Day 0 - 14:24 PM - Redgrass University Garage - Nate Archer
Nate let out a long sigh, shutting off the garage radio that had been blasting music while he worked. "That should about do it." he said wiping his hands somewhat clean on a nearby rag and slammed the hood shut, "let's hope she runs.". Nate grabbed the set of keys and climbed into the driver's seat. He quickly inserted the keys and gave them a turn. With a low rumble the engine came to life, and Nate slumped back in relief. He was finally done with this boring project and was more than ready to go back to bed and sleep off his murderous headache.
"Professor!" Nate called out, switching off the engine and exiting the vehicle. "I'm done with this project." He glanced towards Kichiro's work desk to see it curiously vacant. "Professor?" he called again, students were never left unsupervised in the garage. Nate wandered over, perhaps he'd stepped into his office for a moment, the office was soundproofed so it would make sense he couldnt be heard.
Nate studied the desk, curious as to what kept his professor occupied while students worked independently in the garage. A few pieces of junk lay atop some scattered papers, dark blotches of oil obscuring some of the details.
'Oil?' Nate pondered, theres no reason for Kichiro to be using oil on these scrap parts. He dipped his finger in the dark substance, and brought it to his lips. A quick taste should determine if its oil or not. The viscous liquid lightly touched his tongue before he spat it out onto the floor. "Certainly not oil." A very slight metallic taste lingering behind.
Sticking with his original hunch Nate turned towards the office door. Another sticky substance smeared the handle, a more reddish tone in the better lighting. 'Guess he cut himself.' Nate shrugged it off. Injuries were common in the garage and the first aid kit was kept in the office to avoid covering it in grime. He gripped the handle, knocking politely with his free hand as he turned it and pushed the door open.
It was the stench he noticed first. The smell of rotting meat, blood and bile mixed together, causing Nate to wretch involuntarily. The gruesome scene laid out before him stopped him midway through the door. Professor Kichiro was splayed out on the concrete floor, his eyes devoid of all life. Blood stained his shirt, slowly spreading as it continued to flow.
The second figure was a horrific sight. Jaws snapped at chunks of flesh, the muscles and tendons visibly tore as the unknown figure ravenously attacked his meal. Pale grey skin hung loosely from limbs that gripped the corpse beneath it.
Nate was stunned, the lingering headache from the morning made it all to clear he wasn't in a dream. He must've been standing in the doorway a whole minute before his brain allowed him to move again. The moment he took a step backwards on the hard cold concrete the figure snapped up to look at him.
The eyes were glazed over as though a hazy film clouded them, yet it was all too clear Nate's presence had been noticed. The man sprang up with alarming speed, despite its limbs bending in abnormal ways. It charged at Nate emitting a strangled groan as it stumbled over Kichiro's corpse temporarily faltering its charge.
Nate turned, sprinting without a second thought. He never heard the door close behind him, clue enough that the monster was hot on his heels. Within seconds something grabbed his shirt, pulling back against his neck almost choking him from the sudden force. He quickly span to face the creature, forcing its grip to relent as its arm dislocated at the elbow with an audible crack.
The grey-skinned man stumbled forwards, giving Nate just enough time to step back away before it regained its footing. "Dont you feel any pain!" Nate shouted at it. It was then he noticed the missing chunk of flesh from its arm. The blood around the wound coagulated and almost black.
It wasnt long before he had to start running again. Frantically looking for something to defend himself with he grabbed the first heavy object he could reach, a large steel wrench. Swinging wildly behind him as he ran, hoping to deter the attacker. He felt a clunk as his wrench connected with something and chnaced a glance backwards.
The creature lay face down on the floor, its hip bone newly caved in. Finally giving Nate a chance to catch his breath. He patted himself down, checking he hadn't sustained any injuries. 'I should call somebody!' He thought, remembering his phone had been left on the seat of the car he'd been working on.
He skirted his way around the body and back to the car. Panick began to set in as the adrenaline of being attacked ebbed away. Sweat greased his palms as he yanked the cars door open, he leaned in reaching for his phone on the far seat.
