In a dark room inside of a broken down building with a grey ground and clouds covering the sky with rusted vehicles and vines and foliage growing through the cracks in the cement ground, a man in a grey long sleeve shirt and combat pants and steel toed boots awoke. Lifting himself up he looked around, the room was dim from a faint sun shining through the grey clouds and in the giant hole in the wall. Rubble covered a large area of the room, with an untouched and rusted warhead protruded from under the rubble. The man stood up and checked himself. He pulled an old photo out of his pocket. The color had faded recently but was still able to be identified, it was the arm and leg of a person. Large blister like bumps with an orange tint were erupted from the person's skin. The man checked his arms and legs for these bumps. only things that were clear on his skin where flea bites and tick bites. They caused no harm to him but were an annoyance once in awhile. Leaning down, he picked up a brown military bag, a radio strapped to the side of the bag and the lines from where velcro strapped had been but had peeled off where faded. The bag made tinks and tanks from the canned supplies in his bag. Tied to the side of the bag was a military rifle. The man didn't know what kind of rifle it was but it served the man too it's full purposes. Slinging the bag behind his back and tying it on as an improved strap he put on his red socks baseball cape and his gloves, rolled up his sleeping bag and moved the rocks that blocked his exit to the hallway outside the room and headed off. The man walked down the hallway and stairs his rifle against his shoulder and the sights lined up. Each wallway was different either tried up blood or rubble covered an area, the man stopped at a tripwire, carefully he removed the grenade from the tripwire string and and rolled up the string and placed the grenade and string in his bag. He did a few more time before he reached the main door in which he opened to be met with pure sunlight. The clouds had parted ways while he was inside and the sun shone its light for the first time in months. Taking in the warmth the man removed his cap and continued on his way. The man came close to a car, unlike the rusted vehicles it was surrounded by, This car had its paint peeled off and somewhat rusted, although it did infact run. It was a small pickup truck he had traded his dog for, he loved that dog, it had been with him for months maybe an entire year, but he needed what he could use, the dog would have drawn unwanted attention to him and would always get itself nearly killed in any instance, the trader had promised a working car with enough gas to last for a few months, the dog had always found someway to save his life though, either finding clean water or a place to make camp, that dog was resourceful in many aspects and it was hard for the man to give it up but he needed to, he never even bothered to give the dog a name it would always respond to 'you' or 'dog'. He opened the car door and looked inside, the seats were torn up from over 30 years of little or no use and where failing to keep the man comfortable on long drives. He set his bag in the backseat and placed the gun in the passenger's side. This would be only his 14th time using the truck. He was born into this apocalyptic world, it was 4 years after the flash when he was born. The flash was a massive explosion from an alien race they dropped 14 flash bombs across the globe. Each one killed millions and left the world as an apocalyptic wasteland, and to make the situation the aliens released an invisible gas humans call blood gas because it causes large bubble like blisters in the skin that cause blood flow to stop and cause you to drown in your own blood and just because they felt like it, they released a fungus like infection onto the surface that take a lot of bullets to bring down. The fungus invades the brain and rots the brain to be replaced with a fungi brain, it's like an alien cordyceps that infects ants and smaller animals but this version infects absolutely everything. After the flash bombs and after 3 billion people died the fungus infected another 2 billion people and the human population is still dwindling after 3 years the population dropped from 2 billions to just over 100 million people, and 27 years later the population has dropped from 100 million to 70 million. Everything about this new world was reborn to kill you no matter what. The man closed the truck door and slowly turned the ignition key, he was afraid of the noise. It was an unnatural noise to him that gave himself away to anything in the area. The noise of the car snapping to life covered any other noises from outside the truck. The man placed his hands on the steering wheel and his feet on the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal. Slowly, he pressed his foot against the accelerator as the truck began to move. Startled by the sudden increase in speed, he slammed on the brake and was jerked forward. Exhaling slowly to relax the man pressed his foot against the pedal and the car moved forward until the speedometer read thirty miles per hour. He slowed down as he reached rusted cars and trucks that had sunk into the road. slow and steady, he moved between the flood of vehicles and tree's the engine coughed and puffed every few minutes from the continuous hum of the truck as the road crumbled and cracked from the wheels rolling over the decaying asphalt. As the man continued forward and approached a large area of grass a brown furred animal stood up It was brown with a cotton witness on its rump, the neck was long and narrow and the muzzle and head formed a oval shape. horn like bones erupted from the animal's head that bent and branched out. A deer, the man remembered seeing one of these animals during his childhood before his parents abandoned him to the wasteland the one before was large and noble with a shiny coat of thick winter fur. This one had faded fur that let of a dark brown texture the fur hanged of its