New Dawn: What a Wonderful World

[Anglkate]

The city was little more than rundown, forgotten, buildings that screamed of ghostly pasts. Cobwebs, lies, dust, and remainders of terrible incidents plagued the area. There were a few scarce signs of something that may once have been grand and beautiful, but those days were long gone; memories that were tarnished away to broken memories of the past. Life was bleak, and perhaps even pointless. Broken monuments told of a once rich past that was now simply faded memories and crumbling buildings as the wildlife slowly encroached upon the lost lands. The whispers and laughter that once filled the air were gone, and all that remained was a stale silence.

A dry wind blew as the rusty chains of a long unused swing whined from the sudden disturbance. The world was bare, a ghost town. Shrouded in mystery of what could have happened to cause this catastrophe. The death-like silence was broken by the sound of small footsteps treading upon broken pavement. Walking down the middle of the cracked street, wild grass pushing through the cracks, a young girl hummed, sang, and skipped along without a care in the world, a small brown teddy bear clutched within her arms. Her small voice carried out into the vast emptiness and filled it with a sort of hope as wild animals prowled around but fled as the girl approached.

"You are my sunshine/ My only sunshine/ You make me happy/ When skies are gray/ You'll never know dear/ How much I love you/ So please don't take my sunshine away..."

From the stifling silence the childish music was like a gentle sweet rain. The skies ahead were testament to the simple innocence that wandered alone through the streets. Where were the people? Where was the once flourishing life of the city? As the girl continued to march and sing her lonesome song, a single crow would call out. Caw, Caw! The crackle of its cry a startling contrast to the sweetness of the girl's voice. Suddenly the girl stopped in her tracks, and turned to look toward the sky, knowing something, but never fearing. Her eyes said it all as they looked up toward the sky then over her small shoulder. The crow called once more as the girl turned and continued to skip on her way as if nothing had happened.

Continuing her song there was a great shadow that jumped forward and suddenly engulfed her. The child screamed, falling to the ground in a pool of blood, her teddy bear falling helplessly to the wayside, as ghastly zombie like creatures began to devour her flesh and bones. As if an imprinted memory, the little girl's soft voice echoed through the air "...so please don't take my sunshine away..." The tune faded as all fell silent again save for the fluttering of birds wings and the crunching of skin and bones...

It's been 4 years now since the outbreak began and the world has gone to hell. No one really knows how the virus initially was let loose, but it spread like no other and began to infect people either simply killing them or turning them into carnivorous, self mutilating, mutated monsters of their former selves who couldn't withstand UV light. Some people have nicknamed these mutated individuals Darklings. Granted for those that the virus simply killed, a majority generally became the reanimated dead in the sense of what we know as zombies. Simply put the world was set into chaos and in a few short war/riot filled years we'd pretty much ran ourselves to the brink of extinction. Guess who is no longer at the top of the food chain?

Government, obviously, doesn't exist anymore, and the total human population not infected or mutated is unknown (but assumed to be very low). Either the people have formed their own, small, close knit communities to survive together, or the individual becomes a nomad scavenging for survival day to day. Either way the key is survival. Rumor has it that a safe-zone has been found that is housing refugees, and another rumor that a secret lab exists that is working on a cure for the disease. But who believes rumors, right? No, all that matters is that you survive. If you can beat this out, you can survive anything, right?!

Life is so cheery when you look at it that way. I wonder, honestly, if there is a way that man kind can be saved? But perhaps we are doomed to one day finally cease to exist. What a wonderful world this is. May God have mercy on our damned souls...

