I'd had my breakfast and got into my uniform, so I went down to the prison area, where all the zombies were, along with Jerry and Alan.

"Hey, you looking forward to your shift?" Alan asked as he looked at me.

"Uh not really." I shook my head, "It's the same old stuff, you know."

"I get it." Alan nodded.

I walked over and stood by the first cell. The smell in the prison was the worst ever; I would've used a nice smelling spray if there was any left. Unfortunately the sprays had all been used up and they said it wasn't a necessity, so no one would be going to look for it.

"I heard about that CRD sufferer being calmer, what was it like witnessing it?" Jerry asked.

"It was pretty worrying, we only had that vaccine and another to test. All the others before that had killed the zombies," I said and Jerry glared at me.

Jerry didn't like anyone calling them zombies, but I was just so used to calling them that. It would be hard to break the habit of calling them CRD sufferers instead of zombies.

"Uh, so Caitlin injected the... CRD sufferer and he pretty much stopped growling. He seemed pretty quiet when I was with him."

Alan was smiling, clearly engaged with what I was saying.

"And I decided to call him Murphy, since he's kinda been cured and Murphy from Z Nation was the first to be cured on that show," I said.

"That's a good idea," Jerry responded and nodded.

Where was Murphy? I hoped that he was still as calm as he had been yesterday.

I looked at the zombies in the cages around me and a lot of them had been infected ages ago. Their skin colour was a lot more grey or green and some of them had their guts hanging out. They were gross to look at, but the smell of them was far worse.

There were a few recently infected zombies; soldiers often went out to find newly infected zombies and they brought them back here. I was glad that I didn't have to leave the base to capture CRD sufferers because there was a much higher risk of being infected. I'd hate seeing how bad the outside world had become. Plus, there were a lot more zombies outside the base; I'd be scared if I had to deal with more than one at a time. It was just as well that I kept guard over the zombies at the base and moved them from one place to another.

I looked at the zombies around me and saw a CRD sufferer who resembled Murphy in the middle of the prison on the left side. It was hard to tell since some zombies looked very similar.

I walked over, making sure to stay in the centre so that the zombies couldn't grab me and stood opposite Murphy. His eyes met mine and he seemed calm, the way he had been before.

Murphy stood up and crept over to the bars. "W-w-water." Murphy growled and my eyes went wide.

I couldn't believe that Murphy had just spoken, even if it did sound very like a zombie.

"Did he just fucking speak?" Alan asked as he pointed at Murphy.

Jerry stood there with his eyes wide and his mouth hung open, as he stared at Murphy.

"Uh I think he wants water." I replied and Murphy nodded.

"Right, I'll umm, go get it." Alan said.

He walked towards me and I took a step towards Murphy, to prevent being in the way. My heart was pounding, hoping that Murphy wouldn't attack me since I was quite close to him.

"Name?" Murphy asked as he pointed at me.

"Oh wow, my name is Isabella." I replied with a smile.

I was amazed by how well Murphy was doing, he was already talking a bit and this was only a day after he'd been given the vaccine.

It gave me hope that the zombies could be cured and possibly even integrate back into society. But maybe I was getting ahead of myself, the virus could still mutate and there could be any number of side effects from the vaccine.

Alan walked past, so I stepped back into the middle. Murphy seemed calm, hopefully he wouldn't attack, but I couldn't be sure. It was better to be safe than sorry.

"Name?" Murphy asked as he pointed to himself.

No one knew the names of the CRD sufferers, unless they had a wallet or something to identify them.

"I'm not sure." I shrugged, "But we've all been calling you Murphy, I came up with the name."

Murphy growled, causing me to jump a bit. Maybe he didn't like the name I'd given him, but I didn't see anything wrong with it.

"Murphy... for now." He nodded.

"I can't believe this." Jerry shook his head, "This could be the cure."

"Well I hope so."

Murphy growled again, it made me wonder if it was just an automatic thing that he did since he'd been a zombie for so long. Although we weren't exactly sure whether he'd been infected for a few days or a few weeks.

There was saliva dribbling from Murphy's mouth and he was staring at me. I felt my face getting hot, I usually felt quite uncomfortable when people stared at me. It was even worse with a zombie, it was like Murphy wanted to eat me.

Murphy pointed at me, "Smell good."

Murphy growled loudly and ran at the bars, I screamed as Murphy tried to grab me. Thankfully I was out of the way, so he couldn't reach me.

