For any discusion regarding the world this is set in, please regard the discussion thread: https://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?p=740816&posted=1#post740816 The streets where filled with people, each going about their lives as best they could, many wore masks, hoping to protect them self’s against the flue that was spreading through out the UK. It’d begun to spread further then that of coarse, reports indicated that the spread was going well in every country, Japan had already reached absolute infection. James drank the last dregs of his coffee, then walked out of the coffee store. He checked his watch, nearly time, he should be there just before things kicked of. Everyone went about their daily lives, all that could, reports indicated that 15% of the UK’s population had become bed ridded from the flue… more then what was originly intended, but the more the better. The building of the army was about to begin. He rounded one of the streets, this one more empty, a particular van cauht his attention. He walked over to it, knocking 4 times on it, the door opened for him, he stepped in. “It’s about time you got here” One of them said the instant the door closed. “Thought I’d take things in one last time… everything ready?” “Yeh” One of the 4 men in there handed him a gun. “Ok then, lets get this done, keep things on schedule” He opened the van doors then ran at the building next to him, through a set of double doors, then aimed at the receptionist. “Guide us to the studio control room” She stood there staring at him for a moment, he moved slightly, she moaned slightly, then scurried towards an elevator bank. There was a wet stain on her dress. David couldn’t help but find it funny she’d wet herself. The others came in after him, the grouped together in the elevator, the receptionist being pushed into one of the corners, gun against the back of her head. She shook, he voice quivering. They rode the elevator up to the top floor of the radio tower. They pushed her out, she then began to scuttle along towards a room marked ‘authorised personal only’. “Hey, what are you doing up here?.. are you o…” He stopped as James walked into the room. Gun held out front. “Get to work, you” He pointed at a man sitting on a stool at a work bench, a computer disassembled in front of him. “Any of these ask you for a key code, or you to doo something, you do what they say, or I’ll shot little miss here” He doubted that it’d come to that, they’d researched into every detail of the plan and people they’d see, he’d do what they said. The others got to work, using the computers to halt various signals, plugging in several devices into the servers. The man coughed. “How long you been sick?” “What?” “How long have you been sick!” “I… I only started up with this dam cough 5 days ago…” “Ah well, you wont need to worry about that soon. How are things going?” He asked the last to one of the men. “The signals, waiting for the others before transmitting… only waiting on Manchester, they had a hiccup, some police activity, they where found out, they should have things set up in 20 minuets…then the master signal will do the rest…” “Excellent, you, get with her” He gestured with the gun towards the man. “I wouldn’t mind seeing the effects in an uncontrolled environment”
David sat in a coffee shop, drinking the last sip of his coffe, collecting together several drawings. He’d taken a bit of time from his normal day, deciding to work somewhere a bit more public for a change. He sometimes found inspiration in simply watching people walking past, getting on with their dayly lives. Someone turned on a tv, breaking the small chatter. “Reports are indicating that the sickness has spread over seas, there have been outbreaks in Paris, New York, as well as smaller outbreaks all over multiple continents. Wide spread release has been confirmed from Japan. So far, few deaths have been confirmed, the few that have, have been in younger and older citizens, current outbreak status in the Uk is...” David walked out, into the highstreet. He didn’t need to listen to a news report to know how things where, all he needed to do was look onto the highstreet. Of the hundreds of people walking past, many wore cheap masks, many would stop to cough, or blow mucus from their nose. It only seemed like a bad cold untimatly, but the fact that it had spread so far and taken such a notice on the news was something very big. One thing he didn’t understand though, was why wasn’t he like them? He never wore a mask, technicly, he should of caught it... he breathed the same air. He banished the thoughts from his head. It wasn’t his place to think of things, he couldn’t do anything about it either way. He began walking with the flow of the crowd, back towards his Uni, something caught his eye as he went down the street, a video game show, he was an avid gamer, always looking for something new to play. Deciding there on the spot, he walked inside the shop. It was one he went in often, always cheap, great for a uni student. The lines of game cases welcomed him, he stopped by the charts, recognising the lead games, he had just been designing fan art for one of them. “Hello, may I help you?” “No thanks, just browsing” David gave a fake smile as the sales assistant walked away, he always hated it when people came up to him like that, but then again, they never came when they where actually needed. He stood browsing.