 

[Anglkate]

In the distance a bird cawed, its feathers ruffling as it took off into a frenzied flight. With that, Katherine awoke from her slumber with a start. A cold sweat dripped from her brow as her body shivered and she looked around at the emptiness. "A dream...it was only a dream," she said in a breathless tone as she let out a soft sigh and ran a hand through her dark brown hair. Alerting herself to reality, she took a moment to gather her thoughts as the silence crept into her mind. Sunlight warmed her face as she gathered her things. During the day, travel was generally safe, the sunlight acting as a small protection from the Darklings, but at night the Darklings were at their prime and one had to be especially alert to escape their cunning. Times were hard in a world where humans were no longer at the top of the food chain.

Katherine (Kate) McGuire was a young woman in her early twenties with shoulder length, wavy dark brown hair, chocolate eyes, and a light complexion. She by no means seemed like a strong individual, but she was clever and able to take care of herself. Introverted in personality, she'd long ago learned that it was better to keep herself distant from others and focus on simply survival. That way she wasn't crippled by the loss of a short-time traveling companion, and could move on with life. Sometimes survival had literally come down to shoot or be killed, and she'd had to act. She was by no means proud of some of her actions, but in a world of survival you had to do what you had to do. Though traveling alone was generally more dangerous, she appreciated it much more than having to constantly look after others. She hadn't always been this way, but in a world such as this people changed. It was a simple fact.

Kate walked alone down a barren path, shielding her eyes from the bright sun as she went. There was no sign of any other human life around her, just the soft, dry, sigh of the the wind about her, rustling of the tall wild grass, and occasional wild life call. Her clothing was tattered and obviously old, but supplies were scarce these days, and beggars couldn't be choosers. It was about survival, not appearance. She kept her senses on high alert and her weapons close by in case she needed them. She'd found an older rifle and shells for it in the last place she'd been to, and still had the small handgun from when this had all began. Aside from that she had a few hunting knives and a bow and arrows she'd swiped from a store a while back.

She'd been traveling for weeks now without sight or sound of another human, but that was common. Her mind began to wander back to the dream that she'd been awoken from. Was it just that, a dream? Or was there something more to it? A premonition? At the thought a slight frown came to Kate's face, not that she often smiled, but generally she held a neutral appearance. Reaching into her meager belongings she took out a pair of binoculars and peered around, "I could have sworn I saw a map that said the city was this direction" she muttered scanning the horizon once more.

Finally, in the distance, she caught sight of a faded, rusted, sign that once stood tall and proud at the entrance of a city. She wasn't sure how far it was, but she at least had a general direction. Her supplies were running low so she was hoping to restock at the next city and continue on her way. Hopefully she wouldn't run into any more crazy small community of people like the last city she'd left months ago. Human contact was good for a short while, but these people had banded together and formed a connection through an ideation of religion that was almost barbaric to a point. It was almost saddening how the remaining population banded into such cults. She'd high tailed it out of there as soon as she could.

Above there was a low rumble as she frowned, "Shit...a storm is coming" she muttered and picked up her pace. She moved at a light jog now hoping to find shelter and fortification before the storm hit.

 

[Anglkate]

Making her way over the rubble and remaining cars, she kept her senses on high alert as she searched for some place where she might restock supplies, but most of the buildings were much to dilapidated for blocked off for her to get in. Overhead the clouds began to roll over as thunder rolled and it began to sprinkle. A few wild animals scattered to find shelter from the impending storm, and a few times Katherine had to change directions to avoid a run-in with some mindlessly ambling zombies. They paused and glanced her direction, but she'd be gone before anythign came of it. The sprinkle soon turned into actual rain as Katherine sighed and took out a weapon just in case. With the clouds overhead Darklings were sure to be prowling for any meal they could find, human or animal alike.