Something grabbed his foot. Nate span in an instant, kicking forcefully backwards. He scrambled further into the car as his attacker pulled its way up towards him. Now unable to stand due to a shattered pelvis, the groaning man reached out for him, not quite close enough to sink its gaping jaws into his ankle.
Cornered, Nate had to attack. Thankful he hadn't dropped the wrench yet he swung with as much momentum as he could manage in the enclosed space. There was a bone crunching sound as wrench connected with skull, blood splashed onto car seats then quickly dried into brown stains. The creature fell limp, no more strangled cries came from its corpse yet Nate swung again for good measure before kicking its body out of the car and closing the door just in case.
He took a moment to breath. His hands shook as he fumbled around with typing in his phone passcode. He loaded up his contacts and called someone else he knew to be within the university, Devin. He waited what felt like ages before the automated voicemail message played over the line. "God dammit!" Nate slammed a hand on the dashboard, "what on earth is going on here."
After a few more tries calling various people Nate finally gave up blaming the garages poor signal. Nate pocketed his phone grabbed his wrench for security and reached for door handle, only tthen did he notice another person, roaming the garage. Quietly slipping the door open Nate stepped out onto the concrete. He began to circle the man, trying to get a better view of him only to regret that decision seconds later. Professor Kichiro stood before him. Glazed eyes and grey skin complimented by a large missing chunk of his neck, and his red stained shirt now dark as the blood had congealed.
'There's no way he should be moving' Nate thought to himself, not wanting to attract attention after the last greyskin had attacked him. Kichiro emitted the same strangled groan as the other man and Nate shivered in response. 'Guess I gotta take you out.' Steeling himself inside to stop his fingers trembling he gripped the wrench with both hands. He began to sneak closer, hoping to knock his old professor to the floor without a fight. One false step would result in quite the racket in these surroundings.
About two feet away, Nate raised his arms above his head amd swung. The blow reverberated through his arms as he connected with Kichiro's skull causing the older man tl crumple to the floor, joining the other greyskin who had thankfully not gotten up again.
Not wishing to stay in the garage any longer Nate half walked half ran out into the open courtyard of Redgrass university campus. The place was still surprisingly empty as Nate's eyes adjusted to the bright daylight. 'If there's more of these greyskins, there might not be many people around anymore.'
Day 0 - 15:00 PM - Redgrass University Gymnasium - Yoshihisa Shimazu
"Class dismissed!" Yoshihisa shouted as his class finished up tidying the kendo equipment from they'd been sparring with for the previous hour or so. It had been a productive class, his students were visibly improving and a few students were beginning to show prodigious talent.
Having only begun teaching recently Yoshihisa had earned a reasonable amount of respect from students who were only a year or two younger. Some of the older students were probably his own age. He brushed back his curly black hair that had fallen infront of his dark blue eyes and made sure to see out his class as they filtered out of the gymnasium.
Remaining behind to ensure all university property had been returned and was neatly organised, he took a moment to move things around a little until it was to his liking. His own personal Bokken sat among his belongings as he collected them up ready to head over to his next class in the main university building.
Just as he slung his bag over his shoulder there was a loud shouting from outside. The exact words muffled by the thick gymnasium walls. Yoshihisa sighed, grabbing his bokken as he headed out to see what all the commotion was about.
Outside two students grappled on the ground. The one on the bottom desperately keeping his assailant at arms reach. He shouted for help again as his arms began to give way against the larger students strength.
Quickly assessing the situation Yoshihisa acted. Nobody else was around so it was left to him, gripping the student on top by the collar and pulling him off. He helped the second student to his feet, steadying him as he stood shaking. "There's something wrong with him! He's lost it!" He pointed at the other student who had began to attack again.
Yoshihisa stepped in, bokken ready and waiting. With a swift side step he swung low tripping the oncoming student who made no effort to break the fall. The student snarled like an enraged animal, he hoisted himself back up and stared at Yoshihisa with a glassy look, his jaw wide open and drooling and a skin tone like ash. "Calm yourself kid." Yoshihisa stated, pressing his bokken into the students chest.
Yoshihisa barely contained his surprise as another figure came barreling in, colliding with the snarling student and once again knocking him to floor. "I'd suggest running!" The newcomer said stopping just long enough to dust himself off.
