**Stage 0%: The Beginning of the End**
Zeke had always been a survivor. When the virus broke out in London, he was far away in New York City, blissfully unaware of the impending disaster. As the news of the virus reached the shores of the United States, panic spread like wildfire. People hoarded supplies, boarded up their homes, and did whatever they could to avoid infection.
**Stage 10%: A Close Call**
Months passed, and Zeke managed to scrape by. He scavenged abandoned stores, avoiding other survivors whenever possible. One day, while raiding a Walmart for canned food, he heard a faint rustling behind him. Before he could react, a swarm of rats came rushing through the aisles. Zeke scrambled to escape, but not before one of the rats nipped his ankle, leaving a tiny, seemingly inconsequential cut.
**Stage 20%: The First Changes**
As the days went by, Zeke noticed subtle changes. His appetite increased, and he found himself drawn to scraps of discarded food. His senses of smell and hearing sharpened, and the darkness of the night became less intimidating. Still, he thought nothing of it, chalking it up to the stress of survival.
**Stage 30%: The Transformation Deepens**
Zeke's physical transformation continued. His hair grew coarser, and his teeth began to elongate. His fingers started to twitch involuntarily, and he found himself crawling on all fours more often. He realized something was terribly wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Memories of his past life grew hazy, and he struggled to remember his own name.
**Stage 40%: The Loss of Humanity**
Zeke's mind began to slip further into darkness. He no longer recognized his own reflection in the occasional broken mirror he stumbled upon. He could no longer speak, his vocal cords having changed beyond recognition. His remaining memories faded, leaving him with only instinctual urges to scavenge for food and avoid danger.
**Stage 50%: The Point of No Return**
Halfway through his transformation, Zeke had become a grotesque hybrid of man and rat. His size and weight were now that of a normal rat, and his human consciousness was nearly extinguished. He navigated the shattered city, seeking out dark corners and hiding spots, driven solely by the primal need to survive.
**Stage 60%: A New Identity**
Zeke, or what was left of him, had lost all sense of self. He scurried through the labyrinthine ruins of New York, surrounded by countless others who had suffered the same fate. They were now a thriving colony of vermin, their collective consciousness reduced to basic, animalistic instincts.
**Stage 70%: The Hive Mind**
As Zeke continued to transform, he found himself drawn to the presence of other rats. They moved in unison, a silent and instinctual understanding guiding their actions. The once-independent man was now part of a collective consciousness, a hive mind that operated without question or hesitation.
**Stage 80%: The Final Moments of Humanity**
In the deepest recesses of his mind, a fragment of Zeke's former self fought to retain some semblance of humanity. He occasionally glimpsed fragments of memories—moments from his past life—but they were fleeting and distant, like faded photographs.
**Stage 90%: The Vermin's Reality**
By this point, Zeke's transformation was nearly complete. He had become one with the vermin that now ruled the desolate streets of New York. The city that had once been home to millions of people was now a domain of rats, their chittering and rustling echoing through the empty buildings.
**Stage 100%: A Rat Among Rats**
In the end, there was nothing left of Zeke, the man who had once fought so fiercely to survive. He was now just another rat, indistinguishable from the countless others that scurried through the city's ruins. His name, his memories, his humanity—all erased, leaving only the vermin that had taken his place.
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