Her luck seemed to spark a bit as she spotted what must have been a very small shopping district long ago. The store fronts were faded and dilapidating but it seemed to be holding up well enough. There were signs of food and other materials that could be useful inside. Dodging around a few cars, she hurried toward it but paused in her gait as a blood curdling banshee like scream pierced the air. A flock of crows nearby took frenzied flight, "fuck...you have to be kidding me" she said takign off at a sprint and hoping they weren't close. Hopefully she could reach the mall and bar off the entrance so the Darklings wouldn't gain access until she gained what she needed. Unlike zombies, Darklings were faster moving and more cunning. Hurrying forward she saw sharp shadows moving quickly in her periphery. Turning her head she saw the mutated shapes and pale skin of the Darklings. They were hunting her in a pack like manner, wonderful. Skidding to a halt she took aim at one and fired a shot from her gun as it hit and send teh darkling flying back. The others stopped and turned toward her letting out another loud scream. She wasted no time, reloaded, and hurried back in the direction she was going at full sprint.

 

[Anglkate]

Her heart was pounding in her chest as she sprinted forward. Almost there she kept telling herself pushing forward. The momentum was causing her to shift to much and more than once she almost had lost her footing, but getting slowed down was not an option at this point. Though she may have killed one, there were probably at least three more still pursuing her, and that was even a lot for her. Never looking back, she continued to sprint until she finally made it to one of the entrances of the strip-mall. Of course most of the windows had the metal gates pulled down and locked, and heavy chains surrounded all exits. She yanked on one hoping it was loose, but they were taught. "Shit!" she angrily kicked the door and looked around. She realized that it had gotten very quiet, and she no longer heard the heavy footfalls of the Darklings that were chasing her. Bad news.

She tried the lock one more time shaking the door furiously, "damnit it" she kept cursing before she prepared to try and use her shotgun to simply shoot the lock off. Before she could pull the trigger she heard a loud cry nearby and a Darkling came leaping toward her. Kate turned as quickly as she could and fired the gun off. The attack hit the creature in the chest, but not before it managed to swipe at her arm with its sharp nails. Blood trickled down her arm as the creature was thrown back some. Stumbling back from the recoil, she regained her composure, pumped the gun, and took another shot at the Darkling without hesitation. As the rain mixed with the gash on her arm, she winced, but there was still more to deal with as two more Darklings appeared, hissing now at her. Well, if she was going to be killed now, she was going to die fighting! She quickly reloaded the gun as she backed up a bit.

"if this is how I will die...then come and get me" she whispered as the Darklings hissed at her and bared their teeth. With that they suddenly charged and she began what she thought would be her last stand. Firing the shotgun, she quickly used up the rounds before using the gun as a blunt object close range weapon. The Darklings were strong and relentless. She took down another and injured a third, but another two had already showed up. She wasn't getting out of this unscathed either. She'd already taken a few light scratches and another deeper one to her side. As her blood mixed with the rain she drew a 9mm browning pistol opening fire once more. Her back was now against the door she had been trying to desperately open. She was seeing everything flash before her eyes in a giant blast of white light. Was this it? Was this then end?

She hesitated as something was off about this. She vaguely thought she heard a voice shouting 'close your eyes!!' Her mind was foggy but she closed her eyes for one reason or another. She was dead anyways, right? There was a sizzling sort of sound and the painful cries of agony. She thought she smelled burning flesh as well. The screaming became faint and then ceased until only the sound of rain came to her ears. Was she dead? She slowly opened her eyes, which were blurry from the strange white light she'd seen before. Quite possibly from the blood loss as well, but it was hard to tell. Her world was slowing down and she took a hesitant step forward, "Did I...end up in hell" she muttered groggily, blood trickled from her wounds into a pool around her and she saw a blurred face.

"Hey you okay...come on stay with me now" a soft voice said. She felt her legs give out, and darkness began to encroach the edge of her vision. The sound of opening doors, "come on, dont go yet. you put up a hell of a fight." The voice said again. The rain suddenly died, and her world spun into darkness.

 

[Professor Crane]

"She's out" the man muttered to himself. He had closed and locked the door to the store already, and was checking her pulse. He was a man of average height, he was lean and in his early thirties. The most astonishing about the man though, was that even though it had been four years, his brown hair was cut short, and he only had a five o'clock shadow.

