Genesis

Prologue - Day 0

On the day everything would change for good, no one seemed to notice anything different. The birds still chirped as normal. The news was still filled with reports of the work on the cure for the E Virus. There was still a curfew for 8:00 pm, and the majority of the teenage population was still dead-set on breaking it. 

And Victor Noble was still at school, leaned over a textbook and studying in Mr. O'Donald's room. Magdaline Grace Andrews and Peter Johnson were still seated on the desk in front of Victor, chatting.

Millie Lewis was at her older sister Kimberly's volleyball practice.

Angie Brocklyn was at Miss Maggie's, waitressing.

Pippa Wallace was at the Silver Club, dancing her little heart out.

Sydol Abel was at home, watching the news.

All of them were unprepared for what was about to happen. All of them were unaware that they could no longer just live, but would have to survive.

At 6:09 p.m., every television channel changed to a single broadcast.

"This is not a drill. This is not a drill. The United States of America is officially on lockdown. All citizens outside are advised to seek shelter immediately. The Outbreak has reached Level Five. This is not a drill. This is not a drill...." And then the screams started.

Inside his home, tucked away from the world with only the dog on his sofa for company, Sydol Abel stared at the TV out of shock, the screams from outside hardly registering with him. After a moment, he rose from his seat and moved to the door of his apartment. Peering through the small window, he was relieved to find the hall empty. But that didn't last for long, as the apartment three doors down and across the hall from him suddenly opened. Out stumbled a blood-covered indivual, their eyes wild. A low, guttural moan was torn from the man's throat as he fell into the hallway. Another, similar looking child followed, stumbling into the hall, it's nose upturned, eyes yellow and wild. Sydol locked his door then, but did not step back, too intrigued with watching these creatures.

He'd watched countless news stories on the Virals, of course, and how the severity of it all had climbed to a steady "3", but his state had always been deemed rather safe. There had only been sixteen reports from Illinois, and all had been much farther upstate than he was. He'd felt rather safe; safe enough, in fact, that he'd refused his family's offer at coming to stay with them in upper Minnesota.

He regretted that now. The Canadians had the lowest reported cases out of everyone, having shut down their borders early and establishing Quarantine Zones. His parents were probably somewhere in that cold country now, alive and well.

He didn't know how much longer that description would fit him.

The older of the creatures, the man that had first stumbled from the apartment, was now throwing itself at the door next to Sydol's with a ferocity the 24 year old didn't understand. It looked incredibly angry, repeatedly screeching and continuously and recklessly casting its body at the dark green door. From inside the apartment, Sydol could hear a chorus of screams. He recalled that a family of four lived there, a mother, a father, a daughter a few years younger than Sydol himself and an 11 year old boy. He wished he could help them. Prayed the creature wouldn't make it in. But now the child was also throwing itself at the door and the door was beginning to splinter. When the creatures broke in, Sydol simply stepped back, afraid to watch what would soon happen.

As Sydol began to push his couch toward the door, he recalled what the news had said. It took the patients four days to complete the disease cycle naturally. But if the patient was bit or attacked to the point of death, it took simply minutes.