[ WP ] You were bitten early on by the zombie epidemic , but through some freak of nature you maintained your mental faculties . Other than an unsatisfiable craving for flesh , all you want is someone to talk to . You notice a camp in the distance .

If I was still alive, my breath would've been caught in my chest. Humans. I had begun to think we had died out. Down there in the grove, I could see them with my dry, stinging eyes. Humans. One slender silhouette against the campfire, keeping watch. Two bumpy forms in sleeping bags. Too good to be true. Now the hard part began. 
 
 `` Ah, hello!?'' My voice was louder than intended in the night. Raspy. The silhouette jolted in place, startled, and started waving around a rifle I had n't noticed. `` Holy shit! Guys, wake up! I heard a voice!'' A woman. The lumpy forms stirred, then tore out of their sleeping bags as though they were on fire. 
 
 There was a long silence. They just stood there, peering desperately into the woods. Each of them had a gun. I did n't know what to say. 
 
 `` Who's out there?'' A man this time. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I spoke again. `` Y-yes, hello! I'm, ah, ah, you're humans, right? Real, living humans?'' I watched as the three figures whispered among themselves. I could catch an excited tone. The woman called out again with a chuckle. `` Holy shit, it's been months! C'mon, friend! You're fine with us as long as you are n't infected, hah!'' 
 
 I suddenly began to regret this. My voice was weak. `` Yes, about that. I'm not exactly alive, you see.'' The figures suddenly became very still. `` I'm... I'm dead. I look *just like them. * But I'm still me! I'm still me, I swear! I'm talking, are n't I? You understand me, right?'' 
 
 Another silence. I caught myself licking my bloated lips, and reminded myself that I must n't give in. I could n't go without human contact again. No, not again. Not these ones. Their voices were anodyne. The thought of companionship, ambrosia. I must be strong. `` Listen. Please. I do n't want to hurt anyone. I just... I just want to talk to someone again. Please.'' I let a small sob leak out. `` Please.'' 
 
 The figures looked to each other. The two men slowly nodded, and the woman turned back to my direction and carefully stepped forward. `` All right. Come on out. Slowly now.'' 
 
 It was do or die. Maybe do and die. I slowly placed my hands behind my head, forced my legs onward, and thought over my life so far. Ah, how I longed to feel the wind on my skin again. Feel my blood move inside me. You do n't know what you've got until it's gone forever. Perhaps I would soon get something back. Friends. 
 
 Their faces paled in terror as I moved into the firelight. The woman's rifle was shaking in her hands. `` H... Hi. My name is Joseph.'' 
 
 I did n't hear the gunshot. I looked at the smoking barrel, then down to my chest. A new hole had joined the other dozen. Looking up, I did n't hear myself say `` Nice to meet you.''