Turning on a light he went over to a small cabinet, pulling out a bottle of alcohol, a hand towel, and a strip of cloth. He walked back over to Kate, poured some of the alcohol on the hand towel he pressed it down on the claw wound on her side. Keeping pressure on it he tied it in place with the cloth strip. He poured a little bit of alcohol in the smaller wounds as well.

"Good fight you put up back there." The man said. He didn't think she was awake yet, even if she had groaned at the sting of the alcohol. "Just had some bad timing really." he mentioned as he lifted her up and dragged her to a make shift bed in one side of the room.

The man put the lamp he had been using for light on a hook hanging from the ceiling. He went to a corner and pulled out an old medical kit, it was empty for the most part, but there were still some small packages left designed to wake people up. Taking one of the packets he returned to Kate.

Holding Kate down with one hand he broke the packet open with the other. The strong smell of it woke Kate up with a start, the man's hand stopped her from moving her injured side too much. "Calm down," he said, "You're safe for now. My name's Jerry, what's yours?"

 

[Anglkate]

She'd been drifting in the darkness and was sure this was the end. She'd come to accept it, though, she couldn't live forever right? Not like anyone would miss her anyways, just another victim of the disease started by her own kind. As she saw the tunnel of light ahead, she was slowly drawn away as she faintly heard a voice. It sounded like a male, but she couldn't quite make out what they were saying, just taht they were talking. It was so distant, but the light slowly began to fade away as she felt the darkness overtaking her again.

Suddenly she gasped and went to sit up quickly from whatever had jolted her from the darkness, but she felt a firm hand upon her keeping her from moving much. "Calm down" the voice spoke, "You're safe for now. My name's Jerry, what's yours?" She blinked a moment trying to figure out what had happened. Her breaths came in short gasps as there was a sharp pain in her side, and she realized she was slightly bandaged and the faint smell of alcohol now came to her nostrils. It took her a moment to orient herself but she finally replied to Jerry at length, "Katherine--what happened?" she tried to sit up again, but a lightheaded feeling came over her with a shot of pain as she groaned and fell back onto the bed again just laying there. Well she was alive at least, that was something right?

 

[butterflymima]

IC:

She stood there in the middle of the room her shot gun aimed at a darkling that was tied up with the ceiling. It screamed and shifted from side to side trying to escape. Her eyes were teary and she blinked away a few tears and then she shot it, not once not twice but several times to make sure it was dead. With those memories of gunshot Cherry(pronounced sherry) opened her eyes, she recalled her dream once again, it was all too painful for her. She remembered how she cried over the dead body of the darkling that was once her mother. A tear fell from her eye but then she got up and looked over her little condo, it was really tiny and all messy, the windows wee sealed well and had spear like iron rods to avoid having any chance of a darkling entering. her home was at the top most floor with the stairs blocked well with things like broken tables that had pointed edges pointed outwards. The rooftop gate was sealed as well. Cherry was an 18 yea old girl living alone with her little kitten Penny only. Since the outbreak she had a hard time surviving. Once she found the little condo where she had spent a few nights and realized it was somewhat of a safe spot she turned it into her hide out. Cherry has short plum red hair and dark hazel brown eyes.

Cherry, looked at her clock and then out the window trying to see how bright the day was, to her disappointment it she noticed the weather a bit pleasant which meant the sun could go out soon. She still needed a few important things and so she got herself ready. She escaped through the fire escape window the only window that wasn't sealed. As she walked down the road to find the mall she felt the clouds come and go, this wasn't a good sign and as she picked up her pace she felt the clouds accumulate and it stated drizzling, this was a very bad sign. She could almost hear the darklings approach from every corner and she hurried running as fast as she could. When she felt she saw the mall's entrance, she turned hastily armed with her shot gun and shot the darklings approaching her. She didn't have time to reload so she just used her hand guns instead. Over time she had leaned a little how to aim at the head and shoot them dead on the spot.

