Welcome one and welcome all to the remake of World of the Dead.
Now this remake is going to be something vastly different when compared to the old version. The chapters are going to be shorter, characters are going to be changed, ideas that are being implemented that were never put in during the original and ideas from the original that would be taken out. This intro to the story will be something that will hopefully attract those zombie fans again and I want to say thank you all. Thank you for reading my first story and making it so much of a success, I admit that it may seem weird since I am making a remake of a successful storyline, but I feel that it could use these changes. I felt that World of the Dead could have been a tons better. I made many mistakes in that story and that's good, it was my first, I am not perfect, I can improve and make it better. So while it is a remake, I will be making a new title for it. It isn't going to be World of the Dead, instead it is going to be:
Book One: Outbreak Chronicles: New World
So with that, I will start the first chapter of this story and I hope you enjoy this greatly.
Chapter 1: The New World
The night was still. The wind did not blow and clouds covered the moon. It was pure darkness, but what did not remain dark, were the eyes that have lost their once living spark, and glowed with the fierceness of hell's demons. So red and so intensified, it was if the many eyes were night lights.
"Night lights that must be snuffed out." A thought in the head of a person who glanced through the broken window of one of the many abandoned homes.
His figure was masked in the darkness that he used to remain unseen. The clouds parted way for just a minute and allowed the moonlight to shine on those below. Showing hundreds of those once alive and wandered without a thought or care in the world. The only thing on their minds, in their blood and what drives them each day is a meal of flesh be it animal or man. The person who watched them was also shown. His black, raven hair and his brown eyes still gazing at the ones in the street. As the clouds covered the moon, darkness slowly enveloped the streets and the decaying bodies disappeared and their soulless eyes glowed in the dark once again.
One looked over at the person's position and he ducked down. He held his breath and broke out into cold sweat. He knew that if he was spotted, it was over for him. Just a group of five were tough to handle, but an entire hoard of Soulless would only mean his death. He stayed in his positioned for a good ten minutes and he soon heard the steps of one of them come onto the porch. He quickly got out a kitchen knife as the steps came closer to the door that was not closed as it stumbled into the house. The Soulless stood still for a few minutes before continuing on and past the young man.
He didn't even dare take a sigh in relief. He knew that any sound could attract them towards him. He simply waited for twenty minutes as he watched the thing stumble and knock over things things that only attracted more of them to come into the home.
"I have to leave, I need to find a way out." The person thought and looked about for a route of escape. He soon found one in a window that was a few feet away from his spot. He saw that now there was about four of them in the home and that none were paying any attention in his direction. The darkness was truly his greatest ally and comfort as he slowly got to a crouched position and stalked his way across the room to his salvation.
The Soulless were simply oblivious to him. His steps were silent and his breath was low, but the heart in his chest beated as loud as a gun. He kept his pace steady and watched where he stepped, even in the dark, he had trained his eyes to see at least a few feet in front of him. After what seemed like an eternity, the person finally reached the window and hopped out. He landed softly and saw a bush just to his right. He quickly went into the bush that made a slight rustling. The young man glanced at the backyard he had landed in and thought that he was better off in the home. The yard had ten Soulless.
The person searched for another exit and saw the it was a broken part of a wooden fence. It was small, but he was confident that he could at least fit. He saw that the Soulless were also spread out. He didn't want to stay and fight, but he knew better than to wait. He made that mistake long ago and it costs him a member.
On his back was a bow and a quiver of arrows, and he grabbed his bow and an arrow. Using muscle memory, he put the arrow on the string and pulled back and watched as death flew with a purpose and hit the head of its target. He grabbed another arrow and repeated the process as another Soulless fell. He made quick work of three more Soulless and that soon left half the numbers. The young man kept his sights on the next set and saw one was staring at him. His body was locked in fear and his heart beat skyrocketed.
The staring continued and the person could only wait for the inevitable and glanced away for a split second to the hole in the fence. That was his mistake as the Soulless charged at inhuman speed and was going to roar until the person threw the knife and it to implant in its head. The sound made him a little sick, even after three years of hearing that sound, the sound of metal to flesh always made him queasy. The glow in its eyes dimmed as it fell head first into the ground and drove the knife deeper. Blood seeped from the wound and into the ground.
