Ian screamed, knife after knife cutting through him. Something screeched in his ear, that thing inside him twisting, snarling as it clamped down onto his lungs. His eyes snapped open as he gasped, only for bloody images to flash across his vision, blood, flesh. Bone! He shoved them away, tried to breathe in, but no air came.

  Not long now… something faint, but disturbingly warm whispered into his ear, Will you join us?

  “Shut up!” Ian choked, gripping his head. Nails dug in, but his body caved. His skull slammed into metal.

  For a moment, agony was the only thing Ian knew.

  Then it faded away, and Ian blinked.

  He was curled up in a ball on top of the train and the air whipped lightly around him. Buildings flashed by, smaller than those in the centre of the city. As a headache raged and pulsed by his temples, he tried to breathe, only to break out coughing.

  Ian blinked again, the roof was matte black apart from a few rusty splatters of crimson.

  It was only when the taste of iron registered in his mouth that he realised it was blood.

  Muscles ached as he shoved himself up to his knees. He spat, red-tinted saliva splattering against the coal roof.

  Groaning, he staggered to his feet. At the other end of the carriage, a ladder was partly hidden by boxy vents that stuck out of the roof like islands.

  At that moment, his heart sank. Not from the trip to the ladder, but from realisation.

  The pain, the images, change in temper, bleeding… there were more symptoms he could probably run through, but the common ones were there.

  He stumbled across the top, hand pounding on the vents as he forced his legs to move.

  It had to be that…

  He reached the ladder.

  They can’t have been that… that stupid!

  He grabbed hold of the top rung, half falling, half stepping on. With his hands trembling, he descended and shoved the next carriage door open.

  The former passenger carriage had been stripped of seats and tables; leaving a flat floor now filled with a dozen people, where around a third were injured. Jeb was amongst them, lying still on his back as one of the scavengers worked on his wounds.

  Jack and Liana stood in the middle of the carriage itself, and had started to turn towards him.

  “Jack, Liana.” He started, “I-“

  The pain exploded in his chest again. Screaming, Ian’s legs crumpled and his face slammed into the floor.

  He just made out Liana’s cry.

  Ian tried to gulp another breath, only to cough up more blood instead.

  Hands gripped him like vices and his back slumped against something hard. His vision was foggy and blurry. But he could still tell it was Liana holding onto him whilst Jack watched over the two.

  “Damn it Ian! Just talk to me!”

  Liana.

  He coughed again, blinking as his vision began to clear and the pain subsided once more. “They’re testing it…”

  “Just breathe!” Liana shouted, “You’re going to be alright!”

  “No!” Ian spat back, coughing up again, “I’m not!”.

  Jack’s face returned to focus; lines screwed across his features. “Testing?” he questioned, “Testing what?”

  “Who gives a shit about testing!?” Liana snapped.

  Jack hissed back at her, “You need to cal-“

  “It’s the fucking Retrovirus!”

  Jack and Liana fell silent; eyes fixed on Ian. And even with his blurry vision, he could see near enough everyone else look their way.

  “They were testing it on people in the city!” Ian continued, clutching his forehead with one hand, “There’s no other explanation! Travis must have dragged people in for tests. I saw the bodies…”

  “Slow down!” Jack barked, hand snapping up, “Who the hell is Travis!?”

  Bile rose up his throat and Ian doubled over and coughed again as it burned at his insides, “The Nyúlfur…” he managed to croak.

  When he hefted himself back up, Jack’s clenched teeth flashed. “Bastard mutt has a fucking name!?”

  “I got singled out by this scientist, Hagen… I didn’t realise it at the time but… they gave me the virus in their lab… ”

  He gulped, the temperature seeming to drop around him. A shiver already running up his arms. “I’m going Feral…”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “No!” Liana cried out, shaking her head, “You’re going to be fine! This is just…”

  Her head could only shudder harder.

  “No…” Jack uttered, “No fucking way!” He jabbed a finger at him, “Can’t be!”

  “Just look at me!” Ian snarled, jabbing a thumb at himself. “The infected only get this bad after a couple of days and I’m already worse!”

  That shut him up. Liana’s hand still gripped onto Ian’s shoulder, but he could tell she was shaking. Jack could only glare at him, but slowly, his features began to soften as his stare looked increasingly empty. Come on Jack… Ian urged, You know what you have to do…

  Jack’s hand drifted towards his holster; where his grey pistol was nestled inside.

  Ian began to close his eyes.

  “Jack! No!”

  His eyes snapped open; Liana had planted herself between Ian and Jack’s gun.

  “You can’t just believe this!” she cried out.

  “Look at him Liana.”, his tone was soft and quiet. “You know what happens next.”

  “I don’t give a shit!”

  Groaning, Ian shifted himself up some more, his muscles already beginning to strengthen, at least for now. “I’m dangerous… if I turn now-“

  She snapped back at him, “How can you just give up like that!?”.

  Liana glanced between the two, eyes narrowed as her fists screwed up. “Both of you!”

  Another snap was rising in Ian’s throat, when something tapped in his ear. “Jack!” someone spoke, the taping ceasing. “We’ve got a problem.”

  “Yeah. We’ve got a bloody problem.” Jack uttered back.

  “We’ve got a new one.”

  Jack’s pistol fell away, as he turned towards an uninjured scavenger. “What is it?” Jack questioned, his voice strained and quiet. No… instead he sounded… tired.

  The scavenger jerked his head towards the windows, “We’ve got some helicopters following us.”

