The Last Of Us (Fan-Fic)

Infected- (Character)

The Infected humans have since undergone a strange mutation by a specialized strain of cordyceps. Over time, the host's facial and physical appearance changes from how typical people look prior to infection. The infection causes fungal growths that make their faces completely unrecognizable. At later stages, their body begins to bulge, and more fungi growths can be seen on their skin. They may be eventually killed by the fungus, at which point their corpses will begin producing infectious spores. Their teeth are horribly rotten and jagged.

Upon becoming Infected, the victims eventually lose any ability to think and behave irrationally as the fungus takes over their minds. Relying on baser instincts and frantic behavior, the Infected will attempt to throttle any uninfected person they find. Victims can become infected through small bite wounds or scratches, further spreading the fungus, although the infected usually kill whoever they attack.

As the fungus grows it gradually makes the host blind. They then develop echolocation to locate enemies, which results in them making a distinctive clicking sound. After some time, the fungus will kill the host if too damaged, usually in a closed off space so the fungus can spread further.

The Infected, while having a higher pain tolerance than ordinary humans, still have a vulnerability to injury. A Runner, while not attacking survivors, will moan in pain due to the fungal growth deforming its body. Clickers will occasionally struggle while being shived, showing extreme sensory awareness. Gunshots are capable of startling an Infected individual, so it's likely they feel fear just as any ordinary person would. However, since their humanity is completely destroyed by stage 3, their feelings of fear completely vanish.

The first reports of the infection occurred in the city areas in the south. Individuals who worked in the cities were the first few to be infected. Once infected, the infection will travel up to the victim's brain. Once this happens, fungus will start to grow out of the victim's eyes and into the victim's face. It was stated in the "Hush" development trailer that at a certain point in an infected's life cycle, when it feels it is close to death, it will find a dark corner to die and then the fungus grafts to the environment. When the body dies, it becomes skeletal and brittle as the fungus continues to grow and is capable of releasing infectious spores. It is also known that the dead can't be infected. It has also been stated that the people in the quarantine zones are relatively safe because the fungus needs tightly closed areas to spread. As well as being spread through spores, the infection can be spread through bites.

Runners are the first stage of the Infected who have recently entered their transformation. Since the eyes are first targeted by the fungus, runners have poor eyesight, but maintain many human instincts. For example, their moans are still human, just like their overall appearance. However, a way to tell them apart from normal survivors is their usually glowing eyes. Their body language is sluggish while they are passive and makes it seem as if they are trying to resist the fungus. Sometimes they do not attack at all, even when right in front of them. These non-aggressive runners will only attack if attacked first or when an object is thrown at or near them, thus losing control. This is described to be like a "sneeze" like the developers say in a demo, where the host will find it hard to control when a sneeze will occur at any moment and when you are about to sneeze, it is hard to stop from letting the sneeze go through. Runners are confirmed to be able to attack in packs flailing their arms trying to trample the survivor.

Stalkers are the second stage of the Infected. They have the vision and speed of Runners, although are more similar in appearance to Clickers. The most notable trait that defines the "Stalkers" is the croaking sound they make, and that they seem to have some use of intelligence or discretion when chasing a victim - they will strafe and take cover, eventually closing in on the victim, hence the name "stalker". Stage 2 may take place anywhere between a few days after the start of the infection (Stage 1) and up to a year (Stage 3).

Stalkers are the fastest of the infected to spot a survivor as they will spot them usually before a survivor will even have a chance to.

Clickers are the third stage of the Infected that have had prolonged exposure to the fungus. They are completely blind, but maneuver through areas using echolocation, which produces the clicking sound that they are named after. They appear to be much less human than Runners, with faces that are skewed and scarred by fungus growing out of their infected brains, out of their eye sockets and over/around the head. They are also much more aggressive than Runners, and do not resist the fungus anymore because their humanity is now completely destroyed.

When a Clicker is provoked, the Clicker will enter a "berserk mode," aggressively flailing their arms. At this point, if a victim is caught in their arms, they will have a death grip and be able to feed on the victim if they do not have a shiv or are not helped by another survivor. There is no melee move to override this attack and the clicker will not flinch when shot with non-shotgun rounds if not aiming for the head. To counter this move, it is advised to keep good distance and wait for the Clicker to wear out, then try to hit it before it does another berserk. This can be done, or just try to shoot it before it gets to the player or to throw a molotov or scorch it with a flamethrower.

Clickers are relatively slow, and because of their blindness and crude version of echolocation, they can be easily outran as a result, eventually making it confused and try to click in all directions. However, if they manage to catch a survivor they will almost certainly kill them with ease, unless the victim is helped by another survivor or manages to stab the clicker with a shiv. However, one cannot shiv the clicker if it attacks from behind. Clickers can be briefly stunned if they are hit with a brick or bottle, making it vulnerable to attack with a melee weapon.

Bloaters are the fourth and final stage of the Infected. They are covered in thick fungus that effectively doubles as plate armor. Because of this protective covering, they can withstand multiple blows with sharp weapons like machetes and hatchets. They are extremely hard to kill and behave very erratically, but are rather slow and lumbering. Like Clickers, they use echolocation to locate enemies as the fungus has completely deformed their face. If a bloater catches a survivor, it will instantly kill them by ripping their face apart through brute strength. While the bloater does this, it will emit a loud, low war screech. Bloaters can also toss balls of harmful spores that disperse on impact. This will damage the health of anyone in the immediate area, although interestingly do not infect anyone, even if they are not wearing a protective mask.

Bloaters, like all Infected, have a weakness to fire. When set ablaze a bloater will wildly thrash around trying to put out the flames as if in pain, while all other projectiles barely make it flinch. After being on fire, they will be charred black and smoking. Their armor will also be charred brittle even making them vulnerable to low caliber rounds like 9mm. Despite this, fire based weapons such as flamethrowers or Molotov cocktails require multiple attacks before killing a bloater.