lore The Wildfire Virus | An Overview of the Undead

[Essence]

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The Wildfire virus is a contagious disease that reanimates the dead, resulting in an outbreak that caused the collapse of society, the end of modern civilization, and the near extinction of the human species. Wildfire is initially a latent viral infection that spreads via airborne transmission. After a person has become infected with the initial virus, it will become active when the host ceases all biological functions. Following death from any method, except extreme head trauma, the infected host will reanimate as the virus reactivates the hindbrain and preserves most of its bodily functions to slow the decaying process.

A deceased host can reanimate anywhere from three minutes to eight hours after death. As the hindbrain begins to reactivate, violent and ravenous images invade the brain's thought process. It was theorized that deceased hosts that died with violent thoughts and adrenaline have markedly shorter resurrection times compared to those who died in a weaker state. Sex, age, race, and body mass have also been theorized to affect the resurrection times as well, but none if this is concrete or has been properly tested with consistent results.

Due to the hindbrain, such as the brainstem and cerebellum, being the sole part that is reactivated; it causes the undead to regain sensory input and movement, but deprives them of most forms of higher brain function or cognitive intelligence such as speech or reasoning abilities. The undead will act on a mindless, animal instinct and aggression to feed; and will kill and devour any living or recently deceased beings that are still fresh, using any simple means to reach their quarry depending on their rate of decomposition and what cognitive ability still remains (opening doors, using rocks to bash through barricades or glass, climbing over obstacles, etc.). An undead host's senses remain somewhat intact, but decay overtime. They can detect behaviors and characteristics that separate them from the living; and can also detect fast movements, light, loud sounds, smell, and physical sensations. They have no sense of self awareness or control.

Once a deceased host is reanimated, its bodily fluids contain an active agent of Wildfire - namely blood and saliva. Infection of the active agent is transmissible through biting, scratching, or contaminating an open wound. Upon entering the bloodstream of a healthy individual, the active agent will spread and invade the brain and cause a cytokine storm like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, resulting in the brain and major organs to shut down, followed by death. Once the active agent spreads, it has a near 100% mortality rate.

The time from infection to death varies depending on the severity, placement, and number of infection sites - as well as other possible conditions such as the reanimated age of the zombie and blood loss. Ultimately, infection kills a healthy individual within 48 hours after exposure. Ingesting the active agent or exposure to the eyes can cause a serious, but many times treatable, infection, although this is suggested to simply be an illness caused by the bacteria that is present in the corpse rather than the virus itself. Similarly, contaminating a water source with infected blood can result in cholera when ingested.

Following death, the deceased's brain must be penetrated or destroyed as soon as possible to prevent reanimation, eliminating the risk of contamination and exposure. Additional precautions include placing a critical or deceased patient in restraints and relocating them to a separate, secured room. When neutralizing the undead, the only method is extreme head trauma; which causes the host to experience Final Death.

There is no known cure for Wildfire, and antibiotics are ineffective against the infection. Certain medicines can alleviate symptoms for palliative care and can extend the lifespan of the infected, although no one survives past 48 hours after exposure. An alternative treatment is amputation if infection is on the limb past the skin from a bite or cutting around the infected skin if scratched. The process has minutes before the infection spreads throughout the body.
 

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Reanimated human beings, while not immortal, will not experience Final Death under typical conditions that would ordinarily cause the death of a living person. They do not need rest or get exhausted, and, despite their bottomless appetite for flesh, they do not need food, water, or sleep to function.

They show no other bodily function that relates to a human, showing no signs of self-healing or response to extreme temperatures aside from freezing. The brain maintains limited abilities of the body, allowing for movement of the limbs (provided that they are not decomposed to the point where the bones are not strong enough to bend without breaking), jaws, neck, and even the use of its sensory systems or simple forms of cognitive intelligence. Despite severely weakened frames, they will continue to hunt for living animals to consume. Even when decapitated, the head will remain active, even though it would be practically harmless at such point.

The undead have the ability to detect scents and can differentiate between the living and the dead; they prefer to feed on living flesh. They can also use sight to distinguish the living from the dead, although they seem to have poor eyesight as their irises fade and decay over time. They make up for this with heightened senses of hearing and smell. Darkness seems to have little effect at close range, and in areas devoid of light they can still find their way around as they would in the day.

Individual strength depends on the physical makeup of the individual and on how long they have been reanimated. When attacking, a reanimated host often become more lively, exhibiting full-body effort, and can produce enough force to quickly overwhelm an adult human. Reanimated dead have been shown to be able to rip open human and animal victims with ease, and they can even rip off human limbs with enough force.  As they decay, however, their muscles, and consequently, their entire body, becomes slowly, but surely, weaker.

The undead feel no pain. Although slow and seemingly unintelligent when not active, they can react quickly to sufficient stimulation, and can rapidly overpower a victim they have taken by surprise. Though their bodies are no more or less durable than a non-decomposed human body, they can absorb all manner of physical damage, even when badly decomposed. Anything other than a head attack, spinal cord severing, or dismemberment leaves them seemingly unfazed. As long as their brain remains intact, everything that is attached to the brain can continue to function as normal, even if only the skull remains and is severed from the body.

The undead are void of any emotional expression and thought. When stimulated, whether by noise, sight of prey, or simply encountering a problem they cannot solve, such as being unable to open a locked door, they quickly descend into a state of homicidal aggression. If they spot prey when stimulated, they can pursue them ceaselessly, showing ravenous hunger. They are not hunters, however, and take no concern in alerting their victims or trying to hunt them with intelligence, always seeming to roar, grunt, and growl whenever they are stimulated. Undead hosts seem to only be drawn to noise (such as that of a gunshot), presumably because they attribute the source of the noise to be caused by potential victims, and the smell of any blood that does not belong to one of their own. They have however occasionally been shown to be able to catch their victims by surprise.

Undead hosts also tend to form groups and stick together, and mimic the actions of other reanimated corpses, giving them a mob mentality. This can lead to forming "herds," large hordes of undead that are far more dangerous and aggressive than smaller groups.

Edited April 27 by Essence (see edit history)