Shortly after disembarking the lifeguard tower, I walked through the resort area, seeing that the infection had spread so fast in such a short time. Almost every single person that I'd met was a walking corpse. And if not that, they were eating corpses! But the shocking thing?... None of them attacked me!
I had no idea why they would avoid any contact with me, including the infected that were super fast... but I had my own theory, based on my green skin, red boils, the fact I now smelled horrid, and that I was bitten and felt like I was going to turn...
"Maybe I'm partly infected... but partly immune? Maybe that's why that Ryder White guy didn't know who I was. But just who is he? And how did he know that Purna, Logan, Sam, and Xian were all immune despite none of them knowing that prior? It was all too bizarre...
Eventually, I managed to make it to the front entrance of the hotel, only to find it was on lockdown and that the keycard was missing... and wouldn't you know, it was currently around the neck of a giant zombie near the entrance, who looked very tough. I simply got the gall together and grabbed the keycard from its neck, the giant monster not attempting to attack or bite me as I did so... I then decided to try something. What did I do?
"This is going to taste awful..." I gagged as I then tried to bite the thuggish zombie. And only then did it roar in anger and try to attack me from my teeth going into its arm. I then got out of dodge and waited... for about half a minute. And when it reached 39 seconds, by the time I'd opened the door, I heard a voice.
"Urgh... where am I?" the voice asked... and it sounded super deep and had some gruffness to it. I looked back and saw that the voice was from the big zombie, who now looked to be just as green as I was!
"Oh my god..." I gawked. "I can't believe it worked..."
"What worked? And why do you look like... why do I look like... what's wrong with my voice?" he asked, me looking at him with seriousness.
"It's because of an outbreak of Kuru... but this strain is different than before. It's never been this bad before... but for me, it gave me something incredible... now, it appears that when I bite someone who's infected, they also become immune zombies as well! That's why our skin is green instead of rotted," I said, him looking at me and frowning.
"Why am I so big, though? And my voice..." he asked.
"The size and voice change I'd guess is because the Kuru virus mutates its host... but as before, it's never been this progressive or extreme. For now, I ask that you go to the lifeguard station. Tell them that Grace sent you to prove something awesome," I said, him nodding at that.
"Okay... I'll help if I can," he said before then walking off and, as expected, no zombies got in his way and none wanted a piece of him! I then finally went inside of the hotel and then, once I did so, I proceeded to move through the place, grabbing and biting any of the infected that I could and letting them deal with whatever happened after. And after a bit, I found a room with someone who wasn't infected, him being on the other side of a broken elevator!
"Whoa! I hope she doesn't have a jump at me," he said to himself as I spoke.
"Surprise, then. I can talk," I said, him then literally jumping in place at that.
"What the?! T-That's incredible! What are you here for?" he asked in surprise.
"Two things, actually. One, to grab the armored truck. And two, because I learned that any infected that I bite get returned to their normal selves, despite still being zombified. So I've been going through to here biting anyone I see so they don't stay as mindless monsters," I explained, him smirking at that.
"Before you get the armored car, I'd like to ask for your help finding my friend, Ken. He stood behind to draw the infected away from me as I got to the security room. You get him rescued, then I'll help you out. Name's Mike Davis, by the way," he said, me nodding at his notion. I literally couldn't say no.
"I'll not only do that, but I'll bite and cure every single infected from here to there on the way," I said, him smiling at that. I then jumped down to the elevator's escape hatch and opened the door, crawling through it to get onto the ground... and then gawking at how my leg fell off! "SHIT!" I shouted in shock... because, again, I FELT NO PAIN FROM IT! "How the hell am I going to-" I was about to complain... before my leg then magically sent out a bunch of green tendrils and reattached back onto my foot! "Oh... what the hell is going on with this shit?" I asked in utter confusion and shock at this. Not only could I not feel pain, not only was I able to heal those that were already infected... now I could reattach body parts that either broke off or fell off?!
I had so many questions about this, but I got off my ass and proceeded to go through the hotel's areas, which included the kitchen, the food lockers, the pool lounge, and the office complex of the hotel on the way to finding out where Ken was, biting every single zombie on the way as well as grabbing some food and drink on the way. Why? Because I needed to wash the taste of zombie flesh out of my mouth. I knew it wasn't really zombies, but this strain of Kuru was really making me think that it had somehow mutated into a textbook zombie virus!
