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The hood kicked up into the air as the pickup rammed into a stray revenant that had been limping along amidst the cactus.

"Woo!" Kinsey yelled, pumping her fist in the air and flicking her wiper blades. "Teach you to run the Border! Yeehaw!"

Neil shuddered as the guts splattered, luminescent gold. His stomach reminded him of what was inside him, churning away at his humanity.

"I hope your doc has some serious answers once we pull in this body. I keep getting reminded of just how little I've eaten, and it's starting to make me crazy every time I see that stuff come out of something."

"Y'know, I never did ask why she thought it was a good idea to send ya with me. I just thought--'the more the merrier', right?"

"You're talking to someone you just watched grow a 'tail'." Neil groaned, still feeling the soreness of his virgin limb, tucked into the upholstery. "A TAIL. Are you telling me you'd given this that little thought?"

She blinked, pulling on one of her pigtails for a moment, gears visibly turning in her head. "Well... I guess if I had to venture... it's probably cuz yer not bugged by the radiation, er... ever it is comin' out them revs when folks are gunnin' em down! Yeah."

He shivered, feeling something poking out of his upper lip with his tongue--too sharp and solid to be a normal hair. "That was a brilliant idea. Except instead of killing me, it feels like this stuff is making me worse. I could still go crazy and attack you." he warned.

"Don't I know. Probably why she sent me, figured you get out of line, I can finish what we started!"

Wow, what an idiot. he thought. She thinks this is some kind of game. What if I bite her before she can... finish me off?

"Welp, we're here." she announced, pulling through a wire cattle fence that had been set up just outside the main road, and parking out front of the little building. Place was so rural, there were no real parking lots, just a few automobiles here and there, and some well-worn gravel.

The hell...

"Where'd the body go?" Neil asked, perplexed. It'd been right there, in front of the doorstep, back then, he recalled. Surely it hadn't been eaten entirely? And by what? More revenants?

"Hell and tarnation." Kinsey whispered.

"How long has it been since I was out, Kinsey?" Neil inquired.

The redhead blinked again, turning around and putting a finger to her tilted head. Looking up at the moon with her green eyes, she responded: "Couldn't have been more than... three, maybe five hours most."

Had it really been that long? It felt like the night dragged on forever. "Anything could have happened in that time... it's not a big town. One of your.. guys come clean up, or something?" he ventured tentatively.

"Our posse? Nuh-uh. Big black lug, name-a Jackson's my... 'spokesperson' for them misfits and rattlesnakes. He keeps the peace, but he'd of told me if he was sendin' out a round. Last I spoke with him was 'fore I clonked you--had him work on tightenin' up the path into the crater, keep any more of them uglies in, and you tenderfoots out."

"I see that's worked well for you. Well, back to square one." he muttered. "You get my axe?"

"No. You need it?" she said blankly. Then it dawned on her after a second. "Pfft. Sorry, I got lil Mercedes here on my back like a papoose," she said, jiggling the butt of her gun. "Too used to not needin' anything else. You go get yer axe and I'll make sure nothin' gets you in the meantime. We'll wrangle you up some rounds and a proper weapon soon'nuff."

He let her bat back the screen door, and they stepped inside.

* * *

The air in the little inn was rank, probably on account of the three bodies left in it. Neil felt like he shouldn't be back here, after what had transpired.

"Kitchen's to the right, I think, end of the hall. Weird little building." he muttered. "I came 'down' an elevator, into a basement, then up some stairs into the kitchen, before."

"Yeah, they freight a lot of junk up through this place, it's kind of been converted a couple times, used to be a station for miners. Old place sits on a ledge over the old quarry--that's where most of the crater sits now--but there're still good tunnels we've been keepin safe from the ghoulies. Too messy to bring coal up in here now, but they still use the buildin' to get down with supplies for the miners. Course, meals too, I 'spose. Used to be a lively little meetin' place for all the new and old faces." she added.

"How long have you lived out here?" he puzzled.

"Tch, I was hear when the damn glowrock gave this place a rennovation. Damn mess that was--lucky I'd been stoppin' for a drink, and not makin' social with the other half-a town." she remarked, making a throat slitting motion with her fist. "Used to be we had an uptown. Now this is uptown, and anything buried six feet or deeper's our 'downtown'."

"You guys had guts holding together in a place like this. You get a swimming pool with meteor rock in it back east, everyone evacuated." Neil remarked.

"I git yer git-r-done, but out in the desert, we do things a little different. You can't up and pick up and go wherever when it's sand and rocks all round. Les ya go to Vegas." she said, swinging open the service door to the kitchen. "Yuck."

The two bodies he'd left hadn't gotten prettier. Still sinewy, leather-skinned, pale and naked--One sat, skull and ribcage open, its fluids congealing into a dusty glowing aggregate on the floor. The other still leaned, one arm stretched over a cabinet handle, its cracked forehead dripping goo and sagging down, as if in despair, half its face charred black, with a few sizzled hairs poking from the side of its scalp."

