Level 0 - July 2nd 2oo9 ; Baltimore, Maryland
"Its hard to picture now how bright a sky it was when all of this suddenly started. To be honest, I don't think I'll live to see another day that bright ever again..." - The last words written in her journal
The sky was still blue, so bright a shade that it only made Erica happier then she already was. The wind was tugging violently at her short cut golden hair that shined like burning streams of gold in the light of the heated sun. Her eyes squinted against the air that passed her and the sun that created the illusion of her pale skin radiating with an angelic glow. The traffic wasn't heavy in the least, to her surprise, so her mother's piece of crap van was making excellent time, for once. Erica looked at her watch to check the time only to be laughed at by her mother.
"That's the twentieth time you've checked that watch, Erica. Time isn't going to move any faster." Her mother risked a side glance at Erica's face to see it was flushed with embarrassment. "Don't worry we'll get there on time." Her mother replaced the sunglasses on her head back over her eyes.
"I can't help it! He's here! He's actually coming to our house!" Erica smiled, resting her head against the back of her seat. "Richie's actually here... and you'll get to meet Cadden too, mom!"
"Yeah, yeah. You've only been talking about it all weekend. Anyway, I'm just dropping you off and then I'm going to work. You said you guys have a way to get back home, right?"
Erica nodded, looking back on what seemed like an endless road, " Yeah, Cadden said he'd handle it." She laughed a bit, "And how can I not trust my own twin?"
The minute Erica stepped up to the train station she felt excitement rush over her. There he was, sitting on one of the wooden benches. She was thankful to see that he kept his dark, curling hair cut short and under control. The train ride had done nothing to dull his farmer tan. Erica grimaced to see that he had only a small duffel bag packed. It had been a long running debate that she had just barely won. "Hey! Richie!" It took only seconds for him to find her walking toward him.
"Erica!" Once she was within arms length he pulled her into his chest and held her in a long, sweet embrace that was comforting to her soul at the very core. "Amazing timing, love! We only just arrived here a few moments ago."
"And yet I don't see Cadden," she glanced curiously about the station.
"Oh, he'll be around front. He had to get his truck unloaded."
Erica looked at Richie with a gaze of puzzlement, her head slightly tilted to the right. "His... truck?"
A car horn sounded and Erica turned to look out the glass double doors of Penn Station. Richie sighed slightly when it was obvious every woman in the station had their attention on Cadden. "Speaking of which..." It was mere seconds before Cadden was out of his truck and striding for the door. Cadden was the classic type of dream guy for most any woman. He had dashing bright eyes and short dark curling hair. His figure was lean and his face even had the romantically carved features of a hero straight out of a romance novel. But looks weren't the only thing Cadden had going for him...
"Good morning, Sis!" Cadden held the door open for Erica and Richie as they left the building. "Its a pleasure to see you again," he continued his greeting only to end it with a picture perfect smile. Cadden was also heavily polite to everyone. He opened the truck door for his friends before glancing about the street. "Busy place isn't it Richie?"
Richie laughed hitting Cadden on the side of the head, "Go play!"
"I'm sorry! Really!" Cadden laughed as he ran around the side of the truck and loaded himself inside. "I mean it, really! Look at this face! It shouldn't be able to get any kind of woman to even like it!" Naturally, the three of them laughed together. Erica could already tell the next few days would be very interesting. Their conversations lasted for hours only to be interrupted by a radio story that caught their attention.
"The virus has been a debated problem for only twelve hours but already the Health Department of Maryland has claimed that this viral infection has forced them to raise the warning levels to five state wide."
"Swine flu?" Richie asked.
"No, I mean, I knows its been around for a while but these levels? This has to be something new..."
"Shh!" Cadden hushed, reaching to turn up the volume.
"We believe that this illness is another form of rabies, however its very wide spread which is highly uncommon for any form of rabies among humans. In this case, the rabies have only affected humans so far. Leaders of Maryland's Health Department have said that so far they don't believe that the disease is airborne..." At that moment the truck made a rough turn that sent Richie and Erica violently into the right side door.
"Sorry," Cadden apologized again, "I almost missed my turn." His eyes turned wide as the truck passed by Jaz Nick's bar. "What the hell...?"