thin bones as ribs shone through the fur it was fairly thin and seems very un sturdy as if a gust of wind would cause its death. The animal stared at the truck in front of it with a tinker of curiosity in its jet black eyes. THUD. The deer collapsed where it stood. There were no gunshots heard and their was no spurt of blood to accommodate the animals fall. It had collapsed from exhaustion. The man opened the truck door and stepped out. Leaning back into the truck he opened the glove box and pulled out a revolver of a sort. Keeping the gun in his hand he approached the animal walking through the tall grass as it slid against his pants. The brown fur appeared through the grass as he closed in. Stepping through the grass he found the deer its chest barely rose and fell from its shallow breathing. This was the man's chance at food it was weak and vulnerable. He already had plenty of food and water that the deer seemed to be more a morsel then a meal. He squatted down and examined the deer. It's back left leg had a swollen bite. It wasn't a bite from infected but a mere bite from a normal predator. By how the bite was still bleeding and swollen it surprised the man too see this animal had gone so far even it animals did track it. Bark! Bark! Bark! came the distant sound of dogs. The man stood up and looked at to were the barks originated from. It was a mistake, Piffs and puffs of bullets hitting the wall and trees around the man startled him. Coming into view three men were running behind the dogs the guns trained on him. The man dropped below the grass line he pulled out a knife from his boot and strapped it onto his shoulder as he heard the soft clicks and clacks of dog claws hitting the asphalt nearby. The man set his gun down on a rock and unsheathed his knife. The first leaped at the man teeth bared. It was a black furred dog with a long snout and pointy ears. The man countered the dog with a tackle and sliced the dog's chest killing. The second dog gave the man no time to recover as it leaped on his and sunk its teeth into the man's wrist. The dog chomped down on his wrist with a crunch, the man screamed in pain and stabbed the dog in the under belly and threw it off as it ran off the knife impaled on its abdomen before it collapsed. The last dog was huge. The head was large enough to bite the entire hand of a man with paws large enough to cover a man's face. The dog tackled the man and got ontop of him The man held the dog's head away from his head by the neck with his injured hand, slobber and saliva covering the man's face. The dog pressed itself against his hand its teeth inching closer to his face. The man put his other hand against the dog's face and pressed his thumb against it eye. The dog wined and screeched in pain as it ran off. "Das ist genug, das Spiel mit den Hunden jetzt cject die Jungs LKW zu überprüfen." Said a German who aimed his rifle at the man. The man lifted himself up, his gun was just below him. The man watched 2 other men jog to his truck. The German pulled a radio out from his belt pouch "Wir fanden einen Mann neben dem Hirsch wir, wo Tracking, tötete er 2 der Hunde, und ich bin mir nicht sicher über die dritte, was soll ich mit ihm machen?" The German said into his radio, a few noises from the radio later and the German aimed his rifle at the man. The man pulled his gun out from under him and fired a shot, KABLANG! The German fell with a thud as blood bled and pooled below the bullet hole in his head. "Cecter? Was passiert da? du bist ok?" Said another German.
The man slipped into the tall grass and crawled towards the other two German. They had ripped the doors off the truck and where emptying the gas tank. One of the German was going through the man's bag. The man slowly crawled towards the German searching his bag. Quickly, he grabbed the German covering his mouth and strangled him. He set the dead Germans body aside and watched the other German. The man charged out of the grass and threw a punch at the Germans face as he turned towards him. The German was set aback by the sudden attack. Confusion filled the Germans eyes as he saw the man. The man grabbed the German and threw him to the ground where he proceeded to punch the man to death. Each punch hurt his hand, the man stopped and trained his eyes on the German. German's face was riddled with blood. Blood came out of the Germans mouth and nose and places where the skin was broken. The German had tears in his eyes begging for his life. The man threw on more punch, killing the man. The man didn't want to kill them, they attack him first yes but they didn't deserve a death like the one he granted. Standing up, The man went back to the deer. The deer had died in the fight. It's side was still and its eyes were blank. Just another pointless death in a ruined hell. The man pulled his knife out of the carcass of the dead dog and collected the rifle's and supplies of the dead german's The man went to his now dismantled truck, picking up his bag and collected and strewn cans of food he began to walk through the grass passing the bodies of the men, deer, and dogs. The man followed the decaying road for almost a full day before he found a building to set up for the night. The kicked open the door, his rifle aimed at the branching hallways. He slowly moved down the corridors careful to not make loud footsteps. As the building darkened he switched on his flashlight covering it with his hand when he didn't check rooms. On the second floor of the building the man found a room would be a good place to stay the night, Opening the door, The room was empty will fully enclosed walls. No rubble in sight. The man walked into the room, set his bag down and began to unroll his sleeping bag. The man began to beat the side of a far wall to break off pieces of stone to barricade the door. After a few more hits a rock broke off large enough to the hold the door, Picking up the rock the man leaned the rock against the door. Walking back to his sleeping bag, The man sat down on it before he began to lay back in it.
