The Virus Within- Changing

Powers

I ran out of the library, a little rattled. Who knew? I could create a sonic boom!

I was shaken out of my thoughts as a gunshot sounded, and I was hit in the arm.

I knew I was shot, but strangely, I didn't feel anything. Just a strange numbness. I stumbled, and it felt like I was hit with a baseball bat. I knew I was losing blood. I managed to make it to the main administrative building and threw the door open. There was one person there, a man that looked like he had power.

He stared in shock at me, a boy with blood running down his side, a bullet wound in his arm, with noticeably desperate red eyes and a pleading face. I stumbled from blood loss, and my vision was hazy and blurry.

The man ran to me, noting my eyes immediately. He checked my wound before turning to call for nurses when somebody stepped over me.

Mr. Morasso and Mr. Quil had snuck up, and now the man that had helped me whipped his head back, eyes full of rage.

"Kraker!" the man shouted, his fists clenched. "You did this to him?"

"Proudly." Mr. Morasso, or Kraker, smirked. He took out a gun.

"And you, Grayson. I knew something was off about you. How could you?"

"The world is changing. You're weak. You want to save everyone. The base commander will save us all is all they say." He mocked. "But I'll tell you. In the streets of LA, only the strong survived. The weak, they die."

"If that's true, then you should be dead." The base commander said. "But in the meantime, you might want to step out of that boy's blood."

Grayson glanced back at me and realized that my eyes were red. He jerked out of my blood and screamed.

He shrieked, "He's a zombie! Kill him, kill-"

The base commander darted up to Grayson and in one swift move, knocked him out with a poke behind his ear. Grayson dropped like a rock.

As the base commander turned towards Kraker, he aimed and shot him in the leg. The base commander crumpled and tried to get up. Kraker replaced his gun.

Kraker leaned his face close to the commander. "Nobody will know what happened here. I'll say that the boy managed to kill you and knocked out Grayson before I managed to shoot him. We'll all cry at your funeral. How is that?"

And with that, Kraker kicked him in the ribs.

Maybe that's what made me explode. My eyes started shining. Everything seemed like it was painted red. My wound started healing and in a few seconds, it was nothing more than a scar. I rose immediately, feeling stronger by the moment.

Kraker looked at me, alarmed, and pulled open his gun, but to my surprise, he didn't aim for me. He aimed for the base commander.

In a split second, my adrenaline-boosted mind flipped through scenarios.

I wouldn't be able to stop him from shooting. I could move very fast, but bullets move a mile a second, and a split second wouldn't be enough time to stop him. No stopping him.

But maybe distracting him was enough.

I snapped my hands and a sonic boom blasted through the room and knocked down a potted plant.

From such a close range as opposed to last time, Mr. Morasso went flying. Though the base commander was also close, he was shielded from most of the blast by Mr. Morasso, who oddly saved him in the most twisted sense.

I ran to the base commander, who lay on the ground.

He gazed up at me.

"So, you're a zombie."

"Yep." I grinned, sensing from his tone that he was okay with that fact.

I sat down a few feet away, not wanting to infect him. I could hear help coming.

In a few seconds, the entire room was filled with guards, medics, and some other people who had come to see what the racket was about.

Everyone started pointing their guns at me, since my eyes were red, though noticeably less red than other zombies.

The base commander sat up and intervened. "Hey, this boy saved my life. Stand down, men."

The guards all lowered their weapons, although I noticed that none of them had put away their guns.

I was given something to knock me out during the surgery to get my bullet out.

When I came to, a few people were in the room. There were two doctors, Jake and Jack, Harry, one guard, and the leader of the road trip, Margaret.

I explained to them how I got infected.

Jake nodded. "No wonder you were so tense on the way back. I sat next to you, and you were coiled like a spring."

"That explains quite a lot, actually."

I walked out of the room a few hours later, feeling okay. I wanted nothing to do with the stronghold's curious residents, and I took my book and scampered on top of my trailer. Someone found me, however, and I had to run off before anyone could corner me.

This time, I started sprinting. After a few minutes, I lost the man, and I took a slow breath, leaning on the building I was next to.

I heard footsteps coming, and I came to a decision and jumped up the wall onto to roof.

People never look up.

I waited for them to pass and with a start, I realized that it was the commander I had saved. He glanced around before saying, "I know you're here. I just wanted to say thank you, and you're welcome here, anytime."

And with that, he walked off.