The noise of knife hitting the head and the body falling on the ground hard drew the attention of the rest of the Soulless in the backyard and they moved towards the body. The person picked up his bow and took out the rest of them in quick succession. The backyard was now clear. He made way to the bodies and ripped the arrows from their heads, still feeling queasy from the noise. As he got the arrows, he turned the body of the Soulless with the knife and saw that it was deep inside. The blade was completely inside and with half the handle.
"It's over for this knife." He thought and looked around his area. The moonlight came out and the young man couldn't help but look up at the half moon and stars. He loved staring at the moon. It made him feel at peace at times of distress. His clothing was visible and it was a long sleeve navy blue shirt, over the shirt was a slim vest that was dark gray and had four zipped chest pockets. His pants were dark blue and had side pockets and had running shoes. The quiver of arrows was on his back with the compound bow's string across his chest.
After making sure he had all of his arrows, he made way to the hole and with some effort was able to get through. The moon was gone behind the clouds again. The young man was faced with a forest as he stood and stared in the darkness. He looked around his location and saw no glowing eyes and assumed he was Soulless cleared. His guard was not let down and he continued with caution. He walked through the forest as if it was the back of his hand, moving with ease and with grace and as noiseless as the still night.
Minutes turned into an hour and the young man was still moving until he saw a faint light through the trees. A smile crossed his face and he continued on towards the light. As he came closer, he saw the trip wire that was set up with cans and pans close together as to make noise when moved. He stepped over the two sets of wires and approached the light, which crackled with wood as he heard light conversation. His foot stepped on a branch and the conversation stopped and silence was composed.
He knew that they were on guard. He made the bird call whistle and stepped forward as he saw his group looking at his general direction their weapons drawn. They put them down once they realized it was him. The person looked over the group he was in and smiled at his family. They were a group of eight and all around the same age. They all went back to the fire they were surrounding and the person joined them as the light conversation continued among him. He gazed at each one of his friends.
The one across from him was the old jock and bully of the high school they all attended. The star quarterback and the most popular guy at the school. Now he was dressed in a camouflage jacket, camouflage hat that covered his ginger hair, camouflage pants and khaki combat boots. From jock to hunter of the group in under a week. He was the only other member besides himself that was silent and was polishing his assault rifle, his green eyes only focusing on that. This was Kevin Hass.
On the right of Kevin was a girl with blond hair tied into a ponytail with some hairs flayings out. She was wearing a brown short sleeve shirt, dark purple pants, and brown running shoes. A blue jacket was over her slender form. She was once the head cheerleader and one of the popular kids, but now she was in charge of their food supply, cooking and maintaining the food they had. She made sure that they had as much nutrients as possible from the meals and was currently watching the pot of soup that hanged over the fire with blue and tired eyes. Periodically, she will stand and check the soup to make sure it was cooking. Seven bowls and spoons that were either plastic, glass, or silver were on a small table at her side. Her name was Nazz Vesta and she was considered beautiful among the group despite being dirty, hair a mess, and looking tired.
To the left of Kevin was the second tallest person with them. He was the farmer of the group and worked closely with Nazz because he grew most the vegetables and fruits that they eat. His clothing consisted of blue jeans and dark orange shirt and running shoes. He wore a fur coat and had the most hair of the group with his unnatural blue hair covering his chin and his hair growing wild. He was going to get it cut soon. This was Rolf Schäfer and the only from the old world in their group and a fluid speaker of many of the languages there. He looked tired as well and was in conversation with the only other female of the group.
The female he was talking to was Sarah Green. She was the youngest of the group and was turning thirteen in a month or so. She was wearing all black for her long sleeve shirt, pants, and shoes. The only thing not black in her clothing was the jacket she was wearing which was cyan blue. She had red hair that was cut to neck length. She did nothing, no one in the group found her able to really do anything with her young and frail body. She did help anyone when they asked and watched them do what they do. The person observing her knew that Sarah would be a jack of all trades of the group if she didn't choose to focus on learning one thing. She was also the younger sister of Ed Green who sat across from her over the fire.