"Umm, we can get food for you." I said.

My heart pounding and I was a bit out of breath.

When Alan came back either him or Jerry could go and get an animal carcass for Murphy. We obviously couldn't feed humans to the zombies, so we gave them raw animals and that seemed to be good enough for them.

"Maybe the cure didn't work." Jerry sighed.

"I don't know," I replied with a shrug. "Maybe he's just hungry."

Murphy kept trying to grab me, while growling; just like a regular zombie, not one who'd been given a vaccine.

The door opened and Alan walked in with a bottle of water. "Oh shit, is Murphy mad again?" He asked.

"For now it seems like it." I sighed.

Alan stood beside me, held out the water and Murphy snatched it from him. He ripped off the lid and started drinking, the bottle crackled when half of it was left, it scrunched inwards as well.

When Murphy was finished he threw the bottle out of his cell and it rattled as it hit the ground.

"Food!" Murphy growled.

"One of you two get it, I got the water for him." Alan said.

"I'll get it." Jerry responded.

Alan walked back and stood by the first two cells. Jerry walked towards me, Murphy seemed calmer, so I stepped towards him.

"We're going to get food for you now." I said.

Jerry walked past, so I quickly took a step back. He got to the end of the cages, then opened the door and left the prison area.

"So do you remember anything about your life?" I frowned and looked at Murphy.

Murphy held his head, as if he was having a flashback or something. I hoped it was that and not some kind of side effect from the vaccine. Murphy rocked back and forward a bit as he held his head and then slowly looked up at me.

"Was... a nurse." Murphy said as he pointed at himself.

It was possible that Murphy had been infected at a hospital since he was still in his uniform. Although I didn't think hospitals would still be open now; perhaps I would find out Murphy's story sometime.

"Ate people."

Presumably Murphy had killed a lot of people because he would've eaten a lot when he was outside of the base. The zombies had to eat to stay alive, the virus had completely taken over the people they once were. I didn't fully blame the zombies for killing people and hoped that we'd be able to cure them.

"So you don't remember your name?" I asked and Murphy shook his head.

Murphy growled again and more saliva dripped from his mouth. My heart was racing, anticipating Murphy running at the bars again and scaring me.

"Hungry!" Murphy exclaimed.

"We're getting food for you as quickly as we can!" Alan called.

I nodded, "We are."

Murphy took in a few deep breaths and it seemed as if he was trying to calm himself. Would the other zombies react to the vaccine the same way that Murphy had? Hopefully they would because Murphy seemed to be doing pretty well, apart from some of his outbursts. Some of the zombies might not react to the vaccine at all, while others might react better than Murphy had.

"What food?" Murphy frowned.

"Uh, an animal," I replied.

"Not as good... as human."

"Well you aren't allowed to eat humans ever again!" Alan exclaimed and shook his head.

Murphy looked at Alan and growled very loudly.

"I'm sure humans taste nicer to you and other zombies. But here you're only allowed to eat animals." I said and Murphy sighed.

The door opened and I looked round, Jerry was there with a badger in his arms.

He walked over, Murphy lumbered up to the bars and Jerry held the badger out. Murphy grabbed the badger, taking it from him. He just about managed to squeeze the badger through the bars.

He sunk his teeth into the carcass, causing his teeth and mouth to turn red. It was pretty disgusting, I couldn't even imagine what it would be like to eat an animal raw. I hated the taste of blood and the thought of eating an animal, guts and all, made me feel sick. The blood dripped from Murphy's chin as he devoured the animal.

"Hopefully he'll be calmer now." I sighed.

"I hope so too," Alan replied and nodded. "Sorry, could I get past you?"

I took a step towards Murphy, Alan quickly walked past and I stepped back into my place. Alan went back to his place at the end of the cells.

"Do you think this vaccine will work on the other CRD sufferers?" Jerry asked as he looked at me.

"Well I hope so. I'm not sure if it'll work on ones who were infected ages ago though," I replied.

"If it really is the cure then maybe life will start going back to normal, I would love that." Alan smiled.

"Yeah that would be great," I replied.

It would be a dream to have the old world back, but even if my sister had found the cure, it could take years for the world to go back to normal. It might never even go back to normal, especially since Murphy was still very similar to a zombie.

A lot of people would hate the CRD sufferers who were rehabilitated back into society, because they would've killed their loved ones. Thankfully none of my family or friends had been killed by zombies, maybe that was why I was so accepting of them.