I finally made it to an area that had a closet and went inside of it to find Ken, who I saw was bitten on his hip and was still alive, but looked very much in pain and suffering.
"O-Oh god... not another one... j-just do it already... I can't take the pain..." he groaned as I sighed and simply put my hand to his cheek and rubbed it, which eased him slightly, though I could see he was still terrified.
"It's okay, I'm a friendly zombie... joined by a few other friendly zombies," I said, pointing out that I'd gained a small group of followers, mainly three women and two children.
"H-How... you're infected... but you're not insane... what is this?" he asked as I smiled at him.
"I don't know myself, but I felt myself about to turn, only to get shocked by a pool of water and a tazer... and now, I have this awesome ability and the power to heal those who are infected... by biting them," I said, him looking at me with concern when I said that. "I promise that I'll make it short and quick... and no promises if it'll work, because I haven't done it to someone who has yet to turn... but we need to do it before the infection takes control," I said, him nodding.
"Do it..." he said, me then grabbing his arm and biting him quick, but hard, him shouting in pain after, me then letting go and him to start breathing in and out as his body then started to do the same as it was for me. Becoming completely green and, of all things, his wounds completely healed!
"I... I feel weird... am I turning?" he asked as he then got up and I then looked at him with the same pocket mirror that I got from Sinamoi earlier. "I'm green?... Gross. But at least the pain is gone... I'm forever grateful, miss. What's your name?" he asked me.
"Grace Chicago, and I've been a resident in Moresby since I was 13... I was working at the hospital when the outbreak caused me to get bitten and made the hospital go to shit," I frowned.
"And when did you learn your ability, miss Grace?" one of the children asked, her being no older than 7.
"When I was outside of the back entrance, I bit an infected that mutated to be big and burly. He still retained his giant size and deeper voice, but he was able to think clearly on his own. I'm going to ask that you guys try it with the other infected all over the island. If we can spread out our influence enough, then maybe our numbers will be greater than the bad zombies! And maybe we can get back home!" I smirked.
"I really wanna go home again! I wanna see my friends again, so count me in!" the other kid said happily, him being only 6.
"Gotcha, for now, we need to tell Mike that I'm okay," Ken said. "Mike, come in, can you hear me?" he asked, the response being immediate.
"KEN! Thank goodness you're alright! Did you get out without a bite, or did she have to bite you?" he asked.
"The latter option. And I've never felt better, yet so weird. I feel like all the pain in my body from the cancer is gone, my back isn't sore... I feel like I could take on the whole world!" he smirked.
"Don't let the military hear you say that. If they learn about this, I'm sure they'll do worse. I heard a loud booming sound happen before I turned... do you know what it was, Grace?" asked one of the women that had joined me.
"It was some helicopter that completely destroyed the main highway that led to the capital. And then, after we took control of the lifeguard tower as a base of operations, we saw an airliner plane get shot down by a missile and it crashed into the jungle. I believe the military is definitely here and, because of that, we'll need to grab as many weapons as we can to defend ourselves. But if what I'm thinking is right, then you guys will be able to absorb all of their hurt and dish it back to 'em," I smirked.
"What does that mean?" Ken asked as we made our way forward and started to go through the next few areas, biting more infected on the way.
"I mean that, earlier, when I came out of the elevator, I accidentally fell and my leg fell off. But as I was complaining about how it happened, my leg somehow regenerated the lost leg to the point it connected my severed limb back together! It was so weird! So, if we happen to get a limb removed or get bullets in us, we'll recover super fast," I said, them being surprised at that.
"So you're just immune to death, then? Is that it?" Mike asked on the radio, as I had it open airwaves for now.
"Not tested with everything, obviously. It may not protect from complete explosions, fire, drowning, or poison. But I do know that, though our limbs and bodies are more fragile, we can heal from regular body damage... and to be honest, I don't want to risk getting set on fire or getting blown up," I said... and as I said that, we entered a final room... and when we did, we saw a zombie in the hallway leading to the computer room... that looked like it was absolutely suffering, despite having been turned!
