text: [Themes: horror]
  
  Getting the gate open is the first priority, you will need your shamblers running distraction and killing the slow humans while you pick off the ones with the automatic weapons.
  
  You slip out in the moonlight and move silently between the houses. Your night-vision is as excellent as ever and the clouded night is revealed to you just as clearly as the daytime would be for a human. You keep checking on the guards and others in the community but everyone is in the beds on the second floor of the houses and most of the guards are not moving. "Probably asleep in their chairs" you think as you finally get in a clear view of the gate.
  
  The two guards at the gate are clearly still awake. They are standing, one on each side, chatting across the gap. They aren't any more use as guards than the others since they are not facing the road or fields at all but they are facing each other which is bad for you. You judge the gap between the walkway edges at 10 feet. You can easily make the jump but you will need to time everything perfectly. They also have torches lit beside them so they are lit up completly while making themselves night-blind to anything else.
  
  > try to get close with talking, then when they relax, strike fast
  They are facing each other and chatting across the gap. You might be ridiculously fast but you are nearly certain that you couldn't kill one, make the jump and silence the other before they get out a shout, or worse a bullet. The second the alarm goes up you know your plans will be ruined so you need to get closer by other means.
  
  It takes a few minutes but eventually you notice something that you normally wouldn't have. You realize that the guard to the right is female. You haven't looked at humans as specifically male and female in years, since you started eating them at least. "This place is really affecting my brain, although this information I can use, she was one of the ones hanging around a lot when I first arrived and making comments about my looks".
  
  You stand up then begin walking forward, making a little more noise than necessary just to be safe. You get a few feet when you see the guards turn quickly to look your way "a little more alert then" You think as you continue forward a few steps "Who is it?" gets called your way as you reach the edge of the torchlight. You step fully into it so you can be seen before replying "Just me, I can never sleep around this time so I was just walking around" you bank on them being a little suspicious of this excuse and it works perfectly. The woman calls out "And you just happened to end up at the gate?"
  
  You pause and pretend to be embarrassed before replying "Well, actually I ended up at the South wall and chatted to one of the guards there for a bit and when I asked about you, he said you were on the gate duty tonight..." You trail off and it takes a few seconds but the male guard catches onto your hint and lets out a chuckle, that gives the game away to the girl and she immediately blushes, you can see her reactions as clear as day with your heightened senses but she does not know that and tries to hide it by putting up a front "No matter, all you need to do is let my up on the walkway and you wont ever have to act again" You think as she replies "Well he was right, I am on duty now. So why were you asking about me?" You smile this time"Well you made quite the first impression on me when I arrived and I was planning on, you know, trying to get to know you a bit better over the next few weeks, when I heard you were awake now too I just kinda headed this way". The girls blush deepens and you can see the other guard laughing his head off as she responds "Well I am on duty now and can't leave my post!" You know you have her now though and push one last time "Oh, I wouldn't expect you too but having another set of eyes up there while we chat wouldn't hurt would it?" You give your biggest smile and she finally gives in and smiles back "Ok hop up and you can try and chat me up then!"
  
  You grin as you jog forward and try to act like pulling yourself up onto the platform is at least a little tricky, finally leaning against the arch of the gate beside her "She let me stand between her and the gate, idiot!" You think as you glance at the male guard who is now making a point of looking the other way. You turn back as the girl speaks "Well I'm waiting, I thought you were going to chat me up?" she says with a cheeky grin.
  
  The timing was perfect so you struck. You step a little closer and open your mouth as if to speak but as she looks at your face your fist moves unbelievably fast and hits her cleanly in the throat, crushing her windpipe, she wont be able to should for help or do anything at all as she quickly suffocates. You spin and leap the gap. The other guard barely even registers what is happening as your punch knocks him cold. You quickly snap his neck then stop and listen to see if your attack alerted anyone but the only sound you hear is the soft strangled noise of the girl dying and after a few moments that ends too.
  
  You smile to yourself as you force your hunger back down "Can't feed yet, I have to keep it in check until the battle is over" you mumble as you gently hop down and lift the bar off the gate. You gently swing one side open just enough to let the shamblers in and control them all directly again, making them move quickly until they are gathered right across the road, then slipping over and into the compound.
  
  > Clearing the guards out before the rampage
  "Time to play my little pets" You tell them as you direct them carefully between the buildings, spreading them out so that they can cause the greatest havoc possible. even if they die, they should bite enough to make more infected and those can rampage too. You hop back up on the walkway and start creeping South until you find the first torch and guard asleep at his chair. You take two quick steps and grab him with one hand on his throat and the other over his mouth. Just a gentle squeeze crushes his windpipe and you hold him until he stops struggling, dropping him back into his chair after "There, you are just as much use sitting there dead as you were alive!" You chuckle as you keep moving and turn the corner, heading wet now until you see the next light and the next guard asleep, or close to, in his chair. You smile at just how lax the guards had become as you do exactly the same as before and have the man by the throat before he even knows what is happening.
  
