Transmogrified

Prologue

~Location: Bristol Central High School~

A group happily gathered around a circular table, it was lunch period in their school and a group of 5 teenagers had already begun to chat.

"How's that story you're writing coming along Brendan?" One of the girls asked, directed towards the blonde male at the table, he was looking at his phone until he heard his name called.
"Pretty good. You should read it, it might give you an idea of what could happen to this world." Brendan mentioned.
"A zombie apocalypse isn't gonna happen, B." A girl with reddish hair scoffed.
"You never know." Brendan added.

The girl with the red hair laughed, her name was Rebecca, and the other girl was Aliyah. The others at the table were Brendan, Alyssa, and Aliya.

"I mean, I've watched the walking dead, but we don't really know what's going to happen." Aliya reminded.
"Haven't you seen the news though, that new 'flu' going around different countries?" Brendan asked.
"A flu is a flu. It's just evolved." Alyssa declared.
"Into what?" Brendan quizzed.

They grew silent.

"Look it's not in America yet, so we don't have anything to worry about." Rebecca brought up.
"I guess you're right." Brendan glanced.
"Plus a new flu doesn't mean it's gonna make zombies." Aliyah added.

They all got back to quietly eating their food and playing on their phones. Brendan had begun to continue writing his story. Rebecca peeked over his shoulder.

"Spoilers!" Brendan announced.
"Oh come on." Rebecca lightly pouted, puffing her cheeks.
"You're so behind." Brendan recalled.
"Fine fine." Rebecca leaned back to her seat.
"Let's go!" A teacher in the distance yelled, they all stood up and headed back to their classes.

Classes went by fast, and soon enough the bell for school to be out rang, and every student flooded out of the school. Most students headed straight home. But a couple of them remained after for a little while.

"Well look who it is." A man with short brown hair mentioned, as Rebecca walked over.
"Hush Matt. We saw eachother in study hall." Rebecca told him.

They're friends; Dottie, Nate, CJ, and Kyleigh walked over. Nate and Kyliegh were a couple, so the others fake gagged at them holding hands.

"So where we off to today?" CJ asked.
"I was thinking we went walking along the train tracks." Rebecca mentioned.
"Isn't that dangerous?" Kyleigh quizzed.
"Yep." Nate laughed.

They've gone to the train tracks a couple of times, and wasn't that big of a deal. As they started heading out, they spotted Brendan heading towards his house.

"Brendan!" Dottie yelled, trying to get his attention.

She succeeded, and Brendan turned to them.

"Yes?" Brendan asked.
"Hi!" Dottie smiled happily.
"Hello." Brendan mentioned.
"Ya busy? We're heading to the train tracks, if ya wanna come." Rebecca offered.
"Might as well." Brendan shrugged.
"SQUAD!" CJ announced.

They reached the train tracks, they were raosed up, so they'd each have to climb up a bit of a hill. Rebecca, Matt, and Brendan sped up it. While the others looked at them and sighed at their speed. They got to the tracks, and the area was shrouded in garbage people randomly threw there. Nobody took care of the area and the only thing that came through here was a train that only came by twice a day.

"This place is sketchy." Kyleigh mentioned.
"Relax." Nate stated.

They walked along the tracks, occasionally glancing back towards eachother. Nate and Kyleigh were in the back, while Brendan and Rebecca were in the front.

"Where are we even going?" Brendan quizzed.
"There's a tunnel up ahead that we hang out in." Rebecca told him.

As they approached it, Brendan stuck a hand out in front of Rebecca, stopping her dead in her tracks.

"What?" She asked.
"There's someone in there." Brendan whispered.

Rebecca signalled the others to stop. She pushed Brendan's hand down, and quietly walked fowards. There was in fact, someone in there. Coughing.

"We can't get too close." Brendan declared.
"Brendan, he's homeless, he's probably just sick." Dottie mentioned.
"Or he has that new flu." Matt stated, justifying Brendan.
"Exactly." Brendan announced.

They quietly started to walk away.

"We talked about this earlier. The flu isn't even in America yet." Rebecca sighed, the trip being a complete waste of their time.
"As far as we know that is." Matt stated.
"What are we talking about?" CJ asked.
"There's a flu going around in different countries that is infecting major sections of the country." Nate explained. "Apparently it starts off slowly and doesn't show any symptoms at first, and usual ends in death." He added.
"Okay okay enough." Kyleigh glared.
"Ssh ssh!" Brendan silenced the group.

They gathered into a small circle, Brendan motioned behind him.

"Do you hear that?" He asked, acting.

The man from the tunnel was stumbling out, coughing and wheezing. The man was a pale colour and looked very drained. They watched in silence as he wandered away.

"Would the media really tell us if a deadly flu was infecting America?" Brendan asked.
"Fine let's move." Rebecca muttered.

They hurried back down and headed takes a small park.

"I have a weird feeling about all of this." Matt stated.
"Relax, you and Brendan are paranoid." CJ laughed.

As they reached the park, it was filled with a ton of random individuals. They sat under a gazebo that had an annoying smell of cigarettes.

"Well, now what?" Kyleigh asked.
"We could play a game?" Dottie suggested.
"Yeah sure, let's play zombies and survivors." Rebecca joked.
"I'm pretty sure that is actually a game." Matt laughed.
"Oh?" Brendan wondered, his curiosity peaked.
"Yeah except we'd need nerd guns." Matt stated. "I have some at my house." He added.
"Well let's go get them. You don't live far from here." Rebecca declared.
"Think of it like practice if there really is a zombie outbreak." CJ mentioned.
"Aim for the heads boys." Brendan announced, in a deeper voice then his own.

A laugh stirred amongst the others.

"Can't wait to tell the others about this." Rebecca mentioned

Date Prior to Outbreak: 7 Days.