Vanessa and Dominic walked for a while in the forest. With human company now, things became slightly less stifling.
"Shall I tell you about my power then, since you told me before," Dominic said.
Vanessa twirled her hair about her index finger and smiled. "Sure."
"I'm actually not a middle aged woman." Dominic replied. Her face remained unfazed. She looked at him funny, then laughed. "Did you have some kind of amnesia? Like, you told me about your younger brother… in university. Clearly you're younger than that. Maybe you look older than you really are."
"No, I mean, I'm not who I appear to look." Dominic halted in his tracks. Vanessa turned to meet his firm gaze and tilted her head to the side puzzledly. "What do you… mean?" Dominic quickly explained he could transform into anyone he'd seen before, but currently was not in control of the power. He couldn't shift freely of his own volition yet, and that made him a liability, he thought.
Vanessa just kept quiet and continued to walk. Dominic sprinted to keep up then looked at her face. No change in expression. Did she really trust him that much? Her small voice spoke. "If you're so concerned about why I'm so unreactive, it's because I trust you. Simple as that."
Dominic scratched his head, then kept quiet for the remainder of the day. They set up camp and ate what remained of their rations and slept for the day.
Continuing their trek in pure silence, with only a few exchanges of glances at each other, Vanessa couldn't help but feel perturbed and spoke up. "Hey, dude. You clearly aren't a bad person. Just relax. I'm not some monster who looooves to manipulate people."
Dominic simply shrugged without looking at her and said: "That's what a monster would say. Are ya infected?" He felt a small relief. At least they were on talking terms.
Vanessa threw back her head and laughed raucously, then placed her hand over her mouth.
Then, they saw a fleeting shadow. Then, three more. Then, ten.
"Show your hands. You are in the protected territory of Fort Holland. Under what premises are you doing here?" Gun barrels stared them in the face from all directions, as the authoritative voice boomed. At this moment, his transformation threatened to trigger, blue sparks bursting forth from his hand.
The same voice boomed again, with a more urgent tone. "Do not attempt any form of attack, or we will fire." Vanessa stared him in the eyes with doubt in hers, as if to say, "Are you for real?"
It was out of control for Dominic, but his body currently thought it was in danger. What it was about to transform into, he could vaguely tell.
An infected.
If he had transformed, could he kill them all? Would he be able to solo every human like this? He wasn't sure. Would he be gunned down first? Blue sparks gathered more heavily around his body, and Vanessa vanished. Dominic roared out in anger as his body sprouted fleshy tentacles and a core burst forth from his chest. It appeared as though the transformation was successful, through the six eyes he now had. He saw them all from all directions in a red tinted gaze. An abrupt sensation of heat spread across his chest and blood seemed to be in more abundance. This was how it felt to be infected..? Or was it a toned down version? Unnatural fury pulsed through his veins as he surveyed the torrent of bullets coming towards him.
Bullets rained down upon his body. Though it seemed not to be lethal, it hurt and it clearly would do a toll on him under prolonged periods of time.
Dominic let out a fearsome scream and lunged towards the first few contingent forces who stepped back except for one, whom he caught and ensnared. He could see his fearful eyes through the black visor. His hands trembled as he held the gun. Though the anger in his heart was strong, his sadness and self restraint were stronger.
He held the man close to his core and placed a sharp claw near the man's throat. Dominic spoke in a throaty voice, which seemed to surprise everyone who came to kill them. "If you dare even try to harm my ally or me, I will kill this man."
Suddenly, a loud crash followed by a huge cloud emerged in front of the contingent force. A man holding an arm cannon aimed it directly at Dominic. He felt an urge to tear apart this man instantly. His primal instincts seemed to try to take over.
"Heard y'all needed some back up, so I came. You boys couldn't handle a single stray?"
"No sir, we are capable of doing so, but this stray… can speak."
Dominic let go of the hostage and spoke up. "Yes. I can speak." If he played his cards right, he and Vanessa could definitely get a protected area to live in.
Disbelief and shock came over his face. He was flabbergasted. Then, he laughed. He retracted the arm cannon.
"You will undoubtedly be a valuable asset to our team. Men, lay down your arms. It appears we have guests to welcome tonight."
The transformation ended, sending him back to his base form as "Dominic" and no longer his mother. Fatigue washed over him like a tidal wave as he struggled to stand upright. Vanessa popped back into sight and supported him. The man stared at her and beckoned for a few men to escort them.
With these conditions set, Dominic was hopeful that they could have a better future. Maybe an insight into what could be the potential saving grace of humanity.