The owner of those eyes was a woman in her mid-twenties with brown hair and premature streaks of silver. Her skin, pale with a very slight tan from being in the sun. The small blade she was sharpening was noticeably thinner than when she began. What could have caused this normally sweet girl to get this angry to the point, she could easily gut the entire camp rather or not they were the reason.
<><><>*<><><> A few months ago <><><>*<><><>
Rayne was at home, adding the finishing touches to her Assassin’s Creed cosplay for an upcoming convention while her father was at work and her mother and grandmother were in town, grocery shopping. The young woman was excited. After 8 years, her family had finally come to trust her friends from all over the country and agreed to let her go out of state for Dragon-Con in a couple of months. The group of friends had became like a family to Rayne and had set up get-togethers every year for projects or just to hang out. A few weeks prior, two of her friends, Joan and Taylor, sisters from Wisconsin had flown down to Florida to help with the costume. Bringing props with them. One being a hand crafted bracer with a working"Hidden blade" that could easily be sharpened if need be. The other, a bowie knife that they dulled down and engraved intricate design on the flat side of the blade just below the hand guard.
Ever since, Rayne wore the gauntlet to break it in so it wouldn't be stiff and uncomfortable for the con and to get used to activating the hidden blade. It helped that it was too fun to stop playing with, even after the sisters flown home the day before.
After finishing the final stitch that held the hand made emblems into place, the robes were complete. All was left was to try it on one final time before the con to make sure everything was in the right place. Rayne stood once the needle was safely put away in the pin cushion and walked into the kitchen, carrying her cat that had jumped into her lap as she worked.
Setting the cat down in one of the kitchen chairs, the woman went and grabbed a soda out of the fridge. While her back was turned, she heard claws on wood. Turning around, Rayne found the cat on the counter, washing.
"How'd you get up here, Cali?" Rayne said, petting the calico. "My little ninja."
She and her dad named the cat after the Hindu goddess Kali, while her mother and grandmother named her for her grey and beige marbling with white belly, neck, paws and mouth. What amazed the family about this cat was: Cali's blind. She was born without eyes, so the sockets had to be cleaned regularly. But to Cali, she acted like a normal cat. She knew how the house was laid out and found ways to get where she wanted to be. Even if it meant scaling counters and dressers, Rock-Climber style.
Taking a few drinks, Rayne gave Cali all the attention she wanted, even though she was purring while growling.
It was then a loud noise sounded, startling the woman, causing her to jump and stop petting Cali. The cat huffed with her tail rapping on the counter before biting Rayne's hand. She apologized to the cat, giving her a scratch under the chin before going into the living room to see what the noise was.
Here it was an emergency broadcast on the TV. Rayne didn't even realized that her mother had left the TV on before they left. She was too busy fiddling with outfit and props. She reached over to the coffee table for the remote as the narrator spoke.
"We're sorry to interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for this important message."
The alert switched to the news reporter. The man seemed confused and concerned as he explained. A farcry from what the reporters normally act, as if he didn't know what was going on or if it was reality or prank.
Rayne paused as footage from in front of a hospital. There had been a flu-like illness going around. Those with weak immune systems were hospitalized, but there hadn't been any casualties.. At least not yet. The reporter stammered over his words.
"F-from what I was told. These patients had p-passed away. But.. Uh..."
The feed went to a video of a doctor, and a few nurses fighting with a snarling man as if rabbid. His teeth finding a wrist of a nurse as she wrapped a gag around his head.
"As you can see from this footage.. Um.. Zombies? I-I don't know what is going on. But this is NOT the only one. People all over the state have been posting videos like this on our Facebook page, our website, Youtube. You name it. There have been reports similar to this all over the United States."
