By the time they hit the next turn Sasuke was reasonably certain that this wasn't a normal hunger -- his stomach felt so hollow that it was as if he hadn't eaten in a month. The pain in his shoulder was spreading at the same rate as well, and when he swung the shovel to knock back a particularly fast shambler the flesh felt oddly ... loose was perhaps the best way to describe it.

No normal infection spread this rapidly, of that much he was sure -- Itachi's body must have been tampered with, laced with something abnormal itself before being unleashed into the town. Or perhaps the very thing that had animated the corpse was the poison (but if Itachi had recognised Sasuke, then had it been ... but surely there had been nothing of Uchiha Itachi in that desperate creature).

Regardless of the exact cause, Sasuke was growing increasingly sure that something was distinctly wrong with him. When he clambered into the window he felt that strange looseness about his shoulder again and ignored it in favour of immediately slamming the window shut and listening for anything in the house.

Nothing they couldn't handle -- if he could just do something about the damn hunger, put anything in his stomach, he could definitely ignore the pain. Gritting his teeth, Sasuke readjusted his hold on the shovel and waited for the shuffling and moaning to draw close enough to hit.