You wake after just a few hours sleep like you used too, hunger eating at your belly and pressing on the back of your mind. You are going to have to make your plans soon or you might snap and just outright attack someone.Then you pause "I'm not normally this bloodthirsty, I used to be able to control my urges much better. Guess this is what happens when I feast, luckily I know I can hold it at bay for a few days if I need too"

You roll over in your bed and send out your senses again before finally heading over to the window to check the time "The moon says it's around 3 or 4 am and there are definitely guards still on the walkway but they are not moving at all. Probably sleep right now if not fully asleep from how lax they were when I approached.

You head downstairs and peak out all of the windows, sure enough you see little to no movement anywhere in the compound. You cannot see the gate from your new house but if the two guards there are anything like the others then they will be fast asleep too.

You think things through again "The scavengers are due back tomorrow I'd guess, I could play it out for one extra day if I say they had an extra large amount of food but people will get suspicious quickly. My other option is making my move now, I have the shamblers outside and ready to invade the second I kill a few guards and let them in."
> You head right for the gate and get it open for your shamblers
Getting the gate open is the first priority, you will need your shamblers running distraction and killing the slow humans while you pick off the ones with the automatic weapons.

You slip out in the moonlight and move silently between the houses. Your night-vision is as excellent as ever and the clouded night is revealed to you just as clearly as the daytime would be for a human. You keep checking on the guards and others in the community but everyone is in the beds on the second floor of the houses and most of the guards are not moving. "Probably asleep in their chairs" you think as you finally get in a clear view of the gate.

The two guards at the gate are clearly still awake. They are standing, one on each side, chatting across the gap. They aren't any more use as guards than the others since they are not facing the road or fields at all but they are facing each other which is bad for you. You judge the gap between the walkway edges at 10 feet. You can easily make the jump but you will need to time everything perfectly. They also have torches lit beside them so they are lit up completly while making themselves night-blind to anything else.
> You slip close quietly, they will be night blind so you can completly surprise one then leap for the other
You will have to rely on speed and surprise, you can't think of any reason the guards would let you close to them in the middle of the night. especially at the front gate.

You edge to the left first and manage to get within a few feet of the walkway before reaching the edge of the weak torchlight "Any further and I can be seen. Going to time this perfectly, you give them a few moments more before seeing the guard opposite stretching and looking away.

You vault yourself onto the walkway behind one of the guards. He saw you coming at the last second and tries to raise his gun but you are faster and a punch to the throat sends him stumbling over the wall, only to get impaled on a spike before he can fully fall. the haze of his mind already gone by the time he hits the spike. You run and leap at the second guard, but this one has had more time and you see her with rifle ready. She takes the shot as you leap and you feel the impact in your side. You are certain she just got you cleanly in the kidney as you land and start punching her, not giving her time to work the bolt action for another shot.

She shot you though and the hunger fills your mind with anger as you punch her repeatedly in revenge, even though she was dead after the second hit. The shouts of humans running brings you back from your rage and you can sense the minds of several humans headed your way. You leap down and wrench the wooden bar off the gate, swinging it open.

"Time for vengeance!" you think as you order your horde inside and lean up against the wall for a moment to stop your own bleeding. You will easily survive this, but it is still not trivial, you will need a few moments to bind it before you move.

You simply order your horde to attack while you tear a strip off your shirt to stuff into your wound when you hear the shots starting and feel your horde reduce in number quickly. You look up to see the humans aren't all carrying bold action hunting rifles or pistols, several have assault rifles and they are tearing your shambler horde apart with ease, the mutants are doing damage in return though and each has already downed a human.


Getting the gate open is the first priority, you will need your shamblers running distraction and killing the slow humans while you pick off the ones with the automatic weapons.

You slip out in the moonlight and move silently between the houses. Your night-vision is as excellent as ever and the clouded night is revealed to you just as clearly as the daytime would be for a human. You keep checking on the guards and others in the community but everyone is in the beds on the second floor of the houses and most of the guards are not moving. "Probably asleep in their chairs" you think as you finally get in a clear view of the gate.

