• Just looking to Sophie’s body even made Gale sick to his stomach much like it had done to Adrian. It had been so long since they had met anyone that wasn’t one of themselves or one of the Weldons. The Weldons were the people that had a partial resistance to the disease. When Russia blew up the building in Antarctica, the germs spread into the atmosphere and worked their way up to where the largest percentage of population lay. Japan immediately knew that they had to get the antidote out as quickly as possible. Large portions of it were distributed and most people living on the island received a vaccine.

    What they didn’t tell them was that it was only an experimental drug. They had no clue whether it would completely work and what the side effects would be, if there were any. Though most didn’t die, a large portion of them began to transform and turn into what they were today. Much like all of the dead bodies, they had no hair and they had deep crimson rings splotched all over their body. The skin markings were almost like ring worm prints that were engraved into their skin with glistening blood. The only difference between them and the dead people was that the living ones all had normal looking eyes.

    If one were to peel open an infected person’s eyelid, they would find that the eyes were black, blue, and purple. As sickening as the transformation was, the people still lived on and learned to deal with their new forms. For those that were still normal, however, the transformation was never dealt with easily. The worse part was that most people that were still alive battled against each other for land and life. It was medieval, but they honestly had no choice.

    Adrian let a small breath roll from her lips as she once again squinted through the dust that coated the air. One could nearly run a knife through the air and cut it. As the figure approached, Adrian felt her body tense as she automatically took a step backward, the motion nearly tripping her. Gale remained still as a gargoyle and simply stood his ground like most males would. The figure finally stopped moved and the form pulled back on reins, the black horse giving a small whinny and then turning to its side.

    The person dropped down from the horse and removed his gloves, revealing a red circle indented onto the back of his right hand. He then pulled down his hood to allow his bark brown hair to fall out. His hair was fairly messy and was cut to the back of his neck. Otherwise, there was nothing strange at all. Adrian took a moment to study this character, attempting to figure out why he hadn’t lost his hair. Perhaps he was a new breed of Weldon?

    Gale seemed to be just as puzzled as Adrian was, maybe even a bit more than her. His eyes wandered around this new subject, noting the deathly pale skin and sapphire blue eyes that he had. After a few moments of pure studying, he spoke to the male.

    “How can we help you?” His voice came out slightly acidic, not sure whether or not he could trust this new male.

    The man that was garbed in black nodded once, expecting that exact reaction from the two. Such was to be expected from one of the uninformed. Then again, he couldn’t blame them. After all, it wasn’t their fault that their governments were complete hypocritical jack asses. The man let out a gentle sigh and then replied to the question.

    “I am not one that requires assistance.” He spoke simply, his voice a mixture between light musical notes with a thick English accent thrown in as well.

    The other characters studied him for a moment, still entirely confused as to how he was alive and not completely formed. The man took this into consideration with his answer and moved his jaw a bit as he thought, his teeth clacking together a bit. He drew in a breath and then spoke once again to the two, his eyes never straying from either of them.

    “My name is Athenos. Do please, refer to me as Theo. I presume that you are wondering why I’m not one of them. I was born and raised in Southampton, England. Unlike you Americans,” He spoke the word bitterly, though they had no clue why, “My country got the notice from Japan fairly early. They quickly got into contact with Japan that readily released their formula for the serum. The scientists that lived in England found some problems with the antidote, so they fixed it and then had it sent out. Though it worked, it did leave us with this.”

    Theo held out his right hand and showed them the back of his hand. Nothing else need be said, so he left it at that. Adrian pondered his reasoning for a while and then nodded solemnly.

    “Are there any others?” She asked in a partially hopeful voice. She hoped for other and yet didn’t want to deal with anyone else at the moment.

    Theo shook his head, “No, I’m one of the last few that actually survived. The residents completely lost their marbles and I had to get out as quickly as possible. I’m lucky I made it out alive. They completely turned to savages within a matter of days.”

    He let out a small sigh at that thought and gently patted the neck of his black steed. At least he had his horse with him if these people didn’t want his help. Something he knew that they didn’t could mean either life or death for them. Even though dying was the easier option, the most pleasant way was not through the disease. In fact he found that it was probably one of the most painful. Unlike most that would avoid the dying bodies, he had tried to help them. Theo learned all too well how people died from the disease and it was not something that he felt like reviewing at the moment. Instead, he looked to the girl. She seemed completely pitiful but he wasn’t one to make such quick judgments. His sapphire eyes glimmered beneath his hair as he gave her a smirk, a question playing on his lips.

    “So what are you doing out here so far from civilization, milady?” Though he was well aware of the other that was present, he was not about to acknowledge him. After all, he didn’t seem like the chatty type.