The second mission begins the same as the first, a team of 4 sent out to check an old store you think might still have some supplies in it. This one is a little further away but it's to the West and away from the city center so your team is confident that they won't run into too much trouble.


You set out happily, planning on testing your ability to make the shamblers do more complicated tasks when you quickly sense something slightly different from before, similar to a shambler but… more complicated, where the shambler feels like the last remnants of a broken and dead mind this feels more like a mind that has been twisted and shattered, but not yet dying. You concentrate on it hard for the next few minutes as you walk and realize that it's moving about, jumping or running from spot to spot. It must be one of the fast ones or crazies.


You walk onwards and soon move out of your range to sense it but an hour or so later you sense another one ahead of you. "As if my test subjects were lining up for me" You joke to yourself as you begin trying to affect its mind. You go through the process as you had with the shamblers, concentrating on sensing them properly first, then getting an idea of their sensations and finally trying to make it react to your prodding.


It takes you about 2 hours but you finally have a good sense of what to do, its definitely a fast type infected and making them follow simple actions is only slightly different to the shamblers so by the time you reach your destination it's only a couple of streets away but you have it walking in circles on command.


"Dude, you hit your face of something?" one of the men quietly calls back to you and you realize that you have a nose bleed again. Not as bad as before but you quickly wipe it clean. "Yeh, sorry, I just get them sometimes." You say as you clean the blood off. "Guess concentrating that hard on the other infected means I miss a lot, going to have to be more careful." You think.


You quickly realize that you have all arrived at the store, and there are several more infected in the vicinity. You were concentrating so hard on the one that you missed a second fast type not far off and several nearby shamblers. The rest of your team, completely unaware of the danger just streets away, starts to head into the store to check for the supplies.


"I guess I could go for the big test now." You think to yourself


The team is contained and you can control the infected, you could use them to take them out as the first step to destroying the stadium hold out or you could force them all far away and help the stadium people for now, some of them are treating you like a real friend after all.

You feed off humans sure, but you aren't controled by that need and you are enjoying having friends for a change. Hold off wiping out the stadium for now

You know, you feed on humans sure, but they are treating you well right now and it is nice to have friends for a change. You can help keep them safe until your powers develop fully at least.


You concentrate hard for a moment and see near instant results, all the infected you concentrate on start moving out of the area. You initially try controlling individual actions and feel your nose bleed returning but after a few moments you relax and just give them the general incentive to move away and they find their own routes.


You quickly wipe your nose and follow the others into the store, projecting the simple command of 'Move away' at the infected as you go. From there the mission goes very easily and you all bag a reasonable amount of food to take back with you.


You joke with a couple of the other guys as you all head back about the super easy scavenge when you realize that you've been subconsciously projecting the command the entire time, all the shamblers that you get anywhere near immediately begin leaving the area. "It just keeps getting easier."  You think to yourself as you come close to the stadium. Confident that the only infected within several blocks of the stadium as the ones in the basement you head inside happily with the others and hand over the spoils of your scavenge.

You happy evenings rest

You rest happily that evening with no infected in sensing range and you only got a minor headache as a response to your new advancement. Even the rations doled out at dinner time taste better and sit more comfortably in your stomach than normal.


The doc comes up to eat and you joke with him about your teams haul improving the food in the stadium getting a laugh out of him before happily spending the rest of the evening chatting with the rest of the scavengers.


You finally head to bed feeling happier than you have in a while, your control of the infected is growing practically by the hour and people are unwittingly accepting you as a friend, how could life get better?


That's when you sense the movement, its right at the edge of your sensing range while inside the stadium but it feels like a shambler to you, after a few moments it moves a little closer and you become sure. "Stupid thing is trying to stumble back to whatever whole I moved it from."  You think to yourself.


You barely concentrate as you send it the signal to leave again but find it not reacting at all, sighing you concentrate hard and try again, this time it simply stops and wavers on the spot for a moment. "Huh, did I overdo it earlier?" you think to yourself as you sense it suddenly waving at you, you don't know how you know it but it definitely waves at you to invite you to follow before turning and walking South again.


"Well that's odd."  You think as you watch it vanish along with your immediate plans. "Best bet is that they were right and the original harbinger is back, seems he wants to talk to me too." The morning will bring a new decision to make.