I stand up, smelling the air inquisitively - yes, someone's nearby. I stand perfectly still, gathering every sensation of my surroundings. Footsteps, crackling of fire. Smell of man, smell of woman - pregnant? Yes. Too bad, the female could have been useful otherwise.
I follow the scent trail through the abandoned back streets, between the towering ruins around me. My stomach growls in hunger, and I hasten my steps, now almost running for the meat. The sound of fire is getting louder, more distinct as I go. New sounds join it, sounds of breathing, sounds of three hearts pumping blood just around the next corner.
Suddenly, the man - I think it's the man - stops breathing, just as his pulse is getting higher. He must've heard me, there's no time to waste. I let the change come, charging into action. One second, two, and I'm in front of him.
As usual, there is little resistance. The man takes a swing at me with something, but I grab his arm and slash him to death. The female is still, breathing steadily, the few sounds of battle not having disturbed her sleep. Now perfectly calm - too much so, even - I carefully cut her throat with my razor-sharp claws. Her blood flows free, and quickly her heart ceases to function.
One heart - the weaker one - is still beating. As it also grows weaker and weaker, a strange feeling comes over me, distancing me from my hunger. Is it sadness? Remorse? Maybe so. Long-suppressed thoughts begin to surface in my mind.
How did I end up here, an outcast feeding on outcasts, on once-forbidden prey? Yes, I can remember the old days - most of the time I choose not to, the memories being too painful to bear... The old days, before the apocalypse, when we would feast upon the bounty of the forests and of the plains, rather than eat of the corrupt human flesh - now tainted even further by the fallout.
Such times of luxury are long gone - as is our dignity, our purity, everything we stood for. This is the end of all, with no glory, no honor. Strange indeed that all have not forsaken us - the Moon still shines its light, even though it's clouded by dust, even though I can't see it through my blind eyes.
Forcing myself out of my contemplation, I feel the air. The weak heartbeat is gone, no-one alive here, everything's silent. A tear drops on my hand - yes, hand, I'm in human form again - then another, then a third one. Sadly, I smile - for the first time in a very long while - as a heartbeat penetrates my consciousness.
Maybe, just maybe, there is someone alive here.
Shifting forms again, I start my feast.