  You feel his windpipe pop and keep holding him as he kicks, imagining how good it was going to be to eat all the dead soon when his foot kicks out and hits his chair and you watch helpless as if, and his gun, tumble over the side with a small crash. You swear to yourself, you can't let yourself daydream in the middle of killing someone!
  
  You hear the expected call from further along the wall and know the gig is up for now. If you hide, the body will be found and the alarm goes up, if the kill the next guy, the others who heard the call will raise the alarm when he vanishes too "Well, half of the guards will be down at least" You think as you sneak forward into the darkest area near you and wait.
  
  The guard comes jogging your way calling out "What did you fall asleep and tip your chair over again?" You immediately stand and hit him as hard as you can. You catch him cleanly in the jaw and see his head snapping round instantly, accompanied by a snapping sound. You sense his life vanish instantly and realize your punch must have snapped his neck "I am getting stronger, never used to be able to do that before" You think as you keep moving forward seeking the next guard.
  
  > The raised alarm call
  You hear the shout going up load and clear "Everyone evacuate, infected in the compound, the gate wa opened!" Then you hear a loud horn going off and every human mind in the compound begins to move "Their guards are lax but they know how to evacuate at least" You start running openly now, no point hiding out if the alarm is already raised.
  
  The next guard sees you coming but realizes you are not a comrade far too late to save himself and he joins the dead. You sense the humans reaching their doors and then the screaming starts. Your dozen shamblers were all placed perfectly to cause the most chaos and you instantly sense several biting and feeding on human flesh. You think about making them rampage but they are slow and they are doing their job so you just leave them to attack and feed as their instincts direct. You feel one getting beaten off and killed, but then you sense a human mind change as you watch it.
  
  You see something like rot spread over it, the glow fading, it seems to fight back but they rot tears away at it until it shatters, leaving a weak rotted husk where there was a vibrant mind moments before "And so it spreads" you say aloud as the new shambler lumbers after what must have been it's family moments before.
  
  You reach one more guard as the gunshots begin and two more shamblers die. This guard is ready for you though with his gun raised toward the compound to shoot the first infected that comes near. You are that first infected and he spins towards you as you rush him, he realizes in time that you are an enemy but you are too close and his shot skims past you, just grazing your side "Claw has spotted some, Centre West wall!" You hear from not far away. The dead guards reinforcements are headed right for you. You sense three below running your way and another along the walkway.
  
  You pull at the nearest shambler and have it go after the three below but they instantly shoot it down and keep coming, the one on the walkway is getting closer too and you only have moments before they see you.
  
  > Into the bunker! It should be close enough!
  You immediately slip over the edge and land lightly on the grass below, you only have a few seconds but you were right, the bunkers is close, so you sprint towards it and slip into the already open door. You are the first one here but you can sense more headed your way already. You quickly hunch up against a wall pretending to look worried and wait. The call from the guards goes up as they find the bodies and you can sense them moving outward in arcs, searching the area but they don't come your way yet.
  
  You are going to need more survivors in here incase they come your way. You quickly locate your shamblers and find one blocking some humans so make it move as if it has a new target to the side and you sense the humans surge past and toward you. The guards locate another and it vanishes amidst the gunfire. You can feel the difference now between the human minds, some are clearly fleeing, headed your way, wavering and moving in sprints while others are methodically sweeping the area, these must be the guards. You do your best to have your last shamblers ambush the guards but you only catch one before the last of your horde are wiped out.
  
  Then the humans arrive, they flood inside lead by a guard who doesn't even look your way and the other humans don't either. They are just too panicked and desperate to get inside. You smile to yourself, a few more and no-one will remember where you were, they will just think you came in with the others from the houses.
  
  You watch as more and more pile inside, filially followed by a few guards and the door swings partly shut, manned by two guards. You can sense others outside, more guards, holding the area around incase of more survivors or threats but you know there are none of either, the humans are all here and the infected are all dead. You do a quick head-count and see at least twenty inside, your shamblers did good work with the ambushes.
  
  Time to fit in, You quickly see a a group of the humans that you met the day before and head over there trying your best to look scared "What's going on? we were just directed here but there were infected everywhere!" They don't even look suspicious for a moment as they reply "The gate got breached and they got inside. We have as little idea what's going on as you do."
  
  You simply nod in response and stay close, they are now your alibi and you will look less suspicious in a group. "This is going perfectly, half of their guards are dead and all the humans are trapped in here with me!
  
  > Surviving in the bunker
  You stay with the group, occasionally chatting, sometimes watching others come over to trade stories but generally just trying to fit in and look appropriately worried. If you are going to make your plan work you need the humans to trust you for just a little bit longer. Finally you sense that the humans left outside have swept the area clear and they all enter the bunker, staying in a group near the entrance. You sense the last three outside heading at speed towards the gate.
  
  "Ok, the compound is clear now and we are shutting the gates. We do not yet know how they got inside but once the gate team returns they can tell us more. For now you know the drill. Everyone check your neighbors for bites." You hear some mumbled swearing, it seems that they all had forgotten part of the procedure in the panic and now everyone starts rolling up their sleeves of taking their shirts off. You of course join in and pretend to look a couple of others over before giving them the all clear and they return the favor. A few people start calling out "All clear here" and you call it out for the people near you. "Not a single bite in the room, too bad, could have used a shambler or fast type turning in here".
  