The two guards at the gate are clearly still awake. They are standing, one on each side, chatting across the gap. They aren't any more use as guards than the others since they are not facing the road or fields at all but they are facing each other which is bad for you. You judge the gap between the walkway edges at 10 feet. You can easily make the jump but you will need to time everything perfectly. They also have torches lit beside them so they are lit up completly while making themselves night-blind to anything else.
> You try to get close with talking, then when they relax, strike fast
They are facing each other and chatting across the gap. You might be ridiculously fast but you are nearly certain that you couldn't kill one, make the jump and silence the other before they get out a shout, or worse a bullet. The second the alarm goes up you know your plans will be ruined so you need to get closer by other means.

It takes a few minutes but eventually you notice something that you normally wouldn't have. You realize that the guard to the right is female. You haven't looked at humans as specifically male and female in years, since you started eating them at least. "This place is really affecting my brain, although this information I can use, she was one of the ones hanging around a lot when I first arrived and making comments about my looks".

You stand up then begin walking forward, making a little more noise than necessary just to be safe. You get a few feet when you see the guards turn quickly to look your way "a little more alert then" You think as you continue forward a few steps "Who is it?" gets called your way as you reach the edge of the torchlight. You step fully into it so you can be seen before replying "Just me, I can never sleep around this time so I was just walking around" you bank on them being a little suspicious of this excuse and it works perfectly. The woman calls out "And you just happened to end up at the gate?"

You pause and pretend to be embarrassed before replying "Well, actually I ended up at the South wall and chatted to one of the guards there for a bit and when I asked about you, he said you were on the gate duty tonight..." You trail off and it takes a few seconds but the male guard catches onto your hint and lets out a chuckle, that gives the game away to the girl and she immediately blushes, you can see her reactions as clear as day with your heightened senses but she does not know that and tries to hide it by putting up a front "No matter, all you need to do is let my up on the walkway and you wont ever have to act again" You think as she replies "Well he was right, I am on duty now. So why were you asking about me?" You smile this time"Well you made quite the first impression on me when I arrived and I was planning on, you know, trying to get to know you a bit better over the next few weeks, when I heard you were awake now too I just kinda headed this way". The girls blush deepens and you can see the other guard laughing his head off as she responds "Well I am on duty now and can't leave my post!" You know you have her now though and push one last time "Oh, I wouldn't expect you too but having another set of eyes up there while we chat wouldn't hurt would it?" You give your biggest smile and she finally gives in and smiles back "Ok hop up and you can try and chat me up then!"

You grin as you jog forward and try to act like pulling yourself up onto the platform is at least a little tricky, finally leaning against the arch of the gate beside her "She let me stand between her and the gate, idiot!" You think as you glance at the male guard who is now making a point of looking the other way. You turn back as the girl speaks "Well I'm waiting, I thought you were going to chat me up?" she says with a cheeky grin.

The timing was perfect so you struck. You step a little closer and open your mouth as if to speak but as she looks at your face your fist moves unbelievably fast and hits her cleanly in the throat, crushing her windpipe, she wont be able to should for help or do anything at all as she quickly suffocates. You spin and leap the gap. The other guard barely even registers what is happening as your punch knocks him cold. You quickly snap his neck then stop and listen to see if your attack alerted anyone but the only sound you hear is the soft strangled noise of the girl dying and after a few moments that ends too.

You smile to yourself as you force your hunger back down "Can't feed yet, I have to keep it in check until the battle is over" you mumble as you gently hop down and lift the bar off the gate. You gently swing one side open just enough to let the shamblers in and control them all directly again, making them move quickly until they are gathered right across the road, then slipping over and into the compound.
> You clearing the guards out before the rampage
"Time to play my little pets" You tell them as you direct them carefully between the buildings, spreading them out so that they can cause the greatest havoc possible. even if they die, they should bite enough to make more infected and those can rampage too. You hop back up on the walkway and start creeping South until you find the first torch and guard asleep at his chair. You take two quick steps and grab him with one hand on his throat and the other over his mouth. Just a gentle squeeze crushes his windpipe and you hold him until he stops struggling, dropping him back into his chair after "There, you are just as much use sitting there dead as you were alive!" You chuckle as you keep moving and turn the corner, heading wet now until you see the next light and the next guard asleep, or close to, in his chair. You smile at just how lax the guards had become as you do exactly the same as before and have the man by the throat before he even knows what is happening.

