September 28, 2012

In the weeks and months following the End of Earth incident in 2012, a lot of changes occurred. Society doesn't just fall apart instantaneously, even with an outbreak on a global scale-it is a gradual process, no matter what other people might say to the contrary. At first you hear about small riots breaking out in a nearby town or suburb or something like that, but if you lived in a major city within the USA, such a story would only catch a few people off guard. People would just pass it off eventually...unless the stories kept piling up-with the problem not vanishing with the passage of time. For me and my older sister, we'd listen to such stories over the radio and see the fighting between law enforcement and Awoken constantly, to which even in this early point of the outbreak we could at least see what we'd be going up against later on. At first, the Awoken came in 3 types that we knew about, with fractions like the US Military coming up with names based on their characteristics. The first ever variant that we as a species encountered was the "Swarm" type Awoken, which were the earliest form of the infected and also the most numerous at the time. They were the first humans and animals that were brought back to life, to which with the people, they exhibited severe memory loss to the point where they couldn't even recall their names or speak. The doctors who brought these people back to life simply concluded that in time their memories would return, but little did they know that the fungi serum that was injected into their brains was mutating at a rapid pace, changing the hosts into the Swarm variant before people knew any better. Over the course of several days and weeks, the people who were brought back to life never recalled their former memories, and instead, the infection of the fungi injected into their brains spread across their bodies, which was the point where the virus inside them then hijacked their bodies. They became overtly violent, lashing out with their nails and teeth, attacking anyone near them and shocking the many people who took them into their places of residence. As the violence spread, however, the Swarm Awoken displayed clear evidence of a Hive Mind intelligence, as they were able to seemingly communicate and congregate with each other, possibly through telepathy-a trait that all Awoken must share, which they used to overcome various obstacles such as concentrated groups of defending civilians or people who were hiding in a locked cellar. These tactics showed the frighting strategy of the Awoken, which was documented extremely well by the US Military that observed them during the early days of the outbreak, and that information proved invaluable in the coming years, as learning of the dangers of your enemy is a good first step to staying alive. The "Exhaled" type Awoken was the 2nd form of the infected which soon began cropping up shortly after the first month into the outbreak, which were variants of the Swarm type that breathed toxic spores into the air that caused certain areas to become stagnant and inhospitable to uninfected lifeforms. These spores had the added effect of transmitting the fungi infection to anyone who breathed in the fumes, which proved fatal to those who didn't know the effects at the time. These variants didn't engage in actual combat against humans, instead being completely immovable, thus causing the places where they inhabited to be sectioned off by the US Military. The 3rd variant was the "Carrier" Awoken, which were infected females who by using their bodies and wombs as a sort of incubator could create Purer forms of the infection through the common act of mating with other infected hosts. These variants were safeguarded by the Swarm variant, which indicated that the Awoken could at least on a rudimentary level consider the presence of a female as someone that needed to be protected at all costs. The forms that came afterwards were all Pure forms of the infection-born form Carriers, which began appearing several months down the road and became the biggest threat to our safety we had ever faced. Still, we'd just pass it off as someone else's problem and continue our existences, but eventually, larger towns and soon even major cities were hit with the outbreak of Awoken, forcing the US government to shut down and martial law to come into effect. That was probably the scariest point of the outbreak, as that was when all morality was tossed out the window and people return to their most primitive instincts in order to survive. When people are confused, they make critical mistakes that can lead to instant death, and there was plenty of that when the outbreak came knocking on the doors of people who led privileged lives. Me and my older sister, along with the three brothers that took us in after our parents left us were among the kinds of people who held that kind of status, where we watched from our windows the carnage unfold right before our very eyes. The screaming is something that haunts us to this very day, as people were terrified of the capabilities and versatility of the Awoken. While at first, they came in simple humanoid forms, soon enough they evolved into different shapes and sizes, being able to adapt and change rapidly into more deadlier variants to better hunt down anyone that tried to resist. The US Military, along with other individuals who had access to firearms all banded together to do their best to hold off the infected and found some success with gunning down the Awoken, but due to us not knowing what else the Awoken were capable of led to hundreds of thousands of casualties across the USA. Eventually, the Military and other groups of individuals who were well armed banded together under one banner called the "Green Strangers", characterized by their bright green uniforms and the fact that they concealed their names as part of their operation. These individuals were numerous, highly trained and dedicated to protecting the former US constitution, acting quickly to create several large sanctuaries for uninfected people and animals, which before the electrical grid fell to the Infected they were able to send out a communication that was broadcasted across the USA, informing anyone with rational thinking to take refuge into various military compounds scattered across the land, which became the lasts bastions within the USA where life could exist without the presence of Awoken. The Military-now turned Green Strangers had originally planned for these places to be used in the event of global nuclear fallout, but now with the onslaught of infected cropping up across the world, these compounds became sections of hope where the survivors from various cities could flock to and cooperate to continue living. Some people even brought with them uninfected animals like pigs, horses and other livestock, which above certain pieces of technology, weapons and ammunition formed the backbone of what was left to feed Humanity. With 986 Military compounds scattered across the USA, a new regional map was needed, with Fort Bragg becoming the focal point of Humanity in this new world. I still remember how me and my older sister were forced to flee from our quiet foster home and try desperately to escape the city that we lived in, as the Awoken were relentless in their pursuit of any uninfected entity. If not for the heroic efforts of what remained of specific military personal within our city of Fayetteville within North Carolina, we would've likely been hunted down and killed by the Awoken...me and my older sister owe those people our lives for what they did to save us. As entire cities were destroyed by the mutated Awoken, we fled to one of the Military Compounds and found shelter there along with thousands of other individuals, which began our decent into a world without hope.

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October 13, 2012

It's been a few weeks since my last entry into this journal, of which a few things of note have occurred. Life in a Military compound is a tiring affair, as we are beyond capacity and have to ration food and water to an extreme degree in order to survive. Each person only eats one time for the whole day and gets two bottles of water per day as well, which the people in charge promise is only temporary until things settle down within the barricades that separate us from the Awoken. For me and my older sister, we are mere civilians, so we did not get to argue with the Green Strangers who are heavily armed and most likely are looking out for only themselves and those that they cared about. Right now, we can see the beginnings of a new society forming-one where certain rules must be enforced through force and where any form of objection is considered fatal to your personal wellbeing. One such rule was to NEVER venture outside of the barricades-lest you want to sign your own death warrant to the Awoken scratching and teething the walls on the opposite side. This was the most important rule at first, mainly due to us not knowing what was even happening just outside of the walls of our military compound. However, over time this rule had to be withdrawn, as resources would eventually run dry, and we would need explorers to venture outside to find anything useful to bring back to the compound. Even this early into the outbreak, the people in charge knew of this fact, and so they would quickly force whoever was capable into a new routine of daily training to become the "Outliers". Both me and my older sister were selected to become a part of this military regiment, where we were given better access to food, warm beds and a clear direction of purpose. Our role as Outliers was to not only safeguard the people within our compounds, but to also scavenge for any resources that could continue our existence in this new world. Such resources included attempting to bring back some forms of the previous world, such as electrical tools for rebuilding society and restarting water treatment facilities and the like. Such missions seemed challenging, but with the world in the state that it's currently in right now, it's hard to say no to such lofty ambitions, as time moved on...