Murphy had eaten a lot of the badger and in the middle of its body there were only bones left. He stopped eating and pushed the badger back through the bars, it landed with a thud near my feet.

I definitely didn't want to touch the badger. It had been disgusting before since it was dead, but was even more vile now that it was half-eaten. I didn't want to risk touching it and becoming a zombie.

People got infected if they were bitten, scratched or if their saliva got into a wound, eyes or mouth. They could also be infected if the sufferer's blood got into their system. I was a pretty cautious person anyway, so either Jerry or Alan could deal with the badger.

"One of you handle that, I don't want to risk getting infected." I shook my head.

"Fine I'll dispose of it," Jerry replied.

Jerry came over, bent down and lifted the Badger. I leaned away from him, not wanting to be anywhere near the thing.

He walked back to the other end of the cells. I looked at Murphy, he was wiping the blood off his mouth and chin with the back of his hand. What he did next repulsed me, he licked the blood off his hand. Although it wasn't quite as bad as watching him eat the badger.

"How are you feeling now?" I asked.

"Better." Murphy replied.

He went and plonked himself down on the bench that was in his cell, then looked at me. His mouth was stained red, it didn't look nice, but at least blood wasn't dripping off him.

"Why... can I... talk?"

"Well my sister created a vaccine and yesterday we gave it to you. You were calmer yesterday and today you've started talking a bit." I replied with a smile. "I assume that means that the vaccine is working and I'm hoping you'll continue to become more human."

"How long, zombie?" Murphy asked as he pointed to himself.

It would've been interesting to see how Jerry would've reacted to Murphy calling himself a zombie, because he hated people using that word. Unfortunately I couldn't see his reaction because he was disposing of the badger.

"Uh, I don't know." I shrugged, "You were brought to this base two days ago I think. So it's been at least a few days, but it could've been a few weeks."

"Yeah, he was brought in two days ago." Alan nodded.

I heard the door creaking, looked round and saw Lucy. She seemed perfect, she had long, straight blonde hair, a small nose, big lips, perfectly clear pale skin and she had large boobs and a big bum. Not only did she look amazing, she always seemed happy, she was friendly, funny, kind and everyone liked her. It annoyed me how perfect she seemed, that it made me dislike her sometimes.

Nearly all the men wanted to date her, even some of the women. Whereas here was me, tiny boobs, a big, sticky out nose, thin, small lips and I sometimes had spots on my face. I suppose there was one thing going for me physically, I had a big bum like Lucy did.

I thought I was a friendly person, but definitely couldn't crack a good joke. A lot of the time I was shy, especially with people I didn't know or when in groups with people who weren't friends. I'd been shy pretty much all my life and there had been days in school where I barely talked. Thankfully that part of my life was over and there wasn't as much pressure on me to fit in.

I wasn't shy around people who I'd known for a while and those people, who stuck through my awkward times were my true friends. Although I was fine with talking to someone if they were the only person there. I suppose I didn't want to interrupt in group environments.

"Your shift is over Isabella, you get a break now," Lucy said and looked at me.

"Alright, thanks," I replied.

Murphy got up and stumbled quickly over to the bars. "Don't leave!" He shouted and his arm reached out for me.

I jumped and felt my heart pounding, I hadn't been expecting Murphy to try to grab me again.

"Didn't mean... to scare." Murphy shook his head. "You friendly. Want you to stay."

I smiled, what Murphy said was sweet, but it was time for my break, I needed it. It would be nice to get away from the stinky zombies. There were other duties after my break anyway, I'd have to get CRD sufferers and bring them to be vaccinated.

"Sorry I have to go, but I'll be back here tomorrow," I replied.

"Promise?"

"I promise." I nodded. "Well I'll see you all later."

"Bye," Alan said as he waved at me.

I walked to the start of the cells and Lucy walked past me, she went and stood opposite Murphy. I opened the door and started climbing up the steps.

I really hoped that Murphy wouldn't prefer Lucy to me. She was always getting more attention than me and if Murphy liked her more than me then that would be another blow to my confidence. I felt a bit of a bond with Murphy since he was the first zombie to be partially cured and I was the first person he'd talked to. So if he ended up liking Lucy more than me, it'd feel like a bite to the neck.

But what was I doing? How could I be getting worried about Murphy preferring Lucy to me? He wasn't even properly human yet! Who knows what could happen to him, him talking could be temporary, or he could be completely cured soon. I hoped it was the latter but we wouldn't know for a while.