Author's Note:

Hi everyone, and welcome to a little project TV series I'm conjuring up called The Cured. This is inspired by David Freyne's film of the same name, Naughty Dog's The Last of Us (So excited for Part II!) and Latchkey Hero by Tafferling. If you all haven't read it, I recommend you do because it is awesome! :)

The reason why I've decided to give this story a try is that personally, I think Dying Light and The Following's plot lines could have used some work so I hope that the versions present here will be an improvement. An original character, Libby Mason, will have a prominent role in the series and she'll initially come across as introverted but I hope you all will like her. :)

Finally, I apologise if this chapter appears to be rushed and if Kyle's perspective is out of character. :( But I hope that this is a decent enough start. :)

Anyway without furtherado, feel free to leave your thoughts in a review and I hope you enjoy Chapter 1! :)

Libby's Appearance (season 1 & 2): megandaisy9/art/Libby-Mason-OC-Dying-Light-747244291

Season 3 & 4 Appearances:

Libby: megandaisy9/art/Libby-Mason-Dying-Light-OC-2018-800232462

Rahim: megandaisy9/art/Rahim-Aldemir-Dying-Light-2018-801436999

Jade: megandaisy9/art/Jade-Aldemir-Dying-Light-2018-801553994

Plot Summary:

On January 27, 2016, an unknown pathogen broke out in Harran and caused the city, along with the countryside, to become quarantined. During the two months since, the Global Relief Effort partnered with the Ministry of Defense to help sustain what few survivors remain with airdrops and decide to send in agent Kyle Crane to search for a file linked to a cure...

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic, Star Wars, 13 Reasons Why, Dying Light, Walking Dead or The Cured. All rights go to the original owners. All of the characters and events in this story are fictitious. Other references to real life places, events and individuals, living or dead, are purely coincidental.

Pilot - Chapter 1: Prologue

Until now I always felt a stranger in this town, and that you people were no concern of mine. But after I've seen what I have seen, I understand that I belong here whether I want it or not. This is everybody's business.

- Albert Camus, The Plague.

…

(Los Angeles, 2018.)

Hello friend. Hello friend, I don't know if I should call that bullsh*t or not. Do you want a different name? That's a slippery slope though, because we have to remember that you're not here anymore. F*ck, I can't believe I'm still talking to you after all this time. It's like you never left us...

We've been through a ton of sh*t since you died... and here we are now, leaving that Quarantine Zone in favor of the post-Outbreak days. A lot of us are skeptical about this, me included. That sounds cowardly coming from a grown man, I know. But at the same time, it's normal because... we're used to what we saw in Harran now.

It's part of our lives.

So when we were escorted out of the military cargo-hold planes, we initially expected to see the infected roaming the streets and our surroundings in ruin. But we didn't see any of that! Instead, there were thousands of living and breathing people standing behind metal barriers, applauding with relief. Numerous ambulances waited behind them and on the sidelines stood news reporters and cameras recording us. For f*ck's sake, don't you all have the decency to recognize that we're a lot more than just a big news story?!

Even though I knew we were out of that sh*thole, I could tell that some survivors would have a harder time accepting it - especially the kids. One in particular was walking ahead of me in the shocked and terrified crowd. If you could see her now, you'd be amazed because of the bad*ss she's become! She doesn't take any sh*t from anybody and dare I say it, even we're terrified whenever she gets p*ssed off.

She reminds me of you in spades, heh heh.

I don't know what's going to happen here on out, but I'm hoping that we're sticking together because there's no chance in hell we're going our separate ways after the sh*t we've experienced. Everyone here probably want to know our stories too...

Well, why don't we take them back to the beginning?

...

(Harran, 2016.)

The steady roar of the GRE cargo airplane snapped me out of my thoughts, influencing me to glance around the dark bluish cargo hold with orange and blue boxes. It was a weekly routine to send these drops into the city as they were filled with survival gear and Antizin, a drug created to serve as a vaccine for the Harran Virus.

