Runner

*"Swarms of bloodthirsty, fast-moving, deranged flesh-eaters sweep the streets in search of uninfected survivors to devour. They do not tire, they do not flinch at pain, and they do not relent in pursuit of prey. These people have been infected with the third strain of The Pathogen."*

## Overview

A rager/runner is a human that has been infected with the **third** evolutionary strain of The Pathogen, and subsequently underwent turning. As runners were the second infected type to be identified, caused by infection of the second strain of the pathogen, they were dubbed "Class 2 infected" by scientists.

The type of infected created by infection with the third strain - dubbed "*runners"* - were superior to and more dangerous than wasters in almost every way, and are widely considered to be the main reason civilization collapsed in the city of \_\_\_\_\_. The population was completely unprepared for the major mutation that created the runner strain, and these infected spread incredibly quickly and caused an immense amount of havoc throughout the city, causing widespread disorder. This strain infected the second largest percentage of the population, right behind the waster strain.

Class 2 infected are characterized by their hyper-aggression, erratic movements, furious attacks, unflinching drive, and above all - their ability to sprint. Their intelligence and mental capacities seem to be unchanged, and remain on the same level as those of wasters. Compared to wasters and walkers, runners are the much more dangerous of the three common infected types due to their speed, strength, and method of attack. They are slightly less in number than wasters, but are still the second most numerous infected type over all others and common enough to still be an omnipresent threat at all times, anywhere on the map.

Runners are in a constant state of adrenaline however when idle will seem to have "calmed down" to preserve energy levels. Don't be fooled, when stimulated, they will let out a shrilling scream and ruthlessly assault the character. Some infected will randomly die or be found dead because scientifically, large amounts of adrenaline in the body for long periods of time is poisonous.

## Gameplay

Runners are the third common infected type, after walkers and wasters. They are generally the most troublesome of the three common infected types. They have a similar amount of health to walkers but are much more difficult to deal with because of their speed, strength, rapid attacks, increased mobility, and intelligence.

#### **Doors and Windows: (\*move this section to the strategies section)**

Like walkers, runners will try to get through doorways and windows to reach survivors. However, runners can break windows and doors much faster than walkers. Sometimes, it may only take a few hits or a few seconds until a runner breaks through a glass window, but in some cases runners will just sprint towards a window and throw themselves at it, hurting themselves slightly but also bursting through it instantly. This "tackle" usually only happens if the character is spotted by the runner through the glass and hasn't covered the window with a drape, or has blinds over the window and turns on a light at night. Making too much noise on the other side of the glass can also cause this to happen. While some doors are more durable than others (ex. steel access doors vs wooden interior doors), generally runners can break down weaker doors around two-to-three times faster than walkers due to their strong, fast, and aggressive attacks. Barricades can prolong this timer for both windows and doors, and with enough luck the runner will forget or lose interest in the survivor and stop attacking the entryway.

## Characteristics

The pathogen's first major mutation created a variant that was several times more potent and virulent than the walker strain. This new strain nearly perfected its method of infiltration into the host body and as a result the timeframe between infection and turning was decreased significantly - while also sparing the body of most of the degenerative effects seen in wasters. When the second strain emerged, no human immune system was able to fight off and recover from the infection, and those that contracted this strain turned into runners within 48 hours or less. Like with the waster strain, the fatality rate for this strain was miniscule and only a small fraction of the infected died from symptoms of the infection - the vast majority underwent transformation into runners.

The runner strain caused turning within 2 days of infection, and was much more efficient at bypassing the human immune system than the waster strain was - leading to a turned infected that lacked the degenerative characteristics that wasters exhibited due to their body's battle with the pathogen. The runner strain was able to seize control of the brain before any significant level of deterioration occurred in the host body. Due to this, runners are just about as strong, fast, durable, and energetic as they were before turning.

Another difference between the two strains was the extremely brief turning-period present in the runner strain - while some people infected still experienced a short coma before completing turning, some infected people can turn in mere moments, even while they are still awake and conscious.

### Mental Qualities:

Like wasters, runners seemed to have lost most of their intelligence and higher mental faculties upon turning. Some runners have been observed on occasion, however, to be capable of speech. Most of the time it is incomprehensible babbling or nonsensical strings of random words, but sometimes full sentences are seen to be formed.

Completely to the opposite of wasters, runners are often in a constant state of hyperstimulation and rarely show lethargic behavior.

The most discerning mental characteristic of runners is their extreme emotional lability. While wasters and walkers tend to be impassive, repressed, and emotionally dull in their behavior, runners seem to be hyperemotional and suffering from severe emotional dysregulation. The limbic system of the brain, particularly the amygdala, seems to be heavily affected by the second strain, causing a complete loss of emotional control in the host. As a result, runners can be seen experiencing emotions to an extremely intense degree. The typical emotional state of a runner is rage, but they can also be frenzied with another emotion like sadness, fear, or in extremely anomalous circumstances, even happiness. Runners are usually more consumed by rage than anything else, but they can also be seen sobbing uncontrollably, or sometimes giggling quietly to themselves.

