If you're curious as to what this massive post is, it's the Prologue of my zombie apocalypse book! It's called "The Long Road to Hell" and I'm happy to post this before I get back to work on the rest of it. Not everyone want's to see a massive post on their dash so I will put the actual prologue beneath the break. Everyone is feel to leave criticism/feedback :)
Prologue: The Road Gets Paved
Sun filtered through the treetops and into the cabin's windows, casting a gentle evening glow over the messy, and seemingly abandoned homestead. Dust could be seen on every surface, glimmering in the sunlight, making it almost obvious that the place was surely deserted. It could be believed on any other day if it weren't for the conversation presently happening in the cabin's kitchen.
"So, how is this supposed to work exactly?" Questioned a short, portly man; wearing a lab coat that looked a few sizes too big on him, constantly pushing the sleeves back up as they continued to slip back over his hands.
"It's really quite simple. All I had to do was create a highly adaptable virus, one that spreads to both humans and animals. All the test subjects have a microchip inside of them that contains the virus. Each one is counting down in sync to the doom of the world as we know it." A taller woman responded, a smirk forming on her face. "Finding animals to be carriers was far too easy, but finding human volunteers has been far too difficult. I've thankfully found one, though I was hoping for more." She scoffed in annoyance, taking a sip of her now slightly cold coffee.
"I-I don't understand, if the plan is to doom the world with this virus, why search for volunteers at all? Why not just kidnap them? There's surely more than a few people who wouldn't be missed." The man questioned, intrigued by his boss' motives.
"You're right, it would be easier and more in line with what I'm doing however, at the end of the day...I'm doing it this way for myself. I find it poetic, that someone who believes they're doing good is going to bring about the end of their own species." She stated, looking out the window as she watched a small flock of butterfly flapping around.
"I see...That is a fair reason; no one else will ever understand how this all started. All we can do is enjoy the start of the show, right?" He asked, following the woman's gaze. "I assume you had similar reasons for instituting a countdown on all the microchips?"
She nodded, a smile resting on her lips as she spoke of her plan, "Good eye. Yes, the countdown adds to the theatrics of it. As our human subject is American, I saw it fit to have the countdown end on July 4th. A sign of independence, that will now signal humanity's downfall, and eventual rebirth once the Earth sees fit to bring back those buffoons."
She straightened up suddenly, and motioned for her assistant to follow her. Neither spoke as they walked towards a seemingly inconspicuous closet, but the woman entered the door and descended down the revealed stairwell.
"Here." She spoke softly as they came to the bottom of the stairwell. A metal door blocked the way ahead, and the man turned to look at his boss. She payed him no mind, instead reached into her pocket and withdrawing a sleek black keycard. She tapped it to where the door's handle should be. A soft beep rang out in the enclosed space before the door slid open with a soft kethunk. Both stepped inside, the door shutting behind them.
The man's eyes widened as he adjusted to the much brighter light of the new room, fluorescent lights beaming down from above. The room was a pale white, the walls covered in a soft padded material. The floor was metallic, their steps clanging quietly as they stepped forward to the series of screens in front of them.
Before them were 7 screens, 6 of them displayed a silhouette of different animals, he wasn't sure what they were specifically. Under each silhouette, were numbers 1-13 which showed different heart rates next to them. The last screen depicted the silhouette of a person, a single heart rate shown beneath it. Each heart rate was beating steadily,
"So, this is our single volunteer?" He questioned, studying each screen as he took in all the information he could. "What lie did you tell them? They obviously volunteered for a reason, and I'm very curious as to what you possibly could have told them."
"I simply offered them money. As I said, they're from America, and money is hard to come by for most people. I simply offered them a life-changing amount and they agreed to do whatever I asked of them. Of course, they think the microchip implanted in them is part of an AI experiment. Don't ask how I convinced them of that, it was quite difficult."
The man couldn't help but let out a soft chortle at his boss' last statement. "I imagine so. I wonder how they would react, were they to learn the truth."
"Poorly. That reason is why I've shared the whole truth with you and you alone. No one else would ever believe in this...this cleansing of humanity. Only you have ever agreed with my true opinions. This is why I've prepared this ahead of time, with the means to make more should they be necessary." She spoke hurriedly, rapidly tapping on a keyboard. A few moments later she stopped, and a hatch opened in the desk.
A container holding a vial full of a softly glowing liquid emerged, the words [Antidote V1] handwritten on its label. "This is the antidote. It will be effective against the virus as long as you drink it within the first minute. The infection takes hold quickly, so you must have zero hesitation." She spoke calmly, but hurriedly as she gingerly grasped the vial. She held it out to him, the soft blue light emitting from it casting an eerie glow on her hand. "I want you to keep this with you, in case something goes wrong. Should we ever be separated, or if you cannot make it back to this bunker, I want you to be prepared."
The man's eyes widened, before he gently placed his hand on the vial. "Thank you, doctor. I will keep this safe, and pray I never need to use it." She gave him a grim smile, but nodded in agreement. Once ensuring the vial was safely tucked into his coat, the assistant spoke again. "We should get going now, doctor. You have that awards ceremony tonight, remember?"
The doctor rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed. "Ah yes, I had forgotten about that. Let us go quickly then, if we were to miss this event, it would be cause for suspicion." She turned, and headed for the door. Her assistant cast one long look around the room before following her.
Once the door shut behind them, the overhead lights slowly dimmed. The 7 monitors started shutting down, one by one. The monitor displaying the information of the sole human patient was the last to shut down, a spike in their heart rate occuring just before the screen went black. Underneath the screen, a smaller one lit up. It had only three words on it, glaring a bright red as the urgent message went unread. [WARNING: Infection Imminent.]
