Lore Story

[ModdedTibby]

Our gaming community held a contest recently about a new lore story for the Roleplay Server we run for Project Zomboid.  After a few weeks or so we had quite a few awesome entries.  After a poll was put up and released this was the winner!

 

 

 

Never imagined myself to be the journal-entry type person. Then again I never imaged to be the type of person to run around town dodging dead cannibals, looting anything I can, killing everything I have to, and breaking into any house I come across without thinking twice. Seems the end of the world has coerced me out of my comfort zone. Actually feels quite strange writing. Haven’t done it in months. Not so much as a signature. What good is a ball point pen and a clean sheet of paper when the world around you is broken. I feel like the asshole in a sinking ship sitting at his desk writing some memoirs.  But, alas, with all the chaos and how quickly it came about… I’m not even sure if anyone has tried to tell this story. I’m not the perfect candidate by any means, but I have a heartbeat and a pen. That’s better than most.

I’m not sure how it started, but I’ve already seen the end.....Roughly four years ago mankind started to stir. It was if we had caught a lucky break. Virus and disease had always plagued the human body, always detrimental to our physical form. Then came a mulligan; Sanus.   Sanus threw all Biologists, Doctors, Neuroscientists for a loop. Pretty much if you had a college degree in the medical field, it was all hands on deck with this little oddity. Like a virus it was alien in nature, toting a different cell structure than anything mankind had seen before.

Phlebotomists were the first to notice. A rapid reproducing agent within our blood that didn’t fall into any category, or genome, of any virus or bacteria that we knew of.  It was estimated to have incubated in every single human being across the globe within 96 hours of its discovery. “Benign”; that was the first reports issued by the CDC. A superficial and benign cell, simply using our body as a host.  As time progressed and upon closer examination this “benign agent” began to spread it’s wings. Cancer rates began to dip, bone marrow and density began to climb, diabetes fatalities dropped, even HIV patients began to produce fully functioning white blood cells in record numbers, spinal cord injuries and even neurological ailments began to subside.

It seemed our new biological freaks of nature were God’s greatest gift to mankind. Thoroughly boosting everything the human body relied on. Respiratory, Lymbic, Cardiovascular, Neurological, even reproductive organs. Viagra became a thing of the past in those few glorious years.  Hence the name Sanus; Latin for healthy. It became synonymous pro-biotics and Kale. And just like pro-biotics and Kale, it became old news. Humanity continued as usual with our symbiotic friends.  We still blew each other up, fell in love, shot at, stole from, made love to, lied to, killed, showed compassions towards, danced with, hated everyone just as before. Not a lot had changed in the grand scheme of things. We just became healthier.

Sanus did as well.

It happened so quick it is hard to put into words. Our new found light, became darkness. You either woke up; a flesh crazed embodiment of what used to be a person, or a terrified mortal.  The last shred of credible information I remember seeing before complete system failure; a medical report, shared on facebook of all things (I remember trying to shit in some quiet bushes and being ecstatic I had bars on my phone, sadly I was too terrified to actually drop a much needed deuce.. especially after the unwelcomed news). Cat-scans of a human nervous system incased in a web of malicious and transformed Sanus cells head to toe. Under a microscope the “benign cell” went from friend to foe overnight, globally. Along with a 95% mutation rate (estimated, or so the half-assed article said).

Our healthy bodies were not by chance, rather by design. Sanus was much more methodical than any had ever thought.  Complete modern day infrastructure was down within 5 days. Internet, power, whole kit and caboodle. Without server managers, IT, police, nurses, pole men, doctors… everything came to a crashing halt. Currency, even gold meant nothing.  Those souls that you relied upon weeks ago were now godless creatures. Slow, stumbling in their host but overwhelming and relentless.

No one knows why some of us survived the mutation. There was no method to the madness, no natural selection or survival of the fittest. Just chance.  Worst yet, despite our “invulnerability” for whatever reason we were once again fragile mammals. A simple bite from these motherfuckers and everything starts going into motion, it’s bad news bears. There are rumors of some surviving a bite, I’ve yet to witness it. Our boasted immune system diminished, our vitality, our strength. It seemed it either took over or bailed. Those few of us that didn’t become zombies, walkers, undead (whatever the fuck you want to call them) seem to have lost our immunity we took for granted. If you didn’t turn, Sanus no longer worked in your favor.  Common cold, superficial cuts, starvation and dehydration is now more dangerous than it was before all of this. Complacency is a bitch like that.

Three months ago a good night would’ve been some chilled white wine, heat, a baller place, a good movie and a hot chick to wrap my arm around.  Now, I’m content over canned beans, a handful of shotgun shells and bottled water.  I board up houses that I do not own, I shoot those that fell without disregard, and I do my best not to think about the future to come or why I’m still here as there is no point. Usually the only interaction I have with another true living soul these days is brief. Eye contact, maybe a few muttered words in passing, every now and then a common truce. But we are both fighting tooth and nail to survive.

Sorry for the rant, also apologies for the lack of information as to what really is going on in this world (I’m not even sure myself). But when the lights go dark and the system shuts down; information was the first to go, follow closely by morality.  I can’t remember what I used to fear.  And I mean truly fear.   Terror is commonplace among these parts. But for me, personally…. Opening my eyes upon waking up; those brief seconds in which your mind does its best to recognize where you are and what you have to deal with. Awakening to the grim reality that any of my imaginative wildest nightmares, are dwarfed in comparison to the horrors that this New Dawn will surely bring.

That’s my greatest terror, and I face it daily.

-Archer Francis

P.S. I’ve been bitten.

 

 

Written by Sleepr66 Member of AGN

[Archaaz]

Congratulations, Sleepr66! And to the others who participated. I read and enjoyed each story. Sleeper66, The cause for the virus, SANUS, is truly inspired. Great ending as well (and of course the pic).   

[ModdedTibby]

Congratulations, Sleepr66! And to the others who participated. I read and enjoyed each story. Sleeper66, The cause for the virus, SANUS, is truly inspired. Great ending as well (and of course the pic).   

Thank you very much Archaaz for submitting a story! i still think you should join our server

[Archaaz]

 

Congratulations, Sleepr66! And to the others who participated. I read and enjoyed each story. Sleeper66, The cause for the virus, SANUS, is truly inspired. Great ending as well (and of course the pic).   

Thank you very much Archaaz for submitting a story! i still think you should join our server

 

 

I very much enjoyed participating. If I can scrape together some spare time between, or after, classes, I will give it a go. It certainly seems to be an interesting project and a nice community. Thanks for the invite!