When detecting an uninfected human, a runner enters a state of stimulation (tending towards enragement) where their first instinct is to chase the person down. Because rage is the "default" emotion of runners, they will attempt to pummel their enemy to death **(move this small paragraph to the Behavior subsection)**

Runners may sometimes be hard to differentiate from humans from a distance. Because this strain does not cause that much physical deterioration and turning happens quickly, runners often look almost exactly like an uninfected human from afar. Their manner of running also remains unchanged, and they run almost exactly how a survivor would run, so it becomes even extra difficult to distinguish these infected. **(move this small paragraph to the Strategy subsection)**

**\*below this bolded line is a copy/paste of the walker page and is meant to be used as a template to guide the construction of the runner page. None of the below information pertains to runners because it is complete.\***

When The Pathogen gains control of the brain, it will "shut it off" momentarily, causing a coma-like state, as it begins to rewire it for control. The amount of control The Pathogen gains is never complete, however, as only a fraction of the brain is reactivated - primarily the brain stem, leaving the infected with limited functional capacities. The infected individual essentially reverts to a primitive, animal-like state - focused purely on the hunting of prey and sating of their hunger.

Firstly, walkers lose most, if not all, of their higher-brain functions. Speaking, reflecting, remembering, and all capacities for logic and reasoning are generally no longer present after the host turns.

Walkers seem to suffering from a sort of encephalopathy or encephalitis, or perhaps The Pathogen causes symptoms similar to such conditions.

The Pathogen induces a type of amnesia very similar to Alzheimer's, where the infected host loses the capability to recognize anybody and is intensely violent towards those around them.

The Pathogen's main focus is to control the brain, and to do that it must bypass the immune system. When it finally breaks down the immune system, penetrates the blood-brain barrier, and gains limited control of the organ, it momentarily shuts the brain off and begins the last stages of infection. When the person wakes from the coma, they will have fully-turned and are now a walker.

Like others infected with The Pathogen, walkers can no longer experience fear and will charge headfirst into dangerous situations with little regard for their own safety and self-preservation.

Walkers lose all of their memory - they will attack, kill, and eat loved ones with no hesitation. Coupled with the loss of higher-thinking, they no longer are able to do things they should be extremely familiar with when they were uninfected: opening doors, driving vehicles, finding their way home, and using a cell-phone are only a few examples.

benign

### Physical Qualities:

When the human body fights infection by a walker-strain of The Pathogen, the body as a whole and its immune system expends a great amount of resources, and as a consequence the host body grows weak and infirm. Once the infected person enters the last stages of infection and succumbs to The Pathogen, they will return just as enervated and frail as they were before they turned. From the moment the walker turns and wakes from the coma, it is still significantly frail from fighting the Pathogen. As a result, the diseased body will be physically incapable of vigorous activity and will only be able to move slowly and perform the simplest of actions. Coupled with the loss of muscular power and obtainment of symptoms resembling those of osteoporosis (severe weakening of bones), the body of the infected will be extremely fragile and easily damaged. One example of this is that bones and limbs are relatively easy to break and dismember, when compared to uninfected, healthy humans. Also, a walker will have lost a large amount of strength and muscle mass, meaning that a walker is often easily overpowered by most reasonably fit people. Their weakened legs and absence of energy means they can only move at a walking pace, and their loss of coordination gives them awkward gaits that resemble shuffling or limping. In the face of all their physical limitations, walkers are still far from harmless and will easily maul and devour a survivor, given the chance.

### Appearance:

Physical appearance-wise, walkers, along with runners, are generally the most unchanged by The Pathogen - at least when compared to other infected like mutants. For the most part, they retain a human silhouette and as a result can become almost indistinguishable from an uninfected human at distance.

All walkers seem to share a few common physical characteristics as a result of the infection:

* bleeding eyes,

Some walkers appear to have areas of their body bandaged, and a valid inference from this is that the wounds underneath could be where the Pathogen entered and infected the host.

### Behavior:

Like any other infected, walkers generally exhibit highly aggressive behavior towards uninfected humans. Upon detecting a survivor, a walker will attempt to kill and consume them, sometimes in the reverse order. Lacking in the special abilities that more advanced infected possess, walkers often utilize the straightforward method of grabbing and biting into their prey until they are dead. They tend to bite the neck area, oftentimes severing major blood vessels and causing the victim to bleed out and die quickly. However, some

Strangely, some common infected (walkers and runners collectively) seem apathetic or indifferent to an uninfected's presence, but for the majority of the infected population, extreme antagonism is the expected behavior towards any uninfected person.