Jade scowled and sat down on a bus stop bench, his last cigarette still hanging from his lips. He was pissed. Beyond pissed. His right hand shook with anger as he held his book in his good hand. Just this morning his best friend, Nick, his last real friend, had turned on him just as all his other friends had. One year ago he had fallen from a horse lost all vision in his left eye, his left arm was rendered completely useless and his parents had died, and to top it all off, everyone he had ever thought was his friend had completely abandoned him. Just thinking about it made him angrier. At least he hadThe Road to take his mind off things. It was his favorite book, but as he stared down at the pages of his beloved book he realized that it was nearly impossible to read with one eye. He shook his head and slammed the book shut placing it down on the bench next to him. He was shivering from the cold, he wore nothing but an old, sleeveless Batman t shirt that hung loose on his thin frame and a pair of worn cutoff black jeans. His dark hair was a shaggy mess, his normally tan skin was pale and he had dark circles under his eyes. He looked like death. For a moment he wished he was dead, he wished he could lie down in the street to be hit by an oncoming car. That would be too easy. No way out of this hell. Absently, he fingered with his bullet shell necklace, clasping it in his right hand. His cigarette was gone, smoked to the filter. He'd been somebody before, now he was just angry. He was damn glad that that horse was dead, he thought smirking with satisfaction. Just too bad he hadn't been there when it happened.
The usual happy atmosphere of the classroom had been replaced by fear and worry. Jake sat behind his desk, leaning back on his chair ever so slightly. He looked around at the few remaining students in the class; there were five of them and, of course, himself. Each student wore a white mask, protecting them from the virus. It was odd, seeing the classroom practically empty, then on top of that, the surgical masks. It was frightening as well. News of this new flu epidemic was all over the television stations, telling people the usual things: wash your hands, wear your mask at all times, do not panic – this will all pass soon. Even Jake new that this was no ordinary flu; over three quarters of the school was absent and almost all the teachers. The students sat patiently, waiting for the teacher to arrive. No one talked - the epidemic had shaken everyone. A cough was heard from the back of the room; the class turned to stare at the girl sitting four rows back. Her face looked shocked, almost as if she was surprised at the sound that came from her mouth. Her eyes were wide, and her face was white. She quickly got up, knocking her chair over and ran from the room. We all knew what it meant when the cough arrived. Twenty minutes later and the teacher still hadn’t appeared; chatter began to break out among the remaining pupils. Asking if they knew what was happening, should someone go find a teacher, should they just leave? However, a couple minutes later, a masked face poked through the door. “Kids, you should all just go home. The school is understaffed, we are temporarily shutting down the school,” the man said. Although his mouth was hidden, panic was written all over his eyes ---- Jake strolled through the front door of his house half an hour later and ripped of his surgical mask. He hated the bloody thing. The young boy threw his bag by the stairs and ran up to his room without bothering to say hello to his mother or sister. Footsteps followed him up the stairs, and as soon as he’d shut his door to his room a knock sounded. “What is it?” Jake shouted through the door. “It’s Sam,” his sister replied. “What is it?” Jake repeated, already getting annoyed. “It’s mum... she’s ill.” The words struck into Jake’s chest hard, he walked over to the door and opened it to see Sam’s face. Tears streamed down her cheeks and ran over her white, surgical mask.
