Surviving the Apocalypse

Beginning of the Apocalypse

The entire Camp watched the news broadcasts detailing what was happening in cities across the globe, the people who had been infected with the newest strain of the Coronavirus they had detected were suddenly collapsing in death only to rise as ruthless zombies wanting nothing more than to kill and eat anyone that happened to be alive nearby. At first it was a few random incidents in each city, that quickly spiraled out of control as the law enforcement officers became overwhelmed, their training taking time they didn't have to overcome as only a headshot would put a zombie down. By noon the situation at the hospitals and morgues intensified as the corpses finally rose, hundreds of them all at once as the Coronavirus variant they had been dealing with killed nearly 13 percent of those infected. The zombie virus reanimating them with the same ferocity as the ones who had been alive had for living flesh.

With each passing hour the chaos intensified as people were encouraged to evacuate to safe zones the city emergency services were trying to initiate as they called up the National Guard units that served their communities.

"What should we do?" Peter asked as they were all safe inside the walls.

Hanna had already begun broadcasts that their location was safe from the zombie virus, the guards letting people in as soon as they passed through the decontamination protocols that Doctor Elizabeth Tanner had set up. A thorough evaluation for bites and scratches from the zombies the first thing they checked before they gave the newcomers different clothes when they needed them. Most of the ones arriving here in clothing that was clear had been through a bloodbath as they fought to survive to get here. Only occasionally were the guards forced to kill a zombie that came into view, none of them hesitating as they learned what the zombies actually looked like.

"We are doing what we can, until the military withdraws on day 3, anyone caught looting will be killed on site. For now, our safety relies on staying within these walls. We are informing everyone we can by every means available to our location and safety." she told them as they watched in horror as section after section of the city fell to the horde of zombies that was being created.

"You knew it was going to be this bad?" Peter asked as she nodded.

"Everyone, this is just the beginning. Right now humanity is fighting to stave off a brink that will find us in a matter of days. Within a month, less that 5 percent of the population will remain human. Within a year that number will fall to 2 percent as the less secure Camps are overrun. We are the last Hope of Humanity, so we must survive so we can rise and lead others like us to rid the world of the walking dead. Our task will not be easy, nor will it be quick. Our position here is secure, and we will expand as quickly and safely as we can. Everyone, we begin the new preparations tomorrow. Everyone will be expected to learn how to survive and fight, no matter what your abilities may or may not be. We will make this Camp as great as it can be as we show anyone who is willing to help us be able to fight, what it means to be in an Alliance with us!" she yelled as they cheered knowing that they had successfully initiated her plan to be able to support 5,000 people with food for at least 5 years.

By the time the sun set on the last day of humanity, their numbers had surged to 215 members, 63 of them with abilities. She had to assure everyone that them witnessing every moment of the collapse was not necessary. Just the memory of what had happened here would be enough, so that they would go to sleep.

At 0400 the next morning, every member of the Camp not currently in guard duty joined her for the morning workout, all of them silently focusing on improving themselves to confront the horrors they had witnessed the night before. They had witnessed the way the zombies just barreled into any danger, no matter what injury they sustained unless it was one to the head. Even the napalm had limited effect unless they were trapped in burning areas, as the heat wasn't sufficient enough for long enough to cook their brains. Some of them were little more than burnt muscle and skeleton, the zombies not caring about any of it as they charged at the living flesh that was fighting back.

When the sun rose, the entire Camp was surprised to see a stream of survivors coming to them from the surrounding houses, few zombies in their section of the city. By the time her system said the apocalypse had truly begun, she realized it was timed to an emergency alert listing 12 safe zones that the military would be going to in 3 days time, to evacuate any survivors of what was happening to a secure military base.

Few of her residents were even tempted, only a handful of the new arrivals that numbered 300 that morning were interested as they were announced. The people who had heard her speech the night before realized that she wasn't guessing what was happening, they knew she had lived it before.

"Why do we not join them?" Peter asked as they looked around.

Hanna choked as she looked at him. "They will only be taking men, boys and women with abilities. Everyone else will be left behind to fend for themselves, the military evacuation is not something we want to be part of. Plus, unless they have truly prepared, they will be in a worse position than we are currently. So long as we remember that we have nothing to fear, we will remain safe. It will however open an opportunity, as the last evacuation stop is only half a mile from here, where the highway turns north to go to Fort Campbell." she said showing him the location from their broadcast.

"I will spread the word. 3 days is all we have to hold out huh?" he asked as she shook her head.

"3 days until the world we knew and grew up in is nothing more than a memory to survivors. What we do after that is what will matter the most, as we need to educate the children on what they need to survive the world we now face." she replied.

"The parents agree, most of them already asking what exactly we should teach them. It seems wrong to make them face the harsh reality of what we face." he said as Hanna smiled.

