[ WP ] You have just successfully prevented a zombie apocalypse . By killing the first one to turn . What you call `` heroism '' the police call `` murder '' .

`` Walk me through this once more.'' 
 
 
 John lifted his head at the sound, the heavy condescension in the demand shaking him from the somber reverie he'd fallen into. He stared at the detective seated across from him a moment longer. 
 
 
 `` How, exactly, do you expect us to believe this story, when all evidence points solely to a work dispute *you* decided to end with a fire extinguisher?'' 
 
 
 The chubby man, sweat glistening on his forehead and upper lip, smirked at John, his face spelling out *how stupid do you think we are* even if his words did n't. John frowned at the question, looked down at his hands, and resumed picking at the dry blood left ringed along his nail beds. *How do I expect them to believe? *, he thought, *I'm not even sure I believe it myself. * He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and began combing his memory to try and think of something, anything, that would get him out of this mess. 
 
 
 It had all started with Kyle being an asshole, as it almost always did. John and Kyle worked together in a lab at the edge of the city, some sort of behavioral science place John had been told. For a cool 15 an hour, he and Kyle kept the place clean and maintained, replacing lightbulbs and sweeping floors. He'd been happy there for the most part, his coworker the only impediment to a comfortable and relaxing life. Kyle thought the work was below him. The pay was too low, the hours were too long, the lab was too hot, the scientists always looked down on him, the monkeys were too loud. On and on Kyle would complain, and while John found him annoying the monkeys there absolutely despised him. Kyle had been taking his frustrations with, well, life out on the monkeys as of late, banging on their cages with his broom or flicking bits of detritus from the floor at them. John had argued with Kyle about it on several occasions but they did n't often work side by side, and so the torment continued. Until the day that it did n't. 
 
 John had just walked into the room where the animals were housed, drawn by the screeching of the monkeys in their little cells. Kyle was there, of course, sadistic grin on his face as he jabbed at an increasingly distressed creature with the handle of his mop. `` Hey! Quit being a dick!'' John had yelled after taking in the scene. 
 `` Oh fuck off, John, I'm just having a little fun.'' 
 `` You're driving them nuts, just let them be.'' 
 `` They're guinea pigs, man,'' Kyle sneered, `` They'll probably all be dead in a few months anyway, a little entertainment wo n't hurt nothing.'' 
 
 
 John had sighed, knowing this argument would likely stretch through the rest of their shift, but not wanting to back down from this child holding a magnifying glass over an ant hill. He'd taken a step towards Kyle, who'd turned to face him with a cocky smirk, but froze when the monkey screeching hit a crescendo. Kyle had looked over into the cage of the one he'd been tormenting, brow furrowed and mouthing'*what the fuck*' before a small gaunt but impossibly strong hand gripped him by the hair and slammed his face into the bars. By the time John had snapped out of it to think to rush forward it was too late, the little monkey had squeezed its head between two bars and bit down on Kyle's neck, tearing and ripping in a blind animal fury and weeks of pent up frustration at their treatment at Kyle's hands. The larger primate had managed to grab a hold of the little one's head and squeezed, tearing it off of him and with it a large section of his throat before throwing the cage against the wall. The monkey lie still, and Kyle slumped to the ground, blood pooling rapidly around him, twitching slightly in death. 
 
 John was n't sure how long he'd been on his knees mouth hanging open, eyes wide and staring at the lifeless corpse twenty feet away. It had been the first death he'd ever seen, and it had shaken him to his core. Something changed in the cacophony of animal noises, and John let out a weak, `` Kyle..?'' when he saw one leg move. Slightly, but it did move. And then the other. 
 
 
 `` Kyle?'' he tried again, louder and more forceful as he came to his feet to move forward. 
 
 
 No answer, but more slight movement. John had made it halfway across the room when Kyle's body lurched upright into a sitting position. Blood still poured slowly from his neck and his eyes seemed to look right through John, staring off into the distance. His face was different too, John had noticed, still Kyle just.. different. Wrong. And then he was on his feet, moving, fast but uncoordinated. Arms flailing about Kyle let out a blood curdling screech, the sound overpowering then reigniting the noise from the caged animals. He came for John, moving unpredictably and knocking over two cages before breaking into a sprint and tackle. The pair slammed into the floor and struggled against each other, John having to hold Kyle's head back by the hair as he seemed determined to bite into him anywhere he could. While John was much larger than his dead-then-not co-worker the smaller man was gaining the upper hand, pushing through John's strength with some indomitable will. In desperation he reached back, hand searching for anything that could help and finally closing around a small fire extinguisher. He brought it around quick and beaned Kyle in the head, stunning the man for a moment. John did n't hesitate in that window and swung again, and again, and again, until Kyle was pulp from neck up. Panting, he had crawled back from the body and sat up, taking stock of the room in the aftermath. His eyes traveled over broken glass and knocked over boxes before his heart dropped and they fell on a pair of smashed open cages. 
 
 `` Well, I suppose we have all we need, if you're done talking I'm done listening,'' the chubby detective drawled out, moving to stand. 
 `` It wo n't matter if you believe me or not soon,'' John answered finally, defeated. 
 `` And why is that?'' 
 `` Because.. There was more than one monkey in that room.'' 

