In The Beginning (The Prologue)

This message is a broadcast from the civil defence network. Due to the recent outbreak of the unidentified virus, the government has declared a state of emergency and has raised the danger level to DEFCON six. The authorities are warning all civilians to take defensive action to protect themselves. Military forces are converging to establish quarantines in the infected areas and will restore marshal law within the next seventy two hours.

Yeah, seventy two hours. That's what they said, that's what they were saying for days. Oh, it'll pass, it'll be fixed, we'll all be okay. Just do as they say, follow the instructions. We'll be fine. In three days, they'll have it all under control, simple and easy. No muss, no fuss, right?

They gave us rules.

Number One: Avoid all contact with any person or animal you believe to be infected. The virus is highly contagious and can be transferred through the bloodstream. There is a minimal gestation period before the virus will cause mental breakdown and violent behaviour.

That rules was a given. Seriously, anyone that seems like they want to eat you, avoid them. That's just common knowledge. What they don't tell you is that the "minimal gestation period" can be anywhere from minutes to hours. It can happen almost instantly or it can take it's damn sweet time.

Number Two: Stay inside your homes, barricade your doors and windows and ration your food and water. If you have weapons, arm yourself and your family members.

Yeah, we did that too. If you look out any upper level window in our house, one that wasn't barred off, you could see the other houses all done up. Nothing was getting into our homes.

Nothing was getting out either.

Maybe that's where we ended up going wrong.

Number Three: If you are forced into a confrontation with one of the infected, shoot to kill! Aim for the head to separate the brain from the body. This is the only way to stop them.

They don't tell you how to do it if it's your family. They don't tell you that when your nurse of a sister comes home in a panic with blood on her clothes to explain all this to us, that she's already infected. That when she started having a coughing fit a few hours in and coughed up blood, it can infect your father as the blood splatters his face and he wipes it off, crossing his mouth in the process.

And when he starts getting sick as your sister fades away into one of those...those things...well then...then you're all screwed.

I repeat, the government has declared DEFCON six. Military forces are establishing quarantines in the infected areas and will restore marshal law within the next seventy two hours.

They don't tell you what to do next when you're sitting among the bodies of your dead family members because it was kill or be killed and damn it, you did not want to be killed by undead flesh eating versions of your family!

They certainly don't tell you what to do then.

Be on the lookout for the following warning signs of the Doomsday Virus: profuse sweating, bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, drooling, convulsions and overall erratic behaviour.

Too bad all of those signs are the same thing the common drunk have.

That's why it wasn't caught earlier. That's why all this happened. Because people didn't see, didn't notice. They couldn't be bothered to report abnormalities because it wasn't abnormal!

Reports are filtering in from all across the nation. The dead are rising from their graves and seeking out the living with ravenous desire. These ghoulish creatures have infested the city in search of living human prey. The quarantines have been breached and the military have been overrun by swarming masses of the living dead. It's as if the gates of hell have opened up.