Splinter of the Mind's Eye

I'm alone. Or am I?

I'm not dead. Though I might as well be.

I'm not in Heaven. But I'm not in Hell either.

But where am I? Where am I going? What am I doing? Why am I doing this? How am I doing this? When will this suffering end?

I do not know as I make my way through the ruins of civilization. The same civilization that I was once part of until recently, though a lifetime ago for all intents and purposes. My mind is a slave to my body, carrying me through death and destruction, uncaring as to my will. My heart is filled with coagulated blood and my spirit is...gone. Just gone.

The virus flows through my body. Ever growing. Ever changing. Ever multiplying as the non-infected population's numbers dwindle, as if they must die so I may live. Numbers that I see include four individuals in the distance.

That within me tells me to surge forward. To kill the avenging angels, to destroy those like me, yet also not. Their backs are to me and all that remains is to rush forward and bathe in their blood. And against my will, against my muffled screams, I surge forward.

I can only hope they see me. I can only hope that I do not have to listen to their screams. I can only hope that they actually have ammunition in their guns and use them rather than fleeing.

Much to my relief, my hopes are granted. And as bullets tear through my body, my screams involuntarily filling the air as if to lure others of my kind to them, I know that this is a small price to pay for freedom.

And as I lie on the ground as they run off, as I listen to the roars of those who have met the same fate as myself, as I find myself released from this prison, I utter what I know will be my dying words. Not screams, not roars-the virus knows its host is finished and that it has nothing to gain to rob me of humanity for any longer. As heartless as this pathogen is, it will at least allow me to live my last few seconds as a human being.

And as I die like a human being, I whisper my final words...

"...Thank you."

A/N

Is it ironic that an aussie has written a L4D oneshot despite its sequel having been butchered via editing due to Australia's dinosaur of a classification system? I don't know and while this isn't exactly a protest, it certainly disturbs me that such censorship can exist in a democratic country. Go figure.