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Don't worry, this is only filler. You don't _have _to read the previous parts first! But unlike most filler

episodes from your favorite animes, this is actually coherent to the plot. Kinda. Happy reading!

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~~~HARRISON ALAN MORRIS~~~

~Roughly a month and a half after Z-Day~

Uuuuuugh.... Why is my body still so freaking sore? Those scientists said I should be fine after I woke up...

Okay, let me take this slowly. My body still feels like it just ran a marathon, but it's my other senses that worry me. I remember my vision blurring up and my ears not working during the... transformation, but hopefully nothing's been permanently messed up. I can hear machines beeping and people talking somewhere, so no problems there.

Good. Now let's hope my eyes still work...

Even though they were closed, I could tell the room was well-lit. I slowly opened one eye to adjust myself to the light, but a quick involuntary glance to my right made both of my eyes open wide. The blinding lights only stung for a second, but I could see just fine after all.

I was in a hospital-looking room, but I wasn't the only one in here. I raised my head and took a look around in complete bewilderment. There were at least ten other beds in here, all of which were occupied by other people. But they weren't really people at all, at least not anymore.

They were hybrids. Half human, half animal. Just like what I'm supposed to be now.

Oh my God... I'm a... What am I, exactly?

Apparently I'm a furry, that's what....

I realized that I wasn't restrained to the bed anymore, save for an IV drip stuck to one of my wrists. I began to pull it out, but paused once I got a good look at my new hands. They were still in the same general shape as before, but now with pads and small claws thrown in. My arms were slightly more muscular than I remember, but all things considered, that's not a bad thing at all. And of course, covered in fur, just like the rest of me. Cheetah-patterned fur. Now this is getting _really _freaky as it is, but I decided to keep going. I reached up and felt around my new face. My ears had moved to the top of my head, my nose was completely different and perpetually wet, and now I had whiskers.

Jesus Christ, whiskers? Really? What, do I have a tail too?

But before I could figure that one out for myself, one of the scientists from earlier walked in, saw that I was awake, and stopped to grab some clothes from a nearby closet. He walked over to my bed and tossed the clothes to me, which landed in my lap. Nothing flashy, just a pair of shorts and a light t-shirt.

"I see you're awake" he said in a calm, collected tone. "Good. You're the first one up today, so you'll have the honor of getting an explanatory briefing first. Put these on, and go into the next room when you're ready." He pointed at a door on the left side of the room. "The HAC higher-ups are waiting for you inside. But don't get used to seeing 'em, it's likely that you'll never talk to those people again after this. They just want to formally welcome you to our company the only way they can."

I sluggishly got out of the bed and picked up the clothes. "All right. Thanks" I said to the scientist. He nodded, and then walked over to another hybrid, monitoring the machines next to it.

Standing up was difficult at first, but I managed to regain my balance and put on the shirt and shorts. Before going into the next room, I tried walking some of the numbness off by pacing around the room. Every other hybrid was out cold, but would most likely feel and think exactly what I did as soon as they wake up. They seemed to be only based on animals that you wouldn't want to run into in the wild. I saw four wolves, a panther, three leopardesses, and two foxes. I'm sure that this wasn't even scratching the surface...

Once I decided that enough of the numbness had worn off, I walked briskly to the door, with my heart pounding and my brain on the verge of exploding with questions.

All right. With this, my new life in this apocalypse officially begins...

I opened the door. There was nothing inside except for a long table with several people in suits and others in lab coats sitting there, and one small seat for whoever they're talking to. Namely, me.

The man in the center of the table stood up.

"Ah, Mr. Morris, do come in. Or do you prefer Harry?"

"Kinda, yeah" I replied.

"Well regardless, please take a seat. I'm sure you have plenty of questions, but we have all the answers right here. But be advised, our time with you is limited. We hope to give this introductory welcome to all of our new human-animal hybrids, but we don't have all the time in the world to do so. Because, as we're sure you know, there really isn't much of a world left at this point."

"That's actually my first question" I said. "I joined to fight against the zombies, and this new body of mine is supposed to be immune to the infection. That I understand. What I want to know is how I'm supposed to go about doing that."

One of the scientists sitting next to the chairman took over. "Ah, nobody told you before the procedure, did they Mr. Morris?" He sounded genuinely surprised, as if the piece of information I apparently don't know is a HUGE game changer.

"Harry" I reminded him.

"Right, right. Sorry. It's actually fairly simple, and yet it would take hours to thoroughly explain to you. So, I'll give you the short version. In addition to enhancing your body with animal DNA, we have also discovered the means to give you several abilities as well. What you might call superpowers."

My jaw dropped. I was NOT expecting to hear this. "You.... You're shitting me, right?"