After sometime the surrounding cleared, she had lost lots of ammo but she had killed many too, without wasting any time she headed inside the mall and for a moment stood with her hand against the wall, her palm pressing the cold stone. She breathed in heavily, it scared her every time, she would go breathless and have nightmares even when she was awake. Composing herself she made her way to the department where she needed her supplies, like food cans, medicines, and weapons, it was hard to find gun ammunition but blades and swords could be found although she hated those, she never wanted to have close range fights with these creatures. She'd need to go on an outlook once again soon for ammunition.

Once she was done with her supplies, she found herself a hiding spot to rest for the night, it was too risky to go out now and looked at her round of ammo, clearly not enough and so she held a blade in her hand just in case. She breathed in and then sat there her ears at alert but her mind was exhausted and scared and she only wished the night to finish soon.

 

[Professor Crane]

Jerry let go of Katherine as he replied, "You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, I was in the right place at the right time." Jerry moved to peer through the boarded up window of the store, "If you want a better explanation than that, you wandered right into the middle of their territory. I just happened to be working nearby when I heard the gunshots."

Jerry winced as he heard more gunshots in the distance. Looking up he saw that a gap in the clouds would let them move for a little bit. "Can you get up?" He asked Katherine, "We should move, this place is only a temporary shelter. Not sure how well it will hold through a whole night." Jerry went to a corner where he had laid down his possessions. He picked up a shovel, a belt of flash bang grenades, a hunting rifle, and a jury-rigged flood light. He slung the shovel and rifle across his back, put on the belt, and held the light. "We should go before it starts clouding over again," He said looking through the boards again.

 

[Anglkate]

Wrong place at the wrong time. Jerry's words echoed in her mind. No shit. She thought to herself with a soft sigh. This really wasn't turning into her day. At the faint sound of gunshots in the distance, her head turned. More survivors? Well, it was slightly to be expected in a city such as this. People moving through, getting stuck until the morning when the light would give them better passage. Then they'd mostly just have to deal with a zombie or two, but they were easy enough to dispatch. It was the damn darklings that you had to watch out for. Her body yearned for more rest so that she could heal, but she knew that one way or another she needed to get up and moving. A break in clouds was an opportunity that shouldn't be passed up if at all possible.

She didn't respond to Jerry in words, but in actions. It was an effort, and the pain reflected clearly on her face, but she managed to get herself sitting up again and slowly to her feet. Once standing, it took all she had not to pass out from the nausea and throbbing pain from her wounds. Her eyes narrowed in focus as she simply nodded. No need for words now, that was just energy wasted. The nod would be enough communication that she was ready to go. Moving carefully she gathered her own meager weapons, most of which were out of ammo or low. Those weapons that were out she simply discarded (assuming she didn't need them) and continued on. She could find more. She followed in Jerry's footsteps as they moved at a good pace toward where the gunfire had occurred. Either it was an exit, or they were going to try and help another unfortunate. Either way, Katherine remained silent, her gun ready for another fight.

 

[Kyosreign12]

John had always been considered a "badass" by his friends. His days in high school wrestling trained him well. He was a varsity and won the state championship. He had also been a straight A student and top of his state. Graduated from Harvard and was now a very successful lawyer. So far he had lost no case. Well looks like his good life was pretty much done with. His wife, children, and dog had all been killed four years ago... By those beasts... He's seen their names in graffiti around his $20,000,000 Neighborhood. They were called Darklings. He hates them. His job around the neighborhood, until the freak accident last month, was to protect it. Now here he was in a completely different city hugging his SPAS-12 close to him. It was his only friend now. He took one last puff of his cigarette, drank the last of his vodka, and bolted. What he was gonna do next, he didn't know... He had heard a woman screaming and running earlier so he followed that direction

When he got where he was headed, there was a mall. He aimed around and walked off into the dark building.