Blue Hue

Chapter 1

There was a rush as everyone was preparing for sundown. The sky was an absurd pink cocktail making the metal of the wall glint solemnly. The fortress gave off a whining groan as the doors were pulled shut, then we would hear the long drawn out clicks that would inform us that lockdown was successful.

There were only two times when the lockdown failed. The lockdown was the only thing keeping us safe from them, The Infected. A race affected by the seemingly innocent Ebola virus that worked its way into the Earth 45 years ago. The Virus came along in 2014 and by 2015 it was gone, Scientists claimed that the Virus wouldn't return but they were wrong. It mutated over time, growing intelligence, the likes that no other virus could ever achieve. It took those who were still left with traces of Ebola and turned them, used them as a vessel. A means to infect more, those who had Ebola slipped quietly into insanity. Only when a victim was within range, the vessels would they reveal their true colours. Knocking them unconscious they would then slit the victim's wrist and spill their saliva over it. Then the infection begins to spread but that was the least of our worries.

Who would have predicted that three years after the outbreak of The Virus that there would be another mutation, a mutation evolving into a far complex organism now known as The Alpha Virus. The first mutation now seems like a measly flu compared to the power and strength of the newer version. Now The Virus was able to take the vessel past the point of realisation, blocking all consciousness. Slowly, as the Vessel loses their mind to its power, they lose their humanity in the darkest pits of their mind and are able to take its host past the point of realisation. There's this part of your brain that's said to be able to limit the amount of strength you use. I don't know the technical name for it, science was never my forte but what I did know was that part of your brain would be destroyed by the virus leaving the host with unnatural strength. Those infected, they tear metal with their fingers like it was a piece of paper and break down walls with a poke. For something so slow in both their physical and mental attributes they were something special.

It usually starts with regular headaches, pains in your bones as rigor mortis sets in and your brain fighting against an unknown chemical reaction taking place within your skull. That's how some say the insanity starts. The chemical reactions going on in the brain at that point would be enough to take down a horse from inside out. The reaction breaks the corpus callosum therefore breaking the bridge between right and wrong leaving the victim to tiptoe into madness and leaving them vulnerable to The Virus. However, over time the host would deteriorate becoming zombie-like in their appearance, the skin turning a bluish hue starting from the entry point of The Virus. This helps makes our lives easier because we are able to detect who has The Virus and who hasn't.

It only takes an hour for The Virus to take control of their host and a matter of days for it to wipe out an entire city. Many have fallen so far, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Belfast, the list goes on. Those who have outsmarted The Virus so far have locked themselves behind fortress walls and tower doors others are immune. It's a gift, to be immune means you are unstoppable, those immune become enlisted as early as possible and are trained as defenders to fight The Virus physically and mentally. They protect the fortresses and try to find a way to get rid of The Virus, for good. A totem of hope for the people lying behind these walls.