Creatures On Fire

Good Night... And Good Luck (Dying Light)

A young woman stood on the balcony of a tall building and watched the smog rise and fall over a Middle Eastern city of Harran. If a deadly plague hadn't overwhelmed it, this would be a nice place to spend vacation, or so she thought. Georgina has travelled much to the countries of Middle East, managing to visit Turkey and Israel, not missing also a few countries of North Africa like Egypt and Tunisia. Each time pleasant memories were brought back home, and Georgina thought that it would be another nice travel to exotic places. But this time she was wrong. She couldn't have imagined that her vacation would turn into real-life survival.

Literally in a few days some unidentified infection had spread around Harran, turning the infected people into flesh-eating monsters that looked at living human beings as a delicious meal. The town became isolated from the rest of the country, and the remaining survivors managed to barricade themselves in a tall, multi-floored building that looked more like a tower, and named it a safe zone. Georgina soon became good friends with a local girl named Jade Aldemir and her brother, Rahim; although sometimes he behaved like a schoolboy, and Jade had to take responsibility to tame him, but he was a nice guy nonetheless. When it's about survival, it's much better to have good relationship with as many people as possible. So much Georgina had learnt. Authorities dropped some supplies now and then in several spots of the town, but it wasn't enough. The medicine called "Antizin" helped, but not for a very long time; and there was no antidote manufactured yet. Georgina heard thought that Dr. Zere was studying the infection and tried to understand whether it was possible to create something that might cure the infected ones that haven't turned into zombies yet.

At first it was hard for Georgina to deal with these creatures, as she had never imagined that she would see the walking dead in her life. She thought that something of this kind was only in games and movies, but now this was real life. But she wasn't the only one. All other survivors were caught by surprise, and there was no time to fall into stupor. Everyone had to act to stay alive. But lucky for them, the zombies were slow and stupid; and after some time it grew easier to deal with them if you learnt a few tricks. But there was a strict warning: when the night falls, stay inside at all costs. Georgina had no idea why, as it was as dangerous at daytime too; and one day she decided to speak to Jade and ask if she knew anything about it.

"Night is the time when each human being must stay inside at all costs," Jade explained. "That's when more dangerous predators come out to hunt for prey."

"Predators? What kind of predators?" Georgina wanted to know. "These zombies that roam around the streets are already dangerous enough. So it means there are more?"

"Yes, and those hunt only at night. They are called Volatiles among us. They are very agile and fast, and much stronger than any average zombie out there. If they spot you, you're finished; they will outrun you without any problems. But that's not all," Jade coughed and continued: "The Volatiles are harder to kill, but if you are armed well enough, you can at least fight off one or two of them. But there is one creature that is much more dangerous than the Volatiles."

"And who is that?" Georgina asked.

"We know him simply as the Night Hunter. This is a unique type of zombie. He is one such type among other zombies, but nothing can be compared with his ferocity and thirst for flesh and blood. When our men went to fetch the supplies, they encountered the Volatiles. Some were killed, of course, but the rest were able to fight and kill the enemies. But the next time they went for the next portion of goods, during the radio contact we heard they were attacked by the Night Hunter, and... they never returned. That thing tore them all apart."

"Oh God..." Georgina was terrified. So indeed daytime zombies were just one half of danger that lurks out there.

"Yes. So now you understand why it is so important to complete all tasks before nightfall," Jade said. "In case if you don't manage to get back here, you have to find a shelter. At daytime it's better to explore for safe zones; that's where you can see living people. You can find a safe place there to spend the night."