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The guards in front stepped to the side and the group was pushed into the prison.  Within moments the infected appeared within the tall grass.  The guards pushed the small crowd forward as the infected stepped closer.  The prisoners near the front of the group began to panic and peeled from the makeshift circle and ran toward the gate.  The guards shouted as they approached.  They rushed to close the gate.  Several prisoners screamed as the exit closed.  The rest of the group stood within a hungry horde of infected.

Erik stood within the small group of prisoners.  The first ten had disappeared into the tall grass, most had been eaten by the cannibalist infected.  This left ten stranded between the steel gate and human cruelty and an unnatural cruelty created by science.

Erik knew something about he infected, he was the Butcher.  It was a nickname that Erik partially expected when he took over as spokesman of Viacantone Pharmaceutical.  Especially, after the explosion and the invasion of infected.  The irony wasn’t lost on Erik either.  Ransom was where everything started.  Erik had fled for many years only to come back after his family died.  It was inevitable he would be caught drunk under the only bridge in town.

As everyone chattered loudly and stepped into a tight circle Erik stared at the infected thinking.  “A bacterial meningitis sets in within hours of initial infection.  The first indication of infection are large patches of acne-like lesions that climb from the chest to the neck.  The bacteria overwhelms the body and quickly kills the human parts of the brain leaving a monster-like host that only wants to spread the infection.  Cancerous melanoma develops after several weeks causing blindness.”

“They are blind,” Erik shouts but it’s barely audible through the noise.  Erik steps forward.  The crowd of prisoners surges forward.  Sean and Andrew Baker bum rush one infected each and shove them to the ground.  A taller gentleman walks carefully between the two infected and immediately becomes entangled in the flailing arms of the infected.  Erik side steps the taller man and follows the Baker brothers.  An infected woman, in a tattered business suit, steps up to Erik from the side.  Erik leaps forward and away from her outstretched arms.  He then slows, watching the two Baker brothers fight off the infected as they go.  He begins to walk, listening as he steps forward.  Erik measures each step to reduce noise.  He approaches a pair of infected on the right.  The pair stumble past Erik, one brushing inches from his shoulder but neither recognize Erik as anything useful.

Erik follows the pair back toward the gate.  They head toward a group of prisoners tangled within the infected.  Erik noticed a foreigner wrestling within the group.  His skin, dark as night, coalesces with his height causing him to stick out within the mass of screams and throws.  The foreigner frees the other man from the infected and steps away.  He assists the injured man as he moans.  They limp along followed by the infected.  Erik turns and walks forward, careful to make as little noise as possible.

A group of infected walk slowly toward Erik and the others.  Erik held in severe anxiety as the group stumbled close to him.