  Helicopters? Ian pondered, as he watched Jack wave an arm back at the scavenger, Why would a helicopter be following some random-

  It clicked. No!

  Ian stumbled to his feet. Protests rang out in his ears but he ignored them, instead peering out of the carriage window. Buildings had given way to fields and trees, but he didn’t give them more than a glance. Instead, he looked to the sky and the horizon. “Where are they?” he demanded, and the scavenger’s finger aimed into the distance. Ian squinted, but nothing appeared.

  But when he blinked to regain his focus, this time he could make out seven black dots, hovering in mid-air, not moving in the air. Until he realised, they were probably matching speed with the train.

  He blinked again; the dots seemed larger somehow. A trick of vision, he assumed at first. But as he watched, each little dot was slowly, but certainly growing.

  “It’s them…” Ian growled.

  “Wh-“ Jack started to hiss, only to fall silent behind him.

  “That group at the warehouse have helicopters, remember?” Ian said, the memory of the guards marching through the storeroom replaying in his head.

  They could have only been here for one thing.

  Arm shaking, Ian slammed his fist against the glass. “Damnit! They’re after me!”

  Just… how though!? How were they able to track me? A tracker, or something, it has to be!

  I… I can’t take that chance.

  A shot of adrenaline managed to jerk the rest of his body back to life. With that newfound strength, Ian stomped for the carriage door. But Liana stepped in front of him. “Get out of the way Liana!” he cursed, his sickly blood boiling.

  “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she countered, moving to block his way.

  “Liana, they’ll kill everyone here just to get to me! Hell, they might want to take all of you!” he jabbed a finger at her, “The only way I can keep them away is if I get off the train!”

  “And what if you’re wrong?” she questioned, bristling and thrusting her chin forward. “What if you get off and they still follow us anyway!?”

  Ian’s hand dropped away. His limbs still quivered, desperate to barge past her and off the train. But even he had to admit she had a point. Did they just want him for their experiments? Would they pass up the opportunity to capture fresh ‘subjects’?

  “Ian.” Jack interrupted, stepping in between the two, “You said others were being tested on. How many did you reckon there were?”

  “I… I don’t know.” Ian huffed, trying to recall the layout of the labs… and remembering not only the additional test rooms, but also the main lab and its lockers, “They had enough cells for… twenty? Maybe thirty?”

  “And you didn’t see anyone in those cells?” Jack pressed further with a tightening brow.

  He glanced between the two again, feeling his rage fading away, “No one alive.” He stated coldly.

  Jack’s eyes flicked between him and Liana; her gaze still fixed on Ian. Still unmoving. “Then to hell with tossing you off the train.”

  He swivelled round, “Get anyone who can still fight a gun.” He ordered the scavenger who had informed them of the threat, “Now.”

  With a sharp nod, they sprinted down the carriage towards the front, barking orders as he went. The uninjured lifted themselves upright, collecting their weapons and reloading them.

  He wanted to stop them, put aside the suggestion and get off the train right now. Not they’ll let that happen… He felt his gut tighten, And damn it, even if I do jump off the train, what’s to say they won’t just follow the train anyway? If they really just wanted me, they could have sent far fewer choppers. Hell, they’re right. But if we are going to fight, I’m not sitting down here and waiting for the Retrovirus to kill me.

  Ian straightened up, mind settled, “Give me a gun.”

  Jack turned back to him, “What?” he uttered, “Are you…”

  “You will need all the help you can get.” He replied, taking a breath as his arm twitched. “I can still fight. Just…”

  His lips twisted into a grimace, “Just do what you have to do when it happens…”

  Jack narrowed an eye, scanning over his body. “Alright.” With a click, he flicked the handgun round in his hand and handed it over, grip exposed. “Let’s give them hell.”

  As Ian took the pistol, Jack delivered a brotherly slap across his back and moved past, headed back down the carriage towards the front end. Ian glanced at Liana, her body seeming to relax but her eyes still fixed on him. Was she still processing everything that was happening? With a sigh, he drifted past to follow Jack.

  The gunman emerged back into the carriage in front of them. “Everyone is getting their gear together, what’s the plan?”

  “Have a few shooters head up top.” Jack ordered, “Leave everyone else to stay down in the carriages.”

  The gunman leaned back, biting his lip, “Is… is that a good idea?”

  “Vents are pretty big on the top…” Ian noted, stepping next to them. “Could make for good cover.”

  “And we can spread our firepower out too.” Jack finished, “Don’t want to lose everyone at once.”

  The gunman hesitated before sprinting back through the carriages as some survivors approached the pair from behind. A shrug settled across Ian’s shoulders. Looks like we’ve got no choice now…

  Jack led the way through the door, the volunteering gunmen following him through.

  Can we even fend them off? A dull ache ran through him once more at the thought of the excessive armament the enemy could have at their disposal. The helicopter he came across before regrouping with Jack and Liana had a machine gun at least, did the others have one as well? I guess we’re going to find out.

  As he rested a hand on the door frame, something, someone tugged at his arm. Liana…

  He began to turn.

  She yanked him around. He tried to pul-

  Liana kissed him, and a warm buzz rushed through him. His heart fluttered as he closed his eyes and kissed back, feeling her lips against his own.

  They were right… he sorrowfully realised.

  They held on for a moment, then finally pulled away. Liana blinked, eyes swelling as her hands squeezed his own.

  We both know how this ends for me…

  He took a jittery breath and slipped his hands free.

  “I… I’m sorry…” he managed to choke.

  Unable to stay for a moment longer, he stepped out of the carriage and didn’t look back.