"Toots, calm down."
"No, you brought me into this."
Toots takes a step back. Fear has taken over his mind and clouding his judgment.
The pressure builds up more with the horde still banging on the locked doors.
"Look, we can outrun them. But I need you to stay with me."
Felix tries to reach out to his friend.
But Toots takes another step back.
"You're one of them. You're not afraid because you're one of them."
"I'm a zombie but I'm not like them. They reverted."
Felix tries to assure him.
Toots squinted his eyes at Felix. Dubious. Suspicious. All of the sudden after years of building their friendship, Toots lost trust in him.
"And what is my assurance that you won't revert back like they did?"
"Toots come on man."
"You don't know either. You have no control over it just as they don't have control over themselves."
He threw accusations. Assumptions.
It was getting hard for him to trust in Felix at every second that passes.
Felix is a zombie. Toots is a human. The horde chasing them are zombies.
"Odd one out, Felix. I'm the only meal around here."
"I never looked at you that way. You know that. You're not food."
"Maybe not before. Maybe not yesterday. Maybe not now. But what about a few minutes from now? An hour from now?"
"Dude…"
Felix is hurt whenever humans treat him harshly because he's a zombie.
It's why he had to hide the fact that he is one.
To have friends who accepts him as he is has helped him adapt and enjoy his time in the Human Region even if he is in hiding.
"Don't do this man…"
Toots' denial would hurt him more than the rejection of strangers.
"We're… we're the Watch Foxes… we… we fought side by side."
"I know that. You always had my back but Felix… look at yourself!"
Toots took another step back.
He felt something under his shoe. Something hard. He looked and saw an old pipe rod.
Immediately he leaned down to pick it up.
"That's not necessary, I'm not gonna hurt you." Felix says.
He tries not to raise his voice and scare Toots more.
Felix kept his voice calm and his tone gentle. He also stopped his attempt to approach him.
"Oh yeah?"
"Okay if you want to run back to the guys, you can." Felix decided to change his tactics.
There was no point adding him to the picture.
They are running out of time. If Toots won't run now, the horde will get him for sure.
"You'll push me?"
"No. You can go and jump to the side. There's a windowsill. There are pipes. You can climb down safely." Felix offered.
He can distract the zombies while Toots makes his escape. He just needs him to run now.
"Felix… I'm scared man."
Toots is dripping of sweat. His hands also sticky of sweat as he held on the pipe tightly.
He couldn't explain what he was feeling.
Deep inside he knows that Felix would never turn on him like the horde.
But for some reason, his body is moving on its own. Driven by fear. By the instinct to survive.
Humans and their strong primal instinct to survive.
"I have your back like I always do." Felix says.
"I'm sorry."
Toots drops his weapon and makes a run for the edge.
He slowly climbed over the rails, cautiously reaching for the pipes.
Felix did not move from where he stood. He watched his friend escape without him.
His body is stiff. He feels something dripping from his eyes.
He assumed they were tears but as he wiped it with his finger it wasn't.
It was dark red.
Felix swallowed at the reality that maybe Toots was right.
He has no control over it. He is reverting back and he doesn't even know until now.
His body is getting stiffer. It was getting harder to move even his fingers.
His bones are cracking at his every movement.
His dry, cold skin peeling from him.
"Why… why is this happening to me?" he wondered aloud.
After all these years living with the humans, he at least hoped that he'd adapt to be like them.
Yet in a matter of minutes that he had spent with the horde. He didn't even have any physical contact with them.
But here he is already showing signs of relapsing.
"Not like this…"
He reached for his face and felt the same thing. His skin is being peeled off.
"No, please not like this."
Now he felt afraid of himself.
He never thought he'd feel this way before.
How he loathes zombies and now he loathes himself.
Why did he have to be a zombie in the first place?
All the bones in his body suddenly started to break and he falls on his knees unable to carry himself any longer.
He can hear bones snapping one at a time. Coagulated blood bubbling from his stomach and up his lungs.
Felix hacked and started vomiting blood, eyes still pouring red tears.
Behind him, the door opens and the horde comes running on the rooftop.
They all split and search for their prey. Felix's scent is not appetizing like Toots' scent.
He is dead just like them.
What they want is the human who is now gone.
The horde ignores Felix kneeling in the middle of the rooftop in the middle of his returning transformation to being mindless.
He shakes his head as if stretching and he clawed on the ground and screamed.
Felix can feel the memories that he created with the humans are being torn from him.
He is losing control of his body. His body detaching from his mind.
He's hungry and he wants food. He wants something alive.
Filthy thoughts that he thought he'd never have. Now it's overwhelming him.
The hopes of holding onto the memories to keep himself sane was impossible.
He couldn't explain what he was feeling but his consciousness is reeling away from him.
Even if he is latching on his memories is being torn from him.
As soon as he had vomited all the remaining blood in his body, he is now empty just like the zombies around him.
He wants to eat. He wants to drink. He is so hungry.
Suddenly he lost the ability to speak. He couldn't form coherent words like he's used to.
His body is just capable to make noises. He can snarl. He can growl. But no words.
He is like an empty vessel that wants to be filled.