he flet his world crashing.  He thought for a moment, what would his father say to him now.

 Doc gave a nod to Josiah. There  just did not seem to be  any other choice. Josiah looked back at the man still staggering towards them.  He did not understand any of what was happening.  But his survivor instincts told him their lives were dependent on his decision right now. His training told him there would be times when he would need to use blunt force to take control of  hostile situations.

"Stop".  Josiah shouted loudly. Again no halt in the intruders approach towards him. His feet dragged along the floor as he stepped closer. Drool and spit hung from his dry cracked lips, His eyes were glazed over with the same grey film  just as the couple had out in the court yard.  He swaggered  towards them on his blood caked clothes as though it was all he knew how to do.

 Josiah felt fear, anger and frustration.  Frustration  from not understanding how this all could be happening.  He wanted this  to be some ugly horrifying dream that he would some how be awaken from.  He felt his hand tighten around his pistol.  As he took  a deep breath  he fired another shot.  He chose first to aim at the leg,  Hoping this would somehow stop the man on his wild quest.  The  man fell back as the bullet drove into the dark meaty flesh of his thigh.  as the blood appeared there was no cry out  of pain.   His teeth gnashed together and with a jittery jolt he dropped to the floor.  With in seconds  he rose again, to his feet.  Clumsily as though  his body and mind worked against each other he continued on with his gait. Like a rabid animal spew fell from his open mouth. The he closer he moved.  Another shot was fired only this time it was a direct hit to the head. Skull fragments exploded as the man fell once more. This time he laid in a slump between them and Marie.

Marie trembled, crouched in her safe place. She looked to where Eve stood. She wanted desperately to run to her, but fear kept her frozen.  The pain from the back of her skull left her feeling slightly dazed and ached with every movement.  Slowly she found the courage to begin to move on to her knees and crawl out.  

 They all watched in horror and relief as the man lay motionless.  The eminent danger was over for the moment. Cody was the first to rush to Marie.  He helped her to her feet. Eve moved in and hugged her. "Marie are you all right" Eve asked as she held her.  "I think so just my head hurts -" she sobbed softly. "When I was trying to get away from him, I fell backwards. I hit something."  "What happened, why did he try to hurt me?" she  asked  confused.  She turned at looked at where he laid and softly cried into Eve as the scene replayed in her head.


Cody spoke next. "Who is this guy?" He asked Eve and Marie. Marie spoke first.  "He is a new participant to the study.  His name is Tony.  I don't know him very well.  I hooked him up to a central line yesterday and and..."she paused and began to sob again.  "Today I found him like this."  tears flowed uncontrolable now and she shook in eves arms.

The smaller female figure did not hesitate as she turned and in a  dazed sleep walk moved towards them, as the shots were  fired.  Josiah motioned by waiving his gun for her to halt, still  she kept moving forward with no heed of his warning. Growls escaping from her as she continued advancing in their direction. Josiah moved forward, she  wildly  swung at him.  Cody rushed past Josiah and lunged at her, tackling her to the ground.  Together they tumbled. Josiah swiftly pulled her back off away from Cody. Her teeth clicked together fervently as she desperately tried to bite him and get back up.  Both men now on their feet stepped back.  Josiah cocked hi gun and fired again.  For seconds time seemed to freeze for the 4 of them as they watched slump to the ground.


It was Doc Keller again who moved first.  Briskly the elderly man  walked toward the bloody bodies where they  laid on the ground. There was no more gnashing teeth or growling sounds from either.  They  laid there still and silent. The Doctor studied the corps. Paying close attention to the eyes,of the man who laid face up.  He noticed the eyes  appeared to be  glazed over with a grey film. He could not make out  what color they actually were because of the shadowy matter.  He saw the whites were a deep amber and there was no pupil visible.  The skin tone was ashen, as if  all color had been drained.  As he knelt down to take a closer look he reached out to touch the man as he laid motionless.   He was cold and already felt stiff. In all his 40 some years  of practicing medicine he had never seen death take hold so fast.  The Doc turned his direction  to where the female body now laid at the side of him. His hand gently touched the back of her hand.  She too felt  cold to the touch.

 Josiah felt his hand tremble slightly has he placed his pistol safely back in his harness. The midday sun felt hot on the back of his neck.  He wiped at his brow feeling more  perspiration form. He was stood still for several moments.  Not sure if there was still a threat to them, he quickly surveyed the grounds before moving to wards the Doctor with his hand still resting on his holster- just in case. Doc Keller felt Josiah's presence next to him.  "He is dead" he said to Josiah quickly in a low tone. "But he continued "my training would tell me it almost appears- from how still and cold he is, that he was dead, before you even shot him.

   Just then Eve rushed to Doc Keller's  side before anyone could stop her. She gasped loudly as she caught a closer look of the man that had just been shot. Her lips trembled as another muffled cry escaped her. Cody swiftly moved in and placed his muscular arm around her.  Turning her slightly towards him to shield her from  the gruesome sight. At first she protested. Pulling back she stared at the face.  She was certain she knew the man.  He resembled Marty she thought to her self.  "Its Marty the night intern" she said out loud with a sob.  "He was new at the center".  She continued.   She her self had interviewed him.   He was a large kind,  gentle man. Who was seldom seen without his smile.  Early 30's, slightly over weight but strong.  She was certain he  was Marty from the clothes she saw and his size.  But, this mans face was gruesome, twisted, and bloody.  She buried her head into Cody's chest. He tightened his grip on her.  The  bullet had left a deep large gash in the mans  forehead. Skull and bone fragments protruded above his eye brows to his hair line. She shut her eyes to envision Marty as she had last saw him. Walking  down the hall towards her as he began his shift smiling as usual.  She shook her head. The face on this person hardly resembled the Marty she had come to know and look forward too seeing each night as she exited the premises and he started his shift.

Josiah stood silent next to the Doc.  They stared together at the man laying at their feet.  He was dead. The bullet had blown  a clear hole through his skull. Shattering the top of his head.  Almost as though his skull  had some how become brittle and dry.  But that was not all that  had their minds troubled.  They both stared at a large  gaping wound on the side of his neck.  Josiah did not need medical training to asses what he saw.  It looked  as though something had taken a large bite out of him.  Doc knew it was not a fresh injury.  He believed  the blood around it was dried and dirt surrounded the edges.  "From the looks of it a wound or um bite   that size should have killed him" he whispered to Josiah.  "He would have bleed out from that much missing from his neck." he added.  Not sure, but hoping,  Josiah too was studying the wound. Josiah could only nod as he agreed with him.

They all turned toward the compound as they  heard a scream come from inside.  A woman's scream.
Josiah pulled his gun out, leading the group as they rushed toward the open door.  Memories flashed through Eves mind as the scream reached her ears.  She yelled to Josiah to head down the corridor to the right.  An image of the lab flashed through her mind.  Yes, she remembered fleeing from there as something,  no someone- was chasing her.  Another loud scream was heard again.  Marie. Eve thought to her self.  It was Marie, she was sure of it.

Josiah stopped abruptly as he entered the first doorway to his right just as Eve had instructed.  A large dark  male stood in the middle of the room.  He was waving his arms around wildly.  Swiping towards a woman  that crouched down under and over turned  cabinet.  The same sounds they had heard earlier from the man outside were coming from this man. He slowly turned toward them,  teeth gnashing. Slowly he began an awkward gait towards them.