Ed Green was the tallest member of the group and by far the strongest in brute force. He was dressed in his guard uniform. It was the armor of a S.W.A.T member and was used for times of riots and Ed said that it was from his dad, who was a S.W.A.T member, and came with a riot shield and baton. Both objects along with the helmet that lay on the side and propped up against the wooden log he sat on. The person remembered that the baton might as well be a mace when in Ed's hand. He rarely used the shotgun strapped on his back, but he did make sure to keep it in good shape. Ed had buzzcut red hair and was in charge of defense and made the trip wire and any traps for the Soulless that wander too close to camp. He was talking to the shortest member of the group.
The shortest member was Eddy Johnson, who was half the size of the person. He was wearing baggy khaki cargo pants and a dark yellow sweater. He had a tactical vest on that held the ammunition for his sniper rifle that was in the tree house and he currently was carrying four handmade holsters with two at his side and concealed and two on his chest. His shoes were made of light, strong material and black. He was the marksman, co-crafter, scout, and gun expert of the group. The person decided to take over for him for the night and do the scouting, but he knew Eddy was faster, quieter, and able to scavenge more items than anyone in the group. Eddy grew up in a poor family in the downtown area and knew his ways of stealing and had a great interest in guns at a young age.
"A street rat kid that was in actuality a gun expert." The person thought as he stared at one of his most trusted friends. He along with Ed had been there for him in his darkest times and were almost like brothers to him.
"Hey Double D," The person, now known as Double D, turned to Johnny who was to his left. He was wearing an open black jacket, a wrinkled and dirty white shirt, black jeans, and running shoes. The scavenger of the group. "how is it out there?"
The question made everyone stop their own conversations and focus on him. With all eyes on him, Double D stood and cleared his throat.
"If Eddy's report from last night is correct, then the number of Soulless has doubled," The expressions on everyone's face turn to that of shock and confusion. "I doubt that they would move on in just a few day. There was a lot wandering around and they numbered in the hundreds."
"How the hell is this possible? I was sure that it was just a regular horde of them passing on like always, they should be gone by now!" Eddy exclaimed in confusion. Double D shook his head.
"Unfortunately, no that is not the case. It was a lot more than a horde. It was a massive amount of them." Double D said.
"I bet they came from the city area just a few miles away, probably ran out of food and now they are just passing by." Kevin said calmly and with a level tone.
"It's a possibility, but what about that sound we heard a few days ago. It could be that." Nazz mentioned and they all remembered the loud, death bringing screech that lasted for a full minute. The minute was filled the group with absolute terror.
"It could be that they mutated and have developed skills to bring themselves into a group. That screech could be the "alpha" Soulless calling them and what could be that something that could be keeping them here." Ed said and having read many comics on zombies felt that he had the most information of their zombie-like enemy.
"Mutated? Just a couple of them are a hassle to handle. If they mutate then we are screwed." Sarah said fearfully.
"We don't know anything about mutations. Nor can we be sure for what may be out there that caused that strange noise a few days ago. What we do know is that we have to be careful, don't let your guard down especially now with so many of them wandering around. Ed, make sure you check and reset any traps you have and if possible add more that can take care of groups of them. Eddy, tomorrow in the day, we are going to head back out there and see what could cause that screech. Everyone else is to stay here and lock up. Nazz what is our situation on food?" Double D said and asked with authority in his voice.
"Food is in bad supply. We have enough food to last us for at least a four days if we don't skip breakfast, lunch, or dinner." Nazz informed.
"The harvest is not doing so well either Ed-boy," Rolf spoke with his heavy accent. "the soil is becoming infertile and I have been able to grow little."
"Have you been using the fertilizer and dead animals to help make the land fertile?" Double D asked.
"Yes, but it does very little with the winter on fast approach." Rolf informed.