“What the hell is happening lately?” These are the words that have been echoing within Henry´s mind since quite too long. Ever since this “infection” started, things are totally out of control, despite the ridiculous effort from the media to try to convince us that “the situation is under control” “Everything will be resolved soon”. "Fools… Even an infant would be able to understand the gravity behind all of this. No need for a bull**** detector for that one" Henry thought sarcastically. Henry is a university student who wants to be a famous musician (and hopefully to get more hot chicks and money) he usually adds. Lately, everyone has been quite "mute" due to all of the mess caused by the infection. Henry was no exception. Have you seen a 22 year old guy carrying a guitar and wearing sunglasses even if it´s raining? Yes, that´s Henry. "Yoo Henry! Hey man! Snap out of it!" "Anh?" Henry mumbled, surprised of finding himself unconsciously in front of the bathroom´s mirror. "Have you heard a single word from what I´ve been saying?!" That voice again... "Seriously man... You´re always the same ****... You´ve been staring that mirror for ages, what has gotten into you? You´re not even wearing the mask" Henry turned himself to see who was speaking, even though he had already figured out, who that was. "Jim?" Henry asked, staring the tall man in front of him who was faceless due to the safety mask. "Yeah it´s me bro!" What´s up, you´re back from the dead now aren´t you?" He asked while approaching him and raising his hands to give one of those long and childish rapper´s greetings. As much as he hated those Mc stuff, he had to admit it. It was pretty fun watching a dude wearing a weird mask and doing all of those stuff. "Sorry Jim. I´m not feeling well today." Henry said after the greeting. "I dunno why but I just have this weird feeling like something´s about to happen..." He said and then, opened the door that lead into the university´s hallway. "Don´t follow me Jim, I need some time for myself..." He said before closing the door. The hallway was deserted. There was no soul within it. Not even the common sound of the birds, singing, as they kept on living, their cheerful lives. All there was left was an awkward silence and the annoying drifting murmurs from the wind. Henry walked through the hallway, a depressed look was observable on his face. He had reached the corridor, leading into his classroom´s pavilion when... "Henry! Hold up!" Jim shouted running like crazy towards him. "What?? Why all the fuss?" Henry asked with a bad mood. "I-I just saw so-some weirdd **** man!" Jim said, stammering a bit, staring the floor perhaps in a tentative to disguise the fright look that was covering his face.
James stared at the 2 captives. They huddled in the corner, the man trying to calm the women, the women shaking uncontrollably. “The Manchester station is ready, should I send the green light?” “Yes, get ready for the wave...” James lent back in his chair, putting his gun on his lap and gripping the arm rests. The machinery banks began to make a wining noise, as they began to punp out the signal. He took a deep breath for what was to come. David didn’t feel anything at first. A slight itch in his right ear, then the left... it built, turning into a mild ear ache... then building still. He rose a hand to rub his ear, then noticed othes doing similarly. “Wha...” There was a mild buzzing sound starting. Someone gripped his shoulder. “Uh... I don’t feel so good...” It sounded mouthed... he continued speaking, but he could no longer hear anything... just the buzz. It rose, he felt nauseated, began to loose his cohesion. He stumbled into one of the racks. He spotted the one that’d gripped his shoulder doing likewise, but he was frothing from the mouth. The buzz was too much, stars began to explode in his vision. He blacked out. There was a whistling sound, David opened his eye’s, his vision swam... he moved, something moving beside him, it sounded like it happened a mile away... but the whistling began dying down. He tried to speak, his words coming out slurred, after sitting for a moment, he tried again, this time hearing his speech. “Some... some one.. help...” He looked to his side. The man that’d gripped his shoulder lay facing him, his eyes glazed, mouth frothed. David tried getting up, his limbs feeling numb, but they obeyed. He stood on unsteady legs. He could hear something distant. “I need to get help” He stumbled towards the shop entrance, the sun light blaring the outside world. He walked out into it’s glorious shine. Momentarily blinded... he wished he’d stayed that way. He simply fell to his knees. Bodies littered the street. Hundreds. The noise, it was someone screaming. He felt so week at that moment, unable to do so much as move, someone fell from one of the multi story apartments further up the high street. David simply sat staring at the result. He stood up slowly. Then walked into the middle of the street, then stood, simply stairing at everything. He couldn’t quite process what he saw... it seemed too unreal. Someone screamed again. His senses began to return. He began to walk, trying to step over the bodies. His head ached...
Jade sighed and tucked his book in his bag climbing to his feet. It was getting dark and he couldn't see very well after dark. He was about to to start walking home but as he started to walk away he heard something that made him stop. It was a strange buzzing sound in his ears that started out small was steadily growing louder and louder causing him to lose his balance "The hell?.." he reached out his hands in front of him as if he could grab the air and steady himself. Dizzy, he fell backwards landing on the ground hard his back hitting the bench with bruising force causing him to cry out. He was growing nauseous. He closed his eyes and rested his head on the bench. The noise which had been steadily growing stopped suddenly but when he opened his bleary eyes he noticed something was wrong. People were stumbling out of stores, down the sidewalks but something was wrong with them. Their eyes were glazed over and empty and their mouths were frothing. Pushing himself shakily to his knees he climbed to his feet. Several had started to approach him, until suddenly they were surrounding him. "****!" he mumbled, unable to move suddenly, his mind going blank for a moment as one of the men reached out and touched his face with a cold hand. Snap out of it, Jade! He scolded himself as he jumped away from the man quickly jumping up on the bench and vaulting over it. He ran down the sidewalk.
