Necrocide

Chapter 54

DAY THREE OF THE OUTBREAK...

It took two days for the Deadmen to spread through Central England, with Longridge and Lancaster being the epicenters of its spread. Bloodletter and the other two monstrous creatures weren't even responsible for it. They only killed people. Aside from the fanged woman, none of them were interested in eating them or spreading the corrupted Ambrosia.

But like a spark in a forest, a fire had started. And nothing would ever be able to stop it from spreading.

As Bloodletter and his undead companion continued trekking through the English countryside causing the apocalypse, he built up a name and a reputation for himself. Now everyone knew who he was, and everyone knew that once they'd see the crimson X on his helmet, they'd never see the light of the day again. Even the fanged woman started gaining infamy alongside him, and soon she became known as the Binge Eater. The albino Deadman grew equally as infamous, now regarded as the White Scythe, still roaming the ruins of Longridge.

While a few people took advantage of the situation by turning the two undead abominations into celebrities, those who still had common sense did everything they could to get their hands on Ration Cards and not get shot by the AIS. No Ration Cards, no food. No trust from the AIS, no chance of getting around without people assuming you've been infected. Therefore, without either of those two, you're fucked.

As a result, multiple riots broke out around the checkpoints in those last few days. There were already hundreds of complaints about the distribution of Ration Cards since the rich received more food portions than poorer citizens, but the last few complaints resulted in mass vandalism and several market raids. As if that wasn't bad enough, seven of the raiders were executed at Checkpoint V for accusations of infection. So now with the blood of innocents on their hands, the AIS was starting to look as monstrous as the creatures they strived to destroy.

Only six kids remained at the children's home, including the four who made up the Cod Squad. Now that food was hard to come by, not many people were in the mood to plague themselves with more mouths to feed by adopting. Mr. and Mrs. Hecox were one of a few people left in London who were willing to care for people with no relation to them.

Ironically, they didn't mind sending Aaron down to the Distribution Center alone with all the protesting going on. The Ration Cards he held were special types for families of three known as Triplet Packs. Mr. Hecox gave him two of those and a normal one-person Ration Card to receive enough bread to make sandwiches for the entire household. Given the fact Triplet Packs guaranteed three food rations, even for one person, Aaron was a walking target now that he held two of them, especially since Ration Card theft was a common occurrence in the city.

As he walked down the street, Aaron past by the same propaganda posters he and his friends saw every time they sneaked out to Checkpoint Z. The line to the Distribution Center was already piling up, stretching across multiple storefronts from the watchtower of Checkpoint Z to a streetlight two blocks away. A few AIS soldiers guarded the entrance to the Distribution Center to keep the line organized, but they cared more about the food supply than the people given the fact they were known for executing without hesitation.

"Remember, lads," one of them announced. "The less there are of you, the more food there is for the rest of us. So if you value your life, don't try to piss us off."

Aaron stood at the back of the line and slowly moved up as the people at the front were given their rations. He noticed a girl about a year older than him passing by the line, a hood hiding her face. She was repeatedly bumping into the people in line, apologizing after making physical contact. It was happening too many times to be accidental.