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Chaser
Author's note:
I've been working on this bork of serveral years. This is the first of a series of books I'm working on; Chaser,Cures,and Reality.
“Where were you last night?” was just another thing I have to deal with when I got back to the safe house. Everyday I run to somewhere no one has ever seen, it still has food and a warm bed. They consider me, of all people, their leader. I don’t want this job anymore. I’m stuck watching as a few more die off every day. We’ve lost most of our group, but that’s due to the chasers, not me. I can still remember how everything was before the dead walked. It was just last summer, I just turned 20. To celebrate my friends and I went gambling. It was fun; we spent most of the night at one of the slot machines. Around 1 in the morning I started heading home. Something was wrong but I couldn’t put my finger on it, I was lucky to see the cop before he rammed into me. About 5 or 6 of them all headed to the Casino, people came running out screaming; shots were fired but these people kept coming, piling up on each other. I kept thinking that it was a riot but the truth is worse. The moment I saw them start biting the police I knew I had to leave sooner than later.
News reports came flying in, cannibals. They said it was just an illness that weakened your mind, but it was more than that. These people would devour what they could and what was left came back to do the same. It was like a cruel cycle, eaten then eat. I thought the world would end, but yet there were people who fought them off. We made a group of 20 or so, hoping we’ll survive together. Most of our group was made up of kids. A lot of them were 16 or 17 but most of them were little kids. Every night we would stand guard till we switched after an hour or so. But that didn’t help at all; the little kids ran at the first noise they heard. I went after them trying to find them and calm them down, but there was nothing I could do. Before I found them, they were attacked. Theses people looked how the others did, rotten and decayed. They moved faster than I could, I got there just in time to see the little ones get back up. The rot had already set in, I reached for my back pocket, where I kept my knife, but it wasn’t there. With nowhere left to go I picked up a branch and hit the nearest one on the head; it fell with a whimper and a low rumble erupted from its throat. That didn’t stop the others though, they kept coming. I did the same thing I did to the first one. When I got back to the camp everyone ran over asking so many questions that I couldn’t answer.
As the years flew by, we noticed differences in some of them. Some of them faster than the rest, others stronger and tougher. We came up with names for them; Chasers, Brutes, Alphas, and so many more. The Alphas were the ones who were the smartest, Brutes had a lot of strength and the Chasers were the one you could never get away from; Chaser were always too fast to kill too. The Alphas were seen as the leaders, they were the ones that retained a part of their old self; this allowed them to direct the others, to an extent. At times Alphas would be more like Brutes, on other occasions they would be like the odd ones (those that had nothing special about them).It’s rare to even find an Alpha, you usually see them in large cities but they’re starting to spread out more. Just last week, I swear that one was right in the meadow. But the odds of that are 1 to nothing. Alphas don’t go anywhere unless they see a good reason. They have a brain and they use it better than we do. Alphas are like our generals, full command of a fleet. If anyone was to see even one Alpha, we all would know an army is closing in. But I’m getting off topic.
All I and anyone else wants is for the world to go back to the way it was, before the dead decided to be like the living. It’s getting harder and harder to stay in this group of misfits, even more so than before. I have a feeling that by the end of tonight I’ll be dead. The only reason I know for sure, was because one bit me. It was bound to happen sooner or later, I mean if you think about it as fate then yeah it’s normal. This gives me all the more reason to take my time heading back, heck maybe if I’m lucky I’ll become an Alpha. Very few people become one; they say only the smartest ones become those. I wonder what it’s like being dead and all, I mean it sounds neat when you know you’ll probably become one of them. Though there are these rumors; some say that when you’re bit there’s a very low chance that you would stay the way you are, but there are people in our group that has been bitten yet never turned. Guess I’ll find out in a few weeks, the infection takes at least 3 days to set in but the decaying takes longer, the body starts to decay after a week or so; for some it takes longer. The one woman in our group, I think her name was Lu, was bitten and took about two months for her to finally turn on us.
“I’m serious, I’m feeling fine. The bite is completely healed, I feel great, plus the headaches are gone.”
