[You know nothing of what it means to struggle. Goodnight, human. I look forward to seeing your expression when you wake up.]

Those were the last words that Marcus heard before he fell asleep.

Were they his imagination?

A dream?

A hallucination?

It wouldn’t surprise him- He’d been so stressed that all of these were possible.

Suddenly, the banging of wood resounded through the man's ears.

The exhaustion slowly left his body as Marcus sat up, woken by the sound of someone banging on his door.

However, Marcus quickly came to realize that something was off.

'This...'

His room was dusty.

No, dusty didn't even begin to describe it.

It was a wreck.

Just moments before, everything had been so pristinely placed, so well kept. While Marcus wouldn’t call himself a perfectionist, his actions spoke otherwise.

Yet the state of the room completely contradicted such a notion.

As he looked around groggily, there was only one conclusion which Marcus could come to.

"Time... has passed?"

[It would seem that you've finally awakened. I suppose even Number 5 can't keep you all asleep forever. Well, no matter. After all, you humans have so many openings. As soon as you fall asleep.... I’ll continue my work.]

Marcus grabbed his head as a voice suddenly spoke from a direction that he couldn't tell where it was coming from.

No, it wasn't that he couldn't tell - but rather that he refused to believe it.

"Where... where are you!?” Marcus spat. “No, who are you? What the hell are you doing in my house!?"

[In your house? Hahaha... Marcus Trevor Coran... allow me to correct you. While it would be technically correct to say that I am in your house, the truth would be one step further.]

The voice dug into the mind of Marcus, forcing him to hold his head as it ripped away at his sanity.

"Where. Are. You?"

[I'm inside your mind.]

He didn’t want to believe it.

Any other explanation, Marcus desperately made an attempt to cling to - however this was a futile effort.

For he knew that the voice spoke the truth.

[Listen closely, Marcus. Because I will only explain this to you once.]

The voice spoke in a sinister manner, as if it was mocking Marcus with every word it said.

[You are my Host.]

As he heard this, Marcus was overcome by a single emotion.

An emotion which he had never in his life, truly felt before.

Terror.

Pure, undiluted terror.

It made his hands shake.

His mind trembled, and his thoughts became disorganised.

"What.... Do you mean you're inside my mind? What... what the hell do you mean!?"

Marcus grabbed his head in fear. His eyes went wide, and he began to look frantically around him. His heart rate sped up to intense levels, and he stood up trembling, quickly rushing downstairs.

As he rushed down the stairs, the sounds of someone banging on the door became louder and louder, but he ignored those sounds as he rushed straight for his kitchen.

"What do you mean you're inside my mind?!" he shouted, running a hand through his pitch black hair as if on routine.

The kitchen was filled with grime, as if it had never been cleaned before. The water was filthy and filled the sinks. Rot covered the entire household, and disease was abundant.

Even so, Marcus didn't care.

He rushed into the kitchen and grabbed a knife from the rack, quickly wielding it as he looked around him.

"Come out! Show yourself!", Marcus shouted, however even as he yelled out in horror, he was only met with the laughter of the being, which was supposedly in his head.

[Hahahaha.... foolish. You obtain a weapon in order to defend yourself from me, and yet I have no body for you to attack. Did I not explain already? Or perhaps you simply refuse to believe it. I will state it again then. I have invaded your mind.... and I am now merged with you. You are my host, and I am... what was the term again? Ah... that's right. I am a parasite.]

As he heard this voice speak into his mind, the breathing of Marcus became ragged. Unsure what to do or how he should possibly react, he continued to cling to the knife, as meaningless as it was.

"Is.... is that so? You... you've merged with my mind? I.... I see.. Hah… haha...”

Marcus let out a breathy laugh, too amazed to do anything but laugh.

Dropping the knife, Marcus fell backwards, unable to even hold himself up.

The banging seemed to become louder and louder, and Marcus, who had been too overwhelmed by the situation, took note of it.

"Ah... there's someone at the door."

[Fool. Only answer the door if you have a deathwish. The only ones out there are those who I have already infected.]

"Infected?"

As the voice made this statement, the eyes of Marcus went wide.

Unsure what to even say, he slowly stood up, grabbing the knife once more, the hilt digging into his palms.

"What do you mean... infected?"

[Ah, you should already know what I'm talking about. Haven't you ever seen any movies or shows on zombie apocalypses? Come now, don't tell me you're that ignorant. Even I know about such things from my short time in human society. I know from your memories that you worked a lot, but you've seen it before, haven't you?]

The voice paused, before giggling with a sinister tone.

[Heh.]

As the voice continued to speak to Marcus in a condescending tone, the man slowly approached the door, his eyes wide in disbelief.