You feel his windpipe pop and keep holding him as he kicks, imagining how good it was going to be to eat all the dead soon when his foot kicks out and hits his chair and you watch helpless as if, and his gun, tumble over the side with a small crash. You swear to yourself, you can't let yourself daydream in the middle of killing someone!

You hear the expected call from further along the wall and know the gig is up for now. If you hide, the body will be found and the alarm goes up, if the kill the next guy, the others who heard the call will raise the alarm when he vanishes too "Well, half of the guards will be down at least" You think as you sneak forward into the darkest area near you and wait.

The guard comes jogging your way calling out "What did you fall asleep and tip your chair over again?" You immediately stand and hit him as hard as you can. You catch him cleanly in the jaw and see his head snapping round instantly, accompanied by a snapping sound. You sense his life vanish instantly and realize your punch must have snapped his neck "I am getting stronger, never used to be able to do that before" You think as you keep moving forward seeking the next guard.

> The raised alarm call
You hear the shout going up load and clear "Everyone evacuate, infected in the compound, the gate wa opened!" Then you hear a loud horn going off and every human mind in the compound begins to move "Their guards are lax but they know how to evacuate at least" You start running openly now, no point hiding out if the alarm is already raised.

The next guard sees you coming but realizes you are not a comrade far too late to save himself and he joins the dead. You sense the humans reaching their doors and then the screaming starts. Your dozen shamblers were all placed perfectly to cause the most chaos and you instantly sense several biting and feeding on human flesh. You think about making them rampage but they are slow and they are doing their job so you just leave them to attack and feed as their instincts direct. You feel one getting beaten off and killed, but then you sense a human mind change as you watch it.

You see something like rot spread over it, the glow fading, it seems to fight back but they rot tears away at it until it shatters, leaving a weak rotted husk where there was a vibrant mind moments before "And so it spreads" you say aloud as the new shambler lumbers after what must have been it's family moments before.

You reach one more guard as the gunshots begin and two more shamblers die. This guard is ready for you though with his gun raised toward the compound to shoot the first infected that comes near. You are that first infected and he spins towards you as you rush him, he realizes in time that you are an enemy but you are too close and his shot skims past you, just grazing your side "Claw has spotted some, Centre West wall!" You hear from not far away. The dead guards reinforcements are headed right for you. You sense three below running your way and another along the walkway.

You pull at the nearest shambler and have it go after the three below but they instantly shoot it down and keep coming, the one on the walkway is getting closer too and you only have moments before they see you.
> You into the bunker! It should be close enough!
You immediately slip over the edge and land lightly on the grass below, you only have a few seconds but you were right, the bunkers is close, so you sprint towards it and slip into the already open door. You are the first one here but you can sense more headed your way already. You quickly hunch up against a wall pretending to look worried and wait. The call from the guards goes up as they find the bodies and you can sense them moving outward in arcs, searching the area but they don't come your way yet.

You are going to need more survivors in here incase they come your way. You quickly locate your shamblers and find one blocking some humans so make it move as if it has a new target to the side and you sense the humans surge past and toward you. The guards locate another and it vanishes amidst the gunfire. You can feel the difference now between the human minds, some are clearly fleeing, headed your way, wavering and moving in sprints while others are methodically sweeping the area, these must be the guards. You do your best to have your last shamblers ambush the guards but you only catch one before the last of your horde are wiped out.

Then the humans arrive, they flood inside lead by a guard who doesn't even look your way and the other humans don't either. They are just too panicked and desperate to get inside. You smile to yourself, a few more and no-one will remember where you were, they will just think you came in with the others from the houses.

You watch as more and more pile inside, filially followed by a few guards and the door swings partly shut, manned by two guards. You can sense others outside, more guards, holding the area around incase of more survivors or threats but you know there are none of either, the humans are all here and the infected are all dead. You do a quick head-count and see at least twenty inside, your shamblers did good work with the ambushes.

Time to fit in, You quickly see a a group of the humans that you met the day before and head over there trying your best to look scared "What's going on? we were just directed here but there were infected everywhere!" They don't even look suspicious for a moment as they reply "The gate got breached and they got inside. We have as little idea what's going on as you do."