Speaking of Harran, how much longer until we get to this damn city?

There is a reason why I secretly wasn't looking forward to being dropped in. When my brother, sister-in-law, nieces and I first heard the news reports about the outbreak, we all found them incredibly hard to believe. I mean, c'mon! A zombie apocalypse occurring in real life? Really disturbing sh*t...

Then came my mission. My loved ones and I had the same shocked reaction upon learning that my boss was sending me into Harran and pretty much not taking no for an answer. Having to leave everyone behind stank like hell, but I knew the GRE's ambition was to work for the greater good.

And don't worry Crane. Sooner you get this done, the sooner you can go back to them.

"Hud activated, commence briefing," The voice of my Boss spoke through my radio, moments before the pilot controlling the airplane called out: "Approaching Harran!"

Finally!

"Data on the subject, Kadir Suleiman." My boss began revealing the purpose of my mission. "A local political figure hired to maintain order after the outbreak. His brother, Hassan, died in a disease-related incident before we were able to evacuate him. Suleiman blamed the GRE for Hassan's death." Yeesh. "He stole a highly sensitive file which became his bargaining chip against the GRE, with instructions to publicize it if anything happened to him. Data on the subject - The Stolen File."

"Jump in ten seconds!" The pilot informed me, influencing me to rise from my seat and walk towards the slowly opening cargo door. Okay, here we go.

"It details the incomplete process of synthesizing a cure for the virus. If implemented in its' current state, the produced substance may be extremely toxic."

"Now!"

Quickly acknowledging the pilot's signal with a thumbs up, I ran forward and jumped off the plane, allowing myself to fall for a couple of moments whilst listening to my boss' instructions.

"Also, the file contains a full description of the virion structure. Any attempt to use it will result in countless lives lost. It must be recovered. Further information - Current Status."

As I activated my parachute, the white clouds soon broke apart to reveal the city of Harran. At first it seemed like a completely normal place to me, almost like it hadn't been affected by a zombie apocalypse. The warm sun shone brightly over the distant countryside's green mountains and the blue ocean separated the city from another one, yet they were both connected with a towering white bridge. But there were major signs that an unfortunate series of events had taken place. Buildings either had chunks missing or smoke pouring out because of fires and upon descending further down, I took notice of the broken down cars in the streets and pools of dirty water filling a number of pits.

Yikes, Harran sure has seen better days...

"Suleiman sent the file to an associate unknown to us, with instructions to publicize it at his command at any time. To counter that, we instituted a city-wide communication jam preventing him from publicizing the file. Your GRE-issued radio can overcome that jamming. It is your lifeline, do not lose it."

Yes, ma'am.

"Suleiman has since gone underground and began using a different name. We have reason to believe, he now operates one of the two main factions operating in the city. You are to find Suleiman and locate the stolen file in order to save mankind from a disaster of unprecedented proportions. Good luck, Agent Crane."

My radio then switched itself off, giving me the chance to focus on my landing. As I floated down even further, the ocean disappeared to reveal the city and two nearby apartment buildings with a yellow crane sitting on top of one. But before I could make it smoothly, a strong breeze swept by and my descent came to an abrupt halt when my parachute suddenly got trapped in one of the multiple street lamps! F*ck!

Thinking quickly, I untied my harness and I found myself plummeting to the ground ... only to cry out in agony upon impact with accompanying surges brimming within me. Two seconds in and I'm already injured, fan-f*cking-tastic. Grunting in pain, I struggled to stagger up to my feet. Okay, focus Crane. Start with patching yourself up and finding someone who knows where Suleiman is.

"I told you that wasn't a normal drop chute!"

I glanced up with alarm at not one, but three men clad in black and yellow staring at me with anger and confusion. Oh, damn it.

"Break his legs." Their leader, a brown haired man with green eyes and a receding hair line, commanded. "Then take him to Rais."

