Four Stages Of The Infection
It did not start as a monster. It started as a bird.
Stage IThe Watcher
You saw it first at the treeline — silent, white-masked, perfectly still. No blood yet. Just a shape that turns its head a half-second after you do. You told yourself it was a barn owl.
Stage IIThe Turn
The infection reaches the throat. Feathers slick and matting, the first dark ribbons running down the mask. It stops hunting mice. It starts following footprints. Yours.
Stage IIIThe Burning Eyes
Rabies takes the light. Two coals now, hanging between the pines wherever your torch sweeps. It has learned your route home. It gets to the clearing before you do.
Stage IVThe Scream
The beak splits wider than bone should allow and the forest goes quiet around the sound. There is no hiding left. Only the road, the streetlights, and how fast you can run.

Join The Flock
Nobody survives the forest alone. Follow the screaming.