Human Viral Zombification

Where it all began.

May 8th, 2018.

The cold, New York wind blew through the city. At first light, the residents of New York went to their local coffee shops before they go to work. Who could resist the warm taste of Coffee in the morning? This time, we follow Hank Burlin, an office worker on a routine journey to his local Starbucks.

...

Hank had put gotten up from his bed. Some of his pillows were on the floor, and his bed sheets were all crumpled up. He was too lazy to fix it up. Hank was always that lazy. He grumbled as he walked to the bathroom.

He had work today, so he had just brushed his teeth, taken a shower, and put on his pristine work suit. He worked for BioCore and had recently gotten promoted to project supervisor. He was making twice as much and he kept looking at his new, flat-screen 90 inch wide TV. Since he was so proud of himself, he had made himself a very nice breakfast: leftovers from dinner. As he ate half a box of Chow-Main, he watched the morning news, the BioCore logo was on the screen.

BioCore has recently collaborated with the university of New York in developing a new, more advanced coffee recipe. NYU has claimed it is twice as effective, with half of the caffeine. They had put in a new chemical they called "Happy Sunrise" (HS). Lead research specialist of this project, Dr. Bob Gallant, has announced it will revolutionize your morning.  BioCore is funding this new product. Starbucks is going to be testing this new recipe today, in each of their locations. So, we are telling the residents of New York to try out this new super coffee, it will brighten your day! This advertisement was brought to you by Starbucks, supported by BioCore and NYU.

Hank knew all about this project. He was recently briefed about it at his last meeting. Boy, was he excited about it. His coworkers shared similar reactions.

When Hank finished breakfast, he had thrown away his Styrofoam containers and had grabbed his suitcase and keys. As he opened the door, he had forgotten the most important thing. He quickly rushed to his room, and grabbed his wallet. He wanted to be one of the first people to try out the HS Recipe.

As he exited out of the driveway, he tried remembering the way to the nearest Starbucks. He managed to make an imaginary map to his  destination and started driving there.

After about 10 minutes, he had arrived at the Starbucks. There was already a massive line outside of the door, but he was a BioCore employee, so he had special rights.

"Outta' the way, move it," Hank told the crowd.

"Screw you!" A man shouted "no cutting!"

Hank flashed his ID to the man.

"I'm with BioCore, loser." Hank mocked.

"BioCore can suck it."

"Just shut up man, just shut up."

As Hank inched his way to the front of the line, he could see the stink-eyes he was getting from several people from the crowd. Yet, he continued walking.

A Starbucks worker went out of the building to unlock the door. Hank and the others were very excited. They were going to be the first to taste this revolutionary beverage. The worker opened the door and Hank, along with the crowd pushed through the thin entrance.

The air was moist, the smell of fresh coffee lingered in the air. Hank can almost taste the beloved beverage. Hank was in the front of the line, so he was the 1st to taste it. As he walked up to the cash register, Hank dug into his pockets and grabbed his wallet. He greeted the cashier with a smile.

"I'd like to order the Happy Sunrise special please", Hank said.

"That'll be 59.99$ sir", the cashier said.

"59.99?!" Hank exclaimed, "are you kidding me?"

"Nope"

"Ugh," Hank brought out his credit card and gave it to the cashier, "I can't believe I'm doing this".

"Thank you sir, I'll be right back with your coffee." the cashier said as she walked to the kitchen.

Hank waited for a while, and after 20 minutes the cashier emerged from the kitchen holding a cup of coffee with the familiar Starbucks logo on it. The cashier handed him the coffee and Hank savored the warmth of the cup in his hand. He slowly walked over to a nearby table and put his coffee down.

Suddenly, he felt the urge in his stomach. He immediately ran to the bathroom, trying to hold it in. He burst through the bathroom doors and entered a stall. He stayed in their for about 20 minutes. 3 rolls of toilet paper were used.

Once Hank was done, he washed his hands and went outside of the bathroom. He walked back to his table, going around the long line. Several people were already seated and drinking away at their coffee.

Hank sat down and opened his cup. He smelled the vapor being emitted by the brown, golden liquid. As he brought the cup up to his mouth, he heard a choking noise. He put the cup down and looked around.

There was a man whose face was extremely pale and somewhat green on the ground. Foam was on his mouth and a crowd was gathered around him. A person walked towards the sick man and shouted that he was a paramedic.

The off-duty paramedic tried to open the man's mouth, whilst turning his head to the side. Suddenly, the man screamed as he was bitten. The paramedic rolled to the side clutching his finger.

"FUCK, WHY?" The paramedic screamed in frustration.

The paramedic calmed down and he directed the crowd to not drink their coffee. The crowd was nodding in unison, but suddenly a similar choking sound was heard.

The crowd looked around and found a few other people with similar symptoms on the ground. Then, the paramedic collapsed, mouth foaming from his mouth.

Hank stared at the bodies in disarray. He started for the door, but he heard a scream. The 1st man got up, his eyes red and skin greenish-pale. The crowd backed away, except one kid.

"Are you okay?" The kid asked.

The man lunged for the kid, and a scream was heard. The infected man started to tear the kid's forehead flesh off first, and then the eyes.

More screams can be heard as more bodies rose from the floor. Hank suddenly felt hands wrapped around his neck as he was pulled down.

"AGH, GET IT OFF OF ME!" Hank screamed.

He kicked the thing behind him, and the zombie fell to the ground. Hank began to ran but the zombie had grabbed his leg, making him fall to the ground, stomach first. Hank began kicking profusely, but to no avail. The zombie continued pulling his leg toward its mouth until suddenly a chair smacked the zombie right across the face, making it let go of Hank's leg.

A man, with a long brown beard, and a baseball cap offered Hank a hand. Hank got up and looked around. Bodies and zombies everywhere.

"Quick!" The man said "follow me!"

Hank followed the man outside the café and he thanked him. As he got in the car he could see that chaos was ensuing outside. The zombies seemed to have gotten out.

Hank started the car and he sped through the streets, running down anything that moved.