You simply nod in response and stay close, they are now your alibi and you will look less suspicious in a group. "This is going perfectly, half of their guards are dead and all the humans are trapped in here with me!
> You surviving in the bunker
You stay with the group, occasionally chatting, sometimes watching others come over to trade stories but generally just trying to fit in and look appropriately worried. If you are going to make your plan work you need the humans to trust you for just a little bit longer. Finally you sense that the humans left outside have swept the area clear and they all enter the bunker, staying in a group near the entrance. You sense the last three outside heading at speed towards the gate.

"Ok, the compound is clear now and we are shutting the gates. We do not yet know how they got inside but once the gate team returns they can tell us more. For now you know the drill. Everyone check your neighbors for bites." You hear some mumbled swearing, it seems that they all had forgotten part of the procedure in the panic and now everyone starts rolling up their sleeves of taking their shirts off. You of course join in and pretend to look a couple of others over before giving them the all clear and they return the favor. A few people start calling out "All clear here" and you call it out for the people near you. "Not a single bite in the room, too bad, could have used a shambler or fast type turning in here".

Finally things begin settling down and the guards return from the front gate, giving their report to the other guards, they speak softly but you know the survivors nearest them can hear and your hearing is advanced enough to pick it up too "Gate was definitely opened from the inside, bar taken out and pulled open, inside job. Looks like other guards on the walkways were killed too, probably before the gate was opened."

The guards keep conversing for a time and finally call out to the whole bunker "The immediate threat is gone, but we are going into lockdown. This was no accident, the infected were let into the compound by design." You hear worried mumbling breaking out but as the door seals shut and is locked you can feel the entire bunker relaxing slightly "They must have fended off attacks in here before then" You think as you suddenly realize that several of the guards and a few other humans are staring right at you. "Well of course they suspect me now, gonna have to act fast."
> You pretend to want to prove your innocence to the guards, then strike fast and kill the armed ones, you must act before they do
You stand up slowly and see several more set of eyes latch onto you so you begin your act right away "Look, I know I am the most likely suspect here since I just arrived so I am going to go talk to the guards to prove my innocence." You make sure to keep your voice calm but loud enough for the entire bunker to hear and see many of your watchers stop staring. You then begin to head over to the guards who watch you coming, they don't actively point weapons at you but they are clearly keeping them close to hand.

"We heard your little speech there and you are right. You are the main suspect, so how do you plan to prove yourself?" One of them says. You notice than Boring isn't here and realize he must be one of the dead, you smile inside while you speak "Well I don't know but but letting infected inside would be suicide for me so it doesn't make sense. How would I get the gate open with the guards watching me then get away as the infected attacked, in fact, how could I even have made them attack? They are just lumbering relics that hang around where they died until disturbed."

The guards clearly don't seem convinced "We have been attacked before, in fact a few years ago the raiders were strong in this area, they used to capture or lead infected right up to the gates of communities like ours then kill some guards and let the infected in to do the dirty work for them. I think you are one of them." A couple of the other guards nod but some don't seem so sure so you know the idea can't be watertight yet "And at least they don't suspect I am a harbinger" You think as you plan your next response, you already pretended to not know the guards were killed so best to keep with that.

"So you think that the raiders, who were wiped out years ago, suddenly recovered and sent me in here to open the gate and let infected attack me? why on earth would I do that? If they were willing to sacrifice me why wouldn't I just join you instead. You held off the strongest raiders groups in the past so why would I risk ym own death for some weak remnant?" You pause as if thinking "And how would I even do it, I mean you have guards all around the walkways and at the gate and they all have guns, you' think they might just notice a guy removing the bar and opening the gate?"

You can see from their faces that your points are sinking in and they are relaxing, a couple let their guns slide down to less threatening positions. You smile slowly, then strike. You lunge forward and punch one guard, immediately grabbing another in your other hand and throwing him back into a third. you spin and lash out at one behind you, grabbing his gun as he falls unconscious and fire it point-blank into the chest of the next one you see "Too easy" You think as you use the gun like a bat to smash a guard round the head, feeling her mind blink out instantly as she dies "They can barely comprehend what is happening before they die".

