"Waking Up"

White.

White.

White.

White.

White.

White.

White.

White.

White.

White.

White.

White.

White wall.

"everybody back up hes coming to"

everybody back up hes coming to?

everybody. back up hes coming, to

EveryboDY BAck UP HES co'ming TO!

Everybody back up hes coming to

Everybody back up hes com,ing to

Everybody back up, hes coming to

Everybody back up, he's coming to

Everybody back up, he's coming to.

My surroundings are small and cramped. These are people surrounding me, looking at me with a bit of a fright.

Memories do not come back instantly.

"heeeeey buddy you alright"

hey buddy you alright

hey, buddy, you, alright,

HEY BUDDY YOUUUUUU alright!

"whoa dude hes wasted"

whoa dude hes wasted

Whoa, dude. He's wasted.

I remember more and more as I hear. These figures around me are discussing things.

"ambulance"

"drunk"

"worried"

"still"

These figures discuss me.

In the distance, I hear a vehicle approaching at a slow speed. Its siren fills me with both comfort and fear.

It's approaching, and it's coming for me.

"let him speak dude"

let him speak

let me speak

Let me speak.

"okay hunter"

The Hunter?

"you okay hunter"

I am Hunter.

"shit hes out of it"

Shit, he's out of it.

I am out of it.

Am I out of it?

"fuck fuck fuck dude"

"its okay the ambulance is coming i already called it"

ambulance

Ambulance, what is ambulance? Is it the vehicle I hear?

"yeah hunter thats the ambulance everythings gonna be okay just hang in there"

Everything is going to be okay. Yes. I agree.

My thoughts drift from these people surrounding me; my mind is hit with a loud assortment of images and words.

This was a party; alcohol is gathered in bottles on the table nearby and splattered on the ground around my head.

These figures surrounding me are American males of ages between twenty and thirty-two. There is one American female in this room, but she is with her male partner and not wanting anything to do with this crowd.

I'm trying to remember what happened.

I'm sure I drowned.

Was it the alcohol?

"yes you got wasted a little too wasted"

Wasted, the alcohol got to my head?

"yeah man"

"I dunno, man. He sounds pretty okay to me, actually."

I hear the vehicle, but it's not outside. The vehicle sounds as if it's down a hall, as if I'm in the hall with it. As if it's approaching, ready to run me over.

Its siren no longer fills me with comfort. Its shrill whirs echo down my throat, and I feel tears forming at the sound.

Meanwhile, I do hear a vehicle approaching outside. What I gather to be the ambulance. Its siren sounds a little funny too.

"Dude, that doesn't sound like an ambulance."

"It's alright. They said over the phone that they'd get us in touch with the proper professionals."

proper professionals.

I feel so strange. This doesn't feel like alcohol anymore.

What are these 'proper professionals?'

"They didn't say."

What if someone had drugged me?

What was in my drink? What was in YOUR drink?

The other two in the room get a little paranoid as well, looking at the glasses in their hands with faces pale as fish.

"…shit I mean what, dude, you bought it, what'd you put in it?"

"I didn't put anything in it!"

He doesn't seem to be lying, but how can I even tell?

I hear heavy footsteps approaching the front door.

The door is kicked down, and three heavily-padded men in helmets charge in and ask which one of us is "the victim."

I am immediately looked at.

I don't understand.

This party was going very well before you showed up.

"Dude, you just woke up, what are you talking about?"

These men don't know what they're talking about. They're clearly infected.

And so my two friends are grabbed and dragged away to the Genera Research-Investigation Department, the GRID, as it's called.

The remaining two partygoers stare at me

asdfghjkl us

stare at us in all our wonder. For you see, more of me has shown up. This party is now two-parts-human and three-parts-Camper.

I know everything you never will.

"I know everything you never want to."

"I know everything you never can."

My voice is echoed by them.

My thoughts are echoed by them.

My movements are echoed by them.

The two humans are wanted.

The two humans are needed.

The two humans are grabbed.

We're taking you to a pond, friends.

"We're taking you to be transformed, humans."

"We're taking you to your new life, parasites."

I woke up not knowing anything. Now I know everything.

I woke up as a single individual. Now I am everyone.

I woke up with little control over my body. Now I control more than myself.

I woke up with no thoughts. Now every thought is mine.

I woke up staring at white. Now the future is black for all.