Chapter+1

Chapter 1 – They Walk Amongst Us

My mother always said there was a whole other world beyond our village. We live in rundown area of Wimbledon, London. Well, actually, the whole village of Wimbledon is rundown because of the infection. The virus started when an experiment went wrong. Two scientists, in Canada, tried to develop an inhibitor to regulate anger control issues. The scientists didn’t want to work on any of the students, because a large amount of them didn’t have uncontrollable rage. So, the scientists asked to use a criminal as the test subject. The first injections had no effect, so the scientists decided to increase the dosage. The increase of dosage still had no effect and when the test subject was about to attack the scientists, they were forced to kill him. They then decided to experiment on dogs. German Shepherds. They gave the dosage to the Shepherd, and it had the opposite effect of what it was suppose to do. That is, it caused the dog to be full of uncontrollable rage. The dog had gone crazy, and was too strong for the scientists. One of the scientists went to shoot the dog with a tranquilizer but before he could, the dog had already bit him. Instantly, the scientist became infected with the virus. He attacked the other scientist. Both of the scientists had primal behavior and cannibalistic tendencies because of the infection. The infection is transmitted through blood and saliva and from them, the Rage virus has spread throughout Canada, into the United States, and to other countries; including London, which Wimbledon is located. Our government system, the Vigilante, has built a sturdy fence around us, quarantining us from the infection. Lucky for us, the infection isn’t airborne. My father died a year ago. Not because of the infection, but because he knew it was coming. He kept telling my mother, and everyone else, but nobody would listen to him. He committed suicide a few weeks later, after his warning had been rejected. 10 months after my father had died, the Rage virus began to spread. He was right. I wonder if my father is laughing at us right now, laughing at how stupid and reluctant we are. Or maybe he’s trying to protect us, too. My brother, James, goes to Cambridge University. Well, he used too. The university had stopped teaching once the virus started to spread rapidly. When my brother came back to Wimbledon, the Vigilante wouldn’t allow him to enter, them not knowing if he was infected or was a carrier. I cried and cried as I watched them argue with my brother. I begged for them to let him in, telling them he was not infected. They wouldn’t listen. Every night I would go out to the fence, and talk to him. I would cry with him. I would pray with him. There wasn’t many infected people at that time, but the rate grew rapidly. More and more of the infected would show up at the gate, and I witnessed my brother becoming one. I witness how these cannibals, not knowingly, took bites of my brother. They made him look like a delicious piece of cake. It made me sick to my stomach.Now, when I go out and sit on the rocks by the fence, I stare at the fence, watching my brother’s twisted and broken fingers trying, yet unsuccessfully, to break down the fence, along with his other cannibalistic buddies. I look into his empty eyes, wishing they were healthy again, wishing that they had life again. I hate the Vigilante. They knew he wasn’t infected. He had no bite marks, and no sign of uncontrollable rage. They could’ve let him in, but they didn’t, which is why I despise them. Such cocky and aristocratic attitudes. They aren’t keeping us alive, we’re keeping ourselves alive. If it wasn’t for our farming, they’d have no food. If it wasn’t for our medicines, they’d still be lying ill in bed. They treat us as if we are nothing to them. If we are nothing to them, why are they protecting us? They could easily leave us be, abandon us. “Hey Layne,” says a voice I recognize. Jae. I jump at his greeting, so lost in my own thoughts. “Oh, hey, Jae.” I reply. Still glaring at the infected. The Vigilante calls them Walkers. “What are you doing?” he asks. “I’m wishing my brother was still with me. I’m wishing we had all just listen to my father, and maybe we could have been more prepared. I’m hoping that the Vigilante will stop being cocky, and actually help us, other than us helping them. Jae, why are we living if we are just living to die? What are we trying to see if there is nothing in sight?” I think I gave him too much to think about because he gives me a raised eyebrow look. “I don’t know, Layne. But, I know that even though the world is coming to an end, I’m going to live my life to the fullest. That’s why I came over here. I was going to see if you wanted to join Hannah, Julian, Braxton, Tessa, and I down at the circus grounds tonight. Come on, it’d be fun.” “The circus grounds? Are you insane, Jae? First, there could be Walkers out there. Second, I don’t even want to imagine the consequence if we get caught by our parents, or worse, the Vigilante. We’ll be locked up.” “Don’t you see, Layne? We’re already locked up. What more can they do other than feed us to the Walkers, or even kill us. We are already their slaves. We aren’t going to get caught.” He stresses the word //** aren’t **// as if he is one hundred percent positive. “What if something happens to one of us? I couldn’t take it. I’ve lost my father, my brother, and my mother is ill. I won’t be able to lose you, or them.” He leans toward my face, his lips brushing against my ear saying, “I won’t let anything happen to you, Layne.”I smile and bite my lip. “O-okay, I guess I’ll tag along.” I say, uneasily.“Great, meet at the east gate at 6.” he says, winks, and walks away.What have I gotten myself into?