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I woke seven hours later as my brother shook me awake. "Alex?" I queried groggily.

"Get up you slug, your wife says you've slept enough."

I snapped awake "God damn it Kim! I said four hour shifts!"

She looked up from where she was sitting next to Irma. "Only you would bitch about being given a gift."

I turned my head to look at Irma, from what I could see all of her skin was black. And I saw an IV lock in her right arm. It was in a position I'd never known possible for humans. "Anything new?"

"Yeah, her head and face are now black. She has scales over a third of her body. Her chest has grown some more while her abdomen has thickened somewhat as well. Her hips have changed, expanding widely along with the shoulders. Lastly her legs had shifted in their sockets. I don't know yet, but I don't think she can stand up anymore. All that and she is in a coma."

I looked her over once more after this cataloging of changes. I couldn't see the shape of her hips beneath the towel that was still draped across. But her legs were splayed out in front of her now as she continued to lay on her side. Her torso did look longer as well. I could also see that her hair was falling out. I gently rubbed her head and brought my hand away covered in her long brown hair. Her ears looked different. Larger, and with a scalloped frilled edge as tiny rib like structures began to manifest as supports.

Leaning close I spoke to her and those larger ears flicked to attention: "I don't know if you can hear me or not honey. But I am still here, stay with us Irma. We know how strong you are, fight to stay with us. Please, my daughter." I caressed her face one more time and gave her a kiss on the top of her head as Alex cleared his throat.

"Let's talk." Alex said motioning to Kim and me.

Once past the barn door. I couldn't hold it in anymore. "Okay, what?"

"Irma is on her way to becoming something that isn't known on this world. When she is done, she will have four legs, a tail, and two wings. If you can get her to come through this, you will provide a model for others to follow to get their loved ones back."

"What the fucking hell is causing this?" Kim snapped.

"As of my last conference call a half hour ago, we don't know. The NSA is picking up high energy broadcasts of... Something... Emitting from near the North Pole."

"How many have been affected? How many have survived?"

"The converted, yes that is what we have begun calling them, have a survival rate of 75%. Current estimates are that there are forty to fifty thousand of them in our country alone."

"We haven't won anything in the lottery in our entire lives and we beat odds of 6,000:1 for this? Fuck Irma and fuck us, huh?" I said bitterly, glancing back through the open door at 'the converted'. Lucy and Luke were lying next to her, Lucy with her head on Irma's side and Luke had wormed his way between her arms. I saw one of those arms had curled inwards around Luke. Good, I thought.

"Now is not the time for despair little brother." Alex said sternly. "You have Kim, the strongest woman I've ever met in my life, you have Luke and Lucy who are confused and looking for guidance, and most importantly you have Irma. Who is fighting for everything that makes her herself."

"I don't know what the rate of people who can keep their psyches intact are. But I'm willing to bet that none have had as good as shot as Irma has before her."

Kim interjected. "Your numbers might be even higher if you didn't have people like that fucking cunt that visited us earlier going around. That fucking soulless piece of shit offered us an IV to euthanize our fucking daughter!"

Alex grew visibly angry at this news. "On whose goddamned authority? I know damned fucking well no one at the CDC advised that course of action. Did you get her name? What the fuck? What did she try to give you?"

"Don't know." I said "All she said about it was that it was what veterinarians put horses down with. The bag is still in the front hallway of the house. I stomped it though, the fluid is gone. The officer's name that was with her however was Rodriguez."

"I'm going to go get the bag and make some calls. There will be hell to pay for this." He said, wrathfully before trudging back up to the house. He paused and turned back to us. "There is a satellite phone next to the door. If there is anyone you need to call use that. Cellular networks are blacked out nationwide except for official and emergency use."

We nodded and then went back into the barn. Coming up to our children we could see that the twins had joined Irma in unconsciousness. We watched as our eldest child's side swelled and shrunk with even, measured, and powerful movements of respiration. It is no wonder her insides burned. She was already more something else than human.

I turned to Kim and noticed the hollow eyed look of someone who is reaching the end of their ability to stay awake. I hugged her tightly and after stiffening for a moment she returned the embrace. I kissed her once and then told her to get some sleep.

