"In the year of our Lord two thousand and thirteen, the alchemy of wealth from air will bring a second Blight upon mankind." "As the Revelation shows, when death overcomes life, so shall man walk eternally in purgatory, and those who long for the bosom of God shall not find it, as death itself flees from them to smother the world in gray damnation."
"This fog of death will cloak the land, and those men who are not prepared will succumb to its foul clutches." "Harken not the beast with a thousand eyes, whose split tongue defiles and embrace your demise, and none shall escape its gaze."
"Therefore prepare, for a small few shall be spared, and they will be the enlightened ones, the prepared ones, the ones who seek to possess the fabled Panacea."
"For the others, hell and fire will be their soul's reward."
"Fathers will not know their sons; sons will damn their fathers."
"The CN Tower and Empire State Building shall fall when the Ravens flee."
"And when the Tower and Empire crumble, so too, will Canada and New York, and surely as night follows day."
"If you would survive, bury yourself in the earth's bosom, that she may protect you"
"For God shows no mercy to those who heed not His words, and the man who has grown fat upon the backs of his fellows with insatiable greed will himself starve for life and turn at last to devour his own children."
"Thus will the end come, and the world made unworthy in His eyes, so that He may begin anew. You will know when His Heralds sound seven bells, to reveal His glory."
"And a cleansing fire of black angels will purify the world."
"From these ashes shall arise a new utopia in North America, like unto Heaven on earth."

"Video Log: Day 17, Month #6... Its been that many days since this outbreak first started, and I don't know how many more survivors there are.

I've been keeping myself safe in the Bunker... Food supply is still good and so is the water.. Power's running fine, so that's something. I've got the place barricaded, nothing in, nothing out. I found a little pothole leading to the sewers which I use to get around when I need some supplies or fuel for the generator, but I need to seal it off every day in case "they" show up.. So far, its been weeks without an attack.. And I'm freaking out. This isn't normal, even for "them".. I've heard of other safe houses being compromised, but nothing's touched this one..

Anyways, down to what I've been wanting to tell... I've found a communications building just around the corner from here, so I'll upload all these logs in hopes that somebody is listening. If you're watching this: Send. Help. Now!! There are innocent civilians still trapped here, every day it gets worse. More and more of "them" keep piling out into the streets and its becoming difficult to avoid them all. I've managed to find a few survivors and bring them to the Bunker, but I don't know how many more are still alive.. From what I could tell, the outbreak has been isolated here, so that's something.. But please, for the love of God, people are dying here.. Send help, please.. "They"'re coming... And I don't know how much longer we can hold out.

End of Video Log."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



The empty streets of the once crowded Toronto were desolate. Void of all life, not even a cockroach would be found wandering the streets for fear of being caught by what lurked in the dark. Down the streets a little while nearby the Queensway, a lone figure wearing a large backpack slowly made its way along the sidewalk. Examining abandoned cars, fallen bodies and even trashcans he discovered along the way, the figure continued its lone march. With a sigh, the young man brushed a dirty hand through his messy, long brown hair and glanced around at the buildings. He knew that he couldn't stay out too long during the day, but supplies in the Z Bunker were running low and he had drawn the shortest straw, which meant he had to head out and gather some more items. He had made a list of things he would need. In the bag, he already had two tubs of water, a dozen cans of beans and non perishables, medical equipment like bandaids and pills, as well as some ammunition and accessories he had found amongst the wreckage of the once great Canadian city. The only things he needed left were some batteries and alcohol, both for drinking and for medicinal use. Knowing exactly where to go, he was headed for the long since abandoned Eaton Centre, knowing that he could hopefully find something of use inside the massive shopping centre.

As Marcus continued to March down the streets, the dark feelings surrounding his heart continued to grow. Everything hurt. His legs, his eyes, his chest.. And what was it all for? So he could live another day? What reasons to keep living did the 19 year old have if the chances of surviving against hordes of man-eating beasts grew slimmer with each passing day? The only thing keeping him going was the fact that he could help others who were in need and eventually get back to his family. In truth, Marcus hadn't eaten anything decent for around 4 days now, except for a quarter piece of some stale bread. He had been surviving on water an let the others back at the Z Bunker, as he called it, eat the more nutritious stuff. They had families; children and old folks to feed. If he had to choose between starving and allowing a child or helpless elderly person to starve while he engorged himself, Marcus would choose to starve. Ironically enough, he technically had chosen to starve, but managed to eat small bits to conserve his energy.

