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You goofed, girl.

It wasn't unusual for Adelaide to talk to herself. Hell, it helped pass the time between chores and tasks, filled the silences she didn't like to let linger during these trying times. Maybe it was a sign of egoism. Or maybe she was just getting old.

One thing was for sure: she was getting lonely.

You barely managed to buy yourself out, the voice continued. You never would have saved your sons if they hadn't been resourceful and proactive. Face it. They don't need you anymore.

(But this was different. She wasn't speaking aloud, no, and the voice wasn't quite her own mental ghost. This one was different. Fabricated. Perfect in every way save for its unknown source.)

"Bullshit," Adelaide muttered to herself. "One's an adult, the other's not, but that doesn't matter; this is different." This was a do or die situation, the end times, some ******** up game they were forced to participate in. It wasn't her trying to hand hold them through school.

One thing remains the same: you are weaker. And they know it.

She made fists in her parka's pockets as she moved forward, annoyed that the voice was getting under her skin that quickly.

G-Man had still been in the casino when the lights had suddenly gone out. He had left the restaurant as soon as he was able, pale, sick, hallowed out inside from what he'd had to witness, but somehow managing to bury it down deep among the other horrors he'd had to deal with in the past month, because he had other things to worry about. Like his family, for one. Making sure that they were ok, that his mother had managed to get enough coin together to pay for herself. His friends and fellow mall rats, for the other, because they were like family to him now, even if they didn't all always get along. Families weren't always perfect.

But before he could find anybody, time was up. The announcement was made, some disruptions were had and some shots were fired. G-Man just tried to stay out of the way, of course. He was a free man, one who could leave anytime.

And that time would need to wait, it seemed, until things within the casino settled down a bit. He didn't need to be mistaken for somebody attempting to escape. He did not need a bullet in his brain. He did not need to be served fresh and raw on shiny silver platters just because he couldn't be patient and just wait.

But the lights. They had gone out, and that was the moment, the chance everybody who hadn't been able to buy themselves out needed. There was a rush to the doors, crowds pushing, and G-Man had ended up swept into it himself, and perhaps thankfully so, as more gunshots were fired and people began to scream.

It was time to get the ******** out of dodge.

-----

Outside there was nothing but grey. In all directions, nothing but that thick, suffocating grey. He has rushed out into it in a panic, and now that panic only grew as he stumbled further into that fog. He wanted to call out, but with the sounds around him, not knowing if they were the sounds of the infected, that seemed like a bad idea. In fact, as he moved, he was sure he could hear them, sure he could see hands grasping towards him from out of that fog.

He ran, and he kept running, not knowing what else to do. Where was Dasz? Where was his mother? Where were Lissa and Tripsy and Ritsa and Rich and Granny and...everyone? Where had they all gone?

The longer he spent stumbling through that fog, the more he wondered if he would ever get out, or if he'd ever see them again. Panic was selling up inside of him, strong, stronger, nearly overwhelming. Around him, there were whispers, which at first he thought was just the air as it moved past him, just a trick of his ears. But they got louder, more familiar, sometimes hostile, sometimes soothing. He was breathing heavily, limbs exhausted, his energy seeping away, ebbing with every pounding step.

He tripped over something, and as he looked down, he caught just a glimpse of what it was. A face, Jeff's face. The man that he had tried to save from the casino but hadn't been able to. His face was rotting into the ground, and it was a reminder of G-Mans failure. Would everyone blame him for what happened?

He had stumbled several feet before he came to a stop, hands on his knees as he panted, taking in large gulps of air, practically choking on the fog instead. A sound tore out of his throat, something between a hysterical laugh and a sob, and his shoulders shook.

Eventually, he straightened, eventually he managed to turn and to look to where he thought Jeff's body would be, likely cut apart and mangled.

There was nothing there.

Even with a new weapon in tow, Fantasia was still afraid. Still a sheep waiting to get shepherded from one hell hole to the next. She hated herself for it but what could she do? The last time she had struck out on her own, she had been lucky to get away scot free at all. And now there was a mad rush out the doors, and she couldn't tell if it was really better out there than it was in the casino of weird freaking gore and s**t. And that was saying something.

The weighted chains jangled as she wandered through the fog, more tense than even when the apartment wall had crumbled on top of her. What the hell kind of game was this? It had to be orchestrated, that much she knew. But why? Was it really an experiment?

(He said so, he said they were all infected, and there was only the one cure. And what was that? Eating other people?? Or was there only a few antivirus out there? She was as lost as ever, not that that was any news; and just the same, she was afraid to ask.)

Lost in her musings and in a rising, awful mixture of nausea and drowsiness, she failed to see the corpses until she all but tripped over them. Gasping back to life briefly, Taysia had the misfortune to look down and catch the face of the body she had accidentally turned over: stitched smiles and open chest cavities and all. And not just it, but all the other ones just like it, all ripped apart and forced to something worse than a skeleton's grin.

Feeling ready to vomit, the young teen fled the scene as fast as her body let her.

