Goretober Day 16 + 17: Sickness and Crystals
To make up for not doing yesterday I decided to combine the two prompts.
This is the crystal disease.
A type of zombie infection where if you are nicked or bitten by this fast growing gems your heart quickly stops. You skin grows cold. It hardens like stone. But despite it all your body moves, and it grows. The gems quickly consume your body, gems of all shapes and colors, taking over every inch of your being. Until you stop all functions and become a human shaped mound of crystal. After this you no longer move, frozen in whatever state you were left in.
It is both the most and least infectious disease know to mankind, as crystal zombies are not as plentiful and the disease takes over quickly. The zombies themselves are not even hostile, merely wondering in random directions and taking the path of least resistance. But even when your body is consumed by the crystal and you are no longer mobile. The crystal itself remains infectious and there is always the danger of cutting yourself, even wildlife can be nicked by the gems and turn into their own form of zombie. It is why you can find it almost anywhere. So when you are on a quest for gems, make sure they wear protection, you never know if the gems you are collecting may in fact turn you into part of their collection.