Dead 'Til Dawn

Prologue

Alexander Spark burst out of the mist, running as fast as he possibly could. The growls and moans of the beast that chased him could be heard for miles, telling any living being that death was near. It was so loud that Alex could not hear the sound of his feet smashing against the wet mud beneath him. Tears rolled down his cheek as he tried to convince himself that he would live, but being out in the open made his chances of survival very low.

Alex had gotten lost on his way back to the safe house, and the beast soon found him. Now he had to keep to the code and find his own haven. Alex had to keep far away from the other survivors, his fellow scientists, or else the infection could spread through even more people.

In a matter of minutes, Alex tripped on a small root, sending him to the ground. He pounded his fist against the ground, knowing that he would soon get to meet death. There was a growl behind him. It was the sound of the blood-thirsty beast. Alex flipped onto his back, looking at his doom eye to eye. That doom was Leo Cardun.

Leo Cardun was once a normal person up until thirty-two hours earlier. He was working on the finishing touches to the bio-weapon that he, Alex, and many others had been working on for the American government. Leo was all alone when he completed the first vial of the substance. He placed the vial carefully on the counter and prepared the test rat.

Leo picked up the small creature and gave it an injection of the bio-weapon. Soon after he placed the rat back in its cage. For twenty minutes, the rat acted like normal. Why was the bio-weapon not working? Could the whole experiment have been a complete debacle? Leo picked the rat up to examine the subject carefully. After just a few seconds, the rat bit the scientist, causing him to squeeze the rat, bursting the tiny creatures head. Blood seeped from Leo's wound as he quickly tried to find the medical kit.

After his wound was bandaged, Leo grabbed the laboratory phone and called Alexander Spark, telling Alex that the rat had bitten him. After the explanation, Alex hung up the phone and grabbed a small manila folder, literally ripping the seal off. In the folder sat directions on what to do in the event of an outbreak. Alex scanned quickly through the document, then evacuated everyone in the building, excluding Leo Cardun, to a shelter nearby, where the quarantined themselves.

Every person in that shelter knew that Leo Cardun had been infected, and they had to keep their distance from him, or else the infection could spread. After thirty hours, Alexander Spark found out that the shelter's radio had been trashed, so he would have to go back outside and contact help. Before Alexander Spark left the safe house, he left behind the directions to the evacuation.

Just two hours after the departure from the safe house, Alex was staring into the eyes of his once human colleague, Leo Cardun. Leo's right eye was missing, causing a trail of blood to pour from his socket and seep down his face. His skin was already deteriorating, causing a strong odor to spread into the air. From the look of it, Leo had tried tearing off his jaw. His jaw seemed out of place, and the skin on his left cheek was torn. His cloths were bloody and torn. It seemed as if Leo Cardun was no longer even human.

For a moment, there was just silence. Leo's remaining eye gazed at Alex, trying to predict if Alex would make a move. Alex suddenly burst into tears, his wailing cries filling in the silence.

"Leo!" cried Alex. "What the hell happened to you? You were a good man. You didn't deserve any of this!"

"You're right, Alex," Leo said, his voice raspy. "Though it terrifies me that my own friends left me behind to rot!"

"You knew you were infected. We had no choice but to leave you or else we would have risked spreading infection."

"This infection, the weapon that I created, makes me feel so powerful!" Leo threw his right arm out into the air. Alex's crying suddenly stopped as his right arm shot out into the air as well.

"W-What is this?" Alex said, not being able to control his arm now.

"Alex, this infection has given me powers," Leo replied. "Now I can control your every movement." Leo made his right hand into a fist, and brought it quickly to his face, but stopped just before impact. Though, for Alex's case, his fist smashed against his cheek, sending his face into the mud.

"You're a fucking monster!" Alex cried out. Leo could just laugh at his comment.

"Indeed I am a monster. A monster that can think. Once I'm finished with you, you'll be a monster as well, though you won't be able to think, just like my friend over here." A woman appeared from the mist, slowly walking towards Alex. Blood stained her white dress, and her skin was deteriorating as well, small bugs eating away at her skin. She did not speak, but instead moaned out into the air. The name tag she wore simply said 'Lucy'. She was a employee at the same building Leo and Alex worked at, but it appeared she didn't make it out.

"Meet the first of many in my growing army," Leo bellowed. "An army that you will be joining in a few moments."

"What? Is this the effect of the bio-weapon? Turning people into zombies?" Alex questioned.

"You're very correct, Alex. The bio-weapon turns people into zombies, and if you get bitten by the infected, you get converted. Though it seems that the bio-weapon has genetically altered my DNA, giving me this immense power. I doubt that you would get a power, though I predict I am the first of few god amongst this army."

"How could you turn into such a monster? You were a good person, wanting to help out in creating a weapon for the country you love."

"I feel no love now," Leo spat out. "All I can feel now is a hunger for flesh, and a desire for revenge on those who left me behind." Lucy stepped forward towards Alex, but Leo lifted his arm out, causing her to stop. "Before your conversion, I wanted to know where everyone else is. I'm sure they'd like to join my army as well."

"You're a fool," Alex said, spitting at Leo's feet. "The directions that told us where to evacuate to also gave a set of plans for when I didn't show up back to the safe house safely a hour after my departure. Everyone else has probably escaped to the next destination, where they'll call in for a helicopter to evacuate them from this city."

Leo roared out in anger, stepping forward. He pushed Lucy to the side and bent down, picking Alex up by the collar of his shirt. "Where did they go?" Leo shouted out. A bead of sweat trailed along the side of Alex's face. "If you don't tell me now, I'll get it from you once you converse!"

Alex started to laugh, knowing that his life was about to end. His final words were taken literally to Leo. Alexander Spark said with his last living breath, "Bite me."