Hidden

Chapter 6 - The Infection

The initial epidemic began in Turkey and spread as the beings broke out and those who were unknowingly infected boarded planes and ships to other parts of the world. Chaos took control over the next thirteen years. The viral outbreak swept across the globe within five. In some places, infections began but very few people turned for the first few years, and it was believed that some people were immune. But time proved this theory wrong.

Screamers were entirely undetectable by appearance. The only way to know if a person had already turned was to take a muscle sample. With this, it could be determined whether or not there were parasites within the muscles themselves controlling the movements. If there were, the subject was killed immediately. The only other way to identify them was when they screamed, but they only did so if they were detected.

Before the collapse, the governments began referring to the creatures as "screamers", and after years of researching and studying them, they discovered some of the secrets of the monsters, such as their ability to have as much control over their body as a normal person.

The parasites had multiple effects on the human anatomy. First, they converted the saliva into a substance that caused numbness on contact until it reached deeper tissue, in which it would create an intense burning sensation. Second, the saliva, once on a human body, could absorb and instantaneously replicate the flesh, meaning once a screamer bit someone, the wound would heal itself and there would not even be a scar. Both of these traits together caused a bite that was completely painless and one that would heal itself, leaving no sign of being bitten. A third piece of information that was revealed showed that the parasites remained dormant until a completely random time, so a person infected could turn at any moment, ranging from two seconds all the way to two years or even longer.

But the worst discovery was yet to come.

It was discovered that he parasitic virus kept the brain completely alive but at the same time controlled it. This meant that any knowledge that a person had in life, they retained in undeath. This discovery came when the Canadian military planned to infiltrate a city, then populated only by screamers, and wipe them out. However, while on a secret reconnaissance mission, a high ranking officer was infected and eventually turned.

His knowledge of the battle plan and the military center enabled him to lead a large group of screamers into the facility and kill or turn every living person there.

However, despite all of the information inside each screamer's brain, they were inexplicably unable to talk. Their only form of communication was screaming, which somehow seemed to translate between screamers but was yet to be understood by scientists.

In the years 2026 to 2031, 137 countries' governments fell as screamers invaded every inch of the known world. People had no way to know who they were.

In the first six years alone, seventy-five percent of the human population was exterminated or turned.

The remaining either lived in fear, not able to trust anyone for fear of them suddenly turning, or did so while fighting. The latter were part of The Silent.

The resistance sprouted in 2022, and the name was designed to contradict the enemy. It began as a program in the United Nations that spread to the rest of the word. It sported centers in every remaining nation with rationed food, military protection, and isolated quarters to avoid infection among inhabitants.

TS's research teams also developed small devices that could detect the infected without requiring an actual sample of muscle tissue to be removed. The devices were called Muscular Parasite Indicators, or MPIs for short. Most people just called them beepers because of the sound they made when the parasites were detected. They comprised of a black box about the size of a large book that was connected to a small cord with a three-inch needle on the end. This needle was inserted into a person's arm like an IV, where it tested the surrounding muscle tissue for parasites using sensors aligned on its edges and would send the results to the screen on the box.

Unknown to the majority of the population, in the year 2029, TS was attempting to develop a new MPI that only needed to scan the arm, not insert a needle. Major rumors pertaining to militaristic and scientific plans and discoveries were kept silent to avoid information reaching the screamers.

The only rumor that had been spread was already confirmed. A small team nicknamed the Re-Kill Squad made up of the most elite soldiers in the world had been sent in to the original infection site in 2019.

No one had heard from them since their plane landed.