As you sit alone in your apartment complex, you look out to see the peaceful sight of the world out your window. Sadly that can't be said for the rest of the world.
A slow infection of a fungal growth known as Cordyceps, a fungi that has mutated from only infecting ants now affected humans.
It attacks the hosts mind by spreading through the brain and causes the victim to become violent monsters. Already half the nation of the United States have been hit with this virus.
Though the government tells us that it hasn't spread to some states. You think of it kind of like the bird flu epidemic.
Though on the news a report kicks on, interrupting your normal show.
"Breaking news! Channel five has been given information from the heads of national security to put information out about the infected that have begone to spread though out the States."
You sit there listening to the reporter speak, making a list of means about those infected and the stages.
Runners are the first and weakest stage of the Infected who have recently entered their transformation. Since the eyes are first targeted by the fungus, runners have poor eyesight, but maintain many human instincts.
For example, their moans are still human, just like their overall appearance. A way to tell them apart from normal survivors is their glowing red eyes. Their body language is sluggish while they are passive, suggesting they are resisting the fungus's influence.
Sometimes they do not attack at all, even when non-infected individuals are right in front of them. These non-aggressive runners will only attack if attacked first or when an object is thrown at or near them, thus losing control.
Much like sneezing, the urge to attack after such interactions happens involuntarily and unwillingly by the host. Runners are confirmed to be able to attack in packs flailing their arms trying to trample the survivor.
Stalkers are the second stage of the Infected. They have the vision and speed of Runners.
They are hybrids of Clickers and Runners. The most notable physical traits that define the "Stalkers" is the distinct croaking noises they make, the beginning of fungal growths on the head and face, the development of pseudo echolocation, and their discretion when chasing a victim - they will strafe and take cover, eventually closing in on the victim, hence the name "stalker". Stage 2 may take place anywhere between a few days after the start of the infection (Stage 1) and up to a year.
The rarity of Stalkers may suggest that this stage does not last long before changing into a Clicker.
Clickers are the third and most distinctly recognized stage of the Infected. They have had prolonged exposure to the fungus, and now possess strength that significantly surpasses the average human.
This makes them deadlier, but at the price of being completely blind due to fungal infection overtaking their face. However, Clickers are able to maneuver through areas by utilizing echolocation, which produces noticeable clicking noises to locate sources of sound.
Clickers appear less human than Runners, with faces that are skewed and scarred by fungus developed from their infected brains.
Clickers are dangerous and much more aggressive than Runners, and no longer resist the fungus because their humanity has been eliminated. Interestingly, most of the Clickers seen appear to have been female humans.
"If you see a spore like mist in the air, please stay away from that area. The spore can cause you to become infected within two days of inhale. The same goes for being bitten. There is no hope of survival if you inhale spores, or if you are bitten by an infected individual."
You shake your head with pity for those who have been attacked already by this deadly virus that spreads though out this great nation.
Just as you get up a loud explosion lights up the street below. Looking out you notice a group of cars on fire, a few people walking strangely in the street.
It wasn't until then that you notice their eyes. They were blood shot red. Those were Runners like the news said.
You had no gun. No means of security.
A loud banging heard from your door, the sounds of moaning and groaning heard.
It's to late for you, but you would rather die then be left to be eaten. Opening the window, you look down in the street before leaping five stories down.
Twenty years after a fungal spore-based infection rapidly spread across the globe, wiping out a vast majority of the population by warping its hosts’ brains and turning them into deadly predators capable of killing with a single bite.
The remnants of the world’s population has been reduced to either struggling survivors or ravenous infected mutants.
Pick your survivor:
Name: Gwen Tracy
Age: 30
Height: 5'8"
Hair color/length: Brown/Short
Attire: Flannel shirt, cargo pants, work boots, motorcycle gloves, hoodie.
On person at all times: Switch blade, 9mm, back pack.
Personality: hot headed, self dependent
When the virus hit, Gwen was a young girl, just turned ten. On her birthday she saw first hand the effect of what happens to those infected with Cordyceps. Her parents eaten in front of her.
Her older brother Jerry (fifteen years old) saved her from the same horrible fate. Ten years later Gwen and Jerry worked to try and find supplies for a small colony they fell in line with. Jerry died from a clicker attack, causing Gwen to spiral into a depression for many years to come.
She was left bitter and it simmered in her with age. She currently lives in Portland Oregon still on the crew to search for food.
Name: Jacob Whitmire.
Age: 43
Height: 6'2"
Hair color/length: Black/Short
Attire: Dark urban camo leather bomber jacket, Dark blue jeans, black hiking boots, fingerless gloves, bandana, hoodie.
On person at all times: Hunting knife, semi-automatic pistol, back pack.
Personality: broody, easily angered, quick thinking, strategic
Jacobs home town was one of the first places to be hit. And it was hit hard. Not by infected, but by the spores.
It wasn't ten hours in when the whole county was coated in spore, infected from out of the wood work came crawling in and started devouring the towns folk.
Jacob was one of the few who stood to fight against the growing monsters. His wife beside him the entire time.
On a night patrol around the perimeter a group of Runners caught them by surprise and swarmed them easily. His wife died becoming a snack for the beasts.
Losing his beloved that day put him in a position that didn't care for what happened to him when it came to his job, protecting the clean. Anyone bitten, man women or child... they were lost causes to him.
He currently resides in the small town of Wenatchee Washington.
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