The sight turned the three of them grim as they watched with horror and listened to the radio. "It's merely an infection," the voice now sounded hollow to them. There were two people laughing and leaning up against the door of the bar. A shadowed figure loomed around the corner. "There shouldn't be any panic but be alert for people with the following symptoms..." They let out a horrible scream, the limp figure bit into a woman's arm. "Foaming at the mouth," the sound was void of any emotion. Blood flowed, dripped from the wound on her neck. She tried to scream for help but all that sounded was blood bubbling through her throat. "Change in behavior," that figure looked at them with dark eyes, black eyes... hungry eyes. "Violence is common for those infected." It took a step toward the truck.
"C-Cadden," Erica stuttered.
"Avoid them at all costs," the radio spoke again but on deaf ears now.
"Cadden! Go!" Richie shouted as the murderer came closer but all of them were stunned and moving was the last thing on their minds.
"If an infected person manages to come in contact with you, authorities must be called immediately." The other man was able to run off but the creature reached out as he stepped from the curb moving awkwardly across the street. "Again, avoid confrontation with these people at all costs. It shouldn't take long to contain the virus with public cooperation."
"Cadden!" At the call of his name, Cadden's foot jammed against the pedal sending the truck speeding forward down the road, "What the hell was his problem?" Richie shouted, his voice shaking from the pure fear of not knowing. "That had to have been a drunken rage, right?" No one answered him, "Cadden?"
"I don't know, Rich..." Cadden tossed a look over to Erica and let out a worried cough. "Sis? You alright?" Erica's stare was distant as she looked back at the violent sight. "Sis!"
"A case of new rabies?" Erica asked as she turned to look at Cadden and Richie, "That woman... she was dead right? We watched him rip her throat out... right out of her neck..." The two men shivered at the deadly reminder of the incident and the frozen tone of Erica's voice. Her eyes glittered with the threat of tears. "She's not dead... she got back up... She's... not... dead..." Erica burst into tears and Richie automatically reached over to hold her against his shoulder, protecting her from her own eyes wondering back to the bar, no matter how far back in the distance it was.
"Rabies my a**," Cadden growled in anger, "Pretty soon we can consider all of this to be nothing..." The truck sped past a wooden sign that creaked and rocked with the power of the wind hitting it. The sign simply read, Welcome to Middleborough. "This place is going to be nothing but a Dead Zone... and we're going to be stuck in it..."
"Its hard to picture now how bright a sky it was when all of this suddenly started. To be honest, I don't think I'll live to see another day that bright ever again..." - The last words written in her journal
The sky was still blue, so bright a shade that it only made Erica happier then she already was. The wind was tugging violently at her short cut golden hair that shined like burning streams of gold in the light of the heated sun. Her eyes squinted against the air that passed her and the sun that created the illusion of her pale skin radiating with an angelic glow. The traffic wasn't heavy in the least, to her surprise, so her mother's piece of crap van was making excellent time, for once. Erica looked at her watch to check the time only to be laughed at by her mother.
"That's the twentieth time you've checked that watch, Erica. Time isn't going to move any faster." Her mother risked a side glance at Erica's face to see it was flushed with embarrassment. "Don't worry we'll get there on time." Her mother replaced the sunglasses on her head back over her eyes.
"I can't help it! He's here! He's actually coming to our house!" Erica smiled, resting her head against the back of her seat. "Richie's actually here... and you'll get to meet Cadden too, mom!"
"Yeah, yeah. You've only been talking about it all weekend. Anyway, I'm just dropping you off and then I'm going to work. You said you guys have a way to get back home, right?"
Erica nodded, looking back on what seemed like an endless road, " Yeah, Cadden said he'd handle it." She laughed a bit, "And how can I not trust my own twin?"
___________________________
The minute Erica stepped up to the train station she felt excitement rush over her. There he was, sitting on one of the wooden benches. She was thankful to see that he kept his dark, curling hair cut short and under control. The train ride had done nothing to dull his farmer tan. Erica grimaced to see that he had only a small duffel bag packed. It had been a long running debate that she had just barely won. "Hey! Richie!" It took only seconds for him to find her walking toward him.
"Erica!" Once she was within arms length he pulled her into his chest and held her in a long, sweet embrace that was comforting to her soul at the very core. "Amazing timing, love! We only just arrived here a few moments ago."
"And yet I don't see Cadden," she glanced curiously about the station.
"Oh, he'll be around front. He had to get his truck unloaded."
Erica looked at Richie with a gaze of puzzlement, her head slightly tilted to the right. "His... truck?"