Along the way to the mall, he had found a candy bar. Promptly, kneeling that it would only cause arguments if he brought it with him when he got back to the bunker, Marcus just ate the damn thing. Why? Because in his opinion, he deserved a fucking candy bar after everything he's done for the people he rescued. Finally arriving at the Eaton Centre, Marcus reached into his bag and grabbed the long, thick cricket bat he preferred using and hung onto it tightly. So far, there had been no infected roaming the streets aside from the one he killed before finding the candy bar in a separate shop... But when you're living in a Zombie Apocalypse, there was no such thing as safe. With a deep, shaky breath and a nod of personal support, Marcus slowly stepped forwards into the mall, the cricket bat still tightly grasped in his hands and ready to strike anything that moved.

"Just get in, then get out.." the young man thought to himself as he crept through the ruined structure that was once the great Eaton Centre, looking around desperately for what he desired to find.

James walked the streets, trying to keep quiet, scared. James heard a bin being knocked over in the distance, along with a dog barking somewhere else, sounding even further away. James wanted to hide somewhere, like in an alley, and sit there for the rest of his life. It just isn't safe. Nowhere is safe, James thought as he walked inside a corner shop, and started to look around. It didn't seem that anyone else, or anything else was in the shop, but just James. The young boy started to take the few items left in the shop, which were simply a few candy bars, then walked out of the door and back onto the street.

James wanted to go to Eaton Center to see if there was anything left in there. There had to be something, James thought. It's a massive shopping centre, there has to be something. The boy walked along the pavement, which was unusually quiet. This was the first time in a long time that James was alone and had time to think without fear. He thought about his father, how he had probably died, and how James had ran. In reality, James was now crying quietly, tears coming from his eyes like a pair of waterfalls. He saw the mall, and walked into it. He hoped that his quiet crying couldn't be heard, but he now had his pistol in his hand as he walked through the mall, searching for food.

"Goddammit." Ace swore as she bumped into a trashcan, her body flinging backwards as she did so and she fell down; she was not the most graceful of people. Even as a child she would bump into things and be falling down every two seconds, once she had tripped down a flight of stars and ended up in the hospital for two weeks.
"Ace, maybe if you wore your glasses you wouldn't bump into everything." A voice called from in front of her, Candy walked over- reaching out and taking her sisters hand in hers and pulling her into an upright position, "and keep it down, you're going to attract someone and that's the last thing we need." Right after Candy had finished talking dogs began barking, now on the defensive Ace began walking forward- her body tense. "Come on, let's get get the fuck out of here, I don't want to have come this far to be dog food." She muttered, before Candy could reply Ace had started sprinting forward.
Candy followed and they ran to the Eaton center, they knew that was the best place to go, they were likely to find other people there sure, but they were running dangerously low on food and they needed it, already Ace could see her sister starting to loose weight and become slower because she was forcing Ace to eat more than her; Ace didn't want to- she wanted her sister to be eating as well but Candy put up the argument that Ace was faster and a better fighter and so she needed to stay healthier. Ace disagreed completely but Candy refused to eat more than she needed, so Ace was left with the food; not wanting to waste it.

Once they got to the Eaton Center Candy pulled out her crossbow and Ace readied a dagger; ready if something were to attack. They slowed down to a walk and then began pacing around, looking for food and supplies.
They found themselves in a mall and that's where they began their search.
Candy found a bandage wrap and a few allergy meds and Ace found a water bottle (empty) and half a bag of chips. Deciding that the chips wrapper was too loud to carry around anyway they ate them there; Ace told her sister the pile of chips was even when really she had given her much more. Now that they had ate they needed to start looking again.
They took as long as they could trying to find things to take but they found nothing, this place was picked clean.
"Ace...I think we need to find a group...we're running out of food and you refuse to find other people to help an-." Candy was rambling.
Ace walked over before she could say much more and put a hand over her mouth. "Shh," she shushed her, "we've survived everything up until this point, and we did it alone- we can keep going, just don't start freaking out on me now." Ace said slowly, shaking her head as she did so.
"Ace please, we need to find other people, anyone, there has to be someone out there still alive."
"Probably, but I don't trust them."
"Why not?"
"..."
"Ace come on, it's not as hard as you would think, see~ I make friends all the time, you just need to open up a bit."
"That's ridiculous."
"You're ridiculous."
"Your face is ridiculous."
"Ridiculously beautiful."
"Candy we have the same face."
"That means you insulted your own face too."
"Damn."
Candy grinned at her, then crossed her arms, her face softening into a look of begging.
"Come on, please, next person we see we'll try and talk to them, and no being rude! Okay?"
Ace sighed, "fine. Next person we see we'll talk to them, but no promises I won't be rude."

