Undead Souls

[Hi new or returning readers. I've had some unexpected "technical" issues with the first 15 chapters of the main story. I'll be working to "repair" them to how they were or as close to as I can get it.]

The year is 2069, currently October the 17th; Ashfield city is the third largest metropolis in the world with a hefty population of around twenty-seven million people crammed together in what you temporarily call home. Or as close as a concrete jungle can be considered a home. The you being yourself also known as the one and only incredibly handsome and successful Michael Knight. In actuality you are a twenty-one year old guy reaching a sturdy height of six-feet tall while slouching, not that you slouch that often. Your hardened body has toned over years of intense training that your mother insisted you go through in order to develop a vast array of self-defence techniques. Your father focused on pushing your brain to it's limits, a more academically rigorous teaching was provided and tested. You've been pushed for greatness for most of your life, being moulded into your peak form.

Even now something feels missing. Throughout your life you've felt a type of void from within, deep inside the furthest point inside yourself. It wasn't from a lack of gratitude or attention from loved ones, but a certain type of "delusions of grandeur" as some have called it while you were younger. With a feeling like you are destined for more but with no direction to guide you, you were left excelling with any task set in front of you. You experienced joy from completing difficult tasks, laughter from the people around, even love and heartbreak. But that emptiness was never filled and with time you began setting into a more passive lifestyle, not really pushing yourself for new challenges. Not that there is much reason to as your father ended up winning the lottery in a huge jackpot, the fourth largest jackpot to ever be won just shortly before you turned eighteen.

The money your family lived off would have allowed you to live a carefree life, however you were instead sent off to the most prestigious academy in Ashfield. Ravenwood Academy is strict, expensive and will set you up for a successful job in whatever field you wish to aim for. The entry requirements need the applicants to be eighteen at the point of entry, a high level of intelligence and an substantial fee for even applying. The Academy does quarterly tests over all of the students, failing two of these tests is grounds for immediate expulsion. The enrolment into Ravenwood lasts for four years before graduating and starting into the world of work where employer's will sometimes seek out graduates from Ravenwood.

Thankfully being from such a rich family has allowed you to live in a shared apartment owned by and located nearby to Ravenwood Academy for the past two years. Your apartment is shared with two other people. Your best friend and close companion since arriving at Ravenwood, Sam Fisher. At the start of your third year you unfortunately have the utter displeasure of living with the obnoxious rich boy everyone knows as Charlie Black. Still being in the first quarter means you are many months off being rid off his constant flaunting of his families money as well as his arrogant attitude towards everyone else that he perceives as poorer than himself.

You have two sisters that were raised in much the same way you were. Your younger sister didn't get pushed quite as hard, whether that was due to the exponential wealth or just the fact that she was the youngest wasn't made clear, however it did mean her constant complaining had died down. Or maybe it was due to you being at home less for the past couple of years. This year is your younger sister's first year, she has had a few years to meet some new people who'd be attending Ravenwood along side herself and as such moved into an apartment with her friends in another area of Ashfield.

Your older sister certainly had a stricter, if not harsher time growing up. On top of your parents intense training your sister always pushed herself further stating that she "is the eldest and has to look out for her family no matter what." Even after all of that time she ended up being unable to attend Ravenwood Academy. She was twenty-one at the time your father gained his wealth which meant she was unable to even apply for enrolment despite being more academically gifted than many of the current students that you've seen now. At the time your older sister had been serving in a high ranking position in the military despite her young age, which has since been promoted higher. For her high rank she is able to receive much more information, some even classified material. With such information she was able to secretly warn us about a growing catastrophe that is being to spread worldwide.

An infection unlike any the world has seen before began spreading, so much so that neighbouring countries are sending out reports of growing numbers of these infected people. Our military began to set up lockdowns all around the border as well as a few within. With Ashfield city being the largest and close to the border the military set up a major outpost within the city that your sister is overseeing, which provided her the time to give our family the warning first. The media constantly provide warnings about signs of infection but insist everything within the country of Gothana is safe.

Alternative news sources and some foreign news have been giving out warnings that current countermeasures will fail to stop an initial outbreak from occurring within Gothana. So far there hasn't been any mention of a cure from any source but there are rumours that military forces will begin forcing martial law if the lockdown doesn't hold. There was allegedly some commotion at the border near Silver Shield prison but all news coverage is being denied and blocked. The prison is only about twenty miles away from Ashfield so the news caused a wave of unease that spread through the populace. That was a week ago and yesterday all news coverage from that site has ceased with extra reports from military officials that everything is under control and there is no need to panic.

Your sister warned you to pack a bag just in case.