1 SCOURGE

Utica, New York

Night, a cold night. People panicking with mother's holding their children, father's leading them, and their children, crying. They are all formed into a line mouth's being checked for something, other's were pulled out of the line and to the woods and shot ringed. It made everyone scream as the soldiers try to calm them down, helicopter propellers disrupting the wind, and their screams rang as a dinner bell for the creatures in the night.

"MOVE MOVE MOVE, FALL BACK"

"SEND BACK-UP WE'RE BEING OVERRUN"

Humanoid creatures taking in bullets that would kill a normal human, this ones is obviously not one. A lone soldier was separated from his squad into an alleyway, he nervously approached maybe one of those beings in the alley with him. He shined his light to the boy and reacted, his eyes are filled with blood, maroon.

'Help us, please' They asked the soldier, he looked over to his mother and her heart is impaled by a kitchen knife. The skinny boy started to scream rabidly and attacked him, he closed his mouth with all his might and broke the boy's neck. He wiped the saliva and blood off his mouth. A little grunt got out from his mouth, it was his last breath. He pushed the boy over and ran towards an open door.

"mmmmhmmm"

He looked in every cupboard and cabinet as he counts 120 seconds in his head. He found a bottle of alcohol, took off the cup and raised it up to his face but he stopped. He thought twice and did it he wiped his face with the alcohol and it got into his eyes and nostrils, it stung his everything including the faces on his wounds. He managed to barely open his eyes as he continued to scream in pain, he went to the faucet and wiped his eyes.

'Holy shit, holy shit' He said, not feeling satisfied of his safety he put recounted 120 again as he put the barrel of his rifle into his mouth.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8"

He counted.

"116....117....118....119...1..1120, holy shit"

He looked to his hand if he is shaking uncontrollably, 'Thank, God' he whispered. But it wasn't the time to thank God, the bullet that broke the air went quiet. He crawled over to the window and looked through the mail slot, the creatures are walking around as they grunt and groan. He went up to the second floor and he can see the trucks heading south.

"NO, NO NO NO NO" He smashed his fist on his knees, he cried and cried feeling alone and scared. He lay down on the floor, his eyes grew tired and he has accepted his fate that this is the end. A thud, loud enough to be heard from where he is can be heard and it woke him up. He got up and the sun broke through the curtain he looked outside and the creatures are gone, the thud is still there.

He turned on his radio.

"This is Corporal Tobias Cramer, I am in Utica, New York, in a house by a T intersection of Albany street and Columbus avenue, if there is anyone-"

Tobias, a small man with a hard build, he has clean bald fade and lacerations in different parts of his body from the attacks he got into last night.

A louder, clearer, and nearer thud disrupted him, 'one of those things is in here' he thought. He can hear it coming up the stairs, he put a suppressor on his pistol as to not call some of those things below him. He went outside slowly, and slowly for every step he hears he stood froze. 'What if it will jump on me like the boy', ' What If I got pinned' all the thought in his head is the only thing he can hear, when the source of the sound came up, it is one of those decaying things and instantly he shot right in the head killing it.

The body feel and the creatures down below started to scream and went up stairs, as a flight or fight response he jumped went out the window into the roof, and with one grenade he thought of ending it right there.

*BANG* A loud shot rang through the air and shot at him, he saw a figure on top of the school, he looked over and saw three of those things dead. Immediately He jumped on to the car parked in the drive way and it and the alarm went off. he ran like hell across to the street and used the garbage bin to jump up to the roof.

He panted like crazy and thanked the person uncontrollably, the figure aimed a gun at him and asked.

" Corporal Cramer?"

It was a woman's voice, she stood over to overshadow Tobias. She has a slim build but fit, taller than Tobias and a boy cut, a beautiful Korean woman.

"Sergeant Lee Ryung Ki, oh goodness, I am glad to see you"

"Get up"

"You got left behind too huh?"

"Yeah, we got overrun during the evac, your team?"

'Half of them are, one of those things' He pointed over to the alarmed car as the dead walked over to it. He started to feel sick in the stomach as he saw some of those creatures with its faces torn off, and guts coming out.

"Why do you smell like rubbing alcohol Corporal?"

"Oh, I....I panicked and used it to clean myself"

"Oh, that explains your red eyes, does it still sting?"

"Yeah"

"So, what do you want to do?"

"Get out of the city and head south to the port and leave for everywhere"

"How about Canada?"

"What about it?"

"it is much safer there and easier to get to, take road 81 and follow it to Ontario 401"

"No, I have family down in Delaware"

"Really?"

"Yeah, Plus its where the harbors are, we might be safe there"

"Maybe, it might have already been overrun by those undead"

"maybe, Its worth a shot"

"Sure"

The two took a deep sigh and decided their next move. Head to the school cafeteria , take a car and head south. As dusk came and so is the night came and the dead has came out from the shade and darkness. The groans, growls, and moans of the walking corpses made the two soldiers tremble in fear. Any time this creatures can hear them and attack them.

"I got the brick"

"How far can you throw something of that weight corporal?"

"10, 12, 15 meters?"