The soft sound of light steps echoed throughout the deathly silent halls of the mall, only causing Chris to push himself to go that much faster. He had limited himself, set a time, and was pushing himself to stick to it. 'In and out, you can't afford to be caught in here after dark, not when they come out' He trudged onward, his bat a safe distance away from his neck, yet slung over his shoulder. No need to injure himself with one of the rugged nails that stuck out of the slugger.

His light blue Nike's began to blur into the floor as he entered a new section of the mall, causing him to cast a brief glance around with his sea green eyes. Nothing in sight, that was a good sign. Hopefully. He liked to keep contact with people to a minimum, afraid to deal with those bitten, or those that were just plain out crazy. He made a sharp left turn, digging his heels into the slippery ground. From the looks of it, this place had been looted to the buildings bare foundation, windows were shattered, clothing articles scattered about, and no food in sight. Damn, he would really like a nice meal about now. After outrunning a couple of people who had tried to rob him earlier, he was famished, but he couldn't eat anything until he had a backup supply. He wouldn't allow himself.

As he turned into another area, he slowed, allowing himself some time to think. As stubborn as he was to do so, he knew that he would need help eventually. But, he'd wait until it came to him. Nowadays it was hard to trust anyone, and if he was going to allow himself into a group of any kind, it would have to have a good outcome for him too. He could already protect himself, and he had a vehicle that could transport at least 5 to 6 people. The only thing he lacked right now was food, and well...companionship. He was lonely. The radio now was just static, and the electricity had gone out not too long after the apocalypse had started, the lack of people being able to run an electricity plant and all. Luckily he had been taught how to siphon gas when working at his friends repair shop. Tony...

Tony was dead. Wincing at the memory of his best friend, he shook his head, as if that would clear the memory from his head. Yeah, he needed a group. Sighing, he entered another area, his eyes lighting up at the sight of a water bottle, a few actually. He smiled wide and without thinking twice, ran out as fast as he could and dropped down beside them, scooping them into his backpack. "There we go..." He muttered as he zipped his pack back up. As he stood, he sucked in a breath and froze. He though he heard someone nearby, he wasn't sure how many were there, but he didn't want to take a risk. He ducked behind a shelf and his himself from view of the window and door, angling his bat at the only entrance to the area he had chosen to hide. He wasn't going down now, not without a fight. Yet, in the back of his mind, he wondered with ample curiosity as to who it was that he heard. With his bat still in a vice grip, Chris leaned closer to the shelf and focused in on what he thought to be what he heard before, trying to make out any words or distinguish voices, or footsteps.

I woke up with a start. My first instinct was to look around and see what may have caused my awakening, but then I remembered the nightmare I was having. It was... disturbing, especially since... I stopped myself; it was too difficult to think back to. It had been several months since everything went to hell in a handbasket, but I still had trouble coping with the fact that I may never again see the world I was used to.

I brought his hands to my face and exhaled deeply. The AK-74 I had owned since I turned 18 sat next to me, leaning against the wall as I had been for the last several hours, and the M9 I had picked up off a dead police officer sat in it's holster strapped to my thigh. It was insane to think all of this happened in under a week, and it had been over 6 months since the start of it. At least, that's what I thought; I hadn't been keeping track of the days. Regardless, it had been long enough since I last got food that I was probably going to have to make an incursion into Toronto proper to grab some more.

Acting in kind, I stood up and picked up the AK. I looked around the long abandoned home and considered the irony of me calling it abandoned even though I had used it as a place to stay ever since I came to Toronto. I put my arm through the AK's sling and threw the rifle over my shoulder. I headed down the stairs of the house and towards the front door. The house was only a couple of miles away from Toronto proper, and I could make the trip in about an hour. I could tell by the angle of the sun that it was still roughly morning, which meant I had plenty of time to head into town and grab whatever I could find before heading back here. Without skipping a beat, I opened the front door and began walking down the way to Toronto proper.