You leap towards the ones you knocked over and two swift blows kill them too and you finally turn to the gathered humans who are rushing away from you as much as the space allows in fear. "Future meals! hear me, I am in charge now! You can recognize me as a herald or harbinger, whichever term you choose to use for me, but you can also see that you don't stand a chance against me." You wave to the group of dead or unconscious guards behind you "All your guards are now dead and I will feast on their flesh, all you have to do is cower and wait to be eaten."
> You to feast or to kill? You have all the time in the world to decide
You grin to yourself "Look at them, prey is the right work for them, cowering in fear from me as it should be. They can live in fear while I slowly eat them all one by one. I can even take the kaycards for the door an leave them locked in here with shamblers as guards!"

You are considering your next announcement when you hear the boom, amplified by the small space and metal walls and feel the impact on your back. You see a spurt of red leaving your chest and something hits a bag of wheat on a shelf in front of you. Glancing down you see blood pouring out of your chest.

You spin around as you fight off the weakness you are feeling and are just in time to hear the click-click of a bolt action being worked to reload a rifle. You see one of the guards still lying slumped against the wall where your punch had sent him flying "Too bad you didn't knock me out then isn't is harbinger!" He shouts at you.

One bullet wound wont kill you, you just need to get outside and lock the door while you recover, you know you can survive it, only one lung was punctured and your healing is more accelerated than ever now. You leap at the guard but you ar too late as just as you land his second shot tears through your chest leaving a second gaping hole and you can feel both lungs rapidly filling with blood. You try and swing for him but you are too weak and simply slump to the side. you watch your prey running forward to help the wounded and see them just ignoring you as everything just fades away.


You stay with the group, occasionally chatting, sometimes watching others come over to trade stories but generally just trying to fit in and look appropriately worried. If you are going to make your plan work you need the humans to trust you for just a little bit longer. Finally you sense that the humans left outside have swept the area clear and they all enter the bunker, staying in a group near the entrance. You sense the last three outside heading at speed towards the gate.

"Ok, the compound is clear now and we are shutting the gates. We do not yet know how they got inside but once the gate team returns they can tell us more. For now you know the drill. Everyone check your neighbors for bites." You hear some mumbled swearing, it seems that they all had forgotten part of the procedure in the panic and now everyone starts rolling up their sleeves of taking their shirts off. You of course join in and pretend to look a couple of others over before giving them the all clear and they return the favor. A few people start calling out "All clear here" and you call it out for the people near you. "Not a single bite in the room, too bad, could have used a shambler or fast type turning in here".

Finally things begin settling down and the guards return from the front gate, giving their report to the other guards, they speak softly but you know the survivors nearest them can hear and your hearing is advanced enough to pick it up too "Gate was definitely opened from the inside, bar taken out and pulled open, inside job. Looks like other guards on the walkways were killed too, probably before the gate was opened."

The guards keep conversing for a time and finally call out to the whole bunker "The immediate threat is gone, but we are going into lockdown. This was no accident, the infected were let into the compound by design." You hear worried mumbling breaking out but as the door seals shut and is locked you can feel the entire bunker relaxing slightly "They must have fended off attacks in here before then" You think as you suddenly realize that several of the guards and a few other humans are staring right at you. "Well of course they suspect me now, gonna have to act fast."
> You hold off, you can't be sure of vitory in this confined space and with so many guns around, the panic would help but you couldn't be sure to kill all the guards before they shot you
You stand up slowly and see several more set of eyes latch onto you so you begin your act right away "Look, I know I am the most likely suspect here since I just arrived so I am going to go talk to the guards to prove my innocence." You make sure to keep your voice calm but loud enough for the entire bunker to hear and see many of your watchers stop staring. You then begin to head over to the guards who watch you coming, they don't actively point weapons at you but they are clearly keeping them close to hand.

"We heard your little speech there and you are right. You are the main suspect, so how do you plan to prove yourself?" One of them says. You notice than Boring isn't here and realize he must be one of the dead, you smile inside while you speak "Well I don't know but but letting infected inside would be suicide for me so it doesn't make sense. How would I get the gate open with the guards watching me then get away as the infected attacked, in fact, how could I even have made them attack? They are just lumbering relics that hang around where they died until disturbed."

