Read Wormwood Dawn (Episode VIII) for Free Online Page A

ultimate lifeform. They are adaptable to change, unlike the other creatures. They are still sentient and can speak, also unlike the others. These will be the creatures that will rule us all. They will be our gods, and our masters.”
    That was disturbing to Toby. He didn’t want to be ruled by monsters. It was bad enough having to live on the same world with terrifying beasts that were once human, but to be ruled by an evil new race? That was a worse thought than anything he could imagine.
    “Why did those other people become scary animals, but that person became something different?”
    Maynard chuckled strangely. “Some people are just destined to be greater than others,” he said. “It all depends on how your body is made. People like you and I didn’t get sick and die, right? We didn’t turn into monsters, did we?”
    “Why?”
    “Well, my little friend,” Maynard said. “Perhaps we already were monsters in a way.”
    “I’m not a monster,” Toby said.
    “Of course not. Not yet anyway. But we eventually become monsters, all of us. Some people are just a different kind of monster, I suppose.”
    Toby thought back to his own father. He remembered how cruel and evil the man was, even though he was supposed to be a good guy. He could see his father being a monster like the Overlord, having always been mean and bossy. He would even laugh when he hit Toby and his mother. He would laugh with that empty look in his eyes, like there was nothing inside but evil.
    “So quiet,” Maynard said. “Yet so inquisitive. What is going on inside your head, Toby?”
    “I don’t want to be a monster,” Toby said. “My dad was a monster. I don’t want to be like him. I don’t want to hurt people.”
    Maynard was silent for a moment, but then sighed loudly. “I know you don’t,” he said, finally. “Sometimes, though, even people who want to be kind and generous become monsters. It is human nature. That nature is what determines what kind of monster you become. These evil men who have become Overlords are the biggest monsters of them all, and they always have been.”
    “What about you?” Toby asked. “Are you evil? Will you become a monster?”
    “Perhaps,” Maynard said. “But I prefer to make them.”
    “Make them?”
    The thought was frightening. What did Maynard mean he made them? How can someone make a monster?
    “Yes, Toby,” Maynard said. “I have made them. I have found people who were monstrous, and made them into real monsters. Do you understand?”
    “No.”
    “When infected, some people simply die. Others change. Still others, like our scary friend down there, become the biggest monsters of them all.”
    “How do you know?”
    “Because, Toby,” Maynard said. “I infected them, and watched them become what they were meant to be.”
    Toby’s heart began pounding. Was Maynard going to infect him? Would he become a monster? Why would Maynard want to infect people? Was he some kind of mad scientist?
    “Why?”
    “Because, Toby,” Maynard said. “I became infected myself. I wanted to see what would happen, and if I could stop it. So far, I have been successful. I am still a human. Or, at least, I still look human.”
    “Can you cure it?” Toby asked.
    “No. But I can slow the process.”
    Toby thought about Melanie and Mason’s men; how they had become monsters even though they weren’t bitten. They just rose from the dead, became ghouls, and then went somewhere to become monsters. Maybe Maynard would know why.
    “How could a dead person become a monster after they die?”
    “That is an interesting question, Toby. I’m glad you asked. Sometimes if a person is immune to the illness, they can still turn when they are killed. They may never show any signs of being infected while they are alive, but they are still infected. When their bodies die, the infection takes over and soon brings them back in another form. Then, they will seek a place to rest until they become whatever it is they