It was the best Rhys had felt in years.

Even as he sat up, he detected physical differences in himself. Thicker, maybe. His clothes seemed constrictive. And he hadn't recalled being quite so far from the floor. He gave up on trying to pull shoes on when it became clear they weren't going to fit. Might as well go barefoot.

Funny. His feet hadn't seemed that big earlier, either. 

Maybe it was the virus. Maybe he should see the nurse, much as he disliked the woman Kerry. It wasn't as though he could call for her, so Rhys simply opened the door and stepped into the empty corridor. No one had bothered to lock it.

His strides seemed longer as he went in search of Kerry, and he could see that the hospital pajamas were beginning to split along the arms and shoulders. What was happening to him?

As he rounded a corner, there was Kerry looming abruptly in front of him. Her over-lipsticked mouth stretched into a frown. "Rhys! What are you doing out of your room, young man? You need to be in there resting, not running around out here like a bad boy! I think you should go back in there and think about what you're doing!"

And there she went again, talking to him like he was a toddler. Rhys shut his eyes, grit his teeth. Images of the jungle flashed in his head once more. He remembered the feeling of being in command, of tolerating no others. The law of the jungle. His law. Not being barked at by some condescending bitch.

His fist swung faster than he would have thought possible. It was intended just as a light tap in the chest, just to get her to shut up. Rhys felt virtually no resistance as his hand passed through flesh and bone and cloth, coming out of her back covered in blood. Kerry's mouth worked, trying to make words. Just like Rhys, she was speechless. And then she was dead.

Rhys looked curiously at the dead woman, completely impaled by his fist. Gingerly he poked her, watch the nurse's corpse collapse to the floor.

That had felt good.

Rhys smiled. Things were going to be different from now on.