𝙲𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚗 𝙾𝚏 𝚅𝚒𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 | 𝚃. 𝙾𝚝𝚝𝚘 𐂃

Chapter 1

Troy studied the bound infected with quite some interest. It wasn't moving and barely responded to their presence. He experimentally prodded at its deteriorated body with his rifle and other than low, but clearly less vociferous growls.

The smile that evolved on his lips was like that of a boy that finally received his favorite treat. Cristine had never seen him, or anyone for that matter, so enthused and interested in the dead. Most people stayed as far from them as possible or annihilated the infected without thinking twice.

His eyes flickered at Cristine who stood opposite of him, on the other side of the infected. She hadn't said much, but her sharp eyes were like an open book for him to read. After going out almost for a month on these inspections every other day, her eyes spoke volumes. She still hated this and she hated him.

Troy's smile turned deeper before he bound open his journal and quickly wrote down his verdict. "It's been almost two weeks since we left it here. So a lack of fresh meat makes them less alert and catatonic after time passes." He stopped writing and prodded at the grey colored skin that had clearly rotted, but not as much as it should've.

"It's weird how a virus that makes corpses rot, has a way of slowing down that same process. Their skin doesn't rot as fast as a regular corpse."

"Depending on when they turned. It could be years, if not decades for one of these to be gone. The brain will decompose as final organ if it's left like this." Cristine was rambling and froze when she realized that Troy was writing while she spoke.

"It's the mostly likely explanation, same with the decreased insatiable hunger and slowed down motor function."

"There's logic to it and that's what matters." Troy said and re-read his notes and compared them with hers before he looked at Cristine with a questioning gaze.

"I was actually planning on placing a pile of them as a perimeter in the area, it seems much safer than this."

Her reply was neutral and she pointed at the almost still corpse. "You can tie them up like this and use them all the same. I suggest cutting the jaw and arms just to be safe."

"Say we need to use them for whatever reason, we can still use them to move around... or train the new recruits." Cristine muttered that part just for pragmatic use and saw the formed wrinkles on his forehead even out.

Of course he liked the sound of that.

Troy grinned as he realized how advantageous this new discovery was. "Practical and it'll ward people away." He had nothing but good things to say and unknowingly appraised her with his eyes.

Cristine inwardly scoffed, did he forget that he threatened her with her family? He was acting as if they were the best of friends trying to discover the science of the infected. It wasn't that she wouldn't tell him anything about them, but this was mostly done under force.

Troy glanced at his watch before storing his journal in the pockets of his vest. "We should head back to the Ranch."

"I've been thinking." As the engine of his truck revved, Troy pinched the wheel brake and gave the gas pedal a push. He gave the rest of his crew the order to fasten and decapitate the dead as a repellent. It was indeed easier and less straining on their gas reserves than burning them. He made sure to place the corpses on less fertile land too, afraid that it would contaminate the soil. With one hand clasped around the wheel and the other lazily tapping on the edge of his pulled down window, Troy shared his thoughts with Cristine.

"According to you, the whole world is plagued by a disease. It spreads like influenza, like the first news reports mentioned. Something about some new flu type." He had been thinking of the concept of this flu that had many similarities to it and the way it spread according to the woman's notes and footage.