Don't look. Don't turn around. You've seen horror movies, you know turning around never does you any good. But then again, it was for the audience more than for the protagonist, usually. Get a glimpse of the monster waiting and really earn that horror genre stamp. But she had to keep telling herself: don't, don't, don't.

But it was hard to keep up that resolve when she could hear the breathing right behind her. Haggard, deep, unnatural.

She couldn't help herself; it was human nature to want to stare into the abyss, no matter how terrifying.

When she locked onto the eyes without form, Taysia felt her heart drop. Hadn't there been notes on the board talking about weird s**t like this?

Whipping back around, she forced herself to speed up, unable to escape the sounds of a pursuer.

He knew better than to stop, to retrace his steps backwards, just because he thought the had seen something on the ground. If his mama had taught him anything, it was how to survive.

But how disappointed is she going to be with you now? You went when she told you not to. You could have gotten yourself killed. You got somebody else killed, and not for the first time!

The whisper was his own voice, in his head, telling him what he had already been feeling but had not wanted to admit. He was a disappointment, and she didn't love him. It was Dasz she cared about. Always. Her little baby.

G-Man thought that he heard something in the fog, heading straight towards him, and shaking, he took off again, the cool wet air brushing his cheeks, seeping through his clothes and to his skin and deeper still, chilling him to his core. At his hip, his radio crackled.

He tripped again, stumbled, and again he looked down, though he was scared of what he was going to see. Would it be Jeff again?

No, not Jeff. Somebody else entirely. Somebody that he hadn't thought of at all for years. Denise, a girl he had dated when he had been in high school. Her eyes were sunken in rotting flesh, her mouth twisted in pain. He shuddered, and his eyes closed, his hand coming up to cover his mouth. He felt sick, so sick. He needed to get out of this damn fog!

When he opened his eyes again, the face was gone, just as it had been before.

The radio at his hip continued to crackle with distorted, panicked words.

She was still so lost, so scared. The voices had stopped, for the moment at least, and now she was back to trying to find her friends. It seemed to her like the fog was clearing up just a bit at least, and she could only hope she'd wander upon them sooner rather than later. They were okay. She knew they'd be okay. They were strong and could survive just as well as she could, if not better. The fogged cleared out a bit more much to Diana's relief, until finally she came upon a group of people standing around in the clearing.

"H-hello! Are you all okay? Have you seen anyone else?" she called out to them, running as fast as she could to greet them. They stood completely still, never noticing her, never acknowledging her. "Please can you help me? Please," she nearly begged, trying to get their attention.

Oh would you look at that. Looks like they don't want to talk to you, sweetheart. Run along now, you're bothering them. The same voice that was hers but wasn't spoke up. No, that wasn't it! There was something obviously wrong with these people. They wouldn't just ignore her. They wouldn't!

The second the power went out, Rook was moving. He didn't care where, he was done with this s**t. It was clear they weren't going to let them just go, even after earning their freedom, so what did it matter if he fought back now? It was clear they were dead either way and if running gave him a fighting chance, he was going to take it. ******** the risks.

He burst through a door, nearly colliding with the wall opposite of it when something lunged at him, making him duck and roll out of the way with a startled yell. Undying! Holy s**t, there was undying here and he couldn't see a damn thing! He evaded the first, but as he started running, he could hear the sounds of what sounded like many more behind him. He didn't even bother to look back at them, that was how you got yourself killed. So instead, he opted on just running, thankful for the hundredth time this month that he had chosen to train as an athlete.

The longer he ran, the more distant the sounds of the undying became and the harder it became to see. A thick fog had filled the area, turning his vision white, blinding him.

At first he thought he was alone, all the sounds had died away and then suddenly--voices?

"Guys..?" He called out, straining his ears to pick up any sounds.

"I have a bone to pick with you."

"Wha..?" The voice sounded like Charlie, but he couldn't see him anywhere, so he called again. "Charlie?"

The voice sounded again, but the more it spoke, the darker and menacing it got. "We don't know if we can save everyone, Rook. What would you have us do?" Well that was unsettling. It definitely sounded like Charlie. Hell he could even have sworn that they had a similar argument, but...

"We've been over this! Hell we don't need to worry about buying our way out anymore, Charlie! We're free! We got out of--"

"Don't give me that horse s**t!" Charlie's voice snarled, twisting into something darker. "I'm still pissed at you." Was he really still this mad at him?

"Charlie?"

"Everyone is infected." Another voiced chimed, causing a shiver to run up his spine. The man at the casino had said as much. Did this mean he was going to die after all?

An itching sensation came over him and he shook his head in an attempt to clear his head. No. Don't listen. Keep going. This place was doing something to his head. He needed to get out of here. He had to keep his sanity, he had to fight the virus. For however long though?



He continued to walk, trying to feel his way through the fog when his foot hit something, causing him to trip and fall.

