Infected

Dear Reader, from Us

        It started with an infection.

        A simple cough. Then came a fever. Then your stomach would start hurting. Then your everything would hurt. You'd have to have someone watch over you, no matter how old you were or how well you could take care of yourself. Next were the strange cravings. You'd eat so much of what you craved-- mainly meat, raw sometimes-- that you'd throw it back up. Either your 'caretaker' would take you to the nearest sink or toilet, or they'd bring the bowl or trash can to you. All you'd know is that you have a really bad sickness.

        What you wouldn't know is that you're contagious.

        Every minute they spend with you, you're giving your friends and family the Infection. If they don't get sick while you are, consider it a miracle. Then, after a few days or weeks even, you'd die. Yeah. Die. And then...

        And then you're one of them. The Infected.

        It takes from one little minute up to five days to go from the dead to the undead. You turn mindless; your only drive is your hunger- the hunger for living people. If you bite or scratch someone, you give them the Infection. Then they'll be like you. The Clean become the infected within a single scrape.

        Back when the Infection was just a deadly virus, scientists produced a vaccination. It was a little pricey, but most could afford it. Those who couldn't were surely going to catch the Infection. Those who could would just have to make sure they stayed away from the Infected. Despite your vaccination against the airborne aspect of the virus, if one of the Infected even scratched you and you didn't have the medical alcohol to clean it out, you were going to turn.

        The best way to stay alive is to kill your way through everything, Get all the weapons you can and aim for the head. Around the heart and stomach will only slow them down. The Infection is rooted in the brain-- kill it at its core. And don't think of it as killing people. They died a long time ago. You're killing the Infection, and just the Infection.

        Yes, there are still some survivors. There are fourteen in our group. Three of us will tell you what it's like to be the Clean. We're doing this because... we're hoping someone in the future will read it. To let you know what it was like, and also to help us feel hopeful that there will be a future. If you're reading this, congratulations. You're Clean. You're alive.

        And we're managing to stay like you.

~Ellie, Seb + Toby