She nodded absently then grabbed the back of my head to return the kiss before lying down and scooting herself beneath Irma's head. This she placed on her stomach and began humming softly while lovingly caressing our daughter. Irma gave another one of the mysterious trills and suddenly her tongue flashed from her mouth as she snuggled against her mother. Kim gave me a questioning look, which I could only respond to by shrugging my shoulders.

I went and got a set of folding chairs and a table to set up next to Irma. Kim watched me with eyes clouded with fatigue. Before long her gentle stroking slowly halted and her head lolled to the side in sleep.

On the table I opened the first aid kit and began laying out the supplies to take stock. Fifteen minutes later as I was starting to repack the kit Alex reentered the barn.

"Her name is Melissa Sutherland, and her career is finished. I advised the Sheriff to have her placed under house arrest for the time being and Officer Rodriguez did the honors."

"Good" I grunted absentmindedly. "Her behavior is starting to change" I also grunted.

"How so?"

"Last night and again this morning when Kim and I fell asleep holding her she made a high pitched noise that we could feel vibrating through her body, like a trill. And just now when she was being comforted by Kim, her tongue darted out of her mouth."

Alex was dismissive however. "Are you going to tell me you've never made any weird noises in your sleep while comfortable? These are reflexive unconscious actions of her new body. They don't constitute grounds for worrying about her conscious behavior. Although I am worried about whether she will be able to talk. In short order I expect some changes that will be difficult to witness."

He got up and then explained to me that we can expect the most dramatic of the physical changes to begin at any minute now really. Tail, neck, head, face, and lastly wings. He picked up each of her hands and feet and examined them carefully. Taking pictures of each. Her feet and hands were much longer and had thick curved talons capping the end of each digit. The bottoms of her feet were thickly padded with a heavy and durable leather covering. He placed a plastic pipe in the grip of one of her hands and she reflexively clung to it easily piercing the material. Alex repeated that action with her feet and again while using the dew claw she was able to grasp the pipe. He photographed these efforts as well.

"That is good, very good. She will be able to grasp things as small as one inch in diameter. The dexterity of her hands is much less but she still seems able to at least twist her forearms completely over. She'll never be able to hold a writing instrument but she could write using her claws."

I winced at the new terminology for her anatomy even though I had used the same words earlier in a more cynical fashion.

He lifted up the towel to look beneath, earning a sharp word from me. He rolled his eyes; "Relax, she has changed significantly underneath. Look." He whipped the towel off and I cringed expecting to be able to see her genitals. What I saw instead was even more alarming.

Her hips had indeed changed bringing her legs into a new alignment perpendicular to her spine. They had also widened a good deal to allow her spine to pass through a newly created channel for growth. Her buttocks had joined as her body now seemed to be growing past the joint of her hips. Her substantially larger thighs now covered all sight of her nether regions. She would have to stand on her back legs for anyone to get a show of her most intimate parts now. At least there was that for small favors.

"As you can see her tail is starting to form. Not just around the area of her larger spine." He continued. "Instead the whole of her body's girth is projecting past her hips. Only gradually will it taper into what we'd call a tail. I need to check the development." Pulling on a set of the gloves from his own kit. He softly brushed a finger along the flank of her new burgeoning tail section. In response to that a rippling wave of the existent scales began and flowed forward. "Nerve sensations confirmed."

He continued; "I need to get a blood sample of her mid-change. As she is incapacitated I need informed consent. Do you agree to allow me to draw blood as her attending physician for testing?"

Mutely, I nodded.

He drew out another catheter and after disinfecting the site of a newly rearranged vein running over the front of her much altered leg inserted it to draw some blood. He filled four vials eliciting a protest from me at the expense to her system. "Why are you doing all this?"

"You mean on top of wanting nothing more than to help my niece however I can? The director gave me a choice when I made known what I wanted to do. Provide on the ground observations of the conversion and remain in contact. Or go to a federal prison for desertion during a time of national crisis."

"Thank you Alex, from the bottom of my heart, for being here for us."

Standing up he came over and put me in a headlock. "Of course little brother, and for everlasting fame and fortune." He gave a grand wave with his free hand and I punched him in the opening he left me.