"I can't look at this. Give me a hand." he asked, reaching out his left, nails darkening underneath, swollen and ready to burst into a paw at any given moment. She didn't look, but took it, foraying around the bodies and counter tops, guiding him away from his kills, eyes shut. She let go when they'd made it to the stairs, and she picked up his axe, and the empty semi-auto he'd dropped as well.

"We can take the elevator out." she said.

He nodded. That notion was alright with him. He'd seen enough of his own handiwork for the night.

* * *

On their way, out, he made sure to grab his jacket. It'd still be another few hours before the sun brought heat back to the Chihuahuan, and he wasn't counting on fur being his main source of warmth. It'd already been damn chilly enough a walk from the bar back here.

"Wait..." he whispered, sniffing the air. "Do you smell that?"

"Smell what?"

He sniffed around for a moment, nose in the air, before his focus fell on his jacket. He ran his nose over the shoulders, then the sleeves.

"Someone's been through my coat, looking for something."

"Huh. Robbers. One of my sticky-handed pals, maybe." she reckoned. "Your nose gettin' that good, you can tell that from a whiff of the air now, huh?"

"Yeah." he nodded. "It means we'd better hurry, see if we can't trace that body. Actually, I've got an idea."

Swinging the screen door open, and shutting it all behind them, they both hoped not to return soon. He got down on his knees and took a whiff of the cold, musky air.

"The body was right around... here." he waddled over a few paces to the left, past some rocks and gravel, and found a particularly rank stretch of ground. "This is where they were feeding. They must have dragged it back from the elevator, and it bled out."

"Think two of those things could really handle that critter?" she asked.

"Well, it was three--and they sort of got a little help." he added, raising his beastly arm back behind him. "I shot it a few times before it gave me this."

"Why you think it went in the elevator, anyhow?" she asked. "You'd think it wouldn't be able to figure out..." she trailed off.

"I'm starting to guess what's happening here." Neil said. "That thing wasn't crazy... not enough to be stupid, anyway. It was still a person--enough at least to know how to escape those things. I tried the same thing--just happened to be a little luckier is all."

"You think it was tryin' to hide, lick its wounds, or..."

But she broke off, as something large and swift sailed at Neil, knocking him into a roll. She drew her gun to fire, and ran his way.

"Lookout!" she yelled, trying to get a good line of fire to the thing that wouldn't also perforate him with buckshot. As she moved, however, there was a loud 'twang' as something kicked up dust a little ways from where she'd just been standing. She looked up, and saw a figure on the roof of the inn. She couldn't make it out, over the porch light in her eyes, but she could tell it was holding a large bore rifle, trying to aim her way. She raised her own barrel, and let fly a cartridge.

"Neil! We're under fire!"

"Kind of busy, right now!" he grunted, fighting off his own attacker.

"G.. get out of town. Hiide." the creature spoke, in a strange and elderly voice. Looking up, Neil got a brief glimpse of its face--human in shape, with lupine features--a wet pad where a nose should be, whiskers, yellow eyes, and grey-yellow fur in place of hair.

"Wha--" but before he could ask, the creature had lept off him, and began to lope away into the desert.

"Neil, we really gotta get going!" Kinsey shouted, firing another round at their attacker, as she made for the truck. This one made contact, and the figure recoiled and dropped their weapon, grabbing at one shoulder.

"I know! Follow that thing!" he replied.

* * *

"Who would be gunning for us?" Neil asked.

"Damned if I know," Kinsey shouted. "Some maniac with a gun, I guess?

"It doesn't make any sense--we're all in this together, right? Right?!" he shouted, trying to be heard over the screeching of the tires and the roar of the engine as they accelerated away, slugs still kicking up the ground, one impacting the vehicle with a loud clang.

"Well maybe they saw your arm and thought you'd turned!" she responded, trying to keep after the shape of the coyote man-beast, as it sprang through the dust on all fours.

"They were aiming for YOU!" he said. "How does that make--"

Then he remembered the shooting on the roof.

"I think I've seen our friend before--though he seems to have a bigger gun this time."

"Yeah, a real repeat offender. I'd say we've got a loonie runnin' around off'n people!" she replied.

Keeping his head low in his seat, he turned to her.

"You think we've lost him yet?"

She looked back over her shoulder, watching the silhouette of the buildings. There mystery aggressor was already too tiny to make out. She turned, keeping her eye on the creature as it wove through scrub grass and between rocks. It was leading them downhill, toward the other side of the town outskirts, closer to the crater.

"Didn't see a scope on that rifle, as much as I could make out. He'll have to give chase if he wants to get us now. Probably just wait for us, or move on to some other poor bastard!"

"Doesn't make any sense though! Why shoot us? So many walking dead, he could just help the rest!"

"Some sick fucks like the thrill of prey that knows fear!" she spat. "No challenge in a target that up and runs straight at ya, versus what he's got with us," she said, banking over a hill, and following the creek that ran outside of town.

