Post by PIXIE on Apr 27, 2021 21:22:56 GMT
THE INFECTION, THE SETTING AND THE INFECTED
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the virusPax-18 started slowly, symptoms weren't even noticed by the public, doctors or scientists. It started with sleeplessness, a symptom so common amongst the public that no one even paid attention to it. The start is unknown, patient zero was declared the first one to develop more severe symptoms but the true start of it is a mystery. Where did it start? Where did it come from? These are questions with no answers. Sleeplessness led to a rash, always starting small in the same area on every single victim. A small spot that wouldn't be noticeable on the back of the neck except for the irritation that it brought with it. The spot came with an unbearable itch, and within days, spread to cover the face and the rest of the neck.
The number of people infected spread fast, or perhaps, most already had it and didn't know. As the infection became deadly, new symptoms were noticed. Extreme anger just before the victims passed, and within hours of passing, an odd twitching from the deceased bodies. A twitching that turned to eyes opening and those in the medical field getting attacked by the deceased.
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the settingThe government has practically fallen. It has been ninety days since the virus was noticed, and sixty days since the first death - and the first case of the dead attacking the living. The state of New York is in shambles, people scrounging for necessities and to survive. Sanctuaries that were set up are over run, most have fallen, there is one left that anyone in the state knows of. That sanctuary found in Central Park is small and no longer allowing any survivors inside in order to keep those already inside alive. Because of this, survivors have started teaming together, creating their own groups in order to try and fight for their lives.
How long will the sanctuary last before it falls with the rest? Will those inside survive? And how long can those on the outside survive? No one knows what's happening outside the New York, but rumors are that bombs have started to fall in the worst areas, and the fear is that it's only a matter of time before no one is left.
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the infectedThe infection is evolving. It spreads fast, and those infected have a rash that spreads from the back of their neck, up to cover their face. It can take a day or two, depending on the victim, for it to fully spread. Once it has, it takes about an hour before they lose all sense of who they were, the parts of their brain that controls all parts of their personality stops functioning. They're left with extreme anger and violence before the infection destroys the rest of the brain. The rate at which they die seems to vary from person to person, some last hours, others have lasted a week.
Once dead, the body will be seemingly truly dead from anywhere from thirty minutes to two hours. At some time in that period, a very small part of the brain restarts, they are still dead but now have very basic instincts. They can move, growl, fight, attack and eat. It isn't just humans they hunt for, anything living and sometimes things that are recently deceased.
For the most part, they move at a slow pace, the longer they've been dead, the slower they become. Even those who move quite slow are a threat, they're stronger than they look, and a meal inspires them to move a bit faster. The newly deceased and turned have been known to run, so they tend to pose the greatest threat.
They have very basic senses, they can hear and see you, though it seems as though sound is what draws them the most. Strong smells have also been known to draw them, such as carrying something with a strong meaty scent, or wearing heavy perfume or cologne (does it smells dead? If not, they may investigate it).
At this time, it seems as though it takes a bite to spread it. Whatever spread it in the first place is dormant for the moment, or else has evolved to be passed with only a bite. Those who have died from causes that have nothing to do with a bite have not come back.
mizo.
