At first there was darkness. . .

The scent of hard earth and the feel of cold wood. And then came the flicker, a light of clarity in the deep, shadowy realm of absolute quiet and death. This tiny crystalline glimmer was a single, silken strand shining brightly catching their eyes, showing them all that was. . .and all that would be. . .

That glimmer of light in the dark abyss promised them renewal, a greater feeling other than stillness and made the promise all the sweeter with hints of immortal power in a mortal form. There, too, was an allure, a truth that brought about a great hunger within them that only grew and grew. The mother of pure chaos was not fear, not evil, not even death-but this all new Hunger.

The craving for this was continual, unknowing; the shifting foundation of all. This Hunger was the knowledge that foretold every twist and turn that led to them clawing and breaking through the wood of their coffins, pushing themselves through the mounds of soil.

As one, they moved. After years of stillness, they were now more fully conscious to witness it all; bask in it all.

They could feel the pleasure of their awakening, the ambition in the Hunger.

It was that glimmer, that silk edge; the Hunger cut through the gray perpetual fog of that swirling plane, bringing a singular purpose to this creature and its whims reminding them that it was time-past due time. . .

Never taking their gaze off that glimmer, the horde climbed slowly, pushing themselves towards that strand. A rising horde of millions. . . The start of the beginning of the Hunger, and of the metamorphosis. . . .

The Midnight City

Chronicles

"BRING OUT YOUR DEAD!"

HUMANS & UNDEAD 1ST ANNUAL FESTIVAL IN NEW TIMES SQUARE NEW YORK TO BE HELD IN THIS FALL

AUGUST 15, 2050

WRITTEN BY BRADLEY WALSH

In a matter of three weeks, it will be the 1st Anniversary since the rise of the Undead over 35 years ago.

For the first three years since their reanimation, the Undead ran amok throughout the world, causing chaos, panic and feasting on Living human flesh. It seemed that humanity was to be extinct to the dead, until Nigerian biological scientist, Murata Weiss, came up with a miraculous discover in 2017:

"The dead are acting completely on psychological control. These are not the zombies from video games or movies. You can't just shoot them in the brain or cut off the head and think they'll stay down, the body will continue to move of its own accord until-without the necessities to feast-it will eventually starve to death. Many civilians learned this the hard way . . . The dead are already dead, so you could cut off the head, but the body would still be moving, much like the headless chicken experiment. It was all about learning psychical control . . ."

Dr. Weiss, a highly proclaimed neurosurgeon of New York, had been home in Kano at the time of the popularized title "Zombie Apocalypse of 2015", and was forced to perform his studies in an underground bomb shelter that belonged to his family. He came to the realization that the Undead were feasting on Human flesh not for terror purposes, but for pure nutritional value.

"It is the same way we as Humans need iron, carbohydrates, electrolytes, protein-all to live, to think, to communicate. The Undead lack these basic nutrition. . . Many who have been dead for years, and as a result their bodies desperately crave a replacement. Flesh and blood-living flesh and blood-is the perfect supplement.

"The only problem is that we serve as a temporary cure due to the fact that the second we die, from their attacks, those charges are now rendered useless."

It also didn't help that Humans were capable of being changed either from a bite, through the transfer of saliva, a scratch; even dying without a single Undead-infected wound caused for one's body to be reanimated hours later. As the numbers of the dead began to outnumber the living, it became clear to surviving officials that something had to be done-and quickly.

After sending a message to surviving government officials in Bath, England, one of the many enclosed settlements found around the world in the protection against the Undead, Dr. Weiss joined with six other scientist to perfect a supplement that could serve the Undead of their needs, and even make them more docile. In 2021, Leviathan was born.

Leviathan was a serum made with triple of all the basics of Human needs such as calcium, various vitamins, iron and numerous of others in an easy to take liquid serum capsule that is injected straight to the brain through either the space beneath the skull behind the ear, the main artery in the neck, or the back of the skull. For many months, Leviathan was tested on Undead captured by military personnel, until finally-on November 19, 2021-success!

The very first Undead to be rehabilitated by Leviathan was Gayle Kogan, an Undead from Ireland who died at the age of 36 from a car accident in 1950, making him dead for 71 years. Under the watchful eye of military and the seven scientist (now called the Reaping Seven), Gayle began to make a wondrous change. And Leviathan did more than just curb the Hunger.

"On Week Two, Day Ten-we began to see Gayle able to walk in the normal way that we do. . . By Day Thirteen, he was practicing speech and communication, learning how to reawaken basic movements such as the rotation of the head or the cracking of knuckles . . . Day Nineteen, Gayle is completely speaking at a perfect pace, in complete sentences. He has completely lost the shuffle of a zombie and is able to walk and run . . . He can even skip! Leviathan is a success we all laughed and cried in happiness!"

Over the next six months, Leviathan was distributed throughout the world. In June of 2022, the percentage of Undead rehabilitated rose to 3%; in August 35%; by December a shocking 85% of the Undead had been successfully altered by Leviathan.

Now, today, the Undead live amongst us as a second class of citizens. Many are able to hold jobs, go to school, and even own a home. And through the pill, Croix, a simple saliva retardant that is taken by the Undead orally, the Undead are able to bite, scratch, even kiss without infecting their Human counterparts.

There are some downsides to Leviathan, of course. Like the birth control pill or an antibody, Leviathan has to be taken by an Undead every 12 hours in order for it to stay effective. More than 38 hours without the dosage can result in a trigger in regression to the zombified Hunger and aggression. Result of the regression is the immediate utter destruction of that Undead civilian, and the safe and healthy disposal of its ashes as not to spread its deadly infection.

Another downside, though not all Living can become Undead, because it has yet to be learned just how Undead came to be, it is now stated under National Law that all Humans that end up deceased-whether by natural or unnatural causes-MUST be injected with Leviathan at least an hour after death, even if those Humans show no signs of resurrecting once so ever.

A third downside is that Leviathan has its limits. It seems that the longer a person has been dead before Reanimation, the less likely it is for Leviathan to take effect. The longest a body can be dead (according to records of FDA findings so far) is at least 50 years minimum; 70 years maximum.

Although FDA are trying to perfect a more simple way of using Leviathan and though government are still trying to learn just how all this took place, all is admirably peaceful around the world. Undead are even getting plastic surgery in order to appear more Living for civilian comfort. This is made easier through the new spray known as Chorlorfoam: created by multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical company Gaude Enterprise (who also produce Croix) barely 15 years ago, Chorlorfoam is one of the highest selling medications amongst the Undead: A skin cell rebuilding spray that allows the Undead to build and refurbish their dead skin cells and even allow a healthy complexion and protection from rot, maggots, and damage from the sun's UV rays.

Living and Undead communities have learned to cope amongst each other. Of course, Undead (and even Living) contributors to the anniversary at hand have asked police and government officials for protection by security-and for good reason.

With the rise of anti-Undead hate groups, including the infamous Human terrorist group F.L.E.S.H., emails and death threat letters have been found in homes belonging to Undead or Undead accepting households.