The guards clearly don't seem convinced "We have been attacked before, in fact a few years ago the raiders were strong in this area, they used to capture or lead infected right up to the gates of communities like ours then kill some guards and let the infected in to do the dirty work for them. I think you are one of them." A couple of the other guards nod but some don't seem so sure so you know the idea can't be watertight yet "And at least they don't suspect I am a harbinger" You think as you plan your next response, you already pretended to not know the guards were killed so best to keep with that.

"So you think that the raiders, who were wiped out years ago, suddenly recovered and sent me in here to open the gate and let infected attack me? why on earth would I do that? If they were willing to sacrifice me why wouldn't I just join you instead. You held off the strongest raiders groups in the past so why would I risk ym own death for some weak remnant?" You pause as if thinking "And how would I even do it, I mean you have guards all around the walkways and at the gate and they all have guns, you' think they might just notice a guy removing the bar and opening the gate?"

You can see from their faces that your points are sinking in, it's lucky they thought you were a raider and not a harbinger as since you aren't a raider it is easier to convince them. One finally responds "We aren't saying the allegations are air tight but you arrived then after over a year of no infected sightings from the walkway, we are over-run within days." You pause, pushing further might be good or bad so you play it cautiously "That I can accept, as I said, I know I am the likely one but hopefully I can be proven innocent soon." One of the guards who had been silent up until now speaks up.

"He might be guilty of letting them in for some other reason but he isn't with the raiders." The others look at him as he continues "The raiders always did the exact same thing, they killed some guards by surprise, opened the gates to let the infected they captured or lead here inside then ran. They were cowards who never faced a real fight and though only of themselves, one of them would never risk sacrificing himself by staying in the compound before and after the attack. Even if the attack worked and he out-ran the infected at the gate, he would know he would be the main suspect. He also would have a hard time killing the armed guards alone, so if it was him, he had help from other raiders meaning there was no need for him to stay, he would have just run off instead."

The others pause and think about it for a time "Then since we have nothing better we go with that. If a raider squad miraculously turns up in the next two days as they always did after an attack, you are probably innocent. if they don't, then we shoot you and be done with it." You simply nod in response and head back to your seat "Time to make a raider squad appear from no-where" You think as your group nods at your return.
> You planning a raider attack
You settle back into your seat with one thing on your mind "How do I made a raider attack materialize in under two days? Every human I've met agrees that the raiding groups were all wiped out by the military or the infected years ago" Then it occurs to you that you don't actually need to make a raider attack happen, you just need to make it SEEM like one happens, and for that you need more information. You turn to those nearest you and begin fishing for clues "What were the raiders like, we never suffered from the the same way in the city?" A couple avoid your eyes but once the first ones begin describing their experiences others readily join in and a full on little debate about them begins.

It goes on for nearly an hour before slowly dying out as people begin getting rations for breakfast and you pretend to enjoy a small can of meat with one of the others. You slowly work through all the stories to filter out the important information.

The raiders always came from the North, avoiding the city and heavily populated areas. They used vehicles and had guns but still fought like cowards, killing a few guards then loosing infected that has taunted and made to follow them on the inhabitants of small communities. They would retreat right away so they were not forced to fight and were in no danger from the infected, returning the next day or day after to clear out the last of the infected and humans and steal all they could. They had also raided here a couple of times, killing guards and opening the gate before fleeing, but they always returned to find the inhabitants and food safely locked up, or back manning the walls so they would give up and leave after firing off guns for fun and breaking a few things.

"So all that needs to happen is a lot of noise and some guns going off, and that I can do." Having worked out your plan, you relax back into a corner an pretend to be trying to get to sleep like many of the others. Once you are sure you wont be disturbed you send out your senses carefully, pushing near your limits but not forcing it, you don't want a nose-bleed now. You finally find a few scattered shamblers right at you limit and quickly grab their minds, sending the order to walk towards you before dropping the control again "That should do it for now" You think as the headache begins at the back of your mind, grabbing them at such range wasn't easy, you'll have to hope enough follow the order and get closer soon.

> The Raiders arrival
You actually let yourself rest for a few hours and nap for a short time before sending out your senses again and finding that you were successful. There are 5 shamblers now in easy range of your abilities so you quickly grab them and direct them to the community. Some of the humans are stirring again but you know most are avoiding you for now so you should have a little more time to relax and watch your shamblers approach.