  Finally things begin settling down and the guards return from the front gate, giving their report to the other guards, they speak softly but you know the survivors nearest them can hear and your hearing is advanced enough to pick it up too "Gate was definitely opened from the inside, bar taken out and pulled open, inside job. Looks like other guards on the walkways were killed too, probably before the gate was opened."
  
  The guards keep conversing for a time and finally call out to the whole bunker "The immediate threat is gone, but we are going into lockdown. This was no accident, the infected were let into the compound by design." You hear worried mumbling breaking out but as the door seals shut and is locked you can feel the entire bunker relaxing slightly "They must have fended off attacks in here before then" You think as you suddenly realize that several of the guards and a few other humans are staring right at you. "Well of course they suspect me now, gonna have to act fast."
  
  > pretend to want to prove your innocence to the guards, then strike fast and kill the armed ones, you must act before they do
  You stand up slowly and see several more set of eyes latch onto you so you begin your act right away "Look, I know I am the most likely suspect here since I just arrived so I am going to go talk to the guards to prove my innocence." You make sure to keep your voice calm but loud enough for the entire bunker to hear and see many of your watchers stop staring. You then begin to head over to the guards who watch you coming, they don't actively point weapons at you but they are clearly keeping them close to hand.
  
  "We heard your little speech there and you are right. You are the main suspect, so how do you plan to prove yourself?" One of them says. You notice than Boring isn't here and realize he must be one of the dead, you smile inside while you speak "Well I don't know but but letting infected inside would be suicide for me so it doesn't make sense. How would I get the gate open with the guards watching me then get away as the infected attacked, in fact, how could I even have made them attack? They are just lumbering relics that hang around where they died until disturbed."
  
  The guards clearly don't seem convinced "We have been attacked before, in fact a few years ago the raiders were strong in this area, they used to capture or lead infected right up to the gates of communities like ours then kill some guards and let the infected in to do the dirty work for them. I think you are one of them." A couple of the other guards nod but some don't seem so sure so you know the idea can't be watertight yet "And at least they don't suspect I am a harbinger" You think as you plan your next response, you already pretended to not know the guards were killed so best to keep with that.
  
  "So you think that the raiders, who were wiped out years ago, suddenly recovered and sent me in here to open the gate and let infected attack me? why on earth would I do that? If they were willing to sacrifice me why wouldn't I just join you instead. You held off the strongest raiders groups in the past so why would I risk ym own death for some weak remnant?" You pause as if thinking "And how would I even do it, I mean you have guards all around the walkways and at the gate and they all have guns, you' think they might just notice a guy removing the bar and opening the gate?"
  
  You can see from their faces that your points are sinking in and they are relaxing, a couple let their guns slide down to less threatening positions. You smile slowly, then strike. You lunge forward and punch one guard, immediately grabbing another in your other hand and throwing him back into a third. you spin and lash out at one behind you, grabbing his gun as he falls unconscious and fire it point-blank into the chest of the next one you see "Too easy" You think as you use the gun like a bat to smash a guard round the head, feeling her mind blink out instantly as she dies "They can barely comprehend what is happening before they die".
  
  You leap towards the ones you knocked over and two swift blows kill them too and you finally turn to the gathered humans who are rushing away from you as much as the space allows in fear. "Future meals! hear me, I am in charge now! You can recognize me as a herald or harbinger, whichever term you choose to use for me, but you can also see that you don't stand a chance against me." You wave to the group of dead or unconscious guards behind you "All your guards are now dead and I will feast on their flesh, all you have to do is cower and wait to be eaten."
  
  > To feast or to kill? You have all the time in the world to decide
  You grin to yourself "Look at them, prey is the right work for them, cowering in fear from me as it should be. They can live in fear while I slowly eat them all one by one. I can even take the kaycards for the door an leave them locked in here with shamblers as guards!"
  
  You are considering your next announcement when you hear the boom, amplified by the small space and metal walls and feel the impact on your back. You see a spurt of red leaving your chest and something hits a bag of wheat on a shelf in front of you. Glancing down you see blood pouring out of your chest.
  
  You spin around as you fight off the weakness you are feeling and are just in time to hear the click-click of a bolt action being worked to reload a rifle. You see one of the guards still lying slumped against the wall where your punch had sent him flying "Too bad you didn't knock me out then isn't is harbinger!" He shouts at you.
  
  One bullet wound wont kill you, you just need to get outside and lock the door while you recover, you know you can survive it, only one lung was punctured and your healing is more accelerated than ever now. You leap at the guard but you ar too late as just as you land his second shot tears through your chest leaving a second gaping hole and you can feel both lungs rapidly filling with blood. You try and swing for him but you are too weak and simply slump to the side. you watch your prey running forward to help the wounded and see them just ignoring you as everything just fades away.