The command post wasn't any better. Only a handful of people remained mostly radio operators, technicians, and communication staff coordinating the city's defenses.
Colonel Simmons stood by the main radio console, giving orders, his expression grim as he watched the surveillance screens. The monitors showed a nightmare: the city in chaos, fires raging, buildings in ruins, flashes of gunfire lighting up the streets. Infected roamed freely, while the military struggled to hold the perimeter, deploying heavy weapons just to keep them back.
"Report, soldier," Simmons ordered without turning around.
"The sweep started without any problems," I said, my throat dry. "But the deeper we went into the complex, the fewer infected we found. It was like they were luring us in. Then they ambushed us from all sides. Almost everyone died. I don't know who survived or where they are."
Simmons stayed silent for a long time. Only the hiss of the radio and the crackle of static filled the room.
"Looks like we won't be seeing a vaccine anytime soon," he said at last, his voice low. "We'll have to do it the old way. Lead and fire. It's the same damn story across the country. A cure would've changed everything. Now… who knows if we'll ever have one."
Finally, he tore his gaze from the monitors and turned to face me. A man in his fifties, still standing straight, still built like a soldier.
"You did well, son," he said, extending his hand. "Get some rest. Tomorrow you're going into the city. Every soldier counts now."
I reached out to shake his hand but his grip suddenly tightened, hard and crushing. In one swift motion, he yanked me closer, and a pistol was pointed straight at my forehead.
"Are you infected?" the colonel asked coldly. "Were you bitten?"
"No," I said quickly. "I tore my clothes while getting out got caught on something, that's all."
I'd almost forgotten how I must have looked from the outside. The memories made me believe that the base was the safest, most reliable place left. I came here without a second thought. My head was a mess; I didn't even realize how suspicious I must have seemed.
"Take him to the infirmary," Simmons ordered. "Check him thoroughly and lock him up. If he's infected, we'll know by morning. If not, release him."
"Yes, sir," one of the soldiers replied.
Under guard, they escorted me to the medical wing. The doctor examined my wounds and was clearly confused by what he saw. There was no record of any scars in my file, and when he asked where they came from, all I could say was that I didn't know. The only good part was that they let me wash up and gave me clean clothes.
After everything that had happened, I was completely drained. The cell they locked me in was small the kind reserved for those who had broken serious rules or committed crimes, a holding room before transfer. A metal cot with a thin mattress stood against the wall. But I didn't care. I was so exhausted I collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep almost instantly.
*image*
In my dream, it felt like everything that had happened today was just some strange, drawn-out nightmare. Any second now I would wake up in a hospital bed, ready for another routine day.
*Alarm*
*Sirens*
But the dream turned into a terrifying reality. I shot up from the bed and looked around. The base was under alert. The single window was high up near the ceiling. Grabbing the edge of the frame, I pulled myself up.
Through the fogged glass, I saw chaos infected soldiers running across the compound. There were few survivors left, and only occasional gunshots echoed outside.
"Hey! Let me out! I can help!" I shouted, realizing that if I didn't get out now, I'd be trapped here forever starved to death, surrounded by the infected. My guard was nowhere to be seen.
At first, it seemed no one was nearby. Then I heard heavy footsteps outside the door, followed by sounds of a struggle. A soldier burst into the room, only for an infected to pounce on him instantly, sinking its teeth into his neck.
"Aaah!" he screamed, writhing in agony, trying to get up and fight off the infected. But the creature, driven by madness, sank its teeth into his face, tearing off chunks of flesh. They struggled for several minutes before my guard finally went still.
The infected slowly turned its head toward me. It was the first one I had ever seen this close. There was no trace of humanity left in its eyes the pupils had turned pale, and something seemed to crawl beneath the surface. Its limbs jerked and twitched as if it were a puppet pulled by invisible strings.
*image*
With inhuman strength, it slammed itself against the bars that separated us, over and over again, trying to reach me. My heart pounded so hard that I could hear the blood rushing in my ears. My eyes flicked down to the holster on the infected soldier's hip. There was a gun.
"Shit… shit…" I whispered, trembling. My fingers barely obeyed me, my knees felt weak. There wasn't much of a choice I had to act.
Taking a few uneven breaths, I grabbed the infected's outstretched arm and pulled with all my strength, holding it close so it couldn't move. Its other hand clawed at me, trying to tear through my clothes. With one hand I held it back, and with the other, I reached for the holster. My fingers were shaking, but I finally undid the strap, pulled out the pistol, and aimed straight at its head.
*Gunshot*
The creature froze. Its body twitched, then went limp and slid to the floor. I stood there, breathing heavily, staring at the corpse. In movies, it never looked this horrifying. On screen it always felt distant, unreal. In reality, it was something else entirely.
I needed to get out. The door was still locked. The dead guard lying near it must have had the key, but now he was sprawled in a pool of blood, too far to reach.
Then the guard's body twitched. He started moving.
"Hey…" I breathed, disbelief tightening my chest.
He wasn't himself anymore. The fungus had taken over. The infected jerked his head unnaturally and turned his gaze on me.
"Ahhh…"
He threw himself against the bars, slamming his head into the metal. I reacted instinctively, raised my hand, and fired without aiming. The bullet struck his skull, and he collapsed.
Without wasting a second, I reached between the bars and searched his pockets. My fingers finally found a set of keys. The ring jingled softly. I picked the right one, slid it into the lock, and turned it.
The lock clicked. The two corpses leaning against the cell door made it hard to push open, but I managed. Blood streaked the floor as I stepped out and grabbed the guard's spare pistol from his belt.
Moving slowly, I approached the outer door and stepped outside. A few bodies lay motionless on the asphalt. If they were infected, they wouldn't get back up. But if any of them had turned after dying, that would change everything.
In the distance, I could still hear gunfire and the guttural growls of the infected. Somewhere near the command center, survivors were still holding out. I didn't think for long. Running blindly or trying to escape the base would be suicide. I had to find out what was happening in the rest of the country. The command post was the only place that could tell me. As long as power and communication still worked, the autonomous systems would last a few more months. Then, one by one, they'd fail and civilization would fall with them.
Keeping low, I ran across the yard, checking the bodies for weapons. One soldier had an AR-15 rifle. I checked the magazine nearly empty. I pulled two spares from his vest, loaded one, and pocketed the other before heading toward the command building.
There couldn't be many infected left on the base. I'd seen maybe twenty people here earlier. Most of them must have turned, and the rest were probably caught off guard in the first minutes. Stopping at the entrance, I peered inside before stepping in. The lights were still on the place was running even through the night.
Inside, it was unnervingly quiet. Dead quiet. Carefully checking every corner, I made my way up the stairs. That's where the communications room was. Bodies of the infected already littered the stairwell. Blood trickled down the steps, forcing me to move slowly and watch my footing.
"Kh…" A faint groan broke the silence.
I raised my weapon and aimed toward the sound.
***********************
Note:The fungus is a parasite. Its goal isn't to kill the host, but to spread. That's why the infected act on instinct they seek out the living to pass on the spores.
If a person is bitten in the neck or head, infection takes hold within minutes. Even if they're killed, the fungus still reanimates the body and makes it move. A bite to the torso spreads over several hours, but if the host dies first, the fungus dies too. A bite to a limb can take a full day. Infection through food like contaminated flour is the slowest, depending on the person's immunity.
That's how, as far as I understand, the fungus works.