Yoshihisa took a look at where the newcomer had ran from to see another six or seven figures fastly approaching, all sporting the same ashen skin tone that looked horrendously unnatural. Opting to listen now and ask questions later Yoshihisa nodded his head and took off in the direction of the closest building, the two students quickly following behind him.
It took a matter of minutes to reach the Redgrass faculty building, barging through the front doors and wasting no time in forcing a nearby cabinet into place as a barricade. Taking a moment to stop and catch their breath Yoshihisa was the first to speak. "What're your names?" He asked not sure where to start. "I'm Yoshihisa Shimazu."
The boy who had came sprinting into them responded first. "Kaoru Katsuo." He gave a slight smile between heavy breaths, he'd clearly been running for a little while before finding the pair.
"I'm Luke Hanset." The one who Yoshihisa had originally helped introduced himself as he bent double clutching his stomach gasping in air.
The three of them stood for a while, until they were content that they had escaped for the time being. Yoshihisa studied his two new companions, two students he hadn't seem around so clearly didnt take his classes. Kaoru was the taller of the two, maybe an inch shy of six foot. Black hair kept short in a buzz cut style and blue eyes more vibrant than his own. Clearly in good physical shape, he wore a red shirt and jeans combination that gave off a smart look for somebody who'd been running only minutes earlier.
The shorter boy Luke was yet to fully gain his breath back, he wasreasonably slim but seemed to lack stamina. He had long blonde hair pushed back with a band to keep it off his face, and his large eyes were a shade of blue mistakable for grey in the poor lighting of the faculty lobby.
"Kaoru?" Yoshihisa spoke first. "You seem to know more than we do. Whats going on with them?"
Kaoru gave a sort of shrug "Honestly I don't know all that much. They were all outside the dormitory when I left for class." He explained. "I'm pretty sure its not good though. They're soaked with blood, one of them's missing a goddamn arm!" He flailed an arm out to exaggerate his point. "When I called out to them, they just started chasing me so I ran and happened across you two." Kaoru finished and shrugged as if to apologise for the lack of information.
Yoshihisa nodded, he hadnt expected a whole lot more. No alarm had been sounded so either it was some kinda of practical joke or nobody knew what was going on yet. "We need to find out more, all the security camera's in the university will feed back to a room in this building. We can use that to see whats going on outside and make an announcement to the school."
Lacking no other plans Kaoru and Luke agreed. "We should stay quiet. There's no guarantee that inside here is safe" Kaoru said making sure to check around corners before proceeding, not eager to go for a run again anytime soon. Yoshihisa nodded his agreement, checking another direction before they finally set off and left the lobby behind them.
A large board nailed into the corridor wall gave them a quick rundown of what was on each of the buildings floors. The first floor primarily contained the lobby, staff canteen, and a few administrstion offices. The second and third were offices for individual professors and some small meeting rooms. The fourth and final floor was labeled as University directors office, senior administration, more meeting rooms and the all important security room.
"The stairs should be around the corner and at the end." Yoshihisa stated. He hadn't spent all that much time in the faculty building, preferring to spend time in the gym buildings. However judging by the style of the campus it was most likely a similar lay out to the other buildings.
Hurrying down the corridor the three of them came to halt as it ended. Luke peered around the corner and quickly ducked back behind the wall. "The stairs could be a problem." The look on Luke's face said enough.
Keen to double check Yoshihisa and Kaoru edged forwards for a better view. The connecting corridor was horrific, blood covered the walls and windows, filing cabinets had been tipped over coupled with desks and chairs to form a barricade midway down the corridor. Through the gaps in the barrier, clear shapes could be seen stumbling around the corridor, coupled with a monotonous groan that was all to similar to their previous pursuers.
"Do you think there's another way upstairs?" Kaoru whispered, keen to remain unnoticed as they took cover behind the corner once more.
"There's probably another staircase on the other side of the building. There's probably an elevator too, but that's by no means quite and who knows how many of those things could be up there. It would explain the lack of any alarms." Yoshihisa answered, unsure of the best way to proceed. An elevator was more likely to be empty and safe inside, but it could open up right next to those things. The stairs could potentially be dangerous or blocked again, yet they would allow for scouting ahead.