---

As I had predicted, the trip took me a little more than an hour, at least that's what it felt like. It was hard to tell, considering there probably wasn't a properly timed clock within 10 miles. I found myself within the main part of Toronto, where several stores and outlets lined the streets. I started to consider the prospect of running into someone. It's something I've thought about for a while, and it's also something I knew I would have to be flexible with. Depending on the type of person I ran into, I could be shaking hands with them and trading supplies without a hitch, or I could find the business end of a gun pointed at me within a second. Whatever the case, I'd have to be prepared to react, and hopefully have the first-sight advantage, and thus be able to take control of the situation. The only surefire way to ensure a clean exchange of words is if the person in question drops their gun or otherwise proves themselves to be nonthreatening.

Knowing that that sort of situation was probably highly likely in a downtown area, I pulled the AK off of my shoulder and started to slowly and quietly pull on the bolt handle to cycle the first round. I heard the first bullet click into place in the mag well and started to settle the bolt back into battery. When the bolt was about an inch from being completely locked in place, it stopped. I remembered that this happened as a result of the bullet sliding into the chamber and gave the bolt a slap forward. This turned out to result in a loud *clank*, louder than I would have hoped, but at least it was quick. I took a quick look around to see if anyone may have heard it, but saw no one. Thus, I continued walking.

Not even a minute later, I found myself in front of a large shopping center, one that I had passed by several times before; the Eaton Centre. It was basically a mall, which I had long considered to have nothing in the way of supplies since everyone would think to go there, but for some reason I decided to get a look inside today. Maybe I would get lucky. I walked towards the doors, keeping my rifle lowered, but ready to fire if need be. I took one more look around at the streets behind me before entering the large shopping center.

The street is dark and littered with debris. Trash, and abandoned cars along the sidewalks. The windows of each and every store shattered. Tim thought to himself, who the hell would break every window? Even the store that sold designer clothes had been trashed. Why would someone need a fancy dress in all this? But there was no more time to waste, Tim closes one eye and looks through his Night Vision Monocle with the other, scanning the storefronts for movement. Satisfied that nothing is out there, he makes a hand gesture pointing at a lone store about a block away with a small parking lot.

Zack, seeing the hand gesture, advances up the other side of the street, checking the windows of the buildings he passes as he approaches the store. Once at the entrance to the store he looks back to Tim, nods then enters the store.

Tim begins limping down the street, unable to bend his left leg because of the makeshift splint on it. Tim moves slowly, grunting slightly from the pain of trying to move on a broken leg, he doesn’t bother to check the windows of the buildings and focuses on just getting into the store as fast as he can.

Inside the store, Zack sweeps through the aisles looking first for “biters” then for food. Nothing. Tim limps inside the store and looks to Zack who says nothing. The silence is painful, Tim knows what it means.

Tim drops himself down on the floor near the door, looking around the empty store, then looking at the limited supplies left in his backpack. He looks up to Zack, who is watching the street for biters.

Tim whispers, “This was our last chance, bro.”
“Yea, I know it was.”
“We’ve checked the whole damn neighborhood. We’ve only got enough food for a few more days. We’re going to have to hit a bigger place.”
“Last time we did that, we lost Chris.”
“I wouldn’t be suggesting it if we had another option, Z.”
“Shit” Zack hesitates for a few seconds, thinking about their fallen friend Chris and the unknown dangers that lay inside the mall a little over a mile away. “Okay, Eaton it is”

Zack pulls Tim up to his feet and checks his rifle quickly. Tim puts his arm over Zack’s shoulders helping keep the weight off of the bad leg. The two slowly step back out into the streets, the dark outline of the Eaton Center in the distance.

Joseph

The streets are desolate and empty, a hollow husk of the old world. These piles of cars, these corpses that were strewn around the entire city, and the occasional bullet casing all told a very grim tale. The all powerful repossession agent that was mother nature gave humanity a very rude awakening. The soft pillow of industry was pulled away from us, with the firm, supportive mattress of agriculture following close behind. Chaos came next, but after that, peace, at the cost of at least a few hundred years of scientific progress. A sad tale, but not one to get caught up about. Survival and adaptation were more important than anything in this environment, and that meant focus.

