Chapitre 54: Chapter 54: Apocravirus

Not a single living organism was spared. The Apocravirus devoured every being in its path. The healthy were forced to pick their feet up and run. Their weapons were proven useless against the infected. As soon as an infected was hit, they would explode like a grenade, releasing more deadly particles in the air. How were they supposed to deal with a threat that would infect them if killed? Their only choice was to run away as fast as they could.

Zane and the others watched the atrocious scene unfold before their eyes. Never would they have dreamt of the day where something scarier than the Apocrypha would appear. Somehow, it had made the Apocrypha seem more human. It showed that there were things that even they feared.

"What is this..?" trembled Serenity.

"Damn it! Can this damn year just have something good happen for once??" cursed Layla.

Zane forced his eyes forward. He felt the need to observe just a little more. He drifted his attention to an Apocrypha that had inhaled an Apocravirus particle. Its body laid flat on the cold ground. For a brief moment, nothing happened. The body remained stagnant and it seemed as if it was dead.

However, ten seconds later, its body jumped back to life. It quickly forced itself upwards and began bellowing as if it had gone crazy. Its eyes bled and the tentacles on its head moved around wildly. A few seconds later, it began chasing a healthy Apocrypha. Its teeth and nails clamped down into its flesh. The healthy Apocrypha then fell to the ground as if it was suffering from paralysis. Its body shook like an earthquake and blood spewed from its mouth. Soon after, it became one of the infected, repeating the process of infection.

Zane decided he had seen enough. He could decipher how the virus was transmitted— at least to some extent. He then turned his head to the others. He needed them to know his findings.

"The virus seems to be spread in the same way as before," he started. Everyone went silent giving him their attention. "It's spread by the air particles or any internal bodily contact. Simply, the virus has to get inside you."

"Okay, but that doesn't explain the Apocrypha and Chimera are being affected. It's their virus, so why is it affecting them?" queried Nick.

Before anyone could give a response, they felt something slam into the side of the Apocrabile. Instinctively, Layla grabbed her rifle, accidentally hitting Nick in the process.

"Shit! Layla, calm down!! We're inside for crying out loud. They can't reach us." bawled Nick.

Layla calmed herself. The surrounding chaos was making her paranoid. She looked out to see that a Chimera dog was trying to get inside. Based on its behavior, it was clear to see that it had been infected as well.

They needed to get out of there and find somewhere safer. The last thing they needed was a hoard of infected chasing them.

"Anastasia! Get us out of here! This is the last time we stop. We could easily die if as much as one Apocravirus particle gets in here!" declared Layla.

Anastasia didn't oppose her judgment. She wasted no time and continued their journey towards Florida. Infected humans and Chimera chased after them, but they weren't able to keep up.

The situation was a worrisome one. Many questions flowed through their thoughts. The situation had now become much dimmer. Even if they managed to survive the Apocrypha, there was no clear way for them to survive the virus. It was spreading faster than anything they had seen before. Not to mention that the virus had the potential to cover wide areas for extended periods. Was it possible that the entire world would eventually be nothing but a giant cloud of Apocravirus? The thought was much too painful to dissect.

"What are we going to do..?" muttered Serenity.

"Things just keep getting better and better! What's next? The Earth gets invaded by another species?? Or maybe a giant meteor falls from the sky and reduces us all to ash!" Stated Deandre with obvious sarcasm.

Zane sighed. Getting to an uninhabited Caribbean island, really seemed like heaven. They needed to hurry if they wished to continue living.

Zane however was very concerned about the virus. He averted his eyes to Anastasia's arm. The wound had still not healed. This had troubled him even more. It was now evident that this was not something purposely done by the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha weren't dumb enough to create a virus to annihilate their own species.

"Anastasia," called Zane.

"Yeah..?"

"You're an Apocrypha and you're smart. Can you at least try to guess what's happening here?"

Anastasia analyzed the situation for a brief moment. The Apocravirus was only meant to affect humans. However, she noticed that even the plant life had been affected. This meant that there had to be some type of unexpected mutation.

"I suspect something caused the virus to mutate. Originally, the virus was meant only to harm humans. It attacks the lungs before mixing itself with the oxygen in the bloodstream. Once it does this, it feeds off the red blood cells in the body and reproduces into millions of dust-like particles. This results in excessive swelling of one's body. However, it's not meant to cause abnormal behavior. It's actually supposed to help preserve the human brain after death. But for some reason, it seems to be attacking the brain, driving its victims insane."

"So any ideas on how it mutated then?" inquired Layla.

Anastasia shook her in denial. She could only come up with theories since she didn't have the time to study the virus. "Honestly, the only thing I can think of, is that it might have been caused by an animal. While inside the animal's body, there might be a chance for it to mutate. But the chances of that happening are relatively low."

"Hold up! Aren't the Apocrypha like an intelligent species?? How come they didn't see this happening?" complained Nick.

"It doesn't matter how smart someone is. Viruses are an unknown factor even to the Apocrypha. They constantly evolve and become much more aggressive. Us Apocrypha have high immunity to most viruses. So even if it were to backfire, we never expected it to be on such a scale. We aren't perfect."

"What about a cure? Do you think they can make one?" queried Zane.

"Maybe, but it wouldn't be as quick as you wanted it to be. Honestly, at the rate, the virus is spreading, I'd say all of humanity would be wiped out before a cure arrives. Worst case scenario is that the Apocrypha abandon Earth and mark it as a failed farm. Everyone who is left behind would be left to die."

A moment of silence came into play. The world was truly ending. As soon as a glint of hope erupted, a patch of darkness would quickly come and snuff it out. This made Zane very upset. First, the Apocrypha began killing people, then they released a virus that only backfired on them. To make it worse there was now a possibility they would abandon Earth to save themselves.

What was the meaning of life? What was there to gain from living if everything he knew was all a lie? Was the concept of how the weak are nothing more than nutrition for the strong, true? Was he supposed to just give up and hand his life to death?

No, he refused to accept such an unfair reality. If the weak were meant to be nutrition for the strong, then all he had to do was become the strongest of them all. He wasn't going to let the virus or the Apocrypha stop him. He had to survive and destroy all his enemies. Everything was taken from him by the Apocrypha and now they wanted to leave them to die. He had to get his revenge, even if it cost him his life.

Just then, something even more unexpected happened. Layla almost threw herself out of the vehicle in shock. Her eyes were trembling and her lips were stuttering with her words.

"S-Stop the car!"

Anastasia was starting to take the phrase 'Stop the car' as a normal occurrence. She was almost tired of hearing it.

"So much for not stopping again..." she muttered in annoyance.

Quickly, she halted the car to a stop. The force almost thrusting the group from their seating.

"Layla? What is it??" Asked Zane in worry.

Layla didn't respond immediately. Instead, she grabbed the rifle and threw the door open. The night air brushed against their faces as they watched Layla run towards a shadowy figure.

"Layla!" screamed Anastasia.

"What's she doing??" inquired Nick.

Zane knew Layla wasn't the type to make rash decisions. She must have seen something very unexpected to cause such a reaction. Zane pinched his eyelids trying to get a clear view of the figure before Layla.

Zane almost wished he had just kept his eyes shut. It was not someone he was willing to see. His heart rate increased and his lips began to feel dry. Zane could hardly believe their terrible luck.

"Zane? What's wrong???"

Slowly, Zane turned his head towards the others. His eyes gave a blank stare as his memories flashed back towards the first day of the apocalypse.

"I-It's Layla's father..."