Raven Moon by Eva Gordon

words and symbol for biological hazard displayed on its side. Probably the apes from their research facility. Although, zombies never went after any other primates but man. Hmm. Maybe the truck was being used to transport zombies. Odd, how could zombies bend steel bars? There were no signs of zombies near the crater. She flew over the primate facility. The enclosures were left opened. The caretaker must have released them to save them from certain starvation. In the dusty fields were several bands of baboons. They seemed to fit into the landscape, similar to their African habitat. She and her guards circled back toward the facility above the parking lot near the crater. “Let’s land.”
    In raven form, they walked around, surveying the area. Beccan clucked. “What do you think happened?”
    Rave had seen urban destruction but she had a strong raven foreboding something nefarious had happened. She cocked her head, her raven eye honing in on what was once the building. “I see them overrun by zombies but faster ones.”
    Cashel cawed. “Look, a human.”
    A man cautiously crawled out of an armored truck. A rifle slung around his shoulder as he scanned the area. Dressed in cargo pants, polo shirt and a light brown jacket, he limped forward; a blood soaked wound on his calf wrapped in a makeshift bandage. He clutched a small camcorder and aimed it toward the overturned animal transport truck.
    Rave clucked, “I’m going to shift and find out what he’s up to.”
    Cashel protested. “You can’t. He’s bitten.”
    “He could have injured his leg escaping. Don’t worry, if he was bitten, we’ll shoot him as soon as he turns. Anyway one zombie will not be a problem.” Rave flew, landing a few feet in front of the man.
    He turned and videoed her while narrating, “A raven, actually three of them. I’ve never seen a Northern raven this far south, only the smaller Chihuahuan raven and crows. Actually, these are bigger than the ones I’ve seen in Alaska.”
    Great, a member of the Audubon Society. Time to add another species to his life-list. Rave shifted and so did her men.
    He fell back and fumbled with his camcorder nearly dropping it. “Holy shit!” He shook his head and spoke into his camera. “I’ve started to hallucinate. This may be the first sign I’m turning.”
    Rave kept her voice calm. “You’re not hallucinating. We are raven shifters.”
    He stared at her and then at Beccan and Cashel who aimed their HK 416s at him. “Yeah, right.”
    “If we’re not real, why would we carry weapons?”
    With trembling hands he videoed them, stopped filming and then tilted his head. “Because in my mind I want you to?”
    Rave couldn’t blame him for not believing what happened before his very eyes. Humans always reacted to their shifting by thinking they were either high on drugs or insane. Usually she was patient but they were outside her territory. At any moment, a swarm could appear. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and met his glance. “Look. Raven and other shifters exist. We never made ourselves known until now. We want to help humanity.”
    He put his camcorder down, sat and snorted. “Too late to save any of us, especially me.”
    Pity tightened her heart and she lowered her gaze. At least now, he’d die quick and not return as one of them. They’d offer him that merciful shot to the head. Just not yet. “How long ago were you bit?”
    “Two days ago. Before the building blew up.”
    Rave’s brows drew closer. Shouldn’t he at least have a fever? Maybe he hadn’t been bitten. His gash might have been caused by an accident and in his heightened confusion he mistook the wound as a bite. “Who blew it up?”
    “Dr. Tom Giles. He and four others stayed inside but at the last minute, I panicked and left.”
    I was right. “Suicide.” Often a quick death was the only alternative to escape being eaten by zombies.
    “The things escaped and killed close to seventy people.” He stared