"Okay, we also need to draw the attention of the ones in the building"

'There' Tobias pointed at a SUV in the school's drop off, they looked at each and nodded. Tobias stood up and prepared to throw the brick, with all his strengths he threw it. It broke through the windshield of the SUV and from the house, a man came out screaming and firing his gun.

"COME AT ME YOU MONSTERS"

And come those monsters came, every one of those undead come close to him he shot it.

"We have to he-"

"No, look, he is dead anyway"

The man's left abdomen is open, and like those creatures his skin is turning grey.

"Come to the canteen"

They hopped down to the ground and the man saw them and called to them.

"SOLDIERS?! SOLDIERS?!! HEYY!! HELP ME"

Tobias stopped on his tracks and hesitated, but he ran with his senior anyway to the cafeteria. They blocked themselves in the blood filled kitchen, 'no dead' Lee said to Tobias.

"We should grab as much unperishable as we can"

"Yes ma'am"

Lee looked through the backdoor window and saw one of those directly at the door staring but it seems to not see her. They finished up without any disturbance, fortunately.

"Where was the truck that you-"

"There, out in the open"

"Okay, we run like hell?"

"Yeah, no shooting"

"3....2....1"

Using pans and trays, they used it as a makeshift shield pushing the dead away from them. They managed to to get into the vehicle, but the dead is starting to overrun them. Fast running ones are mixed into the hoard, one of the dead smashed its head into the door and he shoved the pan into its mouth. The truck started to run and they mowed through the horde.

Lee drove like a madwoman through them, after 30 mins they stopped at Graffenburg road and let out a massive sigh.

"Oh, thank god"

He opened the window but it only smelled putrid, he closed the window anyway. They turned on the air-conditioner but it smelled like like guts anyway. They started to sweat inside of the heating truck.

"We should head to Oneonta"

"No, city, there'll be dead there"

"Good point, we didn't lose anything right?"

"Yeah, just the trays and pans"

The two chuckled and they drove to South New Berlin, they are trying to approach a much safer way to the hamlet. 8 PM came and the hamlet seemed quiet, empty. They looked around in the middle of the road and nothing, no one. Not even a drop of blood nor entrails.

"The cities must have attracted them"

"uh huh"

"Should I make a sound?"

"No. absolutely not"

"You two from'ere"

An man in his 30s is pointing a gun at them from his house.

"Hey man, we are just passing through"

"soldiers?"

"yessir"

"Get out"

"No, we need help sir"

"What is it?"

"We need gas"

"Where ya headin'?"

"Down south to Delaware, greenwood"

"Long way innit?"

"Yes sir"

"If I we don't get gas, we just might walk"

The old man stared at them, the two felt uncomfortable with his gray eyes.

"Sleep?"

"Sleep? Sorry?"

"You two tired?"

"Should we?"

"How do we know that we can trust you?"

"You can't"

"What?"

"Why?"

"Kiddin' C'mere get in"

Tobias drove the car in front of the house.

"So no one else in this town?"

'Whoa' The two reacted seeing the supplies on the ground of this old man. Guns, ammos and canned goods.

"Me and my boy lives here, when them people left with your people, we decided to stay"

"Now?"

"We'll regret"

"How?"

"The foods here can last us months, but when people run out in cities, they might go huntin'"

"You understand them?"

"Yeah, they all are like animals, when food runs out in a certain place, they move"

"What's your name?"

"I ain't givin'. ya"

"Why?"

"I might kill ya"

"God"

"Em pullin, I ain't gonna harm ya, being human is the only thing we have before turnin' into them monsters"

"Thanks, sleep, I'll stay in watch"

"Nah, I'll do it, you don't have to do that much"

"Thank you"

The two rested their heavy bodies in the soft couch, and the man watched throughout the night ensuring their safety.

Greenwood, Delaware

*One of the symptoms of the newly discovered disease is equal to rabies in animals such as fever, vomiting, agitation, anxiety, confusion, and hyperactivity*

"What is this disease?"

"It is a virus, apparently a mutated version of rabies"

"Really? How so?"

"Like what the dogs get when they have rabies, humans also contract those symptoms"

*Hospitals are being filled to the maximum and they are panicking and at the brink of collapse*

"That much"

The man finished breakfast and got into his uniform.

"Careful, it's your first day of being a fire chief"

"Yes sweetie, take care you two"

The woman rubbed her 7 month old belly, she smiled and waved at her husband getting into his car. She started to hum as the baby kicked to calm herself. The husband received a report of an attack near his him.

"Sussex avenue?"

*Yes sir and intersecting Market street*

"Okay, I'll stop there"

"Yes sir"

He arrived at a fire, everyone was outside. Half of the house has already turned to ash, he cannot do anything anymore as he is only one man. He can only ask, but fortunately the company arrived and got rid of the fire. No casualties arouse during the fire and everyone is safe, 50,000 dollars in damage is the biggest issue.

"Sir!"

"Darren, thanks for the call"

"No problem sir, drop the sir, call me Harry"

"Yes sir"

"What did I just say?"

