KILL c.h. | au

one

The world didn't just slowly die off. It hit like Helen Keller to a brick wall, or a chicken on a freeway. I hadn't played nearly enough video games to prepare me.

The government took control after four days. CORDYCEPS. The same fungi that's in that one video game with the amazing graphics and the kickass fourteen year old. If you didn't know, Cordyceps was actually a fungi. You could've googled it. It was parasitic to insects, until it mutated. Stage One includes the fungi growing while you're still alive, causing you to become aggressive and have no ounce of humanity left inside within 1-2 days of coming in contact with the infected's bottle-y liquids. Stage Two is about 1-2 weeks after being infected. It scars your face making you lose eyesight, forcing the now inhumane creature to develop a primitive style of echolocation. Stage Three is around 1-2 years of infection. Whereas the fungus started growing on the brain, it eventually grew through the eye sockets (causing scarring), and then over clothing and exposed skin. The new fungal layer becomes a layer of armor which can be burned or blown off, but is a waste of ammunition to shoot at. Stage Four is the final stage. It takes place 1-2 decades after infection, and if the host is killed by the parasitic fungi, it sits in a corner or against a wall and the fungi grows around into the plaster, creating stalks that release poisonous spores. The host has to be alive in order for infection to spread, meaning the fungi itself cannot infect you at the touch. The spores can infect you if you make it into clean air before you suffocate, but most are choked and to not make it out alive. Gas masks with industrial strength filters can be used to prevent the inhaling of spores.

This fungi is parasitic, meaning it feeds off of its host. Therefore dead bodies cannot be infected. But depending on the size of the infected persons, infection could be in full effect after only a few hours.

ANYWAY... It only took a week for the infection to kill 80% of the human population. They scanned and evacuated people into abandoned cities and the military began protecting it, creating chaos and a war path of angry mobs. Mobs that usually consisted of people who were infected or people who really didn't care to be "captivated". There was curfew, the military turned off the power after sunset, and rations were only available 9am-12pm on Sundays. They assigned citizen patrols when they got desperate, and people ran off to join military resistance groups.

Usually my brother's friend, Calum, had a baker's dozen of new recruits a week. We don't often see Calum, but Brother is planning on joining him. He knew Calum before everything happened. they were Juniors in High School together. Calum's group was STORM, Standing Together, Opposing Rival Military. He didn't agree them turning out people who weren't infected, and he definitely didn't like it when they changed the amount of tickets per meal.

They give us a protein, usually beans, a fruit, pears or peaches, a vegetable, peas, powdered milk, or milkman, and a small loaf of stale bread. It used to be 2 tickets a can, but know it's up to 5 a can. Making our meals 25 tickets. And the only way to get tickets is to trade something for them (like your soul... jk... I think), or to do favors for the military. They keep asking Brother where Calum is, but no one knows. His parents haven't seen him since the infection broke out. I'll be a Stage Four infection by the time I finally tell them where he is. Because as part of his team, we don't give each other up.