Infection - A work in progress

It had happened so quickly. It was all over the news and on the radio, Health Ministers had advised cities to be cautious. But what use was that? An infection was spreading, it was unending, this lethal curse would kill you. If you were lucky. India had started it, the NWBL or New War and Biology Labs had found a so called 'cure' for a rare disease that shut down it's victims organs. The first dosage was shipped to England, the English had been infected with a virus that paralysed all who became a host for the virus, and in an effort to cure all of England, they released the toxin into public water system, then there were faults. Some of the water leaked into the oceans and travelled to other countries like China. The Chinese had taken precaution, they stopped drinking public water and started drinking bottled water. But the English were too late to know. Many people had ingested the toxin known as Bacha La Immuna, or the Post-Toxin. Doctors were unable to find the source of the outbreak, until the bodies were examined closely. They found a blood like stain on the brain of every victim. Many people died during the first stage, stage one was the manifestation, where the cells receded into something else, and became either red or blotchy, this also happened in the eyes, the eyes would become puffy and red, and nails became black. Stage two never killed, but its victims would appear to be dead, no breath, no hope and would be buried alive. But they got out by stage three... Stage three? The third stage was the mental breakdown, they would have no emotion, feel no pain, and this was when things got bad.

People began killing each other, and if they didn't kill others, they would kill themselves, they didn't even know any humanity or remember anything, or so they thought. The Spanish NWBL had figured out why the cure had sent them mental - it was due to insanity, the host for the disease would have no control over their actions, they knew what they were doing though. But there was a cure. 2015 had brought on extinction for many animals and plants, and the cure was hard to make. The N-Toxin required the sap of a very rare tree - the Kindle Tree from South India. In large doses, the sap was lethal and even the tiniest drop can kill, but it worked against the Post-Toxin, because it began to shut down the part of the brain where the host manifested first. This was a relief for India, who had now been infected, but for the rest of the world, they would have to wait, the NWBL had chosen to quarantine places with mass infections and help those in need and those who had not been infected. They thought this would stop the infection, because they only knew the basics - it contaminated the water supplies. But they couldn't have been more wrong, it travelled from water to the vital organs, and then could simply ravage others by being transported in air, from cells, and this was a fault of the Post-Toxin. It was meant to cure and not kill, but it did the opposite of what it was supposed to do, and this caused even more complications for the NWBL, because those who were not infected but at risk began to rebel against this the government joint, this meant problems in the elections, but that wouldn't change a thing, because people were going to die - leader or no leader. After a year of this infection, the health ministers had chosen to take action against the viral Infection, and try to immunise many. This sent people out of jobs, even more deaths and the highest crime rate in five years. But that was only the start, people were getting evacuated now, and 2015 was now becoming the end of civilisation and humanity.

{CHAPTER 1 - GUARD POST

{i}Jess stood now in a town tore apart by a virus. Her mother had died. So had her Dad, but she and her young sister had not, Jess and Sylvia were alive, battling the contamination, trying to escape but the bloody streets were no place for a young child to go, no, nobody should ever have to see this. Jess looked up, the blue sky from just a week before had gone, the ash and smoke raised high above the trees, and now it was just as red as the pavements. Sylvia had cried and cried, she was in pain, with no parents, she was forced to be alone, so had Jess. Jess was 7, she was not old enough to fight this, and nor was Sylvie, her little hands shook as the madman ran towards them. Jess had given up, she wasn't running any more. She was tired, she had fought her last fight, she had looked death in the face and escaped, but she was giving up hope, she had lost her strength and will to live. But just as the man got to her, she changed her mind, but the corpse was almost on her now, almost tearing her apart, she could smell his rancid, burning, charred skin.

Then the bullet shot.



Jess shot her head back, she saw the young woman, she appeared to be pregnant but able to hold a shot gun, the empty shells lined the floor as the woman slowly moved over to Jess and Sylvia. But she was too late.... the horde was coming... The terrifying menaces ran as fast as they could, they trampled over one another, they tripped, stumbled, but the blood-thirsty glint in their eyes only made the facts worse. Over a thousand of these creatures came sprinting at them, their charred bodies getting closer and closer. But Jess didn't get a choice in the matter, she and Sylvie were getting dragged into the woman's home, the metal locks, bars and machinery made Jess uncomfortable, but she stood there, in shock, it was only a matter of time now before those things got in and she would be reunited with her mother and father up in Heaven, but she was never taught to think like that, she was taught to think logical, she was taught to believe in hope, anything that may bring her hope she would use, even if it was the dullest light. Then she shut her eyes, Jess was scared, she had never been this scared before, but she knew she had hope, this woman would not let her die, would she? But what if the woman was infected with the virus? Was she? Had she been in contact with one of the horde? Jess had had no time to check for any signs, not her nails, eyes, skin, but she doubted this woman was one of them. She knew she had to be strong, if not for herself, for her sister, Sylvia was in this nightmare too, Jess had to know this, she had to, she just had to learn.

"Those things can kill you if you are not careful. I have seen this before, it happened a few decades ago," the woman said, now it was clear to Jess that her hair was a greyish tone, strands fluttered over her pale face, her eyes were bright blue and her dress was red. She was about eighty, but she was strong enough to hold a gun, she was fast enough to save two girls, this was the only thing they needed at this moment, a woman who had seen this before, a woman who was used to use, a woman who had scars, not only physically, but mentally. "I have seen it all, I know what this is, everyone does, but they do not remember, they were not alive, this was once a small place, nobody here but my family and the people my family knew, what is in their body is not all the Post-Toxin, it is also a small but powerful dosage of type X-Toxin, about a hundred years ago, a small coven of witches saught something for immortality, because their priestess had the ability to preside over all, but she was weak, she was old, her unborn child was weak, this was weakening the priestess, but something happened. The day before the priestess died, she gave birth to a strong child, the child was Myra, a strong, powerful woman, she was also magic, but it was too late for her mother. The witches of the coven decided to take care of her, she was a quick learner, and then one day they found the cure to death, a way to cheat life and death, to bring the dead to life and those living were granted forever immortality. She moved here, the people here wished for immortality as well, but the next dose of the X-Toxin went bad, the priestess warned the people, but they did not listen. They injected themselves with the shots, but it contained a toxin now known as the Post-Toxin, it made the people mad, it kept them alive, and in the end, the town became evil, held under the spell, and the Indians stumbled upon the last batches of this, but they simply called it a cure, because it was labelled cure. The people in the tale however, were cured, not because of the cure they are using now, but because the priestess banished the evil, this killed many, but it stopped the illness, but this is too big a scale for anyone to banish, not anyone with power."

"This is mad, nothing like this is real!" Jess screamed at the woman, still in shock.{/i}