By the time I realized
what was becoming of me,
it was too late –
bitten.
So I slipped, not sure
whether to go quiet, or head down
screaming out my pain and humiliation.
I can’t be saved;
none of us can.
I lost my conscious;
I lost my conscience.

My body awakens,
hijacked and remade.
It has become a vehicle for the virus.
Just like the rest of the horde – one more
body for its ranks.
Now everything I had
rigged
to serve the bug’s will.

The only thing known now
is the objective – to get
those who are
like I was
and then fold them into the swarm.
I know nothing but hunger,
hatred and lust.
My mind is too warped, too infected
to object. I fail to see that I was human,
like you are now.
The only solace now is how
my newfound brothers of the hive
are just as hollow as me.
Nothing will ever fill us anymore,
yet I crawl on
to consume all that is good
and rot all that was human.