“Look Ray, I’m not saying you’re going to turn on us, but think for a second. Yes the bite is healed and yes that’s great, but you’ve been blacking out. It’s like you leave your body and someone else takes over. Can you please let Shay check it out, just to make sure? I know you rather blow this off, but if we don’t make sure now you’ll put everyone in danger.”
I sigh “Fine but I’ll bug her tomorrow about it; she seems to have her hands full taking care of the others.”
It’s been like this since I got back; I was honest and told them about the bite. Yeah it was a risky move but I knew they wouldn’t abandon me. Shay, Lu’s daughter, is now in charge; she was originally the nurse but with me the way I am she volunteered to take the lead. She’s a good leader but she’s more of a warden than anything else. She “ensured” everyone's safety by telling them to stay a bit away from me and have a gun ready if I turn. Everyone thinks that it’s just a matter of seconds before I turn against them, but no one has the guts to stand up to Shay either. Except Bow; she helped Lu give birth but there was little she could do. It was a month after Lu was bitten, I still don’t know how the kid was still alive, the decay started to set in. Lu was ill and barely able to stand, her body slowly killing itself. She was able to fight it off till she knew she was in labor.Bow was the nurse at the time though she knew only little medical things. Bow was by Lu’s side and helped her till lil Shay was born. Lu knowing what was becoming of her, gave Shay to Bow. Bow taught Shay everything she knew but once Shay got older she asked about her real mother.
There was nothing Bow could do, she had to tell her. Since then Shay has hated Bow for hiding it from her, but what else was Bow suppose to do; she couldn’t just hide the truth from her but it would have been better that Shay never found out.Shay hasn’t spoken to anyone and is becoming more and more like a guard then a leader. Just last week she sent five of the younger members out hunting ,only 2 came back; when they told her what happened all she said was that it was their fault. When I was leader I at least knew when to judge and when to relax and calm the others down.
“Well” I mutter to myself as I head out of the camp “I guess there’s no point in staying put, I mean I could at least go back up to the cabin. After all it’s a lot better than here.” Just as I’m about to leave low and behold our “leader” hollers “Where do you think your going Ray , we had an agreement ; you stay put till we agree on what to do with you.”
“Yeah, I know, but what’s the point of being here. All you’re worried about is when I’ll turn , and that’s if I ever do turn. Did you ever think that maybe I’ll be lucky and won’t turn, or did you just abandon the whole idea?”
Shay glares “I’m thinking about the group not just you and your little mess up. If I really wanted to I could end your suffering right now.”
The entire group starts peeking out of their tents while Shay and I continue “Look just let me walk out now ,I’ll be back before dawn tomorrow; then you won’t have to deal with me and my mess up.” I pull up my sleeve to show my healed bite mark “And here’s another thing , when someone is bitten the wound never heals.”
This is a record of what is to come and what is to become of me. The rot itself has yet to set in but I can tell something has changed.I’m not sure what exactly happened after I left the camp I only remember little things.I can remember walking out with my sleeve rolled up , then heading straight for the cabin only to find a horde of Brutes surrounding it.Something was wrong , for whatever reason the Brutes saw me as no threat or something was wrong with them.I ignored them to an extent, one reached for me but it was like they were trying to get my attention not eat me.It was odd they wouldn’t leave they just stood there like a bunch of idiots. I spent the days after looking for their leader only to find no Alpha in sight .But no such luck appeared, it was like they were abandoned . Now let me remind you that the Alphas are something you never want to mess with. I hate to describe them like this but they’re like a hairless molerat with the temper of a ferret. If you piss them off enough they’re bite your head off, literally. Brutes , the idiots outside my door, are more or less a strength trainer on even more steroids they usual .Usually Brutes are missing a unneeded limb like the one by my window is missing a part of his arm. Chasers, sneaky idiots that they are, are like a cat on the prowl ; they’ll sneak up on you then chew you to bits. Chasers are the ones that rather be alone ,and they would eat anything including another dead man walking. I’ll try to write in this more but it seems less and less important to me, I don’t really see a point in keeping this old journal .After all this is the first time I’m even writing in this.
