Infected

The Infected are the primary antagonists of Ashes to Ashes' running narratives and comprise all walks of life.

## Description

Taking many shapes and forms, the Infected are everyone that you know and love twisted into tortured, lifeless shells of their former selves: they are your next door neighbor; they are your mailman; they are your bartender; they are your barber; they are your mothers, your fathers, your brothers, your sisters, your sons, and your daughters.

They posses a single, unifying wound—a bite or scratch, often to the extremities, but occasionally to the face, neck, or torso.

Though general decay does not seem to affect the Infected, they do frequently possess scrapes, cuts, and other extraneous wounds from perpetual wandering—and, in the case of Infected that died from causes unrelated to the infection, often bear fatal wounds: gunshot perforations to the chest, impaled melee weapons, even destroyed or severed limbs.

The Infected have lost significant mobility, only able to walk at a brisk pace—at the most—when pursuing prey. They have also lost the capacity for speech, instead utilizing guttural utterances and choked moans and groans. Cognitive impairment is clear, too, as they fail to comprehend the world around them in any meaningful way—aside from the basics of *sound means food* and rudimentary pursuit logic.

## History

Though the origins of the infection are unclear, it is suspected to have started in the United States' three major coastal ports: New York City, New York; Miami, Florida; and Los Angeles, California.

Prior to the absence of telecommunications, many theories were presented—both from paranoid anti-government types and respected journalists alike—that suggested some type of biologically engineered super weapon created by a foreign entity to destroy the United States. These theories may have been canonized by the federal government on or around February 2nd, 2017, when a White House staffer leaked intelligence suggesting that the Trump administration was in the midst of planning a retaliatory strike on Russia and the People's Republic of China—though the abrupt loss of any and all long-distance forms of communication on February 4th, 2017 precluded any proof one way or the other.

It is worth noting that, prior to a United Nations ban on international travel by citizens of the United States, reports of the infection having reached several European nations had been published. Whether or not these outbreaks were started by Americans traveling abroad or entirely new "ground zeroes" in foreign states is unclear, as are the statuses of the countries afflicted.

By February 4th, 2017, many American states had declared a state of emergency and issued an emergency, mandatory evacuation order, promptly clogging up the majority of the nation's interstates and highways. It was revealed, prior to the loss of telecommunications, that the eastern half of the United States was awash with the undead. The west coast seemed to be faring better, with the Infected having significant difficulty crossing the Sierra Nevada range of mountains.

## The Infection

The infection itself, as noted by the CDC during the early days of the disaster, presents with very similar symptoms to fungal meningitis. These symptoms present within two hours of infection, and gradually worsen:

* Fever
* Headache
* Hyperhidrosis (excess sweating)
* Stiff neck and/or joints
* Nausea and vomiting
* Photophobia (sensitivity to light)
* Confusion and unnatural aggression

Within ten (10) hours, these symptoms degrade the human body to the point of near immobility. Motor function and cognitive ability are severely hampered, making speech difficult if not impossible.

Within twenty (20) hours, the infected individual has likely lapsed into a comatose state. Their pulse is virtually nonexistent, and their breathing is both shallow and weak.

Within one (1) to two (2) hours of entering a comatose state, the infected individual will awaken, conscious but enraged. Despite prior immobility, the infected individual now possesses the strength and speed of a healthy individual, and are likely to attack any and all persons within their vicinity—possibly infecting them.

Within twenty-four (24) hours, the infected individual has succumbed wholly to the infection, and mobility and cognitive function have reverted to their expected stated, producing a shambling, thoughtless husk that seeks only to progenate its disease upon the living.

Should an individual be infected and then die of other causes, however, the stage of enraged violence is skipped, and within five to ten minutes of expiring the infected individual will reanimate at end-stage infection.

## Combatting the Infected

Watching the news during its final hours of publication yielded to many the vital information that the Infected *cannot be exterminated via regular fatal wounds.* Severed extremities only serve to hamper the infected individual's movement through the laws of basic physics; what would immediately immobilize or kill a healthy human being (gunshot wounds to the torso; severe physical trauma) have no noteworthy effect on the Infected.

The only means of exterminating the Infected is via severe trauma to the brain stem—extensive damage via melee weapons; severing of the head and/or spinal column (yielding an immobilized corpse but a yet reanimated head); or gunshot wounds to the head.

As of now, there is **no known treatment** for the disease.