"Help... me..." the voice of the poor guy said. He was absolutely coated in the red boils, to the point where you couldn't tell which was human and which was boil! And the boils looked to be pulsating with something inside of them, almost like they were going to be volatile. "Kill me... it hurts... d-don't get close... the boils... detonate..." he said, me gulping at that.
"W-What do we do, Grace?" Ken asked as I felt tears go down my face as I held my machete in hand.
"Please, take the children away and go find another way out... if you see any more like this, grab an object and throw it, but do not let them see it," I said, the women looking concerned, but nodding.
"Children, come, we need to go this way," one of the women said, the kids looking very concerned, but they knew why I wouldn't let them see it.
"I'm sorry, mister... I'll make sure your pain doesn't go unpunished," I said, me then tossing the machete at one of the boils from afar... and the blast that came afterwards managed to coat the entire area around him in bones and blood, which made me sick.
"Jesus... poor bastard. What the hell happened to him to get to that point?" Ken asked in disgust as we moved past the poor guy and to the computer rooms.
"My guess is that it was a unique mutation. But this one seemed to make him conscious while turned, which is even worse... only way to give them peace of mind is to put them out of their misery... whoever is responsible for this is gonna pay in spades," I frowned angrily as we then finally found Mike in the computer room, me seeing a bunch of camera feeds on the thing... camera feeds of the prison that was off the coast of Banoi.
"Hey, we got here, and now I have another question, Mike," I said, him looking at me in confusion. "Why are these camera screens showing that horrid prison island? And not this place?" I asked, him frowning at me.
"That's a question that I can't really answer... let's just say that I've heard from a reliable source that this prison is where the outbreak first started. So I'm trying to watch the feed to see if I can find anything out," he said.
"Any luck so far?" Ken asked.
"Not at all. At least half of the cameras don't record sound, so it's hard to hear everything the prisoners say... anyways, you wanted the armored car, right?"
"Yes, I do. We need it in order to get through the big car pileup that leads to Moresby," I explained.
"Well, you'll need to go into the other rooms and help out my colleagues. They got turned into those things, too, and I need their help to backup the systems so that the power to the hotel and the garage comes back on all over. I'll give a good word to Sinamoi about your unique power, too," he said, me nodding at that before then speaking.
"Make sure that Sinamoi is the only one you tell, then. Whoever the other person is that told you about the prison being the source of this disease, or anyone else, gets no such info about my magic bite. We don't need the military to know that I'm ruining their plans," I said.
"Swear on my mother's life, I'll keep that promise," he said, me nodding as me and Ken then went through the computer rooms to the other workers and bit them one by one... minus one, who was another covered in tons of boils. He needed to be killed in a closet so that the computers didn't get hurt, which made me sickened.
"Harvey was a good man... he didn't deserve what happened," one of the workers said with a sigh.
"And neither did the poor guy that was blocking the way to the surveillance room," I sighed.
"Did you know who it was?" another worker asked.
"It was Percy... the poor guy was begging to be put to death from a distance because of the pain..." Ken sighed.
"You killed my brother?" asked another worker, her looking upset at him saying that.
"He said if we got too close to him, then he would've automatically blown up without consent. And I had some children with me at the time, so I didn't want them to be harmed in innocence or pain," I said.
"Was it quick, at least?" she asked.
"I threw a machete at him, and the moment it connected to a single of those giant sores, he blew up instantly," I said with a frown. "Sorry again... I promise that, whoever is the cause for this whole pandemic of mutated Kuru will not go unpunished," I frowned.
"You think someone did this on purpose, you mean?" the worker asked in shock.
"Mike said that, according to an anonymous source, that the infection was started at the prison island. And we all know that said prison is filled with murderers and terrorists... including Charon, who is an information terrorist," I said.
"Charon... oh how I loathe that name. He did horrid things against a lot of countries, including Banoi," Ken frowned as we then finished up with the computers and then went to Mike and he was speaking to someone on the phone, me shushing myself and Ken as we listened in.