A car horn sounded and Erica turned to look out the glass double doors of Penn Station. Richie sighed slightly when it was obvious every woman in the station had their attention on Cadden. "Speaking of which..." It was mere seconds before Cadden was out of his truck and striding for the door. Cadden was the classic type of dream guy for most any woman. He had dashing bright eyes and short dark curling hair. His figure was lean and his face even had the romantically carved features of a hero straight out of a romance novel. But looks weren't the only thing Cadden had going for him...
"Good morning, Sis!" Cadden held the door open for Erica and Richie as they left the building. "Its a pleasure to see you again," he continued his greeting only to end it with a picture perfect smile. Cadden was also heavily polite to everyone. He opened the truck door for his friends before glancing about the street. "Busy place isn't it Richie?"
Richie laughed hitting Cadden on the side of the head, "Go play!"
"I'm sorry! Really!" Cadden laughed as he ran around the side of the truck and loaded himself inside. "I mean it, really! Look at this face! It shouldn't be able to get any kind of woman to even like it!" Naturally, the three of them laughed together. Erica could already tell the next few days would be very interesting. Their conversations lasted for hours only to be interrupted by a radio story that caught their attention.
"The virus has been a debated problem for only twelve hours but already the Health Department of Maryland has claimed that this viral infection has forced them to raise the warning levels to five state wide."
"Swine flu?" Richie asked.
"No, I mean, I knows its been around for a while but these levels? This has to be something new..."
"Shh!" Cadden hushed, reaching to turn up the volume.
"We believe that this illness is another form of rabies, however its very wide spread which is highly uncommon for any form of rabies among humans. In this case, the rabies have only affected humans so far. Leaders of Maryland's Health Department have said that so far they don't believe that the disease is airborne..." At that moment the truck made a rough turn that sent Richie and Erica violently into the right side door.
"Sorry," Cadden apologized again, "I almost missed my turn." His eyes turned wide as the truck passed by Jaz Nick's bar. "What the hell...?"
The sight turned the three of them grim as they watched with horror and listened to the radio. "It's merely an infection," the voice now sounded hollow to them. There were two people laughing and leaning up against the door of the bar. A shadowed figure loomed around the corner. "There shouldn't be any panic but be alert for people with the following symptoms..." They let out a horrible scream, the limp figure bit into a woman's arm. "Foaming at the mouth," the sound was void of any emotion. Blood flowed, dripped from the wound on her neck. She tried to scream for help but all that sounded was blood bubbling through her throat. "Change in behavior," that figure looked at them with dark eyes, black eyes... hungry eyes. "Violence is common for those infected." It took a step toward the truck.
"C-Cadden," Erica stuttered.
"Avoid them at all costs," the radio spoke again but on deaf ears now.
"Cadden! Go!" Richie shouted as the murderer came closer but all of them were stunned and moving was the last thing on their minds.
"If an infected person manages to come in contact with you, authorities must be called immediately." The other man was able to run off but the creature reached out as he stepped from the curb moving awkwardly across the street. "Again, avoid confrontation with these people at all costs. It shouldn't take long to contain the virus with public cooperation."
"Cadden!" At the call of his name, Cadden's foot jammed against the pedal sending the truck speeding forward down the road, "What the hell was his problem?" Richie shouted, his voice shaking from the pure fear of not knowing. "That had to have been a drunken rage, right?" No one answered him, "Cadden?"
"I don't know, Rich..." Cadden tossed a look over to Erica and let out a worried cough. "Sis? You alright?" Erica's stare was distant as she looked back at the violent sight. "Sis!"
"A case of new rabies?" Erica asked as she turned to look at Cadden and Richie, "That woman... she was dead right? We watched him rip her throat out... right out of her neck..." The two men shivered at the deadly reminder of the incident and the frozen tone of Erica's voice. Her eyes glittered with the threat of tears. "She's not dead... she got back up... She's... not... dead..." Erica burst into tears and Richie automatically reached over to hold her against his shoulder, protecting her from her own eyes wondering back to the bar, no matter how far back in the distance it was.
"Rabies my a**," Cadden growled in anger, "Pretty soon we can consider all of this to be nothing..." The truck sped past a wooden sign that creaked and rocked with the power of the wind hitting it. The sign simply read, Welcome to Middleborough. "This place is going to be nothing but a Dead Zone... and we're going to be stuck in it..."
