The figure stumbled slowly down the corridor, towards the light that shone in like a sign from heaven. Of course, it had no concept of heaven or hell, life or death either – not much of anything passed through its brain now, nothing that could be considered human except in the most basic and primal sense.
Nothing above instinct remained in the shell of what had been a man, no memory of who he had been before the infection had taken hold like a vice. The media had popularised them as Zombies, the walking dead. This was as far from the truth as calling them Aliens – they were very much alive, but it did not appear so in many cases – they ignored pain but where not super-human creatures of legend. A bullet to the chest would kill them if it hit an organ, yes, but it took a lot to make them register that they should stop moving.
Indeed, they only functioned in two modes of being, at least the basic infected. They were either sickly calm and at peace, or full on aggression and anger when they sensed one that was not like them - In some cases this difference could not be seen and they would kill each other simply because the urge overtook them, like animals.
The figure paused and looked at the source of the light, a ceiling mounted light that flickered, the wiring having been jostled loose at some point. For several moments it was captivated by the blinking, before it turned and stumbled out, the light already having been forgotten. It moved down the corridor again, passing several other figures who where much like it – it did not know this on a conscious level but instinct did not command it to attack, so it did not.
The creature had a life not long ago, and a family. Andrew Whether had been his name, with a loving wife and a stable job that kept them both in house and home. That had been before the Infection had come, from where no-one was quite sure. Some guessed the military, or a meteor shower, or even a mutated virus. It was never found out, and soon the disease began to take hold across the world. Andrew had been one such victim, as had his wife.
He was but a shell of his former life now. His hair was greasy and rank from lack of washing, his gums black and swollen, his eyes bloodshot. He had a festering cut on his right thigh that was obviously infected, and was malnourished and thin – he ate when the basic need took him, and not otherwise. He had no concept of hunger or pain now. His clothes where tattered and worn, covered in stains and mud and more alarmingly, blood.
A sudden loud noise caught his attention, sharp and painful in his ears, like nails on a chalk board. Aggression and hate bubbled forth like a tide and he screamed, his legs powering him forward towards the incessant tormenting sound as those around him did the same, the entire building moving towards one goal, joining in his screams of rage and anger and hate. Each body spoke not in words, but their intention was clear:
Kill the ringing painsound stop the ringing break it smash it eat it claw it break it kill it!
The surge of bodies pressed into the small stairwell, several infected being pushed over the railing and tumbling several stories to their deaths. Still the tide pressed on, Andrew among them. He pushed and jostled as he sprinted down the stairs, one floor after the other. Several times some fell and where trampled or leapt over like they were not there. More joined them at each floor until it seemed the tide would never end, like a flood gate being opened.
The doors to the street did not hold for more than a few seconds, the glass doors and windows shattering and the wave spilling out. Some even leapt from the floor above, ignoring the broken ankles and sprains, dragging themselves or limping towards the sound.
Finally, the source of the screaming came into view. A metal object was parked in the street, unmoving and still. It was larger than a man but none amongst the horde as daunted – they simply threw themselves at it and hammered on it with their entire bodies, until it seemed it was covered by a writhing mass, each eager to break it and stop it screaming. The anger amongst them was unbound now as they ignored the breaks of their bones as they hammered on the cold metal, some finding the slightly softer glass and smashing it to pieces.
It became clear a figure was within, cowering in the front seat. A young woman, no older than nineteen, had unwittingly awoken a sleeping giant in the otherwise calm Infected and would pay with her life.
Andrew was among those who had reached in and grabbed at the fleshy object, pulling it screaming from the car. She was not like them, and at this their anger only grew. Andrew kicked and punched wherever he could, joined by about seven Infected no longer interested in the car. He felt something break under his fist and blood sputtered out like a tide. At this he began to strike harder, once even biting down until he broke skin and bit into flesh.
Finally the woman became unmoving and limp, hardly recognisable as human anymore. When the screaming alarm finally stopped, it was as if a light had been turned off. Each Infected simply stumbled away, as if nothing had happened.
As the horde dispersed, new creatures began to creep towards the corpse – the larger, smarter Infected. Andrew simply stumbled against a wall and slumped down it, his mind once again lost.