I didn't believe the world was ending until my parents were murdered by those things.
The pandemic spread like wildfire across the world, taking innocent lives and sending everyone into absolute chaos. The population went from ten billion to about 500 million in a matter of two weeks, millions of people dying daily. The infection was terrifying, the effects like Necrosis; a form of cell injury which results in the premature death of cells due to infection, toxins, or trauma that result in the unregulated digestion of cell components. This usually results in cellular death, which is not a very good thing. However the disease also has fungal-like infections, forcing the host do the infectious bacteria's bidding against their will. The infected person is completely dead and decaying, however the fungus keeps a small portion of the brain alive; the brain stem. They have no remorse or knowledge of their actions. And what do they feed on, you may ask? Humans.
I was a freshman college student studying medical science, and one of the last ones to leave the laboratory after the outbreak hit our city. This virus was so advanced that it couldn't be natural selection. It had to be modified by humans specifically to kill humans. However what they did, or attempted to do, went terribly, terribly wrong.
Right after the initial "code red", the students and professors worked alongside the actual doctors. Everyone who had any medical knowledge worked day in and day out to find the cure, most of us sleep and food deprived. Then it hit our city and the majority of our staff fled to the capitol, Washington DC.
I didn't have a chance to contact or find Braylin, so I was left to my own devices. My coworkers abandoned me, the only person who was willing to stay behind and hold the fort. It was the infected that finally pushed me out of the city, and like most I headed towards DC. Me being me, I continued my research as I made my way to our nation's capital city. My mind craved answers, and I prayed that I would get some insite when I reached the city. We needed to find a cure; not just to save ourselves, but for the rest of humanity.
I continued to walk until I finally made it out of New York and into Pennsylvania. My body ached to stop and take a break, but I had to get to DC as soon as humanly possible. There were more infected in Pennsylvania, so I had to stay smart. It kept me on my toes as I traveled.
The infection was horrifying. Once it takes over, the fungus spreads through the brain and eventually it penetrates the skin. The longer the former person is infected, the larger and more powerful the fungus grows. The infected are left a blood-thirsty terrifying shell of a human who was once alive. I felt a sense of pity for them.
I kept going, barely noticing the temperature drop as I traveled. It was freezing, the cold air biting my skin uncomfortably. I decided it was about time to get a jacket amd stock up on supplies, so I looked around for a bit before I found an eerie, abandoned mall. Overall the building was in good condition, but it had obviously been raided several times. The inside was trashed, planks of wood hastily put up to cover doorways and windows. Glass was everywhere, and random dead bodies had been just left there to decay. It had obviously seen it's fair share of disaster, and I assumed that it probably hadn't happened too long ago.
I wandered around until I found a camping store. I went inside and snatched a maroon backpack that was somehow left there, untouched. I gathered up what I could find, then went to the dank food court and scavenged for some snack. I ended up with an apple, a few bottles of water, a bag of chips and some pocky sticks. I put them in my backpack and ran through the mental list of things I needed. I found a clothing store that I could get into and searched around until I found a nice, mustard yellow jacket and a black hoodie. I put them both on, thanking whatever god had allowed me to score with such finds.
On the way out of the mall, I grabbed a fleece blanket, hygiene stuff, a journal, and a pencil. I went into the last store, Macy's, and found a change of clothes; black pants and grey shirt. I shoved them into my backpack and finally left the mall, continuing on my way.
In Maryland I found some more food, but still no sign of other human life. I knew there were others alive. There had to be, right?
As I got closer to Washington DC, the number of infected began to rise. I had to constantly watch my back, staying aware even though I was exhausted. I was glad I grabbed some extra bullets before I left the lab.
Eventually, I got within a few miles of DC where I met the first group of survivors since my fellow scientists had abandoned out lab. They were young, high school age, and looked as though they had just seen a ghost. I approached them, eager to see more people alive. "Hey," I called out to them and they snapped to my attention," are you guys okay? I'm not going to hurt you I promise. I'm a doctor trying to get to DC." I hold my hands up in the air. There were five of them, one girl and two boys. They give each other questionable glances.
"You don't want to go to DC," one of the boys shuddered, a terrified look on his face.
"But I need to get there, there's a medical research facility that holds some of the greatest minds in the world and they sent my laboratory a distress call. They have possible leads on a cure," I explained to them, eager to just get a move on. I wasn't sure what they had seen, but I definitley didn't want to stick around for it.
"You said you are a doctor?" The girl's face seemed to light up, full of hope.
"Uh, yeah. I am," I replied.
"I know you will probably say no," She tested, looking a bit unsure,"but my sister is really hurt. Can you help us? We'll give you food and whatever you want just please help her." She motioned for me to follow her, and I hesitated before following her into a small, blood stained tent. A petite girl with short black hair was lying limp on a cot, which was covered in a deep shade of red. She looked a mere thirteen or fourteen.
"Please help my sister." The older girl begged. I said nothing in response as I took out some antibiotics and stitches. I start to stitch up the open wound, and made the sickly girl drink some medicine to help the pain.
It took me a bit before the bleeding started to slow down, and the older sister sighed in relief.
"She should be okay, just try to keep her off her feet as much as possible. I know its hard under these...circumstances, but it's really important to watch out for it." I explained, packing up my stuff and placing it back in my bag.
"Thank you, thank you s-so much," the older sister said and nodded to show her gratitude. "What do you need? We can stalk you back up on supplies. Please take whatever you need."
"Don't worry about it," I responded with a short nod," I should really be on my way now." I left quickly after that, continuing on my way. I had already wasted enough time, and I needed to get to D.C. quickly.
~
Once I arrived, I was taken aback. There were infected everywhere, stumbling mindlessly around outside the district.
DC had become a breeding ground for infected, and getting in was practically suicide.
A/N: HI GUYS!!! So I finally finished the second part of my story. I wrote this story a year ago and finally got around to revamping it and practically rewriting the whole thing. I did this one very quickly, as I wanted to get it out quickly. There might be a few errors or weird phrases and I'm sorry about that lol....anyways, I hope you're enjoying the story so far! You're in for a treat in the next couple of chapters ;)
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Love Painted Red
Action"We had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. I couldn't just abandon our progress on the cure, so I chose to stay. Looking back on it I regret my decision. Maybe if we had stuck together during this time of chaos, we wouldn't be in this...
