Chapter Two:
One Year Later….
Light. She felt and saw light. Like a person telling her to wake up but not getting through so clearly. She couldn't hear the familiar sounds of earth, only silence. It crept closer, this light. Until finally it engulfed her entire being and she was thrust into the waking world.
The coffin that held her contained for the last three decades was thrown open. Déjà vu from long before went through her; the same tomb cemetery, the same colored stones and tiny stained glass window that shed light throughout the crypt. Her bare foot touched the cold flooring, her naked body shivering from the sudden climate change. It took her a bit to finally get the hang of walking again, her legs weak from disuse.
The entrance to the Miyagusuku tomb creaked open as she pushed. The afternoon warmth felt good on her bare skin. Wandering forward, she knew she couldn't walk around naked like this. But something struck her as strange-there were no noises of city life. There were no birds chirping, no dogs barking, no sirens or horns blowing. Just humid wind.
Tombs surrounding her looked as if they had been broken into, broken entrances and empty coffins. Bodies also littered grounds, from various decomposing states, probably thrown from the coffins after the break-ins.
Once she came close to the cemetery's front gate, she looked around for any signs of life before entering the main street, there were none.
What used to be the bustling city of Naha, was a lifeless ghost town. The street she wandered onto was littered in shattered glass from the shop windows surrounding both sides of the road. Cars were parked, crashed, or just left abandoned everywhere. As she walked she had no way of avoiding the glass imbedding in her feet, and winced from the pain. Looking up at the tall office buildings, she noticed that there too, were broken windows as high up as 10 stories. She looked back down and noticed a clothing store not far away. Hopefully no one looted it dry.
She remembered this store, her dad used to take her here on weekends for a father-daughter day. He always stayed toward the front of the store though. She laughed as she remembered the brief and carefree time she had. The shop still held a bit of clothing, and she grabbed a garment that lied on the floor. As she held it up she was shocked at how revealing it was, it seemed that as the years went by the amount of clothing covering a person went with it. She rummaged through the piles, and found something that constituted as clothing: a dress that hung above the knee, barely clinging to her form and white in color, she found undergarments as well. She sat down right outside with a pair of shoes, but before she could put them on she would have to remove the glass fragments that were embedded.
What was she feeling at that moment? She had awakened to a world dead all around her, no one in sight, but the destruction of a once pleasant city. The glass came out of her heel one by one as she gently pulled, a watery tear went down her cheek. Was it from the pain of the glass? Or finally arriving to that day where no one would be there when she awoke. A crumbled newspaper caught her attention, just four feet in front of her-she reached out and read the heading on the front page…
"I sleep for thirty years and then the world goes to hell."
Okinawa Military Base- One Year Ago
"Mr. Argiano, my name is George Holtz." A man in his thirties greeted Van Argiano with a hand shake. He stood about a foot taller than Argiano, handsome features that seemed slightly familiar to him. "I heard about your current project, and I offer my assistance to whatever you may see necessary." Van Argiano looked at the man called George's resume, scanning it with awe.
"Zis is very impressive Mr. Holtz. I haven't zeen prerequisites like theze' in such a long time." Argiano adjusted his lab coat and gave the resume back to the taller man.
"I accept your help, though my project will require a sense of detachment." George simply nodded. "Very well, we shall get started-follow me please."
Argiano guided George down a hallway dimly lit, a mechanically operated door opened as Argiano punched in the code on the side panel.
"Mr. Holtz I present to you specimen number 23.."
George beheld the grotesque creature with hidden conviction. Inside a warehouse stood a large thick glassed container. The cubicle held a figure of once was a man, his face leathered and sallow and his eyes glazed over with fury. As George walked closer he could sense this creature's intentions, if the glass were not dividing them he was sure the abomination wouldn't hesitate to bite his head off.
"Now, anyone who is exposed to za virus will fall into it's effects within forty-eight hours." Argiano explained. "Symptoms are high fever, vomiting, nausea, and finally a slow transcending into the form that you see infront of us."
"what happens then?" George asked.
"They need to eat."