Dying Light - Simulata Exitium (English)

02) Wandering Through the Night

When leaving the antenna tower, I went down that hill by a long dirt ramp and went to the forest that I needed to cross to reach the safe zone. The day was getting dark and cold, but that's not a big problem for me as I lost my fear of the dark early in life. I think I've gotten used to walking around at night. Obviously people aren't afraid of the dark, they're afraid of what's in it, but when I remember that it's just volatiles instead of some supernatural ghost out here, my fear goes away. I know it's weird that I don't fear volatiles, but I don't have a problem with them like the rest of humanity does. Maybe volatiles are the ghosts of our world now, but they're ghosts I can face. If they're outnumbered, of course.

Volatiles have kept me more company than people and I think that's why I haven't died to thisday. Of course, the focus skill saved me many times, but all you have to do is study their behavior and memorize their attacks. You can avoid them in several ways, but the main and most obvious one is not to make noise. If you're chased by one of them, avoid running in a straight line for too long and use the adrenaline to your advantage. You can run incredibly faster when your life is on the line. It's kind of a human survival instinct thing.

If you know how to dodge, use and abuse it. Always change routes and remember to climb the roofs. It will get harder for them to keep chasing you and they will lose you. This is kinda obvious, but the truth is that running away from volatiles requires a body used to speed. I know not everyone can do these things, but I've done them a lot and none of them have caught me yet. UV light can save your life too if you have it and know how to use it wisely.

As soon as I got in that forest, I walked through the tall grasses that slipped through my legs and made waves in the wind. On both sides there were trees that weren't very tall, but their leaves blocked any light coming from the sky. It was so dark inside that the only visible light was my flashlight. Not even the moonlight could get in there. I feel like I'm in a horror movie.

It didn't take long for me to spot a volatile up ahead. With his split jaw, his gray skin and bones sticking out of his abdomen, he patrolled that night forest intently with a thirst for blood. Luckily, he's not a very strong volatile, so I have the upper hand. I know the difference between each of them and can identify their levels of aggression just by looking at them. Of course all volatiles are aggressive, but there's always one more than the other.

There are three types of volatiles: early stage volatiles, mid stage volatiles, and advanced stage volatiles.

Early stage volatiles are basically volatiles that were recently virals and have just turned. They're less resistant than other types of volatiles, extremely sensitive to UV light and can even die if burned too long. Because they're in the early stage of evolution, they're shorter than normal volatiles and a bit weaker. They move more like virals than volatiles and apparently they're still getting used to their recent evolution. They have gray skin similar to the virals.

Mid stage volatiles are common volatiles with standard resistance, but are still sensitive to UV light. They're strong and tall and have red skin. It's said that the city of Harran was full of them and they probably came from there.

Advanced stage volatiles are the worst enemy types out there, and you definitely don't want to come across one of them. Being extremely aggressive and dangerous (and the most evolved), they have huge resistance because of their hardened skins that look like thick steel plates and are completely immune to UV light, making it impossible to burn them. It's not possible to kill them in normal ways without breaking their hardened skins first. Fortunately HVE Gas can melt them until their flesh is exposed, but only one at a time since my katana's HVE Gas device needs to be recharged to be used again and that makes me vulnerable to the other volatiles. Like I mentioned before, I could burn them by spitting on them, but I don't always have HVE Gas in my saliva. My body only produces gas when it wants to. Unfortunately I can't choose that.