"No.... no... no no.... you mean.... you mean... infected... zombies... are you telling me..."

[Exactly right, Marcus. Congratulations. You're not a complete idiot! Why don't you take a look out your window.]

As the voice said this, Marcus rushed up the dust covered stairs.

He ran back into his room, and rushed over to his window, which had been smashed and broken.

Leaning over, Marcus looked out the window to see the parking lot outside his apartment complex.

Except for one thing.

He couldn't see the parking lot.

Rather, the entire lot was covered completely in zombies.

"Huff.... huff... huff...."

Just yesterday the parking lot was clean.
Cars were parked in it, people made their way back and forth from work to their homes.

Just yesterday, everything was fine.

Marcus fell backwards on seeing the grotesque sight.

People with limbs missing, rotting flesh, eyeballs popped out, half of their heads smashed in.

They completely covered every square inch of the parking lot as they shuffled back and forth mindlessly.

"It... really is...."

Choking up and barely even able to speak, tears filled the eyes of Marcus.

Placing the knife at his side, Marcus placed his head in his hand as the reality of the situation became evident. Tears slipped out of his eyes, and Marcus wept.

"Everything... everyone..."

[That's right, Marcus.]

[Society as you know it.... is destroyed.]

And then, dropping these words on them, Marcus felt as if his heart had been frozen in time.

[And I was the one who did this.]

[Using your very body.]

----

"What... did you just say?"

To call this an information overload would be an extreme understatement.

Marcus tried to gather his thoughts, but with development after development, he couldn't think straight.

"You did this... with my body?"

[Ah, that's right. You know nothing of me. Who- no… what.. I am. Why I am here… why I am inside your mind… and most importantly... why everything has been destroyed. You wish for answers to all these things, no?]

A pause of silence overcame the two, for Marcus was too terrified to even respond.

[I'll take that as a yes. So I'll start with the basics. What am I? Well, as far as a name.... I was never given one directly, therefore you may refer to me by my label.]

The voice spoke with arrogance, as if it held some sort of strange pride in the lack of a name.

[I am Number 7]

"Number... 7?"

[Indeed. Number 7.]

"That would mean... that there are 6 more of you?"

[There are at least 6 more of me. Yes.]

Marcus knew nothing about this creature who referred to itself as number 7, but the fact that there were 6 more was not a welcoming development.

Or rather, as the creature had stated, the fact that there were at least 6 more.

[I'm messing with you. Don't worry. There are only 7 of us... that I know of. However, I suppose even with 7... it was enough to turn the world into this mess.]

Marcus looked over to the window, and with a grim expression, he gained his bearings.

Standing up, Marcus once more grabbed the knife, and he headed over to the window.

[Hm? Weren't you going to listen to the rest of my story? What could you possibly gain from ignoring me, Marcus?]

Walking over to the window, Marcus looked out to see the hordes of zombies.

As he looked upon them, a serious expression came across his face.

"This... is reality, isn't it?"

Then, placing his hand on the window sill, Marcus raised the knife high.

And he brought it down upon his palm.

Blood sprayed as the man injured himself in such a manner, and he grit his teeth in the pain.

"This... is reality. Isn't it?", he repeated while holding back tears.

Then taking the knife from his hand, the man's hand quickly regenerated from the injury.

Marcus lifted his hand as he watched it regenerate, his eyes widening as he watched the otherworldly phenomena.

The cells were rapidly replaced, and in just a few moments his hand was good as new - only a scar remaining.

"This.... is reality.", he stated once more.

And then, the evil voice finished his sentence.

[Isn't it?]

----

Marcus now sat on the side of his bed in thought, trying to collect the frazzled pieces that had shattered his mind.

"Number 1. The entire world as I know it is gone. The majority of people have been turned into zombies, and almost everyone if not everyone I know is likely dead. As far as potential survivors go... there are at least a few."

[Hm? How do you know that? How do you know that there are some survivors? I mean, think about it. In most stories, there have to be survivors - but that's just because the story would be boring if there was only one person who survived. Where would the story even go without other survivors? The authors of such stories write characters in because it wouldn't make for much of a story without them. But that doesn't mean that there are any survivors in this world other than you.]

"Ah... well, that much is simple. My only reasoning is that since there are six others like you, then there must be six others like me. Right?"

[Oh... I see. You're smarter than I thought you were. I guess you were a salaryman, so you probably had to think on your toes quite a bit, eh?]

"Yes, well it wasn't so easy to deal with people on a day to day basis. And especially not those leeches who were always trying to get out of doing any thinking for themselves."