It was now that I realized that throughout my period of recollection, I halted and allowed myself to be exposed. Not good. I scrambled for cover, diving behind a red automobile, it was tall enough so that my body was relatively well protected while I crouched there, at least from one direction.

What a daft move I had pulled. Risking my life just to reminisce about the past. I toyed with the idea of taking out my rifle, but that would probably have made the situation even worse. Having out such large weaponry gives me confidence, confidence that my body can do more than it really can. Such feelings cause me to not think my actions through, and to be much more aggressive, leading to me taking many more risks. Risks than can kill me. For a while now, I have really only relied on my machete, due to its reliability in combat and its capabilities as a melee weapon. Granted, this weapon only really allows me to fight from a more defensive standpoint, but I would suppose that's the advantage: to not fight unless you need to.

Soon, I stood up to survey my surroundings. It was strange, there was no real signs of zeek in the area. But, really, who am I to judge. This really helps my chances of survival, but I'm still wary, as no signs of any zed could be the result of a sweep by other armed survivor, a threat far more powerful than any zed that I have faced.

I made my way down Shuter Street, quickly and methodically moving from car to car, in order to stay protected and minimize the chances of me getting spotted by anything, or anyone. Soon, I found myself on Yonge Street, right in front of one of the biggest shopping malls in Canada: Eaton Centre. Naturally, I had to be wary, as once crowded places like this could have borne witness to a slew of different conflicts, and could even house a stronghold of (potentially) well armed survivors, or, perhaps just as terrifying, a horde of zeek waiting for their next meal. As I entered the parkade, I noticed one thing: It was really, really dark. Unfortunately, I didn't come equipped with a flashlight, so I hade to work with any sunlight radiating from either outside the parkade or from inside the mall. It was then that I realized I had no idea why I even came to this mall. Risking my life on a whim, I first wanted to just leave right then, but then I realized, I could use some new clothes.

Fortunately, I couldn't make out any zeds standing around me, but that sure didn't mean that there weren't any crouching or prone, so I kept a firm grim on my machete. Soon, using the parked cars as cover, I made my way into the mall, but then I notices something: there were two people, women, most likely, in an empty store a ways away from me.

"This might get interesting," I whispered to myself, quickly ducking behind cover once I noticed they were both armed. I took out my G36 and loaded my STANAG and chambered the round.

Connor and Abigail-
Connor had taken a relatively small and quiet car, according to the sticker it was a hybrid, for some reason driven to New York from all the way out in California. The car had a good range, still another hundred and twenty five miles, and it ran quietly. Those were the important qualifiers. There was little to fear from oncoming traffic and so far none of the infected Connor had seen had been capable of keeping up with a slow moving car, let alone a quick one, and most wrecks left room to maneuver around them on the highway.
He was driving as Abby slept in the passenger seat, clutching her bag in her lap. Connor's bag rested in the space down by her feet. That was another of Connor's idea's, there stuff always had to be within reach in case they had to bale. The rule had still applied even when they had felt safe with Larry and his family. It was, in part the reason they were both still alive and well.
The highway towards Toronto was crowded on the outbound side, but relatively clear on the inbound side. Connor had a moment of hesitation, almost turning the car around, but then he realized, at this point, if he and Abby didn't find more food, or better yet a group of people with real supplies, they wouldn't last much longer, and the car didn't have enough fuel to get them much more then to the Toronto area anyways, or right back in the direction they had just come from. With those thoughts running through his head he began to accelerate knowing that he had to get to the city, and soon.

Clop, Clop, Clop, Clop went Marcus' shoes as he walked down the cluttered pseudo-marble tiling that made up the floor of the Eaton Centre. His eyes carefully glanced around at the various shops and stalls, scanning for anything that might be of use to him. Sears.. Hallmark.. Work Warehouse.. he listed off in his head as he saw the big name brand stores and outlets. He figured he could grab some spare clothes from Work Warehouse on the way out. The air was already chilled and cool, bringing with it the promise of winter. With the clothes he had, he knew that he couldn't survive out in public for long without getting frostbite or ammonia. Finally, his quiet walking led him to the Food Court, which raised his spirits. He knew that thanks to back-up generators that lasted for months, the frozen food supply was untouched and unspoiled. He reached into his oversized backpack and produced a large sealable garbage bag. He knew that once the food was out, it would take an hour to get back home before it defrosted and started going bad, so he had to hurry. Luckily, the subway system was nearby so he could take a shortcut back to the Z Bunker.