SH*T! Without hesitation, I aimed my pistol which influenced them to raise their hands up in defense. "Back up!" I growled. "All of you!"

"Stop! Loud noises draw them!" The man said, slowly walking to my right side and glancing at me in a calm manner whilst the other two walked out of my sight. What the?! A surge of sudden pain erupted when one of the dude's pals decided to catch me off guard by violently connecting the handle of his rifle with my head and sending me falling to the ground with a yell. Damn it! The leader and their other pal followed suit by delivering a series of hard kicks to my rib cage. Grab the pistol, grabthepistol! With my survival instincts kicking in, I quickly managed to grab said firearm and pulled the trigger at my assailant, who fell lifeless with blood spurting from his wound. I then aimed my gun at his surviving pals in mental fear.

I thought I told you all to back the f*ck up!

However before I could gun them down in self-defense, a series of hoarse screams (undoubtedly emerging from the zombies) echoed throughout the city, influencing my assailants to back away nervously and sprint off with the leader yelling: "Fall back, fall back!"

Gasping for breath, I struggled to pull myself up to my feet in a slow manner thanks to the further injuries inflicted on my bruised rib cage. Alright, move Crane! Get to safety! The screams increased in volume as every second passed and before I knew it, a zombie sprinted towards me faster than any of the racers who took part in the Olympics and grabbed my raised left arm, rapidly sinking its' teeth into it, drawing blood and influencing me to cry out with agony!

NononoNO!

My horror shortly turned into a case of sweet glorious relief when the zombie was suddenly lashed out against by a dark-haired man clad in a brown t-shirt, black pants and boots, who brought his bat down on the infected's head multiple times before turning to assist me. D-Do I know you?

"Come on! We have to move!" He yelled, grabbing my hand and pulling me up to my feet, only for me to collapse to the ground yet again in pain. I could see that he wasn't alone as a woman, also clad in a brown outfit, vaulted from the roof of a nearby building to tackle another zombie and crush its' head with her foot. She then sprinted off to us, shouting with a Turkish accent: "Let's get him off the street!" before grabbing my left arm and hoisting me up to my feet.

Honestly, I felt like a useless piece of sh*t as the two dragged me into a nearby store. They didn't have to rescue me, but they did and I appreciated them doing so. I would have done the same if our positions were switched. But my relief quickly turned into concern when the man decided to let me go to hold the horde of zombies back. W-W-What are you doing?!

"Get the door open!" He commanded his friend, which she did by kicking it with a grunt. The two of us looked back to the man ... only to see him become overwhelmed by the horde and fall to the floor, screaming in agony when the zombies tore him apart! NO!

"Amir!" The woman screamed with grief, reaching out to him. "NOOOOO!"

"GO, RUN!" Amir cried out, his final words being cut off by screams of pain. The woman pulled me away and shut the door behind us, staggering further and further forward before I lost the amount of strength I had left and collapsed. Panting during my struggle to keep my eyes open, I glanced up at the woman and reached out to her. Please... F-F*ck, what I have done...? Tears were brimming in her brown eyes and at first, I thought she would leave me to get torn to shreds. I wouldn't blame her if she did, considering what just happened... But she instead reached a gloved hand to her earpiece.

"Tower, this is Jade." She spoke, attempting to hold back her tears. "Get sickbay ready. Got a guy with a bad head wound and a bite on one arm."

"Oh sh*t, Amir's hurt?!" A man responded with alarm.

"No." Jade choked out, her voice cracking. "Amir ... is gone. But I'm bringing in someone who might still survive."

"One of us?"

Hearing this, she turned to give me a look of concern ... though I could see a hint of anger in her eyes. Again, I don't blame her for that. "We'll see."

Throughout her conversation, I fought to the best of my ability to prevent the rest of my energy from escaping. But it was a case of There wasn't any point in doing so when I couldn't hold on any longer and slipped into unconsciousness.

Christ, that was a brilliant start. Not ... F*ck, I never asked for this.