The soldiers standing at the border that separated Middlestown from her closest neighbour, Heavenlin, had until that moment done their work well enough and kept all who tried to leave Middlestown well within their limits. They had made camp at the border and were at their posts again that morning, doing their jobs with dedicated service when a single person was spotted running towards their ranks from three hundred yards away by the watchman, himself another single man sitting up on a high post with a pair of binoculars for his aid.He called for a shooter, and one soldier — the best shooter of his squad — fell into position behind a barrier set up for the purpose, and then shot, him being one of the best shooters of them all. Still, the person continued to run even closer, undaunted. He let off two more shots, firing them in quick succession. Still, this person did not stop his advance, as though the bullets had not even touched him at all.Two more people fell in step behind the ap
At first, the only species that seemed to be infected by the Q-21 Zombie virus was Homo Sapiens, until more and more animals joined in.As long as it was not completely eaten by the carrier of the virus, the host would rise as a new carrier of the virus, ready to join in the mindless fray that prompted them to attack and eat, leaving whatever was left with enough life to continue, and whatever died in the process to die. As a result, every animal in Middlestown that was still alive despite being bitten only became like the rest of the zombies — a carrier to spread the virus, and the numbers got so high that there were up to 10,000 of them.This was the very demographic that the person in the dark room was looking at hours before the zombies started to advance towards the border, the only source of brightness within this dark place coming from the glow of the large computer screen. The numbers still made him smile.10,000 carriers of his newly invented virus, which was going to stun t
Despite a thirty-minute advance warning, there were still those caught unawares when the zombies came in.They were those sitting in a traffic jam, convinced that being locked in their cars could protect them, and those still stealing from the supermarkets, trying to get their hands on whatever they could at the dying minute. There were those who had no idea of how short a period of time thirty minutes actually was, who had convinced themselves that they still had time, and others who still did not believe that the zombies were actually real. Then there was finally, those who thought that it would be fun to have a live encounter with these creatures.They rushed in, and one man stood shooting at the one horned bull zombie that ran towards him with a large chunk of its neck bitten off, so that bones and cords were hung from the hole where the neck met the shoulders. All the bullets seemed to have no effect as he shot until it gored him, throwing him up into the air and moving off. He w
Apart from these, a group of three zombies walked on until they reached the edge of the River Mistri, the closest source of natural water to Middlestown.Without hesitation, they walked in, their heads disappearing under the water, without even a bubble to show that they'd gone in. Now fully submerged under, they swam well, and moved through the water with the ease of fish.On and on they went, with little bits of them escaping into the water, quickly being eaten by the small fish they came across but encountering nothing big until a crocodile lying in the mud bed felt the waves from their swimming. With amazing speed, the giant reptile came behind them, and with one powerful bite, grabbed one of them, pulling it down back into the mud bed. There was no yell, no cry, nothing to show that a successful predatory hunt had just happened.The remaining two continued to swim for as long as four days, not once stopping for a break or returning to land before reaching the point where the rive
The place named Ioso was quite popular for the lake it was named after, Lake Ioso, despite being a small town. The lake was known for its biodiversity and peaceful atmosphere for fishing, and it was exactly what Julian Hernandez was seeking when he met the unfortunate incident that sent him running wounded to the Santa Maria Hospital.The doctor who heard him give this account, Dr. Andres was sure that the Q-21 virus plaguing Middlestown and her unlucky neighbour Heavenlin had found its way fifteen thousand kilometres around the earth to their beloved Ioso, and he did not keep this fear within him, but rather gathered all the doctors on duty at the Santa Maria Hospital that Saturday morning.“We are in trouble.” He started, looking at the faces of the three other senior doctors who all wanted to be elsewhere, the whiteness of the room and the light within glinting off their faces. “That man… Julian…”“Is mentally unstable.” One of his listeners, Dr. Carrio, the Head Doctor of the hosp
Fifteen minutes later, Dr. Carrio breezed into Dr. Andres's office, where the younger man had just settled in after giving the orders he thought necessary.“And what do you think you're doing, young man?”“I'm sorry sir,” Dr. Andres rose up to accord the man the respect he desired, not so much as deserved. “You should understand that this is a virus which spreads fast, and something has to be done.”“Now that you have them in one ward, what is your next step?”This was the part the younger medical practitioner hadn't thought of, but he managed to make something up on the spot. “We quarantine them.” “And?”“Figure out a way to combat the disease. Find a cure. Watch the symptoms. Anything that gets those three men in there back to their normal lives.”Dr. Andres liked his answers. They made a lot of sense to him as he said them.“And you want to do it here?”“What would you rather have us do, Doctor.”“Euthanize them.” Dr. Carrio answered, his voice cold and unfeeling as he said the wo
Ioso's governor, Higuain Juan, was a ruthless man.It was right for Dr. Luis to follow him with fear in his heart as a small group of men marched into the Santa Maria Hospital with the governor in the lead, and himself closely behind.“I see that Jose communicated my message to you properly.” The governor said, his voice low as the doctors and nurses gathered to meet them, all bowing their heads in reverence.Dr. Luis was also in a similar pose to theirs when he spoke. “He did.” “Good. Are the speeches ready?”He raised his briefcase to show the governor, who nodded in satisfaction, affording the doctor a moment to breathe. Inside that briefcase were the sheets of paper keeping him alive, and the only reason he was alive was because he was to be used as a smokescreen. If he refused to do this, thugs would have been sent after him, with the result being his disappearance for a few days and a lucky, quiet resurgence with less weight and more injuries than before, or more unfortunately
With members of the press sitting down on seats that filled the room while holding several cameras and microphones, Dr. Luis Rizzi felt his chest constrict. There were only three people left of the seven he had been with earlier, and these were sitting behind him. Painfully, he looked at their faces, noting how the governor's and Jose Mateo's faces were not among them. One of them shot him a stern look he felt the glare of despite the sunglasses covering his eyes, and before he could turn away, the man pulled up the side of his suit. There was no mistaking the black outline of that gun as it pressed against the white undershirt, waiting for him to do something stupid.He turned back, pulled out a white handkerchief and mopped his face before mounting the podium with the papers in his hand, everything directed at him from the microphones to the eyes of the waiting journalists. Then, he put on his reading glasses and started to speak.The greetings and genuine wishes to the people of I