Chapter Text
Chapter 1: It all begins at home
Outskirts of Atlanta, early into the apocalypse
The man rubs his shaved head, bites into his tuna sandwich, having given himself a rare break. To be honest, he felt kind of bad about it but even with a virus turning people into crazies and killing people, a man has to eat right?
"Man I need to get out of my head."
As if to taunt him, his mind started to drift towards the friends he'd already lost. He recalls just going out for a beer with his friend Alex and how a crazy looking guy, bit him on the arm! He took his friend to hospital immediately and later found out that he'd passed out and woken up in a crazed state and had been killed in an altercation with security. I mean by that time, he'd heard about the virus, transmitted via a bite and that people were going crazy with it, attacking people and killing them and he figured out that the infection must have been passed on to Alex via the bite but even with a reasonable sounding explanation..... it was all still hard to take, you know? A good friend being bitten by some unfortunate soul and it was a bad thing to happen to his friend but it was nothing life threatening and then...he was just gone! Then Randy didn't show up at the church meeting and was reported missing.....one of a dozen or so people, mostly former football teammates that he knew and that he's lost complete touch with and fears the worst for. These people aren't the types to just wander off and his head and his heart hurt to even think about it.
"C'mon you're stronger than this, there's still people who need help!" He pulls himself up, off the bench and heads back to his trusty van.
He drives for a while, finally coming across the Hillview Retirement Home. There's nothing spectacular about it and he'd like to think he'd send his mother somewhere nicer...does that make him a bad person to think like that, when decent people live there?.......he shakes his head free of the useless thoughts, parks his van and enters the building. He still holds out hope that things will remained contained to the cities and it'll all soon be over but he know that even in that scenario, the government isn't exactly going to prioritize the safety of elderly people in an aged care home, especially one of the not so prestigious variety. Someone needs to look out for those that can't look at themselves after all and he does know a few of the residents from his church and still feels kind of responsible for them. He spies the receptionist, Gary Jensen. A decent guy, reasonably fit (if rather pale looking) guy, in his late 20's. Bit of a shady past but he reckons respect is deserved by him electing to stay put, at the home and not taking off for the sake of self preservation.
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New character:
Name: Gary Jensen
Profession: Receptionist
Age: 28
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"Holy shit, I'm glad to see you man! I'm barely getting told anything going on! We've just been told to stay put and the government will sort things out.....I'm not too inclined to put too much faith in an increasingly silent authority, ya know?" Gary seems a little frazzled but honestly, who wasn't these days?
Our mystery man, nods his head. "Look I completely get that, still kinda got to keep an eye out for the cops myself....but we've got to keep going! People like us need to look out for people like these! We take care of the residents here and when this all blows over, we can rest knowing we've done something truly worthwhile!"
Gary smiles slightly "Your boundless optimism is infectious as always.......but so's this virus thing hey? Again, what've you heard man?"
An alarm then rings through the facility. Gary begs him to follow, as they've lost even more staff since he was last here....not to death but more like people more inclined to look after their families than stay and help the elderly. There's a scene in the lounge area as someone has had a heart attack. The last doctor at the facility....well he'd not been one long but still they're glad to have him......was giving him CPR. The doc directs them to take the other residents back to their rooms and they do as much as they can, offering moral support where needed. Then a call for help and a thud, like a body hitting the ground is heard. They race back to the lounge and the doctor is standing over the old man, looking a little unhinged. The now former resident is quite obviouly dead, skull split open.
"Wh...what did you just do?" Gary stammers out, not believing his eyes. The mystery man's gaze darts from the doctor, to the old man and back again.
"It....it's all so much worse than th....they said!" The Doctor seems close to a complete breakdown. "I....I gotta get out of here!"
The Doctor just runs out of the room. The other two men stare at each other, before they finally see another staff member. The Administrator of Hillview was a man in his mid 50's who never really seemed to have time for anyone but himself and our protagonist had seen him be short with staff and even have a harsh word or two for the residents! From what Gary told him, he had absolutely nowhere else to go and was probably promised a big bonus when/if this all blows over, if he keeps the home running efficiently during the crisis. He enters the room and sees the resident lying on the ground. He races over to the man, in a panic and bends down to have a closer look.
"Shit! This is getting worse by the day! We're down to about 4 staff, there's a dead guy, with a cracked head and the fucking doctor is nowhere around! Jensen, what in the everlovin' fuck happened here?" the animated amin spits out.
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New character:
Name: Tom Bough
Profession: Administrator
Age: 57
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"He....he was giving Mr Anderson there cpr and he'd told us to help the other residents back to their rooms. We came back and he was standing over the old dude. looking crazy. Maybe he was bitten and didn't tell us? He did look crazed." Gary shrugs.
Tom lets out a groan. "So we have a receptionist, a janitor, a cook, myself and our last staff member with medical experience just went insane! Fuck this mess, I'm going to see if I can get through to anyone on the phone. I need to know where we go from here. Maybe we have to evacuate or something. Oh and tell your boyfriend there to make himself useful or fuck off!" Tom throws his hands in the air and makes his way back to his office.
Our mystery man rolls his eyes. He looks at Gary. "I'd almost forgotten how charming that guy isn't" Gary lightly smiles.
"So what should we do now man?" Gary looks at his friend questioningly.
"Well there's residents to check on, we could also see where the hell the other staff are and.....well we could find the Doc and see what the hell happened!" Gary nods along to his friend's suggestions but seems perhaps hesitant about the doctor one.
"Anything other ideas?" Gary asks.
"Well there's this guy I know....."
What does the mystery man want to do next?
Choices:
A: See if you can find the Doctor and find out what exactly happened in the lounge.
B: Check on the residents.
C: Try and locate the other staff members, see what they know and what they plan on doing.
D: See if you can get in touch with the friend to perhaps help out.