"It feels weird to call you by your name"

"Okay"

"So how is the Mrs.?"

"Oh, Elizabeth has been strong, 7 months I love her"

"You do"

"Yep of course"

"Have you heard of the virus in the middle east?"

"Yes, like rabies or something?"

"Yessir, someone contracted it here in America?"

"Really?"

The two headed to the fire department and to do the daily work. The same topic in the news goes on through every radio and television in the building it sounds alarming, but not yet for them. There have already been over a million cases within 4 months in the middle east, and everyone has became prepared and knew what to do. The cases seemed to stop at 2 million and the W.H.O has never heard since from the middle east.

The reason for that is that the world has started to crumble down, the 246 million people on the middle east has started to rot away. Soon the world will rot away.

4 MONTHS LATER

"How are we going to get out of the city?"

"Let's hope for my brother, Toby will come okay? We can get out of here"

The dead has risen, looking for meat to devour. The people in the state of Delaware were decimated. The Lucius J. Kellam Jr. bridge tunnel and Chesapeake bay bridge tunnel was destroyed and the Chesapeake bay bridge is destroyed as well. Delaware is one of the states that has been forsaken.

The dead rose and pushed in from the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The largely dense cities were bombed as a response to the massive outbreak of the virus. Within 3 months majority of the American population disappeared. The government tried to save people as much as they can, but they were overrun.

Different facilities that studied the newly discovered virus throughout the world were the first ones to turn and spread more of the virus. North Korea, Greenland, Iceland and the United Kingdom were the lasts ones to fall to the virus.

"Alright, Wake up soldiers, we going now"

"mhhm"

South New Berlin

Lee and Tobias wakes up from their sleep, they finally see the boy the man is referencing. The boy is helping his dad bring things to the back of the truck, every supplies that they can carry is neatly put to the back of the truck.

The boy is carrying a rifle half of his body and it scared Tobias, so he grabbed the gun.

'What?' The boy asked.

"Can you use that?"

"Uh huh, My pop taught me"

"You sure?"

"Yes sir"

The boy climbed up and stood on the roof of the car and looked through a binocular, and from the north a horde is starting to build up. He warned them and so they quickly packed everything and started to drive south to Delaware.

"You two okay out there?"

"Yeah buddy"

"Good, so can We have your name?"

"What if I to kill you and steal your car?"

"what about it?"

"you still need to know my name?"

"Yeah, because you won't do it"

The man looked at his and mouthed off 'we can trust them'. The boy laid down on the back of the truck and he replied to them.

"Randall, my boy here is Craig"

"Nice to meet you Randall, so where's your wife?"

"She works in the big city, but I think she stuck down Jersey"

"oh?"

"Aye"

"Heard from her?"

"Yeah, she stayin' with her parents, Thank God"

"So, where in Jersey?"

"Vineland"

"Goodluck"

"Thank ya"

After three hours they arrived on the outskirts of the city of Pennsylvania, they stopped at a small shop in order to separate. The father and son hopped into a small sedan and drove away.

"No one in the shop"

"Good, we're done givin' ya half of the supplies"

They shook their hands and thanked each other.

"See ya soldiers when I see ya"

"Okay, see you in the other side"

The two pairs parted away, Randall and his boy head towards Vineland while Tobias and Lee headed to their destination. They stopped on the middle of a road with no buildings around and they took turns to sleep and watch, so that the dead will hide under the shade.

They went a round Wilmington and after 3 more hours of detour they can finally see the town, and its inhabitants. What they thought was a simple solution of waiting until morning made it worse for them. The dead from the lower part of the state has moved up and it shows, a large herd was built up into the town.

Tobias got out and filled with fear he fell on his knees.

"Oh no, Oh no no no no no"

The dead has adapted to the UV of the sun and has started to bask in it, and their situation has gotten worse and time is not on their side.

"The horde seems to not be moving"

"Right"

"We can probably head to the tunnel bridge"

"Yeah, hopefully if its still up"

HARRY

"Get up sweetie, slowly, they can't hear us okay"

"uh huh"

The couple headed up the stairs, he has the radio in his hands and something came through.

*Ha...Har.Harry*

He is in a icy shock upon hearing a voice.

*You...yo... there bro..?"

"Yes-*Yes we are*

"Oh thank God, brother, were just on the outskirts by Vanderwende, where ya at?"

*By marke- we're near you*

"Good, you see our problem right?"

*Yeah, those fucks out there*

"....."

*What do we do?*

"We have to distract those freaks, you have dad's car?"

*Yeah, but its surrounded*

"Okay, hear me out"

Tobias thought of a plan on top of his head and explained it to his brother, the two started to prepare the things they need. So is Harry, he started to create bottles of Molotov cocktails while his wife tries to maintain the connection between them. The two are writing down every thing they hear from one another.

Tobias moved closer, enough to see the car through his scope. He fixes his sight to something.

"Ya ready?"

*Yeah?*

Tobias shot a parked car that is parallel to the house where Harry and his family lives in, and the car alarm went up. He also shot another car to completely distract the dead towards the noise. Their plan is a go.

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