Affliction
Had everyone bitten tonight caught this? The other bites had not looked like vampire bites. They'd been zombie, or human looking. Was this infection something that vampires and shapeshifters could catch? If it was, then it was something new. Some zombies are raised. Others must be put down. Just ask me, Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter.
Before now, I figured I could handle them. Before now, I had never heard of any of them causing human beings to perish in agony. But that's all changed. Micah's estranged father lies dying, rotting away inside from some strange ailment that has his doctor's whispering about 'zombie disease'.
I make my living from zombies - but these aren't the kind I know so well. These creatures hunt in daylight, and are as fast and strong as vampires. If they bite you, you become just like them. And round and round it goes ... Where will it stop? Even I don't know.