Walking Dead: Altered Fate

In the living room, Samuel took off his headphones. The Jenners quickly stepped out of the room, and Candace offered a polite, apologetic smile.

"Samuel, I'm not feeling very well. I'm going to lie down for a bit. Edwin would like to talk to you."

"All right, Mrs. Jenner."

"You can call me Candace."

"Okay, Candace."

Edwin gestured for him to sit, took a moment to gather his thoughts, then finally began to speak slowly.

"May I ask what your research field is, in general terms? This is important, what I'm about to tell you is extremely serious. It could very well concern the survival of the human race."

"Mr. Jenner, you're putting a lot of pressure on me here."

Samuel understood that whether he succeeded today hinged entirely on how he handled what came next. 

He sat up straighter and began to explain, carefully selecting the most cutting-edge biological research from his memory and summarizing it for Jenner.

As he spoke, Jenner's eyes lit up more and more. Eventually, he stood up, pacing the living room with growing excitement.

"Mr. Samuel, I didn't expect you to surprise me like this."

Saying that, Jenner walked over to the bedroom door and gave it a gentle knock. Candace stepped out, her eyes also glowing with interest, and came over to sit on the couch.

"Let me explain what's really going on."

…

In the following week, with Candace's help, Samuel officially joined the CDC. Inside the Center, the atmosphere was tense. 

The employees had access to internal, unreleased information, and many had already begun making plans, preparing to evacuate with their families. 

A few, however, chose to stay behind. Among them were the Jenner couple, Samuel, and a handful of colleagues from his team.

At first, Samuel found it strange. 

The "Project Wildfire" was still in effect, and according to regulations, CDC researchers weren't allowed to leave. 

When he brought this up with Candace, her response was simple, just one sentence.

"We're human too."

July 5, 2010.

At the CDC, Samuel noticed that since yesterday, the news had begun reporting a string of "violent incidents" across the country. He knew all too well, the apocalypse had begun.

On a street somewhere in Atlanta, a van wove through the roads before pulling up to a residential neighborhood. 

A broad-shouldered black man stepped out and began unloading supplies, food, water, and daily necessities. 

After dividing everything into even portions, he carried them one by one to different homes.

"T-Dog, you're here again. I really hate troubling you like this."

"T, could you help me change a lightbulb later?"

"God bless you, T-Dog. You're a good man."

…

The man was none other than T-Dog. Today wasn't his assigned day for community service, but with the recent spike in "violent incidents," the streets had become increasingly unsafe. 

He was deeply worried about the elderly folks in these communities. 

Even though he had limited resources, he'd swapped shifts with his coworkers and was now driving his van back and forth between neighborhoods, doing what he could to help these vulnerable people.

"Of course, Mrs. Madison. I'll be right over."

"No problem, I'll take care of it soon."

After spending over an hour delivering supplies, T-Dog finally finished his rounds. He hopped back into his van and headed toward the next community.

At the same time, on the other side of the city, Andrea and Amy were driving toward their father's house.

Suddenly, Bang!, something slammed into the rear side of their car. Andrea's heart jumped. 

She slammed on the brakes and instinctively looked back, but the road behind them was empty. Only two figures in the distance could be seen running frantically down the street.

"Ahh!" Amy cried out, shaken by the sudden stop. 

She'd been wearing headphones and listening to music. Now she turned to Andrea, annoyed. 

"You scared the hell out of me!"

Andrea scanned the area, then turned back to her sister.

"Did you hear that just now?"

"Hear what?"

Amy took off her headphones. Andrea continued, her expression tense.

"Something just hit the back of the car. I swear I heard it."

Amy froze for a moment. Her hand brushed her hair back as she anxiously looked around. 

The street, already quiet due to the "violent incidents," now felt eerily deserted. Amy gripped her seatbelt tighter.

"The streets haven't felt safe lately. Let's just get going."

…

Beep.. beep…

Glenn zipped through a narrow alley on his scooter, wearing a baseball cap and his store uniform.

After years of delivering pizza, he knew Atlanta's streets and back alleys like the back of his hand. 

He was always faster than the other drivers, one of the main reasons his notoriously cheap boss had never dared to shortchange his paycheck. Glenn quickly arrived at the delivery location.

With practiced ease, he parked, grabbed the pizza, and headed upstairs.

Knock… knock…

"Sir, your pizza's here!"

…

"Sir? Is anyone home?"

He waited for about two minutes before letting out a sigh. The look on his face said it all, he wasn't looking forward to the chewing-out he was about to get from his boss.

Shaking his head, Glenn turned to leave. But then a sound came from behind the door. His eyes lit up, and he returned to knock again.

"Ahhh… uhhh… thunk… thunk… thunk…"

No one opened the door. Instead, strange, guttural growls echoed from inside, followed by rhythmic thudding against the wood.

Glenn pressed his ear to the door and knocked again.

Screeeee!

A teeth-grinding sound of nails scraping down the door pierced his ears.

"Sir, I know you're in there. If you don't open up, I'm going to have to call the cops!"

Bang! Bang! 

The pounding suddenly intensified. Whatever was inside reacted violently to Glenn's voice, slamming into the door with an inhuman roar.

A chill ran down Glenn's spine. Something wasn't right. His instincts screamed at him to leave, but he tried to sound brave.

"Okay, I'm going now!"

Aaarghh! Bang! Bang!

Panic finally overtook him. He turned and bolted down the stairs.

Beep… beep…. 

The number you have dialed is currently unavailable. Please try again later.

"Dammit!"

Stuffing the phone back into his pocket, he jumped on his scooter and sped off toward the store.

…

King County. The Grimes house.

"Mom, is Dad going to be okay?"

"Carl, your father is a very strong man. He's going to be fine."

In Carl's bedroom, Lori held her son tightly as they lay against the headboard. 

Rick's sudden gunshot injury had thrown their family into crisis, and it made Lori realize, maybe for the first time in a long while, how much her husband truly meant to her.

"Mom, can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Sweetheart, I'm not going anywhere. Just rest now, okay?"

Carl had been worrying all day. The fear of his father's critical injury weighed heavily on his young heart. As his eyelids grew heavier, he finally drifted off to sleep in Lori's arms.

Lori held him close, her thoughts as dark as the night outside. Only a few distant stars flickered faintly in the sky, but none could break through the overwhelming darkness.