He cursed lightly and turned to look at what had caused his fall, letting out an involuntary gasp when he the rotting face of his friend. "Charlie!" Immediately he scrambled to his feet, a stinging sensation at his eyes. But when he reached where the body had been, it was gone.



He felt sick and he couldn't seem to stop the constant trembling of his body. What had he just seen? Was Charlie really dead or..? He shuddered at the thought, but focused on the path ahead of him.

There! He could see the exit. It was a little ways off, but not too far. Or so he thought? He ran for the exit, but for some reason, no matter how fast or how long he ran, it didn't get any closer...



After his attempts to reach the exit, he turned away from it. He had to be imagining it. It wasn't really there or...

Rook grabbed at his hair, cursing. Damn it! He felt like he was losing his mind!

"You know you probably are."

Rook made a face. Was that... himself. "You really aren't the brightest bulb in the box. The others were right. Surprised you haven't gotten someone killed. Ah but then again, you came close once, didn't you, Rook?" He frowned at that. True, during the earlier parts of the month, he had made a newbie mistake and others had paid the price. No one died but... "It really was your fault." No! The others had told him it wasn't something he could have helped. Not in that kind of situation they-- "They're wrong you know. You made the call, and the undying almost slaughtered them for it. How many people got hurt? Great job, man! A plus for effort."

Rook clutched at his hair again, grounding his teeth together. "Stop it! Just stop!" The incident had bothered him for a great deal of the month. Just re-calling it now was--

"Useless. You can only get so far before you fail, can't you? Should have known you would start losing your s**t here, of all places."

What did they mean by that?

"Uh, y'know? The hospital? Its only right in front of you, idiot."

Rook snapped his head up and immediately froze. So it hadn't been lying. At least, not about the hospital. Somehow, during his aimless wandering, he had stumbled upon the path towards it and was now standing in front of a pair of tall, old, rusted gates.

"Remember how much you hate hospitals?"

Oh hell...

He had ran. Cecil had lingered just enough to make sure those of his university faction were with him but the gunfire made it too risky to make sure that every last person was okay. The lights having gone out was their only chance and they had taken it. All of them.

Once outside he kept running though he yelled out for friends to make sure they were close. "ROOK! HITSU! COREY!" He tried to peer through the darkness but his vision was suddenly clouded. No not clouded he realized now. He had ran straight into dense fog and he couldn't risk turning back. Not with human traffickers on their tail wanting to serve them for dinner but he did slow. He couldn't leave his party behind.

"HITSU!" He called out, he could hear the rushing of feet but he got no answer. Where was that girl? "ROOK!" No reply, just running. Had they made it this far? Should he turn back? "Rorrow?!" He had been sure the man had been right beside him.

He could hear whispers, faint voices in the distance and he turned toward them. Was that the exit up ahead? It looked like it was. The fog looked like it was thinner and there was possibly light.

Cecil headed toward it still calling out to his friends or anyone from the university that would hear him. He even started to call for others he knew like Brie and Granny Smith but the closer he felt like he should have been to the exit the further it was away. Now he was completely lost.



The longer he ran the harder it was to keep going. Cecil felt like each breath was making him dizzy, nausea churning his insides. He began to slow, his feet dragging as he desperately called out for anyone. All he wanted to know was that everyone was alright. The radio was abuzz with chatter but nothing was getting through. It was broken words and static. "Rook?" He called into the radio. "Rook where are you?" He thought he heard his voice but it was broken up. It made no sense.

Another step and he realized his foot had caught on something and as he tore his eyes away from the radio and looked down he realized to his horror it was a person. Had they fallen while they had tried to escape? Were they hurt? "Hey? Are-" But as his gaze drifted up he realized they weren't the only one. The fog was just clear enough that he could see them there. Dozens maybe hundreds. What had happened?

He reached for the person at his feet first to turn them over. "Hey! Hey are you okay!? Do you need-" But the sight he found had his nausea taking hold and emptying his stomach of what little contents it had. The face was all wrong, stitched into a horrifying smile that was far from natural, the chest a vicious wound pieced back together like an old doll. It was all wrong and he wanted to escape it and he tried, getting back to his feet and sprinting from the scene careful of where he stepped.



"Rook where are you man?" He called into the radio again but as before there was nothing but static. "Have you seen Hitsu? Please answer." Broken words were his reward and static was his only companion. His only choice was to keep walking. He knew he needed to get out of this place but he was all turned around.

If you weren't such an idiot you wouldn't be in this mess. He turned at the sound of the voice but what was odd was that it was familiar.

There is no way that you can save them He turned again, this time he knew. You can't even save yourself. It was him. It was his voice! But where was it coming from and how?

You even shot yourself how sad is that? Cecil winced, what little hope that it was some foreign voice quickly swept away. And to think you would give up on your loved ones so easily. You don't even know if they are dead and yet you are so willing to move on.

"No...No stop...please." He covered his ears but the voices still came filling his head with all his doubts and insecurities. Running was the only thing he could do and when he finally breached the fog he hardly found relief in it. The damage had been done.

[ Infection Rate ]: 20 /100