Realistic or Modern 𝘿𝙔𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙇𝙄𝙂𝙃𝙏 (lore)

[BELIAL.]

DYING LIGHT
lore

"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."​

• the infection
• the walking dead
• the initial days
• the renaissance

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  Epinecrosis (Respiratory, Disseminated)
  
  Despite most of modern medicine’s most concentrated efforts, attempts for a cure or to break down the DNA of the alleged source, a fungal infection, have been in vain. An enigmatic fungal strain, only base symptoms and transmission rates were able to be extracted. The fungus seems to bond with its host’s bodily fluids and cells, weaving and becoming one with it. They call it “The Walking Death”, being that most victims found themselves rapidly approaching death the more active they were, seemingly feeding the fungus’ attachment. In this event, the fungus grows bigger, seemingly blooming through the host’s skin and attempting to penetrate downward into the bone. Due to this phenomena of bonding with a host’s cells, singling out the fungus’ independent sequencing becomes nigh impossible the longer it is within a host.
  
  Once the fungus has roosted in a host and is able to ‘take root’, so to say in the host’s lungs, spores are released and the infection spreads to others as well as within the host. Typical symptoms of early infection include rashes and fever-like symptoms, as well as a noticeable stench to the host’s sweat. Coughing and sneezing is common, though usually in the latter stages of ‘rooting’, in order to spread the fungus’ spores.
  
  Final stages of the disease include a rapid breakdown of the host’s living cells, often in the form of necrosis of the skin and internal organs. Yet, this is the most painless part, and despite the active decay of flesh and organs, the hosts report little to no sensation. This, as it has been discovered, is the fungus’ attachment and final assimilation to the host’s nervous system. While the exterior flesh decays, the nervous system seems to remain acute and aware. Irrational consciousness is the final symptom of Epinecrosis. Disseminated Epinecrosis signals that the fungus infection has taken root in the brain and begun to eat away at it, reducing the host to primal/hostile instincts. These can be expressed through violent aggressions such as physical attacks, biting, and the like.
  
  The fungus is a stealth infection that is resistant to basic antifungals. Once it has taken root, there is little chance of removing it from the host.
  
  
  
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  Notable by their necrotic state, somewhere between whole flesh and eaten away dead bits, they are shambling creatures-- but fast when they want to be. Bodies can be anywhere between fully engorged by fungal appendages, often with spore emitting pods, to nearly alive looking save for the glossed over eyes of someone who is very, very dead.
  
  Neural damage also differs between corpses, with some being fully dead and simply puppeteered by the remaining electrical charges in their nervous systems that’s kept stimulated by the fungus, to still being ‘alive’ but fully far from the same, decision making humans they once were.
  
  They smell deeply of mould and blood, with a sort of metallic-stale scent to their skin and bodily fluids. Their bodies are purpeled and grey, bloated and stretched to account for foreign bodies beneath the flesh. The gums and fingertips are darkened in colour, with an increase of blood flowing to these appendages, and the teeth and nails are sharper and harder-- usually contingent on the corpse’s diet.
  
  The walking dead function by consuming living and other dead things, seemingly feeding the fungus built into their bodies. They operate by this survival mechanism, and in some research to caging away these corpses and removing their source of food, they will die without a steady supply of ‘something’ to feast on. Being that, however, they can cannibalize on each other, this becomes quickly moot to isolate humans from the creatures. At one point, maybe, they could wipe themselves out, but one will always remain.
  
  
  
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  The epicenter of The Walking Death was somewhere around South Africa in 2011, cited as a wealthy research professor from Harvard. Though it is not confirmed if he already had it, or he’d gained it while traveling to South Africa, the initial spreading occurred here and in North America. Having already reached the ‘root’ phase of Respiratory Epinecrosis by the time he was traveling and interacting with both environments, it was not long before people started reporting their fungal infections in the vague attempt to heal it.
  
  From there it did not take long. A surprisingly transmissible fungal infection, the summer months were most cruel for infection rates. Come winter it began to affect more locally within countries, where families would join together to celebrate holidays.
  
  It took six months for Epinecrosis to be identified by major hospital organizations, including the WHO and CDC within America. By this point, reports of these ‘walking dead’, or ‘zombies’ had already shown in the media. Random attacks flooded the news, but the media and most governments attempted to control the narrative that this was simply a hyper-publicized fear-mongering story.
  
  Five months later, 90% of countries within the UN reported the staggering infection rates in their populations. Research increased at an alarming rate, with ‘all hands on deck’ being the global sentiment.
  
  January 1st, 2012 - it would become known as Z-Day to most. While most countries/time zones would stagger this date somewhere within hours after, it’s a public acknowledgement that this is when the end finally came. Massive hoards flooded major cities on New Years and in New Years celebrations: these supposed ‘walking dead’, instigated by the fireworks and grand excitements. Crawling from whatever holes they’d been supposedly buried in, or homes they’d been locked away in, the devastations were violent and bloody. Casualties equaled in the thousands, per major city that was victim to the attacks.
  
  Quarantine was immediate - with governments having already planned for the worst. Coordinating amongst themselves evacuated major cities out to smaller fortified locations, with round the clock construction to create a barrier between the living and the… dead. Guns would not take them down so simply, not in one shot-- they thrived in the cold, lingering months of February to April. Once the thaw came things slowed down, but the damage had already been done.
  
  Chaos reigned, people relying less and less on the government as it became apparent that they’d already had some idea of this outcome. Divisive, reactionary groups formed that were quickly quelled by their oppressive rivals. Public sentiment rapidly turned from government safe havens being Eden in these times to another level of Hell. Yet, it was to survive by these mandates or be thrown to the ‘wolves’.
  
  
  
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  Ten or so years after Z-Day when most societies were still struggling to survive, and operating on a hunter-gatherer basis, there was a resurgence in hope. A commodity to most, it came from the alarming discovery that there were small pockets of uninfected humans that were completely immune to the fungus. With no basis for how or why, except for a mutation in their blood cells to account for it, they were studied upon and plucked from their far-corners.
  
  To say that the research was humane would be to undermine the determination of scientists and researchers that had witnessed the brink of extinction. They did what was necessary, as they would say-- but that included the slow eradication of these ‘immune’, harvesting their blood and pulling their bodies apart and testing them to see if they were truly immune to the fungus. It was done for the greater good, though it was at the cost of brothers, sisters and family and friends.
  
  What was found was that while these people were immune, their blood was specific to themselves, and if injected or transfused into another, it would not stop the infection. Their blood formed a first stage immunity vaccine, however, slowing transmission rates as much as infection rates-- though it was not zero. Still, for the lives that were lost in the pursuit of restoring humanity, it ignited a flame of resistance.
  
  Pockets of anti-establishment rebel groups already voiced their concerns about these tests, staging several attacks on major cities in order to protest and try to ‘save’ as many lives. Within these cities, public sentiment was warped to believe that it was all for a reason-- and to those who complied, they were given the highest level of education and funding to take part in these research exploits. Having more people on the quest to find some cure was better than none at all, or to fuel the agitators in their own quest for independence.