"Look, I told you, C, that I'm not on your side at all. All these innocent people shouldn't have to die for a sick science experiment!" he said, me being surprised. This must've been the one who he was speaking of the anonymous source! And... he was the one responsible! "Well, you don't have any say in this! All you are is a terrorist, always are and always will be!... Yeah, well, tell him that if he thinks the whole world will sit by and let this happen, we have evidence of this issue and we can use it against you!... Don't believe me?! We have some that are immune, the number growing steadily... No, I'm not telling you who they are, why should I? You mess with innocent men, women, and children, you get paid in full! You'll get sent to hell for all of this, and burn forever for your horrid actions... Shove it up your ass, Charon!" he shouted, him then hanging up and me gasping at that, which made Mike notice us and look at us in surprise.
"Um... how much of that did you hear?" he asked.
"We heard everything after you saying you weren't on C's side at all... you've been talking to Charon of all people?!" I asked in anger.
"Yes, I have. And he's the one responsible. And he wants me to help him spread this disease further. I refused, and now he's saying he's going to get you and your immune friends so he can make more deadly monsters. You need to stop him, and the only way is to go to the island prison and kill him yourself," he said, me nodding at that.
"Promise, and I promise to get as much evidence against him as I can, so I can tell everyone what's going on," I said, him smirking at that.
"The garage is now open, and the armored car is there to get driven. These are the keys for it, don't lose 'em," he said, me nodding as I got the keys and proceeded to the garage and, on the way, had to bite even more zombies. After doing so, I finally got to see the armored car, me seeing it was super big, and had tons of space!
"Sweet! This is gonna feel great!" I smirked as I got into the car and proceeded to drive it out of the garage and out to the sunlight... only to see a helicopter flying through the air... before a missile hit its tail and it started to fly off-course and down towards the northern beaches!
"Sinamoi, pick up right now!" I said as I revved the engine and went off towards the north.
"Did you get the armored car yet?" he asked, me speaking after.
"I did, and I saw a helicopter get missile bombed and fall to the northern beach! I'm rushing over there to check for survivors and supplies before coming back," I said, him then talking after.
"Before I stop, answer me this. Why is there another green zombie here?... And uh... more coming?" he asked.
"I bit them, and they somehow became just like me. Sentient and partly immune. If they try anything nasty, then you can kick them out. But for now, they're safe," I said.
"Yeah, I can see that they're acting normally... shit, even children were bitten? Jesus..." he groaned in disgust as I finally got to the beach and went to the north beach, me seeing that the helicopter had gotten completely nailed. And of the people on it, only one was left alive, who had a large gash on his hand.
"Crap! Zombie?! Don't come any closer or I'll shoot!" he said, as he grabbed a gun and I then held my hands up.
"At ease, at ease! I'm not dangerous!" I said, him then looking at me in anger before then holstering his gun.
"Who are you? And why the green skin?" he asked, me hearing a Russian accent to him.
"Grace Chicago... I saw that you got shot down by a missile. Why?" I asked, him frowning at me.
"I came over here from Palanai. I heard some radio feeds that this place was getting hurt from something, so I came over to grab my mates and try to save them. But then some bastard shot me down... I got away, but three others got gutted. If you want, I can share some supplies with you," he said as he pointed out the numerous crates that were nearby, me then going to them and gawking at how they included grenades, food, soda, and guns with ammo!
"I can help give you a base of operations, too. Do you prefer the lighthouse or the lifeguard station?" I smiled.
"I'd like the lifeguard station," he said, me then helping him by grabbing the items with him... only for my arms to fall off after getting the gun crate into the armored truck, me then looking at my new ally with a small chuckle.
"Um... can I get a hand, please? Ehehe..." I said, him frowning at me.
"Bad joke, not the time," he frowned. "So you are a zombie, then? Then why do you not want to eat brains and all that?" he asked.
"First off, this isn't a zombie outbreak. It's a strain of Kuru, one that's even more dangerous than all previously. And I've heard that it's from a terrorist group testing a bioweapon with the disease... as for me, my strain makes me able to reform from damage," I said as my arms then got back on my body shortly after saying that, "I get to be my own self instead of craving human flesh, and anyone I bite, infected or not, become just like me. Green, zombified, but immune to the insanity of the virus," I said.