Ethan threw his coat over the nearest chair as a voice echoed down the hallway. "They screwed us over again! The bloody liars just can't do 'nything right." A tall, skinny man appeared in the hall. "I tell you what, I'm gonna phone 'em now. They told us the shipment would be here three days ago." Ethan sighed. "Daniel, forget about it. You've been up for two days straight with these idiots. If they don't wanna do their job properly, I'll take care of it. You're pale, you need a rest, go home." Daniel sighed, 'you're right, I'll be here, nine tomorrow morning." Daniel grabbed his black jacket from the kitchen counter and opened the front door. "Night boss." "Night, Daniel." When his friend was finally gone, Ethan lay down on his couch and treated himself to a well deserved nap. When he woke, sirens were ringing outside. "****!" Ethan swore and crawled to his phone, careful not to let anyone see him through his window. He quickly dialed Daniel's number. The phone rang once. Twice. Three times. "Your call cannot be connected, for assistance in th-" Ethan hung up. He scrolled through his contacts to Merdeen, his latest client. It rang once. Twice. "Hey, this is Richard Merdeen. I can't come to the phone right now, but please leave your name and number after the beep, and I'll be sure to get back to you," A friendly voice came through. BEEP. "Merdeen, you asshole! I've got sirens outside my house! I swear to God, if I go down for this, you'll-" Ethan began, before the phone was picked up. Merdeen was on the line. "Ethan, thank God! You're the first person I've spoken to since this all started!" "What the **** did you do? How'd they catch us?" Ethan demanded. "What are you talking about?" Merdeen asked, confused. Before he could say another word, a car smashed through Ethan's wall, the headlights flickering. "What the hell?" Ethan yelled, dropping the phone. "Who the hell do you think you are?" He screamed at the driver of the car, who's head was down. Ethan pulled the door open and the driver fell out, dead, pale with cuts all over her face. "Oh... Oh God..." He grabbed his phone. "Merdeen, what the hell is going on?" Ethan yelled. He was answered with a dead dial tone.
Jay was usualy a happy person, but in this moment no one was happy, and Jay was no excepcion, he wasn't smilling and energetic like he was, in the past, and he was even more lazy now, he was in his school, draging himself trhough the hallways, he knew that the media where lying, and everything would not be ok. Jay, was in the hallway, just wandering, with no final destination, then he heard voices, and started to slowly, and quietly walk to the origin of the sound, he, looked inside the class rooms, but he couldn't find where would the sound come from. After a while, he give up looking and sat on a bench that was in the hallway, and heard a diferent voice, saying: "Henry! Hold up!" and then another voice "What?? Why all the fuss?" and the first voice again"I-I just saw so-some weirdd **** man!", Jay stood up, and looked around, and saw that the voices came from a air vent, and he knew where that vent would lead, right next to the bathrooms, so he walked to there, and when he looked around the courner, he saw, two guys, talking one looked very affraid or something.
