June 6th, 2013.
The United States, Texas, outskirts of Austin.
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Joel Miller watched as his daughter, Sarah Miller was busily racing forward at the goalpost. Her eyes were fixed on the goalkeeper a mere few feet away that was the only thing keeping her team from the prized state championship that she had been trying all summer to win. Her teammates Rebecca Cortez and Ashley Chase could be seen on her sides keeping the opposing team away from her as best as they could. With but 25 seconds left in the game this was likely going to be their last opportunity to take the lead and win the game and with it the trophy this year. He hoped that this time would be the one that would see her team win as he knew she had worked hard all summer for this one game. No sooner had she kicked the ball did the clock hit zero and all eyes were at once locked onto the black and white ball. To Joel's eyes, it seemed as if time had slowed to near nothing. But when the goalkeeper jumped left and not right he knew the game was won and all that hard work wasn't for nothing.
"Look daddy we won. We won the game". Sarah said with clear joy in her eyes. He could see her team were equally overjoyed at the outcome of the game though he did notice that two family members were missing. The news networks over the past few weeks had talked about a strange outbreak found on various tropical fruits and vegetables that was causing massive recalls. But even so, he had thought watching their kid's big game wouldn't be pushed aside for something as insignificant as a recall on their stocks of food. Sure it was a fairly big recall but almost none of their stocks were affected by this so what was the reason for their absence. Joel could only guess at whatever it was but he was sure their child wasn't going to let them off easy for missing their game.
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"For the third consecutive day, an unusual number of disappearances have been reported in and around the Austin area. In other news, the president has suspended his planned trip to Latin America"- A news report made on the 7th of June, 2013.
Joel clicked the tv off as he rubbed at his eyes. Now that the season was over his days were now mostly about finding work which sadly was becoming all the harder to find. There was one job that seemed perfect but the cost to get it seemed to be rising by the day. With every passing day it seemed this new and fairly strange outbreak was causing increasing numbers of people to call into work sick causing an ever greater depletion in the amount of workable people for any given job. This in turn meant he would have to pull longer hours for the same pay. But with bills piling up he really had no choice in the matter. Work was still work and he really couldn't turn away any that he could still find.
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The United States, Texas, outskirts of Austin.
September 26-27th, 2013.
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Joel Miller wasn't quite sure why Bobby Fischer, Andrew House, and Christian Chesterfield had all called in sick today but what he did know was that meant he had to do the work of four men instead of just his own. Which, of course, meant he would have to endure yet another long day with little to no sleep. The past few days had been much the same as one person after another would inevitably call in sick and the workforce was now down to just five people. For a job of this size that was nearly impossible to do with just the two weeks they still had left on this particular contract. Still with the payment of this job that meant one more month before those damn loan sharks paid him a visit and demanded their next payment and with work seemingly drying up everywhere due to this new bug or whatever this was he wasn't sure if he would be able to make the next payment in time.
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Sarah Miller wasn't quite sure what she hated the most. The fact that her father was always coming home so late in the day or the fact that for the past few hours there was nothing on tv that was worth watching at all, at least nothing she hadn't already seen a dozen or so times before. She had already played a few video games but there was only so much fun one could get out of playing the same games a dozen times over. By the time the clock read 10:35 pm she was past upset with how long it was taking for him to enter the damn door so she could gift him his gift. By 10:50 pm she had fallen asleep. It was only when it was nearing midnight that the door opened and in walked her father. His eyes almost at once landing upon the sleeping form of his sleeping daughter with the tv showing a rerun of some anime that he didn't know the name of but he knew she loved. Being careful not to wake her he picked her up and carried her upstairs to her room to rest. The watch she had planned on gifting her father being completely overlooked.
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Tommy Miller was racing down the road as he desperately tried to work his phone with one hand while at the same time trying not to hit the mass of humanity that was running every which way. He wasn't sure what the hell was going on but for the past few hours, everything seemed to be going downhill at breakneck speeds. The first reports of whatever the hell this was had come in mid-August and by the start of September the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) had ordered every nation to be on lockdown and news from the nations of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany seemed to cease entirely only an hour before. A fact that worried him to no end. Finally, after what felt like hours he found her number in his phone and hit call.