"Oof" He gasped "Okay, okay, enough fucking around. Help me measure her."

Over the next hour he continued to make a series of measurements and observations. He pulled free a mature scale and placed it in a bag along with samples of her shed hair. On top of that he shaved some of the new leathery skin from the underside of one of her hands and placed it in a vial. He asked if she had urinated or defecated since the change began. I told him about earlier but he dismissed it as compromised material.

All the while he was busily recording everything from estimated weight to all his measurements into a log and on to an audio recording. Earlier he had set up a large and expensive looking digital video recorder. This was situated against the wall hungrily recording Irma and her surroundings at least since I'd been awake.

After all this he came up to me with another request. "Okay, your turn. Roll up your shirt."

"What? Why?"

"You said she scratched you didn't you? Now c'mon I'm going to look at the wound, give you some antibiotics and draw some blood. I'll get Kim when she wakes up again."

Standing next to him silently, Kim said "here" as she undid her bandage.

Alex wailed in alarm "Jesus, Kim! This isn't fucking Afghanistan! Say something next time."

"I did" she said flatly. I could see the amusement in her eyes though.

He finished unwrapping her arm. The area around Kim's wounds was red and inflamed but it wasn't black. One look at my own cuts was enough to confirm the same state.

"Infected" he said, grimly. "With what, remains to be seen, as we don't even know how the primary victims contracted this agent. I'll give you some pretty hefty antibiotics. Also something to boost your own immune systems. Before I do any of that, let me draw some blood and get pictures of the gouges. What time last night did she make those cuts?"

As he took pictures of them, drew blood, and measured their lengths, he also drew a border around the edge of the inflamed skin. "About 2130" I told him. He wrote this and a few more notes down and then starting prepping four syringes. After, we were given the shots and rewrapped our wounds we sat down and looked over the children again.

I started to say something but then Kim held up a finger. "Do you hear that?"

I strained but could hear nothing, however Alex who was sitting closer to Irma than either of us nodded. "Look at her head."

We did, and then wished we hadn't. Slowly her head was rotating with respect to her spine. Before it was finished her jaw was now in line with her neck. Then with the sound of popping joints we could see her neck getting longer as her head pushed away from her body. Kim and I walked over to her head and knelt down. We tried to reach out to her by touching her neck and this side of her head comfortingly and continued to whisper anything we could think of in case she might hear us. Her ears twitched in our direction. The last of her hair fell off in our hands.

Meanwhile Alex was feeling her spinal column and announced that she had grown several new vertebrae. Not just in her neck but also in her torso and newly extended tail as well. As we watched her neck became over a foot and a half long. As its growth ceased Irma drug her head around to partially wrap about Luke. Alex made and recorded the new measurements and then beckoned us back to the chairs.

"I need to update the others on this. But I would also like your permission to bring in some outside help. One, her primary care physician, and two, some veterinary experts."

"Do it" Kim ordered without hesitation.

"Let me make some calls" He said on his way out, with both his company phone and the sat. phone.

The twins finally awoke when the barn door slammed shut behind Alex. I told them to go up to the house and to eat and get cleaned up. Kim added for them to feed the dogs and pen them up in the house. They disentangled themselves from Irma and pat her side telling her that they would be back soon and went out the door. In protest from the missing warmth of the twins Irma began kicking her legs restlessly and then drew tight around herself. Curling inwards in a way that didn't look possible just twelve hours ago.

We checked to ensure that the IV remained in place and then built the blankets up around her form. This seemed to suffice as her elevated breathing dropped back down to where it was before. I placed my hand on her side, directly on the scaled covering of her chest. They felt cool and dry to the touch. But surprisingly soft as well, with a supple feel to them. Hesitantly I began to make calm and smooth motions with my hand down her side. Petting her, I was petting my daughter.

