Changed - Seeker

Chapter 1 : A remedy

Chapter 1 - A remedy

'I can't remember when it happened, everything just went so fast... In mere months, the world ceased to function, lives of opulence replaced by a harsh, wild struggle for survival. This plague has taken everything from us... Well, everything except me, not yet. I know my days are numbered, if my now deathly pale skin is any indication, and that terrifies me. But perhaps there might be hope...

An abandoned facility, south-east from there, about three hours of walk. Rumours among the few of us still breathing say the place used to be a research center for some sort of cure to all this. It's probably false, damn thing's taken the dust for the past decade, but what other choice do I have ?

I just hope I'm not doing all of this for nothing...'

Isaac reread the letter twice for good measure. Yep, everything seemed good enough, at least to him. He was never much of a writer anyway... With a huff, the man picked up his backpack and put it on, the tough, light brown fabric containing survival tools, and nearly a week's worth of food rations, mostly packed in MRE's. They tasted awful, but at least they took up very little space. His own cooking wasn't much better though, so he didn't really mind...

A final glance at his room's mirror showed him a rather thin man, with blue eyes, black hair, clad in beige... He never did like that particular set of clothes, but again, they were the most protective thing he currently had. Better be safe than sorry, father always said. In the end, the world taught Isaac just how true that statement was.

He still had the old man's revolver with him, a .45 Colt, in pristine condition. If he made even a scratch on it, he knew Wilhelm would forever curse his name in the afterlife. The thought of that brought a chuckle out of him ; some things never change, it seemed...

Putting it in it's holster, he climbed the iron ladder and opened the vault hatch, it's rusted hinges creaking loudly in the otherwise deathly quiet backyard of what used to be his neighbor's house. Joey was a good friend of his, well, used to be at least... If good fences made good neighbors, that man was the exception to the rule. When everything went to utter hell, poor guy left for the airport, and gave him the keys to his place. God know what happened to the kind man afterwards...

The air was pure, unaltered by pollution any longer. An ecologist's dream, if only it didn't came at the cost of millions of lives... The house was covered with various thick foliage, mother nature having reclaimed her due over the course of a few years. Quite the sight, really, all those ruins... The time when he could simply walk outside and talk to people seemed so far now, and seeing his own home right besides the vault brought him a sense of nostalgia every single time he laid his eyes on it.

Sighing lightly, he turned away from both houses, closing the vault with a push before covering it with dirt. Pulling a compass out of his pocket, he started heading south-east, towards the facility.

If only he knew how much he'd regret that decision...

( - - | - - )

At last, the building finally came in view, run down as it was. Two heavy metal doors blocked the entrance, rendering any attempt to go through the main entry impossible to him. The whole area was deserted, the urban jungle emitting naught but the sound of his own steps. It had begun raining on the way, and the downpour drenched him from head to toe. At least the bag was waterproof, which is why he choosed to place his weapon inside of it. A wet gun never bodes well...

But something felt wrong... Isaac had that creeping sensation crawling on his back, almost like he was being watched. But there were no hiding spots here, the facility surrounded by a metal enclosure, how could he be ? Shaking off these disturbing thoughts, the man decided to think about how he was going to tackle his problem instead : Entering. These doors wouldn't budge, they seemed way too heavy for that, so he'd have to find another way. But where...