Walkers are sensitive to light

##### Idle:

If observed without being detected, idle walkers can be seen doing a number of things, usually indicative of their sickness:

* Infected may sometimes randomly double over and clutch their abdomens, seemingly in pain, and this is often accompanied by the infected vomiting. The infected may make a groaning or retching sound when doing so. The vomit in question is bloody and red in color, suggesting either hematemesis (bloody vomit from internal bleeding), or simply the regurgitation of consumed human flesh. This may last for a few seconds.
* Infected may be seen staring directly at walls or the floor for long periods of time. Usually if an infected is seen doing this, that specific infected will not move away from their spot on their own unless detecting a survivor. They seem to be in some sort of trance, and with their awareness reduced like this, it makes them easier to sneak up on.
* Infected may be witnessed on the floor having a seizure that usually lasts for several seconds. When this is over, they may get up, but will sometimes remain on the floor in that spot indefinitely, ignoring all stimuli, unless an uninfected survivor comes close to them.
* Though infected are not known to be quiet, as groaning and other vocalizations are common behaviors, they may occasionally bellow or wail loudly for a few moments, unintentionally announcing their presence to survivors. The cause of this is unknown, however a few believe it is the original host attempting to regain control of the body.
* When observing a walker eating a corpse, they may glance at the corpse's face (if it has an intact one) and suddenly freeze in place as if paralyzed or deep in thought. After a few moments they will resume eating again.
* Similar to a gorger, another thing that might happen during a walker's feasting is they may randomly vomit. Usually after this, they will discontinue eating and stand back up.
* A walker might sometimes be seen engaged in combat with nothing. This is not a bug - they will swing their arms at or attempt to grab the air, suggesting that hallucinations are a symptom of The Pathogen.
* Some walkers will curl into the fetal position and begin making choking sounds. After a few moments, they will suddenly quiet and die - apparently having choked to death, whether on their own blood or flesh they have eaten that is not being digested.
* The walkers that appear to "lie in wait" to ambush survivors may not actually be attempting a strategy to obtain easy prey, but rather are actually dormant until their senses detect an uninfected survivor. This dormancy may be a side-effect of being infected with The Pathogen.
* Though walkers in pursuit of a survivor will attempt to forcefully break down or ram themselves through doors that survivors close between them, an idle walker that is not currently pursuing survivors may be seen standing at a door, repeatedly bumping into it softly. This may imply that the walker has a limited memory of what doors are used for, but has forgotten how to use one. Another theory is that the walker was in pursuit of a survivor behind the door but eventually lost their stimulus as the survivor has not been seen in a while, but hasn't completely lost all of their interest, as the walker remains at the door.

hostility and violence

## Strategy

### Evasion (Avoidance & Elusion):

Evading walkers is relatively straightforward, and much less difficult than evading other other infected types, or bandits - they are not fast, and they are easily distracted, making escapes or preliminary avoidance both easier tasks. Good avoidance and elusion techniques are key to surviving walker-infested areas.

##### Avoidance:

Idle walkers are usually somewhat pacified - they are zoned out, in a state of low activity, and so their senses seem to be diminished. They are comparable to distracted children. To evade walkers effectively, it is imperative to keep walkers in this state of pacification by not stimulating them.

Moving quietly and keeping a low-profile is usually enough to not attract an idle walker's attention. Staying out of sight is also imperative to keep idle walkers pacified. Some find it even possible to move right through the middle of a walker-infested area by using this method. Moving too close to a walker or staying in their line of sight too long may stimulate them enough to come to their senses. If one walker becomes active in an area full of walkers, chances are that a chain reaction of the other walkers "waking up" will commence.

Staying still and not moving is very effective at concealing yourself from idle walkers - however it is not foolproof. If you let an idle walker move too close to you, they can still detect you by smell. Be aware of your surroundings and steer clear of walkers that seem to be moving in your direction.

##### Elusion:

If you have caught the attention of a walker or two, then avoidance has failed. Elusion of pursuing walkers is still possible and quite easy if good situational awareness and the right strategy is kept on hand.

Breaking a walker's line of sight for long enough will cause them to lose you. Running around a corner or moving behind a large object counts as breaking their line of sight. They will usually attempt to follow where you went, but their impaired memory capacities will make them forget where you went if you stay out of sight long enough. If a walker is in pursuit and there is a large enough object nearby with space on all sides, a good strategy to employ is to hide behind the object, breaking the walker's line of sight. When the walker gets close to getting around the object and seeing you, move to the other side of the object. Keep repeating this by continuously circling the object, just out of the walker's sight, until the walker eventually forgets where you are and cannot figure it out. Staying quiet is also imperative here. Making noise will just keep the spotlight on you, and motivate the walker to continue searching for longer.