Without realizing it once again, tears began to fall from my face and pattered softly on my daughter's new skin. Only when my wife placed her hand over mine that I realized that I was crying on Irma. I used my shirt to wipe my eyes. Kim let go and then put her head down next to Irma's and began humming to her once again. Now that I was closer I could hear what she was humming.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

Reacting to this sound, Irma uncurled and nudged her head under Kim's arms and then calmed once more. Kim fell asleep, and I remained. Soothing my girl with gentle sweeps of my hands. I laid my head on her side to listen to her breathing and her heart. No longer did they seem familiar to me. Her heart now sounded like the deep bass of a drum with each beat. The larger lungs inhaling great quantities of air and then forcefully exhaling with a soft hissing noise. As I listened I could hear the protesting groans of her body as it slowly grew. Opening my eyes and looking along her back I could see her tail grow in time with the creak of her spine lengthening. The whispering sound of new muscles and tendons. The slight jerks of her body as nerves formed and connected.

For the first time I was able to listen. To listen as the body of my daughter was unmade, and remade in to something new. Something unknown. "Stay with us baby" I whispered, and began running my hand along the length of her spine. "Don't go, your parents are here for you. Please, listen to my voice. Stay with us. We love you so much. You've done nothing but make us proud of you."

We stayed like that for a length of time that I don't know how to quantify. All I knew was the warmth of my daughter beneath me, the feel of her scales beneath my hand, and the space between one heartbeat and the next. Eventually, like all such peaceful moments of time, it ended.

"Tom." My elder brother shook my shoulder. "Tom, her doctor is here. Let's go get her." As I picked up my head I just caught the end of the sound of a car door slamming shut.

I stood and stretched slowly and then rubbed at my bandage as it unexpectedly became itchy. I looked down and smiled at the sight of my still asleep wife curled tightly around my daughter's long neck and head. Looking up at Alex I nodded at the door and we went out into the late morning sunlight.

Halfway to the house I heard the sound of a woman calling out to us. "Are you the ones that called me about an, Irma Schwarzkopf?"

Alex took charge walking forward "Mrs. Brown? What have you been told?" He reached out and shook her hand while she strode to us.

"Ah, mate. All I know is that someone woke me up a few hours ago and told me that I was needed for a case that a rep. from the CDC was handling in the area."

"Yes, that CDC rep. is me and I had requested you as you are not only the primary care for Irma but also fill in as her gynecologist correct?"

"Yeah, I get to look at all her bits. So what's this all about?"

"When is the last time you have seen Irma?"

"Look, you bloody wanker. Tell me why I'm here, or I'm gone."

Alex glanced at me and I nodded. "I'm sure you know of the worldwide afflictions going on..."

"Let me see her" She interrupted. "How far along is she?"

"A little over 12 hours."

She strode past us with legs that were much longer than our own as we hurried after her. "I would advise against startling her mother" Alex said hurriedly "She might..."

And then we entered the barn, to run into the back of the good doctor as she froze with her hands held up and in front of her. I looked past her to see that Kim was aiming the muzzle of the Glock over her daughter's back and squarely at the doctor's center mass.

Alex and I stepped around and in front of the doctor motioning for calm with our hands and Kim took her finger off the trigger and set the gun back to the side.

"...Hurt you." Alex finished with his exhalation.

"You know, why don't you chaps go first." The Doctor said calmly.

"Kim, this is Dr. Brown. Dr. Brown, this is Kim. And Irma is the one lying next to her."

Dr. Brown drew in an unsteady breath and then released it. "Call me Allie" she said, with a bit more composure. "Why have you brought me here?"

Alex led her over to the table and chairs overlooking the sleeping area. "I have been documenting her since this morning with regards to her changes. You were her general practitioner. I need your help, between what you know about her personally, and the records you have, to establish a base line. What her physiology was like before... Last night."

All business now, Allie picked up a pair of gloves from the table and pulled them on. "While I examine her, I want you" she pointed her finger at me. To call my office number." She flicked a card at me. "and ask for Jose. Then put it on speakerphone because that obstinate hooligan won't listen to anyone but me."

"I like her" Kim said and grinned at the newly introduced doctor who winked back at her.

"Mein Gott im Himmel." I said. These two together...

"Es könnte schlimmer sein." Alex said. I shoved my elbow into his diaphragm.

"Who else do you have coming" I asked him, as Allie began her examination with Irma's head. Which I couldn't help but notice was distended. "Two veterinary specialists from Colorado State. Inbound on an Osprey. ETA about 90 minutes. One of them specializes in Herpetology."

