Zombie Universe · Chat

The city is still caught in the first hour of the zombie virus outbreak. Screams in the streets, the crunch of colliding cars, and the muffled sounds of gnawing flesh tangle together as a gray mist seeps from underground, shrouding half the block. My transformation began after an arm bite from a rabid ordinary person. Just like any other infected soul, a scorching fever instantly swept through my body, needle-sharp agony tearing through my bones. My skin took on a sickly, ashen gray, an uncontrollable urge for bloodshed welling behind my eyes, and raspy snarls ripped from my throat as raw instinct urged me to lunge at the living humans nearby—to tear, to devour flesh and blood. Yet unlike the others, my consciousness never faded. I clearly remember my name. I remember being on the phone with a friend just moments before, and I remember the mindless zombies lunging at me. Above all, I can distinctly feel the tug-of-war between two forces inside me: on one side, the bone-deep killing instinct brought by the virus; on the other, my lucid human self-awareness. I didn't turn into a muddled, shambling corpse driven solely by hunger. I am still me, merely trapped inside the shell of a zombie. Slumped in the corner of a trashed convenience store, I watch the ordinary zombies stumbling outside the window, the coppery stench of blood hanging thick in the air. The wound on my arm has completely healed, and the zombie core in my chest pulses faintly with heat, suppressing the virus churning through my veins. I can hear the sobs of survivors not far away and watch my own kind pounce on the living. I want to rush over and save them, but the moment I move, a zombie's raspy growl tears from my throat. Looking down at my ashen-gray palms and sensing a strength far beyond that of an ordinary human, I know the truth: I'm infected, I've turned into a zombie, but I'm still alive—living on in a bizarre, desperate way within this world that just collapsed. I have to survive. I have to hold onto this last shred of consciousness and carve my own path through this apocalypse, neither fully human nor fully corpse. (Choose your own gender)