I close the journal with a frustrated sigh.It’s been like this for roughly seven days, with no luck of having anyone on my side.The days after I left ,from what I can tell, the camp slowly fell apart. Now you're probably thinking ‘But Ray , if you left how can you still know what’s going on?’
Well it’s simple , the way I took when I headed to the cabin is a entrance to the camp that I made myself. it’s pretty much a small hole in the fence that I crawl through. It was a stupid idea when I first thought of it but then I realized that was the only way I could stay in touch with Bow. She tells me everything that’s been going on in the camp. So far more and more members have been turned; plus they’re decaying faster. It’s been only taking about 4 hours till the decay sets in. Bow was stuck watching as one of her patients turned. What was odd was the fact that it had none of the traits that the other living dead have. Bow said it was almost like an Alpha but it was something more of a monster then the so called leaders of the living dead. It’s face was that of a contorted bull, it literally had horns. For some reason it just sat there staring at Bow till one of the aids killed it. It had no desire to eat anyone, almost like it was still human.
“Come on Bow, you have to help me. If I’m right ,we’re all safer outside the wall. Please you have to trust me, or you and everyone else here will be slaughter.”
Bow raises her eyebrow “What are you even talking about? Even if there was an army of Dead Mans headed our way, like you’ve said , what proof do you have?”
“Please listening to me , I’ll explain everything that’s been happening outside these walls.”
I handed her my journal and cleared my throat “This is a long story but I’ll try to make it quick; ever since I was bitten I’ve been able to somewhat ‘sense’ where or what the Dead Mans are doing. I don’t understand what’s going on but something's not right.”
Bow tenses a bit, like she knows something that I don’t. “When did this start happening?”
“About a week after I was bitten, why do you ask?”
She sighs “ Lu kept saying the same thing before she had Shay; she kept going on about how in just a few months everything will change. When i asked her how, she wouldn’t answer. It was like she was afraid of someone hearing her.”
“Did she ever talk about anyone she knew, someone she loved maybe? “
“No she was afraid of a Deadman hearing her, she would ramble on about how if they found her they would kill Shay.”
“What do you mean, Dead Mans aren’t alive; that’s why their nickname starts with dead. Why would Lu be afraid of a Deadman hearing her? Also what would make her even think about them like they’re…..”
Bow takes a step towards me “Like what Ray?”
“Like they’re a Human.”
“That’s impossible, there’s nothing human left in them. They’re corpses walking and that’s all they’ll ever be. You can’t just reverse it , there’s no way to bring the dead back to life.”
“Well then explain to me why we have dead people walking around and eating the living. Something created this monstrosity and we need to find what.”
Bow backs away pointing the the way out “We, I think you mean I cause I want no part in this. This could all just be a stupid prank , someone yanking your chain; have you ever thought of that? Where did you even get this idea?”
“From the only person that I can trust.”
I never should've said anything to Bow, after all she could be telling Shay right now. I have to trust her, if I don’t then that means I’ll be at the short end of the stick. Now ask your questions or save them for later, cause I’ll explain what’s going on. After talking to Bow I told her my insider on this forsaken virus, the head doctor of Westburg.He never told me his name, and I never told him mine. And from what he’s told me , he saw this first hand.Supposedly his whole building was filled with them,yet he was never bitten. He knows a trick and he knows how to save everyone.Of course Bow didn’t believe me , I had no proof. But there wasn’t much else to do, I couldn’t wait around and risk Shay seeing me. I left without another word about it. I’ve never met the doctor, I just know he’s there and waiting. I found a letter shortly after I entered the cabin for the first time. At first I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I mean how far fetch it is to think that a cure for all this was injecting yourself with it’s blood, it’s outrageous. At the end of the letter was a number, 2245. I remember it well. It was supposedly an address where this big riot happened. I think it was somewhere in a place called westburg.On the news it said how only the head doctor survived. But enough about the letter. Shortly after I read it I headed back to camp, and yes that’s where you met little old me with my bite mark on my arm.Between then and now I’ve been researching everything I could find on this doctor, but with little help.None of the others believed me; well I never asked but I knew they wouldn’t. I got to keep this up to date more. *NOTE TO SELF WRITE IN JOURNAL MORE/ FIND DOCTOR*