The man awoke to light shining through cracks. One light specifically shone right in his eyes. The man blocked the light with his hands as he began to stand up. THUMP THUMP THUMP! The man turned to the door. The thumping continued as growls were heard alongside it. The man reached for his rifle and aimed at the door. The man looked through a small peekhole in the door a man was slamming himself against the door, he had yellowish green lumps up and down his neck and arms with fungus growing where his hair was. Infected. The man aimed his rifle at the door. He pulled the trigger where he predicted the head was. Smoke and fire appeared for a second as an unseeable bullet went through the thin door. The thumping continued at a faster rate. The man pulled the trigger two more times as the thumping stopped and a thud on the other side of the door signified the death of the infected man. The man went back to his pack, slinging it on, he went to the door. He opened the door and looked out. The infected was sat back against the wall across the door. The man kicked the infected foot aside as he walked towards the entrance of the building. The man opened the door with his rifle trained on the outside world. The man looked up at the clouds. They were a bright white with sort of ice texture among the whiteness. Freeze over was coming faster than he anticipated. Freeze over is a every 3 year event where the earth is entirely covered in ice for as long as 8 months. Most humans usually go to small bunkers built after the discovery of the freeze over and stay there, others stay until the ice is finished freezing over and head back to the surface to try and survive. He was one of the people. This freeze over was a year early. The man checked his compass and turned east. From there, he walked to the closest Freeze over bunker which was no more than a 4 day trek.
4 Days later….
The man stood atop a hill looking down into the valley, The freeze over bunker was in the town that sat in the bottom of the valley. He would always come to this bunker as it was the most secure. The man walked down the hill as he approached the town. Entering the town, he walked towards the city hall as markers on the road directed him towards the freeze over. The freeze over door was regular house door. looking around, he turned back and tapped on the door in a rhythm. Tap tap tap….tap tap tap tap….. tap tap tap The door opened a man in military gear looked at him and pushed a cart to him where the man placed his rifle and bag as he entered. Walking down the stairs, he looked around. The bunker was rather large with branching hallways with a dorm every 20 feet. The dorms were nothing special. They contained a bathroom, shower, and some few luxuries; a couch, radio, and a table. Below the dorms was a massive cafeteria meant to hold as many as 300,000 people. though the number has been depleting ever since he was born. from 100,000 at birth it been dropping to be just above 300 people that come here. The rest who stay here year round are military personnel. The man walked to a dorm room, 216. Opening the door he looked inside same as three years ago. The man ignored the rest of the dorms as he walked towards the cafeteria where there were no more then maybe 90 people. The man sat down at a cafe table near the other people. He listened in on their conversation, "I heard a military convoy got ambushed by a group of infected while heading for the bunker in Canada." Said a man in a plaid shirt and faded jeans, he had blond hair and appeared to be in his late fifties. "I heard that too, seems the infected have been appearing more frequently and in large numbers...¨ A man with grey hair and a dark grey beard in large overalls spoke up ¨I shot a few on my way here." The other men looked at him. ¨They were maybe 4 or more fresh ones so they were easier to kill...¨ The men began to swarm him asking questions about the infected. Our man stood up and went to the food area and looked through it, There were the normal MRE´s and other rations brought in. Ever since the pentagon fell, the militaries been strewn all over waiting for something to happen that may give them new orders. which will never happen since what's left of world governments are little pocketś in the arctic trying to survive the best they can. A young man in a dark green shirt with dark blue jeans walked over to the man, he was maybe in his late teens he had red hair and goatee growing out. The teenager asked the man. "So what's your story? here before the flash? After? How many infected have ya kill? You seen any of them aliens?" The man looked straight at the boys face. "After, dunno, and no." The man turned back to the food presented. "Got a name?" asked the teenager. "Nope." answered the man. "Hmm, well my names Darwin Watermusk Jubliden the eighth." The man gathered some food and walked back to his seat. The teenager examined the man. "You need a name, want one from me." The man sighed and replied. "I don't care." The man was preferably excited to get a name but considering the world he was in, names didn't matter, They were an annoyance and unnecessary for someone who is always alone. The teenager stood there as the man ate his food slowly, the teenager snapped his fingers and pointed at the man "How does Zeus sound?" The man looked at the teenager. "No." The man resumed his eating as the teenager thought again. "Smith?" The man swallowed his food, "No." The teenager looked at the man" How bout' Zack?" The man considered the name while he ate his food. "Sounds good." The teenager looked at the man "So do you want the name?" "No." Responded the man