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Sarah Miller was soon awoken by the sound of her bedside phone ringing incessantly. Half asleep as she was it took her two or three attempts to finally find the phone and answer the call. Once she heard the unmistakable voice of her uncle Tommy she was soon wide awake and sitting on the edge of the bed heart racing at what she was hearing. Looking at the clock next to the phone it read 2:45 am. Putting aside the oddity that was him calling at such late an hour she intently listened to what he had to say. She could tell he was currently driving erratically as the sound of the engine and yelling at people could be heard in the background. Just as he was about to tell her what he wanted the call ended unexpectedly. A busy signal resounded in her ear telling her the line was overworked. Jumping off of her bed with the worst sort of feeling she had ever felt in her whole life she soon raced into her father's room only to find he was nowhere to be seen. Going downstairs she was again faced with the fact she was alone in the house. It was only when she had entered her father's study did he enter the house by way of the sliding door. At once he was digging into his desk drawers looking for something. A few seconds later he pulled out a gun and started to load it with a few rounds of ammunition.
"Keep away from the door, dear. Something is wrong with the Coopers. They are messed up somehow. I...I don't fucking know but just...just keep away from any of the windows or doors. Tommy should be here soon so it's best you just keep your distance". Her father said as he placed the last round of ammo into the gun and clicked it in place. No sooner had he done so than the sounds of a horn filled their ears. Racing to the front door they jumped inside the truck and pulled out at great speed. It was only then did she see the utter chaos that seemed to envelop the entire neighborhood. The Andersons were packing their bags into the back of their van and a few others were putting two-by-fours over their windows. Every last one of them looked scared and uncertain about what was happening and she couldn't help but feel the same way. Her father's eyes seemed almost to be scanning the local environment like a hawk trying to find its newest meal. For all of her 13 years of life, she had never once seen him act like this and that fact alone terrified her to her core.
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"Tommy any idea what the fuck is going on here"? Her father asked as he took the safety off the gun. The audible click of this action sounded like the loudest sound in the world to her now terrified ears.
"Nothing good. From what I could get this thing is everywhere. The east coast, the west coast, it's even in parts of Europe. Before losing the radio broadcast the president had apparently authorized closing down the entire nation. The last airplanes were grounded less than 20 minutes ago. Damn as I can tell no trains, boats, ships, or planes are being allowed inside or outside the United States". Tommy said as he raced down back roads trying to get out of the city as fast as he could. As the truck raced down the roads she could see a fair few houses burning down for one reason or another. The fires illuminated the area in an eerie yellowish light as the flames danced across the houses. In only a few minutes the truck turned and came face-to-face with the biggest backup she had ever seen. Looking at it she guessed it was nearly four miles long with a sea of cars and trucks honking their horns and the yelling of people.
"Shit back up and go that way. We can't stay here". Her father said as Tommy put the truck into reverse so as to turn down the side street only to have a man with what looked to be rashes run across the road from the hospital and start pounding upon the windows.
"Get down"! Her father yelled as he shot the man in the head dropping him in a second. The top of the window was gone and bits of blood and bone landed upon her pants. The next thing she knew the truck was flying through one intersection after another all the while missing the flood of people running from the many buildings that lined the main street to the town. A few minutes later the truck was parked and the three raced to the bridge a few hundred feet away. Tommy falling somewhat behind the pair. It was only when they were a mere 20 feet did a light hit their face and the voice of a soldier filled their ears.
"Halt! Identify yourselves. Have you been bitten"? The man said as he raised his gun to prove to them he wasn't playing around.
"No, we are fine. I'm Joel Miller and this is my daughter. We just want to get away from all this. She is just frightened by the unusual circumstance but we are fine. No bites or anything else". Joel answered as he watched as the man relayed that to whoever was in command. He was only able to pick up bits of what was said but his fears were proven true when the gun was raised and the man made to fire the gun.
"Bang". Came the sound of a gun but when no pain was felt he opened his eyes to see that Tommy had shot the man and saved their lives. Looking at his daughter he couldn't see any injuries aside from being frightened at being so close to death.
