Plague 2023 (Plague 2022 Season 2)

Prologue

The plague didn't subside. Zombies still crawled across the country, their numbers dwindling only because the government had managed to capture most of them. But we were fooled. Not just us—everyone in the world was deceived. Only we knew the truth.

In June of 2022, the zombie apocalypse began. On December 6, 2022, the military rescued us and sent us to the safe camps. We were saved, or so we thought. Life wasn't the same as before, but we had been spared. It took some time to settle in, but by March 2023, everything seemed to have returned to normal. We ate, hung out, and laughed together like we used to in our respective homes. Or so I believed.

Nothing was true. Everything was a facade. No one saved us. When I woke up, I found a harsh, green light glaring into my eyes. I couldn't recognize the place at all, and my friends were nowhere to be found. Empty metal beds surrounded me, each one a cold reminder of the isolation I felt. My arms and legs were heavy, weighed down by numerous injections that pierced my skin. I had no idea what was happening, and I wished I didn't know.

I remember the chaos of the initial outbreak. People screamed in the streets, and the moans of the undead echoed through the night. We barricaded ourselves in the military underground base, clutching anything that could be used as a weapon. Fear was our constant companion. When the military arrived, we thought our prayers had been answered. Men in uniforms, armed and authoritative, promised safety and a return to normalcy. We were loaded onto trucks, herded like cattle, but we didn't care. We were too relieved to be escaping the horror.

The safe camps were stark but functional. Rows of tents and makeshift buildings stretched as far as the eye could see. At first, it felt like a haven. We had food, water, and security. We were grateful, even if life was stripped to the bare essentials. We shared stories, trying to make sense of the madness we had survived. There was a sense of camaraderie, a bond forged in shared terror and relief.

But now, as I lay on that cold, metal bed, reality began to sink in. The green light above buzzed faintly, casting an eerie glow on the sterile room. My body ached from the injections, and I could feel the cold, metallic taste of fear in my mouth. Panic welled up inside me. Where were my friends? What had happened to us?

I tried to piece together my last memories before waking up in this place. We had been eating dinner in the mess hall, laughing at some joke Yon had made. It felt almost normal, a slice of our old lives in the midst of chaos. But now, that memory seemed distant and unreal.

My eyes scanned the room, searching for any sign of familiarity, but all I saw were more empty beds and medical equipment that looked both advanced and ominous. It was as if I had been transported to a different world, one where hope had been stripped away, leaving only fear and confusion in its wake.

I tried to move, but my limbs were heavy, almost numb. The injections must have contained something to keep me subdued. I fought against the fog in my mind, trying to stay awake, to stay alert. Someone had to know what was happening. Someone had to help.

Footsteps echoed in the distance, growing closer. My heart raced, pounding in my chest like a drum. The door creaked open, and a figure in a white lab coat stepped in, face obscured by a mask. They moved methodically, checking the machines and scribbling notes on a clipboard. I wanted to scream, to demand answers, but my voice was weak, barely a whisper.

"Where... where am I?" I managed to croak out, my throat dry and scratchy.

The figure looked at me, eyes cold and unfeeling behind the mask. Nothing. She gave me nothing.

But her silence became clear. I pieces things immediately with just that. We hadn't been saved. We had been captured, taken from one nightmare and thrust into another. The sense of betrayal was overwhelming. The government, the military—they had lied to us. They had used us.

As the figure continued their work, I vowed to find a way out. I had to escape, to find my friends, to uncover the truth. The world needed to know what was really happening. The facade of safety had to be torn down, and the real fight for survival had only just begun.