James sat silently, as did the others, staring at the lifeless corpses of their two captives. “We need to get moving whiles we still can” One of them said. “Just a little longer…” A finger twitched, James mouth broke into a grin. David walked, bewildered, the body’s lay everywhere. He felt his hands shake, only then becoming aware that one still clutched his portfolio. He put the strap over his shoulder. As he looked up, someone walked out of one of the shop fronts. He tried to summon his voice, but all that came out was a croak. The person was in shock, much like himself. Tears streaming down her face. One of the body’s near her moved, she leapt towards it, standing on another’s leg. The arm pushed against the ground, lifting the it’s body. The women was holding it instantly, tears still streaming down her cheeks. Several others began to stir. An arm brushed David’s leg. Blank eyes stared up at him. He began to move towards the women, something wasn’t right, he could feel it, he was scared, this wasn’t right. He moved into a trot, then began to run. He’d nearly covered the distance between them when she screamed, kicking and punching away at the person she’d held, her cheek now an empty space, blood gushing from torn flesh. One of the other bodies pulled it’s self onto her from behind, it’s teeth clamped into her neck, he scream turned into a gurgle. He sprinted now, running towards the nearest store. He ran in then began pushing the doors shut. Many of the bodies where getting up, they walked drunkenly, their steps uncoordinated, many stumbling over other bodies. He shut the doors, looking around franticly, grabbing a small chair and putting the legs in the doors bars. The first reached the window, it’s teeth clamped, trying to bite through the glass. He stepped back. Something grabbed his shoulder, he whirled around, pushing the first thing he saw. The figure went stumbling into a display. It instantly, drunkenly began to get to it’s feet, several others began to move towards him from further in the shop. “Hey… sta… stay back!” He grabbed the first thing he could, part of one of the displays, pulling at one of the poles, the display fell apart, leaving him holding the short pole, it held some weight, he hoped it was enough. He pointed it at the one in front of him as it got up. “Stay back!” It showed no recognition that it ever heard him. It’s teeth gnashed, each time making a hollow thud which seemed to echo. It began to move towards him, gaining ground. “I.. I said…” He swung the pole, hitting it square in the side on the head. It toppled over. It began to get back up, but before it could, David brought the pole down on it’s head. “Stay AWAY!” He backed up against the doors, staring at the body on the ground, it didn’t move again. The others where moving towards him though. He ran down one of the side ills, praying that he was right about what he was about to do. He ran towards one of the tills, swinging the pole at the person behind it, then hoping over, pushing against the door behind it, shutting it behind him. There was a lock, he did it up. There was scratching against the wood instantly. He backed away, his heart hammering, threatening to burst from his chest. “Wha… What the **** just happened…” He got no answer, he was just happy that he’d been right. He stood in a corridor, it stretched away, it would lead to store rooms and link to other shops if he was right. A figure turned one of the corers ahead of him. It shuffled towards him. David took multiple running steps, then leapt, bringing the pole down hard on it’s head. I fell to the ground, twitched once, twice, then lay still… His hands shook. He walked around the corner. He swung the pole at the wall in front of him, breaking the glass on something he wanted. He slung the pole to the floor, then pulled a fire axe from it’s holding pins. He’d never been so scared in his life… he’d never felt so alive. He needed a plan… the first thing that came to his hind, lock down the shopping arcade, if he could find the security rooms, he should be able to close the shutters… if he could figure out how and where it was. Several shop alarms went off, dull by the walls between him self and them, another of them walked from one of the doors, walking into the wall, towards the sound… that wasn’t good… He walked briskly towards it, bringing the axe down, point first. He loved it.
Jade ran wildly, up ahead he could see his large 5 story house. He hadn't looked back once even though they had stopped chasing him. He ran up the steps that lead to the large french doors. He slumped against the door and tried to catch his breath. He reached a shaking hand into his pocket and pulled out his keys almost dropping them in the process. After a moment of struggling to get the keys into the keyhole he finally unlocked the door and made his way into the house. He close the the door and and locked it behind him. He felt a bit silly. He shouldn't be this scared he was Jade Whalen! God, I would kill for a shower.He thought. He made his way up the stairs removing his t shirt and tossing it behind him then walked to the bathroom. He pulled open the bathroom door and removed the rest of his clothing pulled the shower door open and turned the water on. He stepped in under the spray of hot water. He drew a shaky breath and leaned his head against the cool tile of the shower wall. He was so caught up in enjoying his shower that he didn't even hear the shuffling footsteps coming towards him. The shower door was pulled open and Jade looked up and gasped. It was William his butler who had taken care of him after his parents died. Only it wasn't William anymore, he was foaming at the mouth. Before Jade could react William grabbed him by the throat, Jade screamed and shoved at William. William staggered back but did not let go he wrapped his arms around Jade's naked chest and started to pull him out of the shower and threw Jade down on the hard tile floor. He grabbed Jade by his dripping hair "Mine.." he rasped. He lifted Jade again his hands on Jade's waist. Jade squeezed his eyes shut. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his side like something ripping into his skin. He opened his eyes and saw that William had buried his head into Jade's side and taken a bite out of him. "You sick bastard!" He wrapped his arm around William's neck and dragged him to the shower door. Using all the strength he could muster Jade brought William's head down through the glass door and shoved him down, the glass tearing through William's body and decapitating him. William stopped moving. Jade released a sigh of relief. He looked down at his wounded side and winced. The wound was gushing blood and the hole was enormous. He staggered out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist which he held pressed to his side the blood staining it and leaving a trail on the tile floor. He'd take care of it later.
