2019 Arcadia Outbreak

A collage of images from the Devil Crawler Outbreak in Arcadia

"That Day"

Bart Jones

Joanna Jones

Barry Jones

Crescent Genesis

Supported by:

VU17Ur3

Gemma Sayers

Kyle Bates

Terra Kimbrough

John Taylor

Charles Hayes

The **2019 Arcadia Outbreak** happened on July 4, 2019. The result of a break-in at the newly opened Atlas Biomedical Laboratory in Arcadia, Maine, it was the first major outbreak involving the Devil Crawler on American soil. The United States government attempted to bury the incident in order to avoid causing a mass panic. However, thanks to activist organizations like Crescent Genesis and Voice of Truth, all the footage made by participants in the outbreak were posted online and exposed to the world.

## Background

On June 10th of 2019, Atlas Biomedical opened up a new laboratory in the town of Arcadia.

On June 20th that same year, Atlas Biomedical had launched a research expedition to find a new species of animal that was allegedly sighted multiple times on a small island off the coast of South America, where they discovered a mysterious parasite known by the locals as "Devil Crawlers", a newly discovered species of parasite that was rumored by the locals to have magical healing powers. However, complications during the expedition led to them being stranded on the island, where they soon found themselves under attack by the parasites. One of the researchers died trying to search for food and another was severely injured. Eventually, one member of the team found video footage of a team of Mexican Army soldiers being attacked by the parasites. Noticing a medical kit in the footage, the researchers trekked through the jungle to find the campsite. After the surviving researchers happened upon a deserted campsite matching the one seen on the film, they were able to secure medical supplies for their injured comrade and secure a working boat to escape the island. Unfortunately, some of the parasites got into the boat and continued their assault on the researchers, killing several more of them before the survivors were able to successfully capture the parasites, deciding to take them back to the United States for study.

After the parasites were brought to the lab, Atlas CEO Donald Greenland saw potential in the parasites as "useful tools" to humanity. However, unbeknownst to everyone else under him, Greenland secretly sought to turn the parasites into bioweapons and sell them to the US military. Greenland was overheard calling some members of the US military on June 25th, 2019, arranging for a meeting between US military generals Walther Norris and Lewis Shepherd and himself to discuss the possibility of using the parasites in military weapons research. Disgusted, Atlas Biomedical researcher Eva S. Johnston quit the project and blew the whistle on Atlas Biomedical, alerting the cyber-activist group Crescent Genesis and the animal rights group Animals Anonymous. Over the next two days, Animals Anonymous, Crescent Genesis, and the Four Horsemen executed at least three recon missions intending to gather evidence of animal experimentations. Eventually, Animals Anonymous decided to break into the facility to liberate the animals that were intended to be weaponized.

However, they weren't the only ones to act on the information; at midnight, on July 3rd, 2019, a team of black ops soldiers broke into the laboratory, tasked with apprehending Atlas Biomedical scientist Donald Greenland, who was suspected of conducting illegal biological experiments on animals. Donald attempted to resist capture, and deliberately released the parasites, intending to use them to kill the soldiers. The parasites were able to wipe out a good portion of the death squad before escaping into Arcadia, Maine, which led to the outbreak.

## Events of the outbreak

### The outbreak begins

The outbreak began sometime around noon on July 4th, 2019. The first two people to be infected were Atlas Biomedical scientist David Simmons and St. Louis native and tourist Joan Borne. What followed was a rapid domino effect; hundreds of people became infected with what appeared to be a mysterious flesh-eating disease within hours, and St. Theresa Medical Center, the only hospital in the town, was soon overloaded with patients. The 911 call center for the town almost went offline due to the overwhelming number of calls reporting people suddenly getting sick with boils and lesions for seemingly no reason.
The next person to fall victim to the Devil Crawlers was Gemma Sayers, who was hanging out with her boyfriend Mitchell and her friends Theresa Cooper and Shannon Barrett at Poseidon Point, a popular tourist attraction. While swimming at the pier, Gemma was ambushed by a colony of Devil Crawlers that happened to be living in the waters near the pier. Mitchell attempted to save Gemma, but was also attacked. The commotion caught the attention of tourists Terra Kimbrough, her boyfriend Justin Vangilder, and cyber-activist Charles Hayes, who were able to rescue Gemma, though they failed to rescue Mitchell, who was eaten by the parasites. In the ensuing chaos, Justin was bitten and was later admitted to St. Theresa Medical Center, which happened to have a spare room for both Justin and Faith Jones, another victim of the parasite infestation.

### Government action

It is unclear exactly when word of the failed operation and the parasite outbreak itself reached the federal government, but once it did, the government took drastic actions that ultimately doomed the town; under the guise of "helping" the town, military soldiers were ordered to shut down all cellphone towers and cut off all roads leading to and from Arcadia to isolate it from the outside world. A special operations unit known as Tombstone was also sent in, primarily tasked with evacuating survivors from the city, but it also had a secondary mandate: kill anyone who may have known about the US government's role in keeping the outbreak quiet.

### Oath of silence

After the United States government sent the National Guard to exterminate the parasites and evacuate the remaining survivors left in Arcadia, the town was abandoned. The details are hazy, but it is implied that the US government bribed the survivors into staying silent about their experience in order to not cause a panic and confiscated all footage of the events to ensure their silence, explaining the disaster in Arcadia away as a bacterial infection caused by "unusually high water temperatures" in the town. Most of the surviving population agreed to this arrangement, but a handful-including those in Crescent Genesis and the hacker group VU17Ur3, decided to rebel and posted video footage of events that transpired in Arcadia for the world to see.

### The people rebel

Once the truth behind the government's reaction to the outbreak reached the public, the survivors were outraged. Over the course of three weeks, the survivors that stayed in Arcadia held massive anti-government demonstrations against the town. At one point, the town hall was vandalized and even set on fire.  Eventually, the rest of the country, also outraged at what had occurred, pledged their support for the survivors, with millions launching their own anti-government demonstrations in various major cities across the world.