The more I look at this god awful map the more I realize, I have no idea where I’m going. There’s too many possibilities of where this doctor could be. I mean, for all I know he could be dead and that letter years old. What if that so called cure turned out to be a lie and he’s just some freak wanting everyone dead.From what I know this “cure” is suppose to kill you and stop the process. A lot of people I know tried it and in just a few minutes, they’re dead. Even worse yet is the fact that they “came back” as the very thing that’s hunting us.No matter what we try it’s always the same, nothing stays dead.It’s hard to believe that no one knows how this happened. I barely even know how. None of these make sense though; why would anyone even want to create this hell. It’s hard for me to picture the person that caused this mayhem and death. I follow the path as it winds down through the woods. Taking yet another glance at the map and all the places where the doctor could be; I consider all the outcomes from different areas. Of all the places to go I chose ; I decide on Seattle. Yes it’s far but it’s my best bet. I finally clear the woods looking out across the vast meadow, I realize this is the end. All through the meadow seas of chasers and brutes wander aimlessly . This day just keeps getting better and better.I closed my eyes as I heard the footsteps of the dead; none of which came even close to me.One stared at me as if it was pondering something but it seemed terrified when I looked it in the eye. I didn’t stop to think about it though ; it was a blessing. I walked by them with few problems. Some of the more decayed continued to follow me for a little but then walked away like I was nothing.
Something wasn’t right, this isn’t how they act around people.At the first sight or wiff of a unturned person they charge blindlessly just to feed on them.Yet here I was walking through a field full of them and none of them even trying to take a bite out of me.
Since my last journal entry, I’ve been traveling closer and closer to larger hordes. Everytime I get near them, them seem to ignore me; I’ve even gone as far as cutting myself a little to see if they’ll come at the smell of my blood. The odd part is, they want nothing to do with it. It’s almost as if my blood smells like their rotting corpses, but that’s not possible, right? I’m still a long ways away from Westburg, but hopefully I’ll get there in the next few weeks. In my travels I’ve found more of this doctor Mabbott’s journals. In each one there seems to be something missing, like the whole story isn’t there. It couldn’t of happened as simple as a “chemical explosion”, something else caused it. I don’t know what, but whatever it was it can’t be change. There is no cure, there’s no way to cure something that no longer breaths. It might be possible to cure this but it’s impossible unless someone survives it, and stays human.
“This can’t be right.” I muttered to myself, staring blankly at the picture in my hand. The doctor had left a picture of the hospital with one of his journals. The picture seemed recently taken, yet here it stands, nothing but ash and broken walls. I slowly made my way through the rubble, trying to understand what happened. All around me were broken glass cages, some filled with dead animals, others filled with the little remains of humans. Out of the corner of my eye I spot something moving amongst what remained of a small lab. I crouched, following whoever or whatever it was. “Maybe whoever it is worked here, but is it worth taking a chance?” I thought. I opened one of the doctor's old journals, seeing if the person's picture matched any of the ones in the journal. Sure, enough it seemed like it was the doctor himself. I couldn’t help myself, I shouted as quietly as I could “Hey, psst, do you know a doctor Mabbott?He used to work here, I thought maybe he could help me.”
The person looked at me for a second then smiled, taking his hood off. “May I ask why you’re looking for him?”
“Sure, but is there somewhere safer we can talk; this place seems like it’s filled with the dead.”
I told him my story, how I got bite, and everything inbetween. He had no reaction, as if he heard this all before.Then I showed him the bite mark, and he stared, as if in awe by this. Later that night, as we talked more, he admitted that he was Mabbott. He told me his story, but what he didn’t tell me is what exactly happened. I wanted to poke and prod him for more info, but it seemed like a waste of time. I remember him telling me of this family though, and he then asked me about mine. To be honest, I couldn’t remember if I ever had one. My memories seemed so different than before;all that I could remember was a name, Vyctor. The doctor seemed distracted as I said this; as we continued to talk he wrote everything in a little note book. I’m not sure if I can trust him but he maybe my only hope if I want to stay alive.
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*This is what I have so far it's still not finished, but there is more to come*