"I see... it's Kuru, ain't it?" he asked, me nodding. "I heard that it also sometimes affected Palanai, but much less than Banoi experiences it... I knew that those government asses couldn't be trusted, and now I know that they need some karmic justice. An eye for an eye, that's the Ruskie way," he frowned, me nodding as we then finished loading the supplies and I drove our duo towards the lifeguard station while calling Sinamoi.
"Sinamoi, this is Grace. I managed to find a survivor of the crash and he needs medical attention. We have some supplies for the base, including some weapons to protect us from anything nasty involving the government. When we get there, we're going to go over the plan, got it?" I said, him responding after.
"Okay, and the others have come back from their jobs, too. We'll be ready, don't worry," he said, me and my ally speaking on the way.
"So what's your name, sir?" I asked him.
"Nikolai, former soldier of the Russian army. I retired in Palanai with my comrades, then some went here for vacation... and then all this happened," he frowned. "And what's your story?"
"I came here and became a citizen with my parents when I was 13, nearly 10 years ago... sadly, they both passed away about three years ago from a gang attacking them, the Moresby Mutilators. I managed to get them rounded up and sent to the prison island, but some were sent to the police station in Moresby, where they promptly escaped. I'm positive that, during this outbreak, they'll do horrid things," I frowned.
"Sounds tough, lass. So what's your end goal in all this?" he asked.
"We need to get some supplies to get contact with whoever is in charge of this operation and get an audience with them. Then, we get as much evidence as possible against them and their employers and send it to every person in the world," I said as I then took out my camera and took a photo of a nearby car pileup on the road, me snapping a picture of at least five different corpses being eaten by ten different infected. I ignored them and drove past, as I knew that my green allies would find them shortly.
And of course, once I drove past, I saw that some of my green allies went to the infected and bit them, which resulted in the exact same thing as prior. We then finally got to the lifeguard station and we got some help from Purna, Xian, Sam, and Logan to get the supplies inside.
"Guns and grenades? Nice haul, greenie," Sam B smirked at me as I then looked at him with a smile.
"I know you may not like my analogy, but we also have a zombie army of our own, huh?" I smirked, him looking at me with a groan.
"That's the first and last time you'll joke about that shit song with me, got it?" he frowned at me, which I nodded at.
"Agreed. I actually don't like it either. I prefer your other hits that came after," I smiled, him frowning at me.
"Which ones, then?"
"'So Cold' is one of them, then there's 'Glass of Bloody Mary', and my favorite of them, 'Death Comes for All'. My favorite to listen to while growing up in Moresby," I smiled.
"Shit, you just became my favorite fan of all time," he said, me smirking at that and blushing. "If we weren't in the middle of a life and death situation right now, I'd ask if you'd like an autograph... oh, and one more thing, no biting me or the others, got it? I dunno why you can bite others to cure them halfway, but I don't wanna risk that and neither do the others."
"I'm not gonna do it without consent, don't worry," I said.
"Good, because we'd prefer to stay alive instead of half rotten," Xian said with a sigh as she cleaned off a katana of blood. "Had we known that you had that ability prior, we'd have asked your help in the first place. We didn't like the fact that we had to kill those poor people," she sighed.
"Sorry... I only found out when I was in the resort, which is a dead zone for radio signals outside of it," I frowned. "But I did find out something interesting. The one responsible for this whole thing is named Charon, a terrorist that resides on the prison island off the coast of this place," I said, the others frowning at that.
"Shit, and here I thought it was the military," Logan frowned.
"You say that, but they also have been shooting down any plane or helicopter that comes into this airspace with missiles. I don't think a prison would have missile rockets available for recreational use like that," Purna frowned.
"I think it may be that Charon works for this military, but we need to keep it on the down low, especially my abilities. We don't need him to use my powers for evil," I frowned.
"Right, especially your powers of resisting this virus and being able to make those guys back to normal... halfway at least," Sam B frowned.
"Don't remind me," I sighed as we then went to Sinamoi in the tower itself. We had a lot left to do before we could consider ourselves ready to go for the end of our adventure...