"Okay, Johnny we will be needing you with me and Eddy in the morning, we will scavenge for some food and hopefully some canned vegetables. Rolf, try to get as much as you can from the land and give it to Nazz, we need every last edible thing. The winter is coming we need to stock up as we all know how bad it can become here in winter." Edd ordered and continued on what they all needed to gather to survive another winter
Double D, or by his full name Eddward Silver, was the leader, co-crafter, and secondary scout of the group and made sure everyone had a certain job and that everything goes as plan. He was also flexible and could think of something new if the situation changed for them. As soon as it happened, he took over as the leader as they moved on. There was no vote or anything, he was just considered the leader.
The soup was done and served after a few minutes Eddward was done speaking and everyone knew what they needed to do. Dinner was a silent save for the sound of silverware to glass or plastic. It was always that way since the incident two years ago when they talked too loud and drew a horde of them and they lost two new members that joined the previous day. Dinner lasted for twenty minutes before everyone was done. Eddy was the first done and heading to the cabin to rest. Johnny, Kevin, Sarah, and Rolf soon followed with good nights being silently said.
Eddward stayed behind with Nazz, who was grabbing the pot and putting any leftovers in a plastic container, and Ed, who was once again in charge of Night watch. He made sure everyone was gone before putting out the fire, somehow having the ability to see in the dark as if day. As soon as Nazz left, it was only Eddward Silver and Edward Green.
"Why aren't you leaving Double D, I have-"
"No, tonight you rest. I know you want to stay up and stand guard, especially with that ability of yours. But you have been on Night watch for a month straight, and I know you can't have the sleep schedule of four hours each day and staying up all night. Your body will break down and you won't be no help if something actually happens and you can't warn us. Don't argue and just do it." Eddward said sternly and with expressed worry.
Ed wanted to put up an argument. He wanted to stay guard over his friends as their protector, to not let another close loss happen again. Eddward stared at his tall and inhumanly strong friend with strong eyes that held much passion but a visible a line of authority. He was ordering him to do it. Even with his strength over the smaller teen, Ed was always willing to listen to Eddward even before the Outbreak.
"Okay." Ed said with a reassuring smile. Eddward smiled back and Ed stood to leave.
"It has been three years Ed," The words of the group leader stopped him in his tracks by the fire. "that is today, three years since it began. Do you think that a mutation is possible with so much time passing since that time?" Ed turned towards his friend with a grave look in his eyes.
"Yes, I do believe a mutation is possible. I had my thoughts on it after the first year has passed. A mutation is definitely possible. These Soulless are caused by a virus, you, Eddy and I saw this on that day when that person was bit and ran to us for help. How just an hour of meeting he turned into one of them. You are smart enough to know that a virus will mutate. The mutation is not never unexpected to me at this point. It will happen sooner or later, maybe even now with that weird screech." Ed said and looked Eddward Silver dead in the eye.
"We must be careful. Extra careful, we don't know what the mutation will bring. Anything is possible at this point until we face those mutations and figure out the pattern. Add it to our survival guide when we do, who knows you might encounter them tomorrow, or the next day, or it can all be false and no mutation possible, but I highly doubt the latter being an option to be considered." Ed said and turned back towards the cabin which had a dim light barely visible through the boarded up window a foot away from the door and to the left.
"You, Eddy, and Johnny be careful tomorrow. Stay on guard and don't let drop it for a second." With that, he left to the cabin. Leaving Eddward to stare at the fire. He stared at the source of heat and light, thinking of the words of his best friend.
"A mutation...what is this world coming to now?" Eddward asked himself as he buried his head into his hands. Sighing and look at the fire with a face that seemed far older than his age. He reached into his chest pocket and pulled a small notebook out with a sharpen pencil attached by a string.
The notebook had a leather cover and had many pages left blank and still in need of being filled. He flipped through the pages and saw the many pictures and diagrams, tactics, a map of the area around the cabin, traps and how to build them, listing, everyone's skills, important dates, poems, journal entries, random and detailed sketches and notes on certain body parts on the side. It had everything that Edd ever wrote since the beginning. He was surprised to see that with about a hundred pages done, that nearly triple of that was available.
He grabbed the black pencil and started to write.