"Come on I know a guy. He can see us safely away from this mess". Joel said as the three of them moved forward leaving the madness that was their former home behind them.
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The United States, Texas, outskirts of Austin.
September 26-27th, 2013.
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Everything around him was in a state of utter pandemonium. In the last few days, their hospital had seen an influx of patients to such a high degree that all of the local hospitals were being overflooded with the sheer number of them coming in. Worse yet as far as anybody could tell this was an entirely new strain of cordyceps fungus never before seen that had somehow mutated in such a way as to be able to affect Homo Sapiens (Human beings). Such a thing was thought to be impossible or at the very least many millions of years of evolution away and yet here it was clear as the day was long.
"I need blood work on a Susannah Chase as soon as possible". Johnson Henry yelled as he tried to make his way down the now crowded hallway that was filled with all sorts of bite wounds and various other ailments too numerous to count. The cries of pain from the hundreds of patients was now a sound that most of them tuned out as best they could. It had been this way for days and with each new day that passed, the number only ever seemed to rise. It sucked but everybody knew that most would likely die long before they could ever hope to see them.
He had only made it about halfway down the hallway when the sound of somebody yelling in absolute terror and pain made him push people aside. He knew what he was doing was likely going to get the hospital sued by a great number of them but right now he didn't rightly care. One of his coworkers was in need of help and he was damn sure going to give it to them. As soon as he had turned down the hallway in question he came face-to-face with a sight one would only ever see in their worst nightmares. One of the patients had bitten the neck of one of the volunteer nurses causing her to convulse violently on the tiled floor.
"Hey"! Johnson yelled as he raced at the attacker and pulled him off only to, in turn, be bitten as well when the man turned his way. In a rage, he kneed the man hard in the chest before forcing him to the floor.
"I need help. Also, can somebody give me a bandage and disinfectant for this bite wound? This fucker bit her and she is losing blood fast"! The doctor yelled more than asked as what few doctors could begin to look him over. He could tell at once that the bite was bad by the looks on all of their faces.
"My god whatever is going on here is fucking strong shit. I think we may just have to cut the damn arm off below the elbow. Otherwise, you run the risk of having it spread all the way to your heart". The older doctor said once he was done looking the bite over.
"What about her"? Johnson asked as he pointed at the downed girl that lay beside him unmoving a few mere feet away.
"She is too far gone. Once we can get some free time we'll try our best to find her folks and tell them what has happened". The older man said as he helped Johnson back up on his feet. Even now a mere few minutes after the bite he was already feeling hot and uneasy on his feet. Nevertheless, he did his best to remain upright as he slowly made his way to what few rooms hadn't already been filled with new cases. If he had to guess that wouldn't be the case in just a few more hours as it was already nearly filled.
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It had only been two or three hours and his head felt like a jackhammer was pounding into it at full force. His eyesight was failing him and he had the overwhelming need to go outside and get some fresh air. Getting off the bed he made his way to the door and exited the room. If it was bad before it was out of control now. The staff was busily running from one room to the next trying to keep up with the seemingly neverending flood of people and failing badly. Looking at a tv he could see that the CDC had ordered a complete lockdown of the United States which in his mind was a dollar short and a day late. This should've been done days ago but at least it was being done now so hopefully, everything would slow down somewhat over the next few days.
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As he neared the front door he could hear the cacophony of car horns and the yelling of hundreds if not thousands of people throughout the town. An ambulance flew past him no doubt about to pick up yet another group of patients. Just as he had regained his footing a truck came into view with three occupants. Two men and a girl with at least one seeming to be yelling something at the other. Just as the truck started to back up he felt an overpowering sensation of rage at the sound the truck was making. Before he knew it he was running headlong at the truck which had stopped for a few seconds. In no time at all, he was at the back window pounding onto it trying to get inside. It was only when he had hit the window a few times did he see the girl drop down and the sight of a glock being leveled at his face. Before he could so much as moved the gun fired and his world became dark. Falling backward his body landed upon the road as the town started to fall into chaos.