Chapter 3 How Could You Be So Heartless?

• Liam thought that was going to be the end of his ordeal, and death would finally pluck him out of his misery. But as the seizure stopped, he slowly came back to his senses.
• Feeling the wet floorboard underneath, Liam’s eyes fluttered open. As he looked at his hand, he gasped at the sight of his blood-smeared fingers.
• His heart kept pounding inside his chest, making every second feel heavier than the next as he struggled to breathe. The damp air felt suffocating, and the rotting stench choked his throat, making his eyes tear up.
• “God damn it. What the hell is going on?” He cursed, trying to support his weight on his trembling arms.
• But as soon as he raised himself from the floor, he puked again, spitting out copious amounts of coagulated blood. His lips suddenly started twitching, and something inexplicable came over him.
• Liam growled like a feral wolf and chomped hard, taking a bite out of the air.
• “Stop it!”
• He desperately tried to control his movements, but his animalistic instincts overpowered his rational mind.
• Blood still kept oozing out of the deep wounds on his chest and shoulder, and he wondered how he hadn’t passed out yet.
• Then suddenly, everything turned red, and a gnawing hunger churned his stomach. He clawed at the wooden floorboards as his jaw clenched like a rabid beast.
• “No, I don’t want…to become like her!” he muttered, fighting his urges.
• Realizing the horrible fate that lay before him, Liam grabbed the blood-stained knife and held it across his wrist, meaning to end it all.
• “I’ll die before I become a walking undead!”
• He was about to drag the blade across his smooth skin when June’s voice called out to him again, sending shivers down his spine.
• “Liam Greene.”
• “Aunt…June?” Liam dropped the knife and looked ahead.
• June’s body was still lying unmoved on the floor, but the voice he heard was no mistake.
• “Liam…Greene,” that same voice echoed in the room.
• Liam looked frantically till his searching gaze fell on a crystal pendant lying on the floor, a few feet away from June’s lifeless body. It vibrated softly, radiating a dim blue light.
• “Liam Greene…primary experimental host.”
• Another violent spasm tore through Liam’s body as his lungs seemed to collapse. His chest squeezed inward, and he coughed out blood again.
• Weak and exhausted, Liam dropped to the floor. But his eyes remained glued to that pendant.
• With the last ounce of strength that he could muster, Liam crawled forward, dragging his heavy body across the blood-stained floorboards.
• Stretching his right arm, he reached for the pendant. And as soon as his skin brushed against its glassy surface, its glow brightened.
• Still struggling to retain control, Liam curled his fingers around the pendant and clutched it within his palm.
• Almost immediately, it buzzed, and a needle shot out of its tapered end, drilling into his skin.
• “Argh! Damn it!”
• The crystal turned red, and Liam instinctively dropped it.
• Suddenly, Liam’s right arm turned stiff, and his palm swelled up around the needle wound. A searing pain tore through his body, and he rolled over on the floor, facing the ceiling.
• Seconds later, Liam felt a surge of adrenaline as red veins crawled up his arm like spiderwebs, and his skin turned stiff and rigid.
• Soon, the blood vessels on his neck and forehead popped up, and a tingling sensation spread across his lips.
• The pendant lying on the ground started vibrating at a higher frequency and suddenly flooded the room with bright red light.
• A mechanical female voice echoed in Liam’s ears as a glowing red window popped open before his eyes, its holographic image shaking like a fever dream.
• [Blood sample successfully collected.]
• [DNA match: 100%]
• [New host acquired!]
• [The host has successfully integrated with the Infected Evolution System!]
• [Ready for new adaptations!]
• Still delirious and dizzy, Liam couldn’t understand if he was hallucinating or if he had just stepped into a twisted reality.
• “What the…hell is this?”
• [The Infected Evolution System combines recombinant gene therapy with nanotechnology to help the host adapt to dangerous situations and survive in the harshest of environments.]
• [Liam Greene has been selected as the primary host.]
• [Infection level: 55%.]
• [Time till complete loss of mental control: 3 minutes and 3 seconds.]
• [Brain Death imminent!]
• Liam shuddered as he read the words glowing in front of his eyes.
• “I don’t want to turn…into an undead. I don’t want to die.”
• [Command acknowledged!]
• [New Objective: Consume June Abigail’s heart and absorb her DNA.]
• [Reward: 1 vial of experimental antidote.]
• Liam felt a shiver run down his spine as he read that horrific objective.
• “I am not feeding on my own damn aunt. I am not a monster!” He yelled, but his words were cut short by another violent spasm, which made him keel over and spit out blood again.
• [Infection level: 65%.]
• [Time till complete loss of mental control: 2 minutes and 23 seconds.]
• [Complete the primary objective to obtain the antidote!]
• [Consume June Abigail’s heart and absorb her DNA!]