Emi let Zedra the 5th lead her into another room, this one painted completely black. A chair similar to a dentist's chair was sitting in the middle, but there were metal restraints to hold a patient down. She stopped in her tracks, eyeing the chair warily. The only light in the room hung over the chair like a spotlight.

"What's wrong?" said Zedra.

A small wave of anger hit Emi. "You're turning me into a guinea pig, like I told you not to."

"We're trying to help you, Ms. Parks."

"How do I know this...cure won't just make me follow your orders or something?"

Zedra sighed and pressed a button next to the door, activating an intercom. "Send her in."

Emi heard a pair of heels making a subtle clicking noise down the hallway, and sure enough, her mother appeared in the doorway, looking somewhat guilty.

"Hi, Em," her mom said softly.

Emi stepped forwards. "When did you get here? Why are you here?"

"Look, I am your mother. I wanted to be here for you. So I asked them if I could watch all the stuff they were doing to make sure you were safe. And I approve of this cure."

Emi wanted to respond meaningfully, but the hunger began, so she turned away from her mother and closed her eyes. "Just...okay...I'll take it. Get her away from me so I don't eat her or something." She heard Zedra lead her mother away and the door close behind them.

Dread set in as Emi walked slowly to the chair and sat down in it, letting the restraints activate to bind her hands and feet to the chair. Zedra the 4th's voice came over the intercom.

"Your mother will be watching you from the camera, and my daughter will be monitoring your vitals as we figure this out," she said. "Just listen to the sound of my voice and everything will be alright."

Emi opened her mouth to make a remark, but a searing hot pain entered her back. An iron? No, a needle. Panic kicked in as whatever instincts told her to get out of the chair as quickly as possible; struggling against the metal that held her down.

Still, she couldn't move, so she let out a scream. Her first in years. Whether it was out of pain or fear, she wasn't sure.

"It will be over soon, Ms. Parks," came the faceless voice over the speakers. It sounded emotionless; without remorse or sympathy.

Nobody cares about me or my condition, Emi told herself as the pain continued. It began to dwindle as if she'd gotten used to it. But soon only one thought came to her: Feed. Now.

"We're having some technical problems on our end," said Zedra the 4th. "The cure itself is untested, so we're trying to keep any...issues from occurring. How are you feeling, Emily?"

Emi uselessly tried breaking free from her bonds, but let out an inhuman growl in response. The world had become a sea of red. Then the restraints were deactivated and the light dimmed above her. 

A choppy conversation came through the intercom. "Outage...two girls...tech department...escape." 

Emi leapt forward from her chair and rammed the door with her shoulder, causing it to burst open. Her mother came running down the hall towards her, outstretching her arms for a hug. Emi ignored her mother's attempts at affection and tackled her.

Fear entered the poor woman that lay below her as she pleaded to her daughter to let her go. The words fell on deaf ears.

Emi saw the tears in her mother's eyes, but she didn't care. And she bludgeoned her to death with her hands to extract the sustenance that laid within her skull. The zombie scarfed down the brain swiftly and stood, malevolently watching the aftermath of her hunger.

Maybe somewhere deep inside, she felt sad. But the feeling of power and control almost excited her, even at her own mother's expense. It tasted too good.

Before she could get lost in her zombie thoughts, security guards turned the corner down the hall with Ness and Wendy trailing behind them. A few shots rang out and one grazed her cheek, but she ignored the pain and ran the opposite direction. The hall turned into a maze of turns and dead-ends, but eventually the zombie came to a stop at one of the stairwells. 

Using her newfound durability, she purposely fell down the stairwell and landed 17 stories below to avoid her chasers.

After exiting the building through the front, she looked at all of the new possibilities walking the streets; new brains to consume. But she left them alone and stole a bike from one of the sidewalk racks and biked away.