[Haha! You're interesting. Even in this scenario, you can still have thoughts of the past like that? Aren't you supposed to look back at your past life and realize how good you had it in this scenario?]

"How good I had it... eh?"

Marcus let out a sigh.

His life wasn't great by any means, but compared to the shithole of a world around him, he couldn't say that he didn't want it back.

Yet even so, after coming to his senses, he knew one thing.

This was reality.

And right now, he had to find the best course of action.

He had to gather his information and figure out what he should do from here.

'Even if it means... cooperating with this thing inside me.'

"The fact that my house is covered in dust and grime can only mean that a large quantity of time has passed. I would say at least half a year has passed, however this brings up 2 big questions. First, how have I survived for such a long time. Second, why have the zombies who have been banging on the door outside not made it inside yet?"

Standing up, Marcus began his descent down the stairs.

At this point, the knife was strapped to his side using a makeshift sheath. As he walked down the creaking stairs, Marcus approached the front door to witness that it had been replaced with a heavy duty metal door, with a number of iron bars preventing it from being broken into.

"This would answer that question."

[But that brings up another question. Who did this?]

Thinning his eyes, Marcus looked forward with a bored expression.

"Who else? Of course, you did it."

[Eh? How could you ever have come to that conclusion? After all, I'm just an evil parasite who is trying to destroy humanity by spreading my infection around the world.]

"So you're the one who created the infection?"

[To say I created it wouldn't exactly be correct. It would be more accurate to say that I fostered it before spreading it around the world. But that's besides the point. Answer my question, human.]

"You are a parasite, and you've invaded my mind. I can assume that you entered my mind through my ear, given the swelling that I had before I fell asleep. Furthermore, one way or another you've merged with my body - and that's why my hand regenerated upon stabbing myself. I understand that much. This would also imply that you have the ability to regenerate, but that's besides the point."

[But that still doesn't answer my question.]

"If you are a parasite, then you are living off a host, no? And If I am the host..."

It was then that Marcus grabbed his knife, bringing it to his own neck to the point where a slight amount of blood was drawn.

"Then if I die, would you not die as well?"

[Hey. Don't be so hasty.]

It was as the evil voice made this statement that Marcus felt something inside himself.

Another emotion which he hadn't felt for a long time.

Victory.

His lips curled upwards as he smiled to himself, grinning maliciously as he pressed the knife harder onto his own neck.

"Listen up, monster. I know now that I was right. You really aren't able to live without a host... and you've probably already attached yourself to me. Which means if I die, then you really do die. Shut the fuck up and answer my questions then if you wanna live."

[How do I shut the fuck up AND answer your questions?]

The monster replied with a cheeky comment, however on hearing this Marcus pressed the blade deeper into his neck, drawing more blood.

"You wanna get cocky with me?"

[Alright, I get it. Just don't kill yourself, ok? Take the knife away from your neck already.]

"No. Now answer my questions."

Without removing the blade from his neck, Marcus continued his conversation with the creature.

"First. Are there any survivors aside from the other six?"

[I was only able to spread the virus to about 95% of the population in the time you were asleep. The remaining 5% are still living.]

"Alright... that's one thing down. Another thing. If I've been asleep for six months, how come I haven't died of hunger?"

Marcus began to walk upstairs as he continued questioning the monster, heading back to his own bedroom.

[Ah, why aren't you dead? Well that's simple. It's because when you fell asleep, you were put into a state of hibernation. Your need for food and water ceased as your functions did as well during the time you were asleep. This is true for all the people in the world, though most of them were infected during this time. However you're special.]

With a smug tone, the creature continued speaking to Marcus with arrogance.

[I don't require food or drink, and as I took over your mind, your cells started to merge with my own. They now contain the same properties as mine.]

"So then you're saying... that whatever the hell you are... I am as well?"

[Yep]

"Tch."

As he made his way to the top of the stairs, Marcus took the blade away from his neck, upon which the wound immediately healed.

"So what you're really saying is that I've become a monster?"

[Exactly.]

It was as he heard this that Marcus began to laugh.

"Heh..”

He started with a single chuckle.

“Heh… heh heh heh… ahaha!!!"

That single chuckle became many, and soon enough Marcus had thrown himself back in laughter.

“Ahahahaha!!! How… how stupid this all is.”

[Ah... did you lose your mind?]

"Hahahahaha...."

[Yep, he lost his mind. This isn't good. Looks like I really might have to start all over.]

"Hahaha. Ok that's enough. So? What's your goal, monster? What reason did you have for destroying the entire world?"

[Ah... the reason. Well it's pretty simple. I hate humans. I wanted to get revenge on you all. For everything you did to me and my comrades.]