However, as he reached the first stall which used to be a KFC, he heard a shuffling noise and spun around to see the outline of a figure wandering the outlet. It was walking properly and there seemed to be nothing decaying or falling from its body, so it seemed to be another survivor. Just what he needed, somebody who was here to take his food and probably kill him. He knew what needed to be done and placed the large backpack down as bait, before he tossed a plastic tray. It echoed and clanged along the floor as it slid, which would obviously attract the attention of the figures he now saw piling into the mall. Thankfully, it would only have been loud for the direct area around the food court, so unless an Infected was roaming that location, then they would have remained anonymous. He quickly ducked behind the counter of the KFC and grabbed his handgun, loading it rapidly as he heard whoever and whatever the figures were approach his bag. This wouldn't be the first time he acted like a murdering scavenger.. But he wouldn't let anybody get in the way of saving the others he had rescued. With any luck, he wouldn't have to kill these people.. But there was always a risk involved.

Tim limps into the mall through the loading dock, and heads directly towards the food court. “This is a terrible idea” he thinks to himself, “oh well, I guess I should get it over with.” As he turns the corner near the food court, he sees a backpack lying in the out in the open. “Oh come on” he mumbles under his breath. There’s no way someone would leave that behind. He pulls his rifle up, and looks through his scope, preparing to fire. There has to be someone around here…or at least what’s left of someone, but his stomach ached, and he knew that every little bit would help.

As he steps slowly towards the bag he scans each storefront carefully, looking for anything out of place. He completes a full circle, but doesn’t see anything. This isn’t right. As he steps up to the bag he hears a noise behind him.

He closes his eyes, and says “Shit.”

He lets go of his gun with his left hand and holds his rifle in the air with just his right. He slowly turns around, gun pointed up with his finger off the trigger, knowing what he just walked into.

I continued walking through the Eaton Centre. It really was enormous, with three extensive floors, all decked out with various stores and outlets. It struck me as odd that I would find this place in any way appealing in the way of food or general supplies. There were vending machines where I could get snacks and drinks that were probably still edible, if they hadn't been looted, but what about canned food? What kind of mall kept a healthy supply of canned food, or really any packaged and preserved food? The only supply of food that I could think of would come from the food court, and all that stuff would have undoubtedly gone bad by this point. Unless there was some power source that was keeping it fresh, or at least edible, which was definitely possible.

I thought I heard something clatter across the ground. It was distant, probably at least halfway across the mall, but it put me on alert instantly. I raised my rifle to my shoulder and moved against the wall to my left. I brought the scope in front of my eye and used it to see if I could spot anything. At first I didn't see anything, but then I saw the muzzle-end of a rifle raise into the air.

"Shit!" I realized I said that louder than I should have. It wasn't yelling volume, but it certainly wasn't stealthy. I mentally chastised myself and checked my flanks to make sure no one was trying to get the drop on me. The front entrance, where I had just come in, seemed clear, but there were a few things in and along the street that people could use as cover so I didn't really know for sure.

Regardless, I decided to press on. I'd rather deal with a known human than an unconfirmed human. I made my way up a flight of stairs, still hugging the wall to my left. I looked just over the lip of the stairs and saw the silhouette of the man holding the rifle, an M4, in the air. His finger was clearly off the trigger, and he seemed to be a bit on edge. Clearly he suspected someone was watching him and he wanted to appear non-threatening. Either that or someone already had the drop on him and he knew it. Either way, he probably wasn't the only one there.

He was looking in my direction. Not directly at me, but in my direction. I couldn't tell if he saw me, but I decided I might be better off retreating and finding a flight of stairs that wasn't in his line of sight, even if I had several advantages already. That being said, I lowered myself away from the top of the stairs and moved back down, quickly but quietly. I made a left and started cutting along the opposite side of the hall, heading towards a flight of stairs much closer to the food court that would be just behind him and to his left. I kept my head on a swivel, looking for any more potential threats along the way.