"Until 12, we teach them history, science, math, medicine. Knowledge we know they will need in the future. After 12, we teach them how to fight and survive the world they will inherit should this nightmare drag on for decades." she said as so far they didn't have any real scientists capable of studying the virus, let alone able to begin the arduous task of developing a vaccine or cure to it.

"Agreed." Peter said before walking away as they began the daily tasks that would keep the Camp running smoothly as she walked into her office and began going through the rewards that she had earned on behalf of the Camp.

All current cultivated farmland, greenhouse and garden that currently existed had its soil automatically upgraded to provide the best conditions for growing possible. They also could nourish crops with half the water as normal while also producing twice as much twice as fast. She knew it would be a major boon for them, as all of the greenhouses were setup so that they could be used to grow fresh fruit and vegetables year round.

Next was the cattle that they had, the birth rate doubled, growth rate tripled, and production rate doubled as well. She knew that this alone would produce them with more meat, eggs and dairy than they would know what to do with before the system automatically deployed their new defensive systems as well as improving the walls by making them twice as tall and thick as they currently were. The 20 foot tall walls were now 40 feet tall with automated gatlin cannons that could differentiate between living people the system would harm, and zombies it would destroy with impunity when they approached. Some of the ones within range of the weapons automatically killed as soon as they deployed, despite the fact that no guard had even located them yet. The anti air system however remained offline, the radar stations monitoring the ever decreasing air traffic as the apocalypse progressed and left most of humanity unable to do anything but flee the hordes of zombies that had been created.

Hanna watched with the rest of the Camp, as the world fell back time and again as more people found their little sanctuary and begged to be allowed in as they were inspected for any chance of bringing the zombie virus into the Camp with them. Only once they were cleared and changed were they allowed in, most of them not even having clothes on their back that were worth keeping. The process had prevented 2 dozen zombies from entering, survivors with deep gashes in their body somewhere that had allowed the virus to infect them and condemned them to an agonizingly slow changing process before they would be shot in the head and the body thrown into the new crematorium furnace they had created from the blast forge that used to turn the ore into processed metal. The only thing that remained after they were burnt this way would be the dark purple crystals about the size of a marble that Hanna knew came from just below the heart of the zombies.

Each was gathered, the one nearly the size of a golf ball surprising her as none of them had known a person with an ability had even been executed after shifting. Each day under the cover of light, the Camp would collect the corpses of those killed by the defense systems and incinerate the bodies, each crystal added to the collection as she tried to figure out how the Camps in her previous life had eventually cleansed the damn things to make Evojuice from them.

It was by complete accident as she examined them while making tea that one of them fell into the boiling water, by the time she had fished it out it was decidedly clearer than before. Without thinking she dumped the water into a liquid incinerator that would flash boil the liquid away before exposing whatever was left to temperatures that no virus would even be able to survive. She dropped the first one into the pan and added a dozen more of them before she put it back on the stove and boiled it for half an hour. When she poured the water and crystals into a strainer, all 13 of them were crystal clear while the water they had been strained from looked black now. She had an idea that this water was full of the virus, every drop of it poured into the incinerator before she rinsed the last of the residue from the crystals as they cleaned on her desk.

'New Quest. Process 50 Zombie crystals to purify the liquid within for human consumption. 13/50 detected.' her system said showing her the reward would be a machine that would be able to do it far more effectively as well as destroy the virus without having to risk someone forgetting to incinerate the water of wash the crystals off before they were cracked.

Within an hour she had the 50 crystals processed through the water bath before she cracked the first one and examined the contents.

'Zombie Virus Detected in sample. Clean sample to complete quest.' it said as she looked around as she remembered her biology lessons. She poured the entire contents from this one crystal into a vial specifically meant to separate liquids as soon as it was set into a centrifuge. She immediately placed the vial in and started the sequence, watching as it spun the bottle faster than she could follow for several minutes before she took the sample again and noticed there was what looked like a drop of black tar left over in the bottom that had been separated and collected from the primary liquid. She took another small drop from the liquid and placed it into the microscope, the liquid free of anything that she could even identify.

'Process confirmed, no virus detectable inside Evojuice. Creating reward to process crystals.' her system said before she drank the dose she had created herself.

As soon as she swallowed it, she felt as if her body had just been electrified by something she didn't fully understand as she knew her power levels were rising rapidly. Without realizing it her first crystal had been a fire ability that she drank the entire dose of. Without knowing, she had given herself the first real ability she would be able to use in battle. Just as she thought it wouldn't end she felt her body cool as she looked at the interface that listed her powers and the Fire Ability had appeared in the list. She saw two more that were the same size, separating them from the other 49 before she cracked the next one and repeated the process of putting it into the centrifuge to separate the final bits of the virus from it before she drank one and felt her power level explode in another way as she felt it rising as all of her abilities was improved at once.

'Warning, do not exceed two full doses of Evojuice within twenty four hours. Fatal overcharge could result.' her system warned her as she struggled to regain her breath as her entire hand ignited and the system placed the new machine it had created to clean and process the heart crystals.