Putting a solid door (no windows or screen doors) between you and the pursuing walker(s) is another method to aid in elusion. The walker(s) will angrily attempt to force down the door. If the door is strong enough, there aren't many walkers pounding and clawing at it, and you remain quiet enough on the other side, walkers will eventually forget where you went and lose interest.

The most straightforward way to elude walkers is to ***run.*** They can only walk, after all. They cannot catch up to you, unless you run at the speed of snails. Putting enough distance between you and a pursuing walker(s) will usually lead to them forgetting what they were chasing, as you are already gone and cresting the horizon. This method, though simple and easy, also comes with its cons - running is risky. It's noisy, uses your stamina, and if you are not familiar with the area, you may accidentally run into a greater danger than you are running from. You may have outran those three walkers, but now you ran right into a horde of twenty. Now you are out of breath and all that noise you made has caused the horde to set their sights on you. You don't have the stamina to fight them or run further and so you get eaten to death. Always use caution when running around.

Another method to lose the attention of walkers is to distract them with something else. Walkers tend to investigate a strong stimulus, so lighting firecrackers, turning on a siren, and throwing breakable objects are good ways to distract walkers. Combining this with hiding behind a wall or other object afterwards basically guarantees the walker to lose you. This method is only useful if a walker hasn't detected you yet or has only barely detected you and is investigating. This method is not effective if you are standing right in front of a walker, because in most cases they will ignore what you are trying to distract them with and go right for you instead. Be careful, however, as making loud noises can be counterproductive - waking up more idle walkers or summoning more infected to the area.

### Combat:

##### Stealth:

Like all other infected, walkers are most vulnerable when they have not detected you. Successfully sneaking up to a walker allows you to instantly kill the infected in a single hit. Though a sneak-kill is not completely silent and can still catch the attention of a nearby infected, this is often the most effective way to dispatch infected quietly. For an infected in close proximity to one that is to be sneak-killed, a viable plan is to wait until one of them moves further away before going for the kill on the other. There is always a risk to waiting, however, as one of them may just detect you and alert the other, forfeiting the opportunity to at least take out one of them.

If a walker has detected you, however, there are several strategies to effectively and safely engage them in combat:

Firstly, walkers are least dangerous when they are alone. Since their physical strength has atrophied and they attack in a predictable manner, almost anyone can physically overpower a walker in single combat. Dodging or intercepting their attacks safely, and then swinging a melee weapon at their head is the most reliable strategy to kill a walker. Usually, only a few blows to the head is enough to subdue the infected, if not kill it outright. Swinging at other body parts will still damage them and can even kill them too, but their decreased sensitivity to pain makes this method much less effective than striking their head and instantly disabling their brain. A walker may not flinch at repeated strikes to their body, but a good strike to the head may stop them dead in their tracks, even if it doesn't kill them. However, dismembering or breaking the limbs are also good ways to incapacitate walkers - the arms can be targeted to lessen their capacity for attack (they can still bite!) and the legs can be targeted to immobilize them.

Alternatively, one can easily kill walkers from a distance by shooting them, as there is no risk of getting scratched or bitten, but this usually comes with the consequence of attracting more walkers, or even worse foes, to your location.

Some survivors may be confident enough to engage two or three walkers in combat at one time. These survivors are usually more experienced, skilled, or better-equipped, but some are just foolhardy. Fighting more than one walker at a time will obviously multiply your chance of getting bit, scratched, or just killed by them, but some manage to pull it off due to the natural ineptitude of walkers. It is always a better idea to fight walkers one-on-one, but sometimes where survivors find themselves surrounded by walkers, there is little choice. There are still a few strategies to employ if you absolutely must fight multiple walkers at once:

* Fighting in a wide, open area, gives you more room to step back if you need a breather or require time to strategize. Fighting multiple walkers in a small room can easily lead to you getting cornered and eaten. Fight them outside, or in a sufficiently large room where you are aware of all exits.
* Take account for and keep track of every walker - do not let any of them get behind you. Constantly move in a circle around them when fighting, or just make sure that you keep all of them in front of you.
* Be aware of any doors or other places where more infected may appear and join the battle. Not being aware can lead to you confidently beating the walkers you are aware of, and then suddenly getting grappled by one you didn't see walk through the door behind you.
* Make sure you are in good shape - running out of stamina when fighting multiple infected usually means you will not have the power to push them away and resist being eaten if they all grapple you.
* Use companions - another weapon and thinking brain at your side can turn the tide of battle significantly. They may also be able to save you if you cannot escape a grapple, or are about to be eaten.
* Use distractions - throwing firecrackers or using other loud objects can effectively divide a group's attention, and give you opportunities to sneak attack them. AGAIN - be wary, however, that this can also attract more walkers.

Obviously, the **most** effective method in eliminating multiple walkers is to shoot all of them, but it is also obviously the most risky. Repeated gunshots may summon double the amount of infected that were a problem in the first place.