Shadows

Greendale had taken a dark turn, the disease had plagued the town, the government has sanctioned a small unit of soldiers to head to Alaska, there it had been rumored to hold the cure to disease and the only hope to rid the world of the filth it laid in. They were set to leave at dawn.

Upon landing in the snowing mountains of Alaska, the soldiers were hit with a fear that resonated deep inside them, something truly evil, something that made death sound like a holiday. As they pushed forward toward a cave in hopes of shelter for the night, the fear only grew. Safe for the night, or so they thought, the soldier began their strategy.

As dawn drew near, the soldiers began to wake and ready themselves for the mission ahead, the fear had lessened the farther away they got from the cave. Each soldier began to feel different, some stronger, some faster, and some more afraid than they had felt in their lives. No one said a word, as they climbed the slopes to find the cure.

Back at the base camp, the commanders were getting antsy, no word from the soldiers and the government breathing down their necks. They had made the first contact, receiving nothing but static and then a scream of terror. Finally, the screaming had ceased and contact could be made.

“Alpha 1 to base, this is Alpha 1 to base. Over”

The commanders breathed a sigh of relief, “Alpha 1, this is base requesting an immediate update, over”

“This is Alpha 1, we have landed safely and found shelter, the slopes are harsh but the weather is harsher. Making no headway with GPS signal. Using a backup compass, supplies are substantial. Over”

“Alpha 1, update received. Over”.

The soldiers geared up for the day ahead, as darkness fell the soldiers grew weary. Stopping in the nearest cave, they made their shelter for the night. Finding it hard to sleep, some of the soldiers went hunting. Hoping for a bear to nourish them, they came across something much more valuable. They found a path, a path that had been described in so much detail, so vividly clear they couldn’t miss it, the path that had been the answer to their prayers. It was the reason behind the mission, that path would take them to the cure. All they had to do was cross the wooden bridge over the valley and through the fog. The fear swept through the weaker soldiers, the drop into the valley was more than 100 meters into the unknown. It became known that some of the soldiers had changed into something sinister, they preyed on the weakness, taunted and mocked the weaker soldiers. 10 soldiers went across the bridge but only 6 emerged from the fog. The 6 became frantic, running into the never ending white like maniacs.

Shadows emerged from the valley, racing up the cliff side and into the fog after the survivors, hungry after a fresh kill. The survivors were still manically running into the cover of the snowy mountains. Fear swept the land as the darkness took over.

No contact had been made in 3 days, the soldiers remaining had scattered into different parts of the mountain desperate to escape the shadows following them. Each to be picked off 1 by 1. The dark figures had caught 3 of the 6 survivors, leaving the other 3 to wander the abyss, slowly the soldiers found their way to each other and radioed for help, the cure had been found. Vowing to never speak of the mission they returned home. 5 days of pure hell, 10 had gone in and only 3 made it home. The cure was broken down and used to create a serum for the diseases plaguing Greendale. Those 3 soldiers were not the same upon arrival, they had sharper senses and lighting quick reflexes. They healed at rates no human had ever healed before. It was astounding. but the darkness they experienced in Alaska, followed them home, they were studied for years by scientists, assumed dead by family. Life went on…

The remaining soldiers tallied their days on their cell walls, in hopes that 1 day they would be free. The darkness was spreading, completely taking them over. 1 by 1 they stared to become something not human. Their cells didn’t contain them anymore, they had broken free and fled to the town, where they would wreak havoc. The compound was overcome by the parasite and burned to the ground; the survivors fled to their homes not knowing what they had let escape…

6 months later…

It was just an average day in Greendale, the weather sucked and the people were worse. The streets were scarce, the only things about were that of nightmares. Evil had taken over the town. Greendale used to be safe, people could wander the streets after dark.

6 months ago, the town was engulfed by evil, so dark and so deep it had become war. Humans vs Demons. A war the humans were not prepared to win, they couldn’t fight these things and every day more humans became infected. A task force was created by the government, attempting to rid the town of the darkness, each day the soldiers would ransack and kill these demons. The fire seemed to be the most effective, all bullets were made with iron, and camps were set up for safety, it seemed like the apocalypse was here.

The demons were vicious and feral. Every human was being tested and sent to the camps for safety, each would undergo training to fight these monsters and life had become bleak and lonely.

At dawn, 3 years after the initial mission the alarm rang clear and loud, a breach had been made, all rooms and training grounds had been evacuated, everyone was on the front lines. The demons rushed the camp, killing many and infecting others. 20 humans remained, they fled to an old bunker, the original operations room, 1 human, a young girl no more than 16 years old noticed the walls riddled with lines.

“What are all these lines? It looks like a monster was trapped here.” She asked the commander, “It’s the tally marks the original surviving soldiers made when they were in containment, this is the base operations bunker from the mission lead 4 years ago.” Shocked at the information the girl was determined to end this war, she had lost everyone she ever knew. Each day she added a new mark, the only record of time in the bunker.

365 days later the demons had found the survivors, the young girl was leading the fight, the fight that would end the war, she hoped.

The demons filled the bunker, snarling and ripping people to pieces, turning humans against each other. The young girl was so sure the demons had infected everyone, she had escaped and planned another attack, a nuclear fire attack. Little did she know that her teammate, a man she never knew the name of had survived the attack and was looking for her. She geared up and hit the town, grenades and flame throwers at hand she killed every sucker she could find, she made her way back to the bunker, finding nothing but decay and the stench of death.

The walls were painted red in blood, and to her horror, the marks were gone, every single one. Hearing movement she hid. The young man from her team, the only other human alive in Greendale had come out of the shadows, she aimed, fired, and killed the man. It was then she realised that he was human, she had killed a human.

It takes all but 10 seconds for a life to change, 10 seconds for regret to flood your mind, and just 10 seconds to go from normal to hell. Those 10 seconds had made her a murderer.

Demons flooded the bunker, taking her alive.

She spent 100 days in captivity with the demons before she was infected, the only measure of time was the strikes on the wall and those were the last thing she saw before a dark, misty horror filled her mind, a horrendous smell filled her nose and her voice turned into a sinister snarl, she had become a demon and she would lead the demons into the abyss that was the new world.