"The stairs seems safer right? We should find someway to defend ourselves too, if we try to run inside here we'd only end up cornered." Kaoru suggested, met with an agreeing nod from Yoshihisa they began to double back as Luke followed, all too happy to let the others make the decisions.
They swiftly made their way back to the lobby, their own makeshift barrier still in place against the door. Kaoru grabbed a compact fire extinguisher off the wall, swingable woth enough force to hurt, but not too heavy or clunky to carry around. Luke unable to find anything useful remained unarmed and Yoshihisa was content to use his wooden bokken from classes for the time being.
"Check that corridor." Yoshihisa told Luke who crept off to the west side of the lobby and took a look. Seeing nothing from their position he gave a thumbs up to communicate the all clear to his companions. "Alright, we know they're in here. Stick together and watch eachothers back."
Day 0 - 15:36 PM - Redgrass University Art Department - Hoyt Harrison
Hoyt remained as still as possible, for the last half hour he'd sat stationary in the same chair. He was beginning to regret agreeing to be the subject of his class partners artwork. A girl named Alice whom he'd spoken to often enough since they sat next to eachother in class, when they'd been asked to pick partners she was the logical decision.
"Hold still Hoyt, I'm nearly done." She said, Hoyt sighed with mock irritation.
"I didn't even move." He saw Alice roll her eyes behind the canvas as she continued working. She tended to be one of the quieter students from Hoyt's observation, although also one of the prettier ones.
Long soft hair tied back into high ponytails with subtle red ribbons and her bangs pinned back on one side revaling green eyes that focused on the canvas infront of her. She was roughly five foot four at Hoyt's best guess, short in comparison to his own six feet but it complimented her slim figure.
She wore a red top with sleeves that didnt quite reach the wrists and her leather jacket hung on the chair behind her. A short black pleated skirt fell just long enough to hide the tops of her thigh high socks and high black combat boots completed her look.
"I said stay still!" Alice said again, Hoyt snapped his attention back and realised he had infact moved this time. Hoping she hadn't noticed him looking over her he resumed his original position and waited.
Hoyt lazily watched the clock for the next five minutes or so as Alice added the final touches to her piece. "May i see it?" Hoyt asked, as he noticed her put the pencils down and admire the canvas. She soan it around and he took in the largely accurate drawing of his own appearance.
His eyes were recognisably his even without the hazel colour and his dark blonde hair showed a lot of detail and precision as his short hair transformed into a longer ponytail at the back. His neat beard somewhat hid the angles of his face yet his lean muscular build was apparent within the sketch. His tracksuit bottoms had folds matching the way he sat perfectly and his tight fitting top and trainers completed his sport look.
"Pretty damn good if you ask me." Hoyt gave a somewhat smirky grin as he handed the canvas back.
"Umm thank you." She gave a shy smile back. "Now swap, you have to draw me."
Hoyt gave a grunt of protest. "Class will be over soon, i won't get anything done so there's no point starting. It can wait until next time." He shrugged his shoulders and instead turned to gather up his things in his backpack.
Alice was just about to protest when something else caugjt her attention. "Did you hear that?" Hoyt stopped and strained his ears to listen.
Sure enough moments later a scream echoed down the hallway outside. "The hell is that?" He walked over to the door and slid it open taking a look outside. A student could be seen sprinting at the far end running directly at him. "RUN!" The student shouted again much to Hoyt's confusion.
Moments later his confusion was replaced by an all too sudden wave of nausea. He watched as three other students dived ontop of the running man and tore into his back. Even from this distance it was clear that blood sprayed from wounds as one of the attackers bit into the flesh of his collarbone.
"Alice get your shit we gotta go!" Hoyt shouted, forgetting the rest of the class in the room until they turned to look at him. "Everybody out!" He shouted again. He quickly grabbed Alice by the wrist who had just enough time to collect her jacket from the chair.
"What's going on?" She asked as he pulled her from the classroom and began to run away from the attack hed witnessed before.