The scientist only smiled at my reaction. "No, Harry, I shit you not. I actually have your file right here, and I can tell you exactly what to expect out of your new body." He opened the plain folder he had in front of him and took out the first page. He read out loud "Subject Delta Four, former identity Harrison Alan Morris. Successfully infused with sample XM-027; acinoyx jubatus DNA. That's Latin for cheetah, mind you. Abilities include basic pyrokinesis and teleportation, should both manifest within 1-2 weeks." He put the page back in and closed the folder. "The rest of the info is for us only. But it's just the technical and legal jargon, so don't worry about that."

I took a moment to replay everything he just said in my head.

I can make fire? And I can freaking TELEPORT? Wow. Holy shit WOW. This actually reminds me of a game I played once, but it's probably just a coincidence. But what was that last thing he said again?

"What was that thing you said about my abilities at the end? I can't use them yet?"

Again, he just smiled at my reaction. "It's a delicate process, Harry. Your new body needs time to let your superpowers develop, because trying to force it at this stage could mess you up pretty damn badly. We've seen it before, and learned that it's best to make our hybrids wait for a while. But don't concern yourself with that, because we've got plenty in store for you and everyone else to make up for it."

The chairman took over again. "Do you have any questions about what we expect of you, Mr. Morris?"

Well, when you put it that way, I do now.

"Yeah. What, exactly, is life going to be like here? And seriously, call me Harry. Mr. Morris is my father."

~~~

After a good half hour of Q and A, I had run out of questions to ask. The HAC leaders encouraged me to spend the rest of my day getting to know the facility, and a technician helped point me in all the right directions. There's a central cafeteria, a library, a bunch of different training rooms, and much, much more. Of course, I still have a bunch of other less important questions to ask, but I'm sure I'll find out everything I need to as time goes on. I quickly found out that eventually we're all going to begin combat training, and everyone's being grouped up into teams of three.

While walking around and talking to other hybrids, I figured that since there's a chance any one of them can be on my team, I should get to know everyone as well as I can. Back in high school, I was that 'everyone knows and loves me because I'm great to talk to' kind of guy, and it's really helping me out here. Despite the whole zombie apocalypse thing going on outside, you'd be surprised how many people are as optimistic and relaxed as I am.

But sadly, that didn't apply to everyone. I also met a good number of hybrids who were the complete opposite, and just didn't want to talk. That's fine by me, but some chose to be massive dicks about it. But hey, not my fault, I'm just trying to be friendly.

Speaking of which...

By this point, I was walking around the area that housed everyone's individual rooms, trying (and failing miserably) to find the one that had my name on it. I wound up at a dead end, and normally would've just turned around and continued searching, if not for a lonely looking hybrid sitting in a corner of the hallway. He was just sitting and staring at the floor, with eyes that looked more depressed than any I've ever seen before. They were slightly red, so it's likely he's been crying too.

_Hmmm... This is a potentially bad idea, but I feel like I should go and talk to him. Some other people here were clearly unhappy, but this guy... He looks like he's had all the joy sucked right out of his soul. _

What could it hurt?

I walked over to him, taking my time so I could think of something to say. I couldn't recognize exactly what he was at first, but I eventually realized that he was a hyena hybrid. Haven't seen one of those here yet.

As soon as I got close enough, I decided to start with something simple.

"Hey, you all right, man?"

Nothing. He didn't even acknowledge my existence. Just more staring a the floor.

"I'm sorry, I just noticed you here all by yourself and figured I'd say hello."

This time, he actually responded with "Please go away.... I want to be alone...." No eye contact, no changing his position, just a bland and monotoned response. I should've probably taken his advice and left, but for some reason, I decided to keep pressing.

"Look, you're clearly depressed about something, but I---"

He suddenly shifted his gaze to me. But now it wasn't a gaze of sorrow, it was one of anger. Instantly, I felt myself being thrown against one of the hallway walls with something gripping my collar, and quickly realized that it was the hyena hybrid. Somehow, he had managed to do that in the blink of an eye, but I was too startled to figure out why.

"I said I want to be alone. Piss off."

As quickly as he shoved me into the wall, he let me go, staring daggers at me all the while. This time, I took the hint and said "Whoa, whoa, take it easy, man! I was just trying to help you, but I can take a hint. Walking away now..."

I hurried back the way I came. He resumed his slouching position and depression.

That guy was a dick... Hope I don't run into him again any time soon...

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Well, what do you think, fellow SoFurry readers? This is just a small thing, the real story's getting all the attention. I just like changing it up every now and then. Chapter 13 hopefully won't be too far away.

But for this, which character do you think I should I do next?

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