"Pull over, I think it's finally stopped!" he exclaimed.

They skidded to a stop, near the water, and unbuckled their seat-belts. What drew the pair's attention as they got out, was the luminescent trail of a familiar alien substance, percolating from upstream, amidst the rocky hillside.

"Damn... this... this ain't far from where they go to draw water." she whispered.

"This might explain the rise in revenants." Neil added. "If people end up drinking this and getting sick, things are only going to get worse around here.

"I just... I don't know why this'd happen." Kinsey said, shaking her head. "We checked the water round here first thing when the meteor landed, and it was as clean as it could be."

"Something must have changed recently." Neil whispered. "Maybe your mining in the crater broke loose a... a tributary or something. Freed up a bunch of running water to flow and pick up the contaminant... then brought it here?"

"I don't honestly know..." she replied. "Over there." she said, suddenly, pointing.

He caught site of their mystery animal, poised on all fours amidst the reeds. Shining a flashlight from Kinsey's glove compartment, he saw its eyes glow in reflection, a strange and subhuman sight. It knelt on haunches for back legs, twisted and muscular, but almost thoroughly canine. Standing as it was, it seemed more 'long' than large, an unusually sized coyote, with the shoulder frame of a human, and arms that ended in incomplete paws, much like his own right hand. Its head was still round, though it extended at the end of a lupine spine, merging muscularly with the creature's backside--almost threatening to reshape into a perfect triangle. The face was a man's, but the features were entirely foreign. Its wide, pointed ears perked tall and open over its head, matted in grey fur--and it beckoned them over, raising a hand in gesture.

"Coome." it growled. "Sit. We... will talk."

Taken aback by this strange hospitality, Kinsey broke out her shotgun cautiously, and slipped in a fresh cartridge. Neil raised his paw in front of her.

"Easy. Let's see what it wants, first." he whispered--still not sure what to make of this strange encounter.

They approached the creek bed, whereupon the creature growled, hackles suddenly raised.

"No closer!" It hissed. "The water has become poison for her, for... for humans. You may come. She must stay."

Kinsey stopped, and sat in the dust, tending to Mercedes. "Try anything funny, I'll blow out whatever brains you have left in ya, varmint."

"Yes..." the creature responded, almost... 'smiling', even. "Please do not hesitate to protect him. I will not... bite. Much." it joked, easing a paw into the water, then the other... sloshing in, tail held behind it, and... sighing.

"Ahh... the changes... they do not hurt so much, anymore. Come, join me. You will not be in danger... tell me, how long have you carried the Blood?"

"What?" Neil asked, perlexed. Did it want him to bathe, here, in the cold?

"The Blood. The Bite. The Mark. Your arm tells. You have been changed... infected as have I. Come. It is...ahh... warm."

The creature sat upright in the water, revealing the still-human shape of its chest. A waft of steam bubbled up, and Neil suddenly realized that they were at a hot spring. He turned to Kinsey for approval.

"What?" she cocked her head at him irritatedly. "What, bathe in there? Sure. Whatever. Long as you think it won't make you any damn crazier--I ain't looking."

He tentatively took off his jacket, and slipped down closer to the water, beginning to undo his shirt. It 'had' been a long day, and he smelled of sweat and blood. It was no less, a strange proposition, as he undid his pants, felt his tail, released from the tightness of his jeans, hang loose between his asscheeks. That alone would have felt strange, if not for the fact that he could whip the limb, make it move, feel the warmth and weight as it flopped against his leg--feel the hair on his legs against its bare skin.

It was part of him now, as he dropped his boxers, and waded into the hot water.

"You have changed greatly already," the creature mused. It stood, water rolling off its fur, and displayed it belly, covered in creme. From its nethers stood an animalistic sheathe, and a tight pair of testicles hung below, large and furred.

He stared down--at his own matching equipment. He had been too embarrassed to admit it to himself, but it had been like this since his last big change, when he got out of the pickup--what felt like almost an hour ago. Now his penis was hidden, coated in a tube of skin, thicker than any foreskin, and sporting yellow fuzz all over.

Slowly, the creature sat itself back in the water, a peek of red poking from its own sheathe, sending shivers down Neil's spine. He didn't even look as he mirrored the gesture--didn't want to see how far the transformation had progressed.

Prrrrrrrrrrt...

An eggy smell of flatulence rose up, breaking the tension awkwardly. Neil and Kinsey winced.

"Sorry." the creature apologized. "I have indulged in a lack of modesty, ever since the village stopped treating me as a human. It is... comforting having that company again."

"Just keep it in your pants, Captain, and we'll be okay."

A toothy grin spread across the creature's face. "I don't swing that way. Besides, I'm a bit old for you."

Just 'how' old? Neil asked.

"I'll be in the truck." Kinsey muttered, clear now that the two were going to have a man to man... or... man to thing... talk.

Weird ass shit, lately... she thought.