"Didn't you just say earlier that there was no similarity to any life on this earth?"

Allie snapped her head up to look at us when she heard this.

"Um... Yeah. Anything you hear me discuss is classified... Are you a foreign national? I'm so fucked." Alex muttered, trailing away.

Impatiently, she waved his concerns away. "Hahaha, if only you knew what I used to be..."

Kim spoke up; "A medic for SAS? I knew there was more than one reason I liked you." The Dr. just winked at Kim once more.

"Don't you know? Women don't serve in units like that..." She trailed off and silently laughed to herself.

She continued her examination by tilting Irma's head to the side and then opening her mouth. I gasped at what I saw. It was lined with teeth that looked to be right out of a Cretaceous Period exhibit. Then I saw her tongue unfurl and loll out of her mouth. It was narrow and pointed.

As she continued the examination Luke and Lucy finally returned from doing, whatever it was that they were doing, and wanted to know what was going on with Irma. I shushed them and told them that nothing had changed since they left. They bounced in and took two of the unoccupied chairs and watched the exam like the rest of us.

Feeling over the body of our child for some minutes afterwards she eventually reached her hindquarters. She stopped and then glared around the room. "You, you, and you, out!" She jerked a thumb to the door after pointing at me, Alex, and Luke.

Alex flatly denied his leaving citing his medical and professional qualifications for being present. I grabbed a protesting Luke and walked outside. As we exited I could hear her give additional instructions. "Now, help me roll her over on to her back. Yes, hold her legs slightly spread apar..." She was cut off as the door shut behind me.

Trying to relieve the tension of all the events I talked with the younger of the two twins. "How you doing scout?"

He rubbed his arms uncertainly... "I don't know Dad. I can't believe that Irma is gone... She was always so strong. Even when both you and Mom were away. She always took care of us... Now it feels like we've lost her, you know?"

I sighed and then sat down on the grassy slope of our backyard to look Luke in the eyes. "Listen, I know it can feel like you are losing your sister. Sometimes I even feel like I'm losing my daughter. But we both have to remember. What your body looks like does not define who you are." I rubbed his arm vigorously leaving a broad red mark. "Does the fact that I just gave you a friction burn make you feel any different as far as who you are?"

"Well, it hurts, but no... I don't think I'm any different."

"Exactly" I said. "You are you because of the life you've led. The memories you have. That, is who you are. Experiences can help shape you. But never. NEVER! Erase who you are. Your sister may be different after this, as she experiences something new. But she will always be your sister! Didn't you feel her curl protectively around you while you slept? Irma will always look out for you. No matter what she looks like."

Instead of answering, he launched himself into my embrace and knocked me flat. "Thanks, Dad. I hope I am there if she needs me too."

Thinking of her reaction when she wakes to her new form I replied; "I hope so too Luke."

Alex opened the barn door and beckoned for us to return. Luke got up and ran back to the entry way while I scrambled back to my feet and walked forward. Absently, I rubbed at my arm once again.

We reentered the barn and saw that Irma was now laying upon her stomach with her head bent around to her side. She had her front legs curled beneath her. The IV had been transferred to a large vein on one of her rear legs as well. I saw everyone was seated around the table and brought out two more chairs so we could sit.

"What's the prognosis Doc?" I asked Allie.

"Like the lizards I used to chase in my backyard she is."

I just stared at her, nonplussed.

"Look, what do you want me to tell you? She isn't like anything I've ever seen before. I can't even tell you if her heart and breathing rates are normal. Here is what I can tell you. She does not seem to be in pain. Her body mass is no different than what I think it was before. And she is no longer human. That is it. That is all I can tell you as a medical professional."

She sighed, and then started again.

"What I can tell you as a woman however... I know that she is loved. I know that she is cared for. I know that she is surrounded by people that will see her through this. Now, if you are looking for someone to tell you that unicorns shit rainbows, you have brought the wrong person here. There will be trials, there will be tests. But I think with you" She swept her hand across all of us. "You, will still have Irma. At the end. Where it matters."

"Where it matters." Kim and I repeated.

We all looked dejectedly at our hands for a moment until Irma made a loud gasping noise and then shivered violently. With a start, we all leapt from our chairs and turned to look at her. First Kim, and then myself, ran to be by her sides as she began to make a series of violent coughing noises.