"Just run, don't look behind us." Hoyt said leading her along as he tried to sprint in time with her footsteps to avoid tripping.
All to curious Alice looked back, three figures rose from the floor, gargling cries echoed down the corridor as they began to move towards them. Then she noticed the fourth figure who hadn't stood up as she turned. She had to fight the urge to vomit as she turned her head away again consciously picking up the pace of her running.
"I told you not to look back!" Hoyt shouted. Alice never responded as she was dragged around a corner. The pair were suddenly blocked by a crowd of students all fighting to reach the closest exit. "If we wait in this mess they'll catch up to us." Hoyt said doing his best to think on his feet. He turned on his heel, still dragging Alice who now easily turned and ran with him not wishing to stay long enough to see more.
They ran back past the junction just as the aggressive monsters neared them, close enough to clearly make out the pale grey skin that gave them a ghoulish look as they snapped jaws that dripped blood.
Hoyt took a quick look behind him as they continued to run. One of the three had split off to follow them while the other two headed for crowd they'd just left behind. Classes emptied out ahead of them, filling the corridors with more and more students. "Shit... we gotta get outta here quickly." Another turn led them down a quieter corridor as more screams of agony echoed throughout the building behind them.
"Hoyt!" Alice shouted tugging back on his arm. He span to see that another of the grey skinned attackers had found them and found a handhold on Alice's jacket, trying to pull her away from him as it clawed at her with it's other arm.
Hoyt pulled Alice towards himself hoping to dislodge the mands grip, however he onlt succeeded in dragging it closer to the pair of them. Thinking quickly he raised a leg and kicked outwards, connecting with its chest and forcing it to stunvle backwards as he very nearly lost his own balance. Free from its graps Alice began to run again, with Hoyt regainimg his balance before quickly chasing after her.
"Alice! Fire exit, lets get to the roof!" Hoyt shouted hoping she'd hear over all the commotion and screaming. She took a right turn ahead of him and thankfully the way to the fire exit door remained clear.
Charging forwards the two of them burst out of the door, stopping on the metal staircase that scaled the side of the building. A cursory inspection up and down gave no signs of other people or those things having come this way, before Hoyt led the way upwards towards the roof.
"Shouldn't we head down and get away from here?" Alice asked as she ran upstairs not quite feeling safe enough to slow the pace.
"Those guys must've entered the building from somewhere and I doubt it was the roof. We need a better view while we figure out what the hell is going on inside." Hoyt explained, his reasoning enough to prevent further questioning.
They reached the roof to find it empty as expected. The only other entrance was a large steel door that typically remained locked giving them enough security to stop running and catch their breath. Each gaso of air burned their lungs after the frantic sprint through the corridors.
Hoyt stepped forwards to the metal fencing that lined the university rooftop and scouted the ground below him. Sure enough, students ran in all directions only to be ambushed by creatures that had nevet entered the buildings. "Holy shit." He muttered under his breath. "They're everywhere!" He turned to Alice who had sat down on the concrete slabs beneath their feet.
"Hoyt... I don't think it's just the school." Alice pointed behind him, indicating him to turn around. Hoyt did so, this timme taking a proper look at the skyline of the city that stretched before them.
Plumes of smoke rose from behind buildings, screams echoed in the air and sirens blared that had previously gone unnoticed. The University campus gates lay open and sure enough the greyskins made their way in and out in their search for new victims.
"Fucking hell... It's just like the movies!" Hoyt exclaimed. Sure enough the creatures accurately fit the description of a stereotypical zombie. Even down to the cannibalistic attacks on humans. He'd yet to see anybody rise from the dead after being eaten but how else could there be so many of them so quickly. "Where on earth do we go from here."
A/N: So here it is! Chapter 1 complete. It took a lot longer than I had intended but I hope it's enjoyable and that I somewhat accurately protrayed the submitted characters!
Not all characters have been introduced yet and after thinking I've decided to keep submissions open for a while longer in hopes of having a larger cast to play around with. So if you read this and decicde you want to submit PM me. Form is still on my profile for your use.
Hopefully I can get chapter 2 written quicker but due to work i'll be aiming for at least one chapter a month for the time being. Thanks for reading!