"It has been three years on this day. One-thousand and ninety five days have passed since the beginning. One-thousand and ninety five days survived and through it all, we only lost one close friend and four strangers through that time. Everyone lose was grieved and everyone felt helpless and reminded that in this world, we aren't safe, where we are, we are not safe, what we do makes us feel safer and still we don't feel safe. Jimmy, Canel, Tuss, and Bick are still remembered by me and this journal and I recorded their stories on it until their death. I am writing everyone elses' story as well. I will continue to do so as I will try my damn hardest to keep them alive." He paused before continuing.
"There is talk of mutations among the Soulless. We don't know, but a few days ago, as I mentioned in the last entry, we heard that scream and I can't help but think Ed is right. I was blind to it, but he wasn't. Ed was always the one who wanted to study the Soulless and find out anything he could with more vigor than I could ever have. He had his own set of notes that goes into far more detail than my silly sketches and notes when compared to Ed's naturally artistic hands and surprisingly efficient and accurate research notes. I can still remember the shock of us when he stopped playing his "fool's facade" as he stated and got serious. He might be as smart as I am." He looked over his shoulder and listened and didn't hear any sounds. He did it as a safe guard.
"Tomorrow, Eddy, Johnny and I will head to neighborhood and find some food and investigate a possible location of the scream which was Southeast from the cabin. We are running low on food and Rolf can't make enough plants due to the land being used becoming infertile or either Winter has already taken it's affect on the plants. We have four days of food, I will be skipping breakfast, and possibly lunch, to let the others have as much food as possible. We need to save it. We might encounter some mutations if they have already happened and I hope not. But we will see tomorrow. I am on night watch tonight. Still can't believe that on this very day, three years ago, this all began and everything in our world change. With so much loss and so much pain, I question why we even live so long. What drives us to see the next day? What pushes us through each loss, each setback, each close encounters, what is it? I will go now and get on night watch." Edd cracked his fingers and made to finish the entry
"Today's dreadful day and birthday to the Outbreak is November 5th, 2019. One-thousand ninety six days survived." He ended the entry and check over his neat handwriting, perfected over years of practice. He closed the journal and saw the title he carved in the leather. "The Outbreak Guide and Cul-de-sac Gang Stories". He put the pencil on the side of the journal and put it back in his chest pocket. He through dirt on the fire and put it out. He was surrounded by darkness and went into the cabin.
He passed through the rooms without paying attention. The candles and lamps were all off and everyone was probably fast asleep. He made it to the balcony on top and saw the added level as to get a three sixty view of the area around the cabin. It was strong and secure. Double D walked across it and took hold of the night vision goggles that was slightly cracked and looked through and surveyed the area. He walked on the platform and checked the area around for any heat signatures and as he did a complete walk around he saw and heard nothing. The leader waited for ten minutes before doing so again, occupying his mind with meditation to pass the time. He would do this throughout the night and until dawn arrives.
So there it is guys, the first chapter of Outbreak Chronicles.
I hope you all had an awesome and safe Fourth of July if you are American and celebrated. If you aren't, well I still hope you had an awesome and safe day. As I said, chapters are shorter, I think my writing is better in this story and is really showing my capabilities as a writer. Like promised, this is a remake. You notice some vast differences among the group such as Techlin being gone and Edd being in charged. They are not as secure as they use to be, it is darker and I am trying to make it more real. There is also location that will be revealed as the story goes on
and the zombies, now called my own original name that is the Soulless. I will also be making my own mutations and if very obvious that there will be mutations. I will try my hardest to make it unique as possible.
But tell me what you guys think, either in a personal message(PM) or through a detailed review. Tell me your likes, your dislikes, your thoughts, your predictions, tell me anything that is related to this story or what you will like in the story. I love reading your reviews, your helpful criticism, your thoughts, your messages, as it all helps strengthen my writing and bring you guys better content to make the story better. Tell me your hopes and dreams with this story, anything. I mean it. Others may saw that they are a "Review whore" or "review slut" or whatever. I am just a writer who wants to make his ability to write a career and is asking for honest reviews.
So with that, I leave you my fellow Revolutionaries until the next chapter. Peace and stay safe out there, keep writing and reading and never stop thinking as you are all are the beginning of a Revolution.
Next chapter:
Chapter 2: The Investigation