The Silver Plague

Prologue

It was a rainy afternoon. I had just moved to a new town, my dad was always away on some business work. He was an inventor, a scientist, a madman. He thought he could take control of everything. He was dead wrong.

My dad was gone, and the last I saw him was last night. "Almost at a breakthrough," he said, just before he left. He was always "almost at a breakthrough." This time was different, but I didn't know until it was too late.

We had been practicing for hiding in bunkers, ever since the last meeting of nations. War was close to upon us. This day, it had finally reached us.

The alarms went off and I ran to the bunker. I had expected as much, being alone in the dark for the next few years, at least. I sat in the dark for a few hours, listening the the bombs, but I quickly got hungry. I decided to check the food rations, and saw that there was enough for me to eat once a day for the next year, so I though to wait for the next few days. The time to eat in the bunker never came.

After checking the food, I decided to check the radio, as we had enough batteries to outlast the food. With my flashlight on the floor, I put new batteries into the radio and turned it on. Luckily, the one thing that my dad made correctly was the antennae for the radio in the bunker. It wasn't hard to make out what they were saying, which explained the end of the explosions about an hour ago.

"Hide everyone, there is a parasite out in the world, it will take control of you and kill you, then use you to kill everyone else!" That wouldn't have scared me, if it weren't my dad's voice.

I got up and filled a backpack. The radio spoke as I got ready, with my dad advising everyone what to do. "Stay above ground, they can burrow through just about anything. Don't worry about radiation, no nuclear bombs were used on this side of the continent. Bring weapons, it's the only way to keep from being caught. Avoid people that are injured, and stay away from everyone you don't know. Anyone can be infected, it takes up to a week to start showing signs. Signs may include; limping, difficulty walking, lack of appetite, grey or green skin, loss of skin, unusual fungus and/or moss.." the list went on and on. I learned that it was his "breakthrough" that caused it. I knew showing my face would be dangerous.

I loaded a bag up with cans, batteries, a flashlight, the radio, and water. I put a holster on my waist, and put a revolver in. I decided to put extra rounds in my bag. I grabbed my dad's sword, and climbed up the ladder, ascending to the ground. The world was in ruins, but I had time to wait. I knew I couldn't be near anyone that might be carrying the parasite.

Weeks passed and I stayed in the house. I knew I could stay there, but only until anything happened. Then finally, something did.