"It is as I feared." Alex said. "Her vocal chords are changing."

The twins ran forward to help hold her head as it thrashed with spasms and her neck weaved vigorously, rocking her head from side to side. One of these coughs unleashed a phlegmatic mass of tissue which landed on the faces of Luke and Lucy who promptly recoiled. "Ewww" They said, simultaneously.

Alex and Allie promptly erupted into action, as Alex shouted at them. "Hold your breath! Close your eyes! Don't touch it!"

Alex leapt forward and began to wipe the mucus away from their noses, mouths, and eyes. While Allie soaked another towel in antiseptic and followed by trying to erase any sign that the bloody phlegm had fallen upon their skin.

Gradually Irma's shivering contortions began to die down and with a long drawn out whistle her head finally relaxed once more to the cushions on which she reposed.

I glanced at Kim worriedly who returned my discomfiture as the two doctors ushered the twins away. Allie began to prep a site of injection as Alex readied the needles, I looked away fearing the worst and hoping for the best. As I glanced away I saw Kim rubbing at her bandage and all the blood drained from my face in horror.

Getting up I told the others we'd be right back. I grabbed Kim's attention and then pointed to the outside door. She nodded and then followed me. As soon as we were outside I whirled on her.

"Let me see it."

"See what?" She deadpanned.

Angrily I grabbed my bandage and pulled it down, revealing the blackened skin and scattered scaling that I knew would be there.

Silently she pulled her own down showing the same affliction.

"Oh Tom, what are we going to do." She whispered as her shoulders and head slumped.

Alex burst out of the barn talking urgently. "I think they'll be alright. None of the fluid... got... in..." he slowed and then stopped once he saw the painful sight of the blackened patches on both our arms.

"Alright, you both know we have to go under isolation right?" We nodded. Allie appeared behind him and before she could say a word Alex told her; "Allie I'm sorry for having got you into this. But I need you to go over there" He indicated towards the house. "I'll join you up there in a moment. But for right now we are all under quarantine. Kim, Tom, Irma, Luke, and Lucy will remain in the barn. We will stay in the house for at least twenty four hours. To make sure we aren't infected. Tom, Kim there's a chance your twins aren't infected. Keep them away from yourselves and Irma for as long as you can. Lock them in the loft if you have to. I will leave the IV solution for Irma and yourselves. Tom... I'm... I'm... sorry."

He reached into the barn and grabbed the Satellite phone and then he and Allie ran widely around us and then to the house.

"What now?" I said.

"I think those two will be fucking by the end of our quarantine."

I glared at her.

"What, you think I'm going to cry some more? Let's get on top of this shit right now!"

We walked back towards the barn and immediately the twins rushed towards us looking for comfort.

"STAY AWAY!" I shouted at them. In shock, they both halted halfway to us.

Kim swung her arm around to show them her stained skin. "Look at my arm. We are infected. Do you know what that means? It means I want you both to stay the fuck away from us. I will... I will... Tell... I DON'T FUCKING LOVE YOU, ALRIGHT? YOU STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM BOTH OF US. I DON'T LOVE ANY OF YOU. GRAB YOUR FUCKING BAGS AND LOCK YOURSELVES UPSTAIRS! DO YOU FUCKING HEAR ME YOU ANKLE BITING SHIT STAINS? IF I SEE YOU AGAIN BEFORE TOMORROW I SWEAR, I WILL BREAK YOUR HEADS AGAINST EACH OTHER'S! I FUCKING HATE YOU BOTH!"

With tears falling freely from their eyes Luke and Lucy made no more sound as they grabbed their sleeping bags and retreated to the loft. As soon as the door clicked shut and locked... Kim... Kim, she broke. She broke in my arms. Screaming like I'd never heard before. She screamed into my chest as all her hatred for herself came out. The only thing I could do was to hold her.

The strongest person I'd ever met. That I'd ever known. Broken. Broken by her love.

She fell to her knees, and I fell with her. Lost in the misery that our world had become.

Together we fell asleep exhausted by the fact that our world had just been pulled a little further from beneath us.