In the end it takes another hour for them to arrive and you finally get to direct them in the gate. They are in bad shape, nearer dead than alive so you direct them to feast on some of the bodies and leave them to it for a couple more hours while you exchange pleasantries with some of the humans. It seems that since you went and chatted to the guards and haven't been shot yet that some of them think that must mean you are innocent, enough to talk to you at least and that's fine, you only need the cover for a short time more.

Once everyone quietens down again you once more retreat to your corner and pretend to nap while you check on your little hordes progress. They have been feeding and their bellies are full, you can sense the new energy in their bodies and know it is time to get to work, you want everything ready for evening.

You have them stop feeding for now and carefully direct each one individually, having them find and gather guns. You fail at first, not knowing how to make them find something you cannot see but you can follow their senses to where you know the guards died and once there you have them sweep their arms around and feel whatever they find.

It takes time and it is extremely difficult work for you, the fine control of their bodies, reading their senses and trying to locate things all at the same time takes it's toll and you headache is horrendous but you eventually get every shamblers holding a gun of some sort.You leave the order for them to hold on to their guns no matter what and release control, allowing your mind you relax as you try to wipe away a massive nosebleed.

You glance around and see the guards are spread out with the other humans and many ar giving you suspicious looks "Good thing my plan is coming together" You think as you pretend to enjoy a late lunch with people and relax for the evening, you need to time this correctly.

Three hours before sunset you think your headache has gone down enough to act so you move the shamblers closer to the bunker and begin trying to make one fire it's gun, this takes nearly twenty minutes to work out but finally you hear a muffled boom. Everyone looks instantly to the door and a guard makes sure it is locked, no-one says anything though and keeps quiet, waiting to see what comes next.

You realize that the shambler dropped the gun when if fired and you don't have time to have it work out how to pick it up so you direct it to band on the door while starting to directly control a second one. This one you make hold the gun back against it's body and point the barrel at the bunker. You take much less time with this one and you hear the repeated cracking noises of a semi-automatic gun firing and at least a couple of the bullets ping off the outside of the shelter just as the first one reaches the door and slams it's arm into it.

"The raiders are back!" one of the humans calls out in a panic and several others agree instantly, expressing the same concerns. Debate springs up with some saying they are wiped out while others say this must be a new group of them, either way they are all agreeing someone is outside with guns.

You stop the one banging the door and have two more fire their guns off into the air before sending all of them to smash up a few breakables like the machine shop and its generator, keeping only the last one with a gun. You give it nearly half an hour before having this one fire it's gun too then have the shamblers leave. Directing them as far from the community as possible before loosing control over them
> You acceptance and new trust
The guards don't do much more than calm people down for the next few hours, re-assuring them about the bunker and how strong it is before finally one stands up and makes an announcement. "It seems like the raiders have returned. We don't know how or why, it is possible it is a new small group emulating their tactics after running out of supplies. We just know they are here. What happened over night was that several guards were killed, the gates opened and infected released inside. If they keep to their old playbook, it means that by now they are gone and all the infected are dead. We will wait in here one more night then go check on things" He sits back down as people begin talking about all the possibilities this brings up and you notice a massive drop in meaningful looks your direction.

You smile to yourself "Off the hook for now then!" You think and people eat dinner then find a spot to sleep. You wait up a short time but your headache is throbbing so you finally lie down and join the sleeping humans. You even sleep right through the night and have to be woken in the morning by people moving around near you.

Once you sit up, you get involved int he discussion about what the new raider threat means but add little to the conversation as you are mostly just trying to gage how quickly the doors open and you can get back to eating these walking ready meals.

It isn't long before three guards head out and return with the news that guns were indeed fired around the compound and that the machine shop and a few of the houses were smashed up a little  along with the generator but that little was taken, the general consensus rests with people deciding that it must have been another small community copying raider tactics to get more supplies.

You smile to yourself once more "time for part B" You think as several people apologize for doubting you and the guards stop watching you.
> You part B of the plan
You watch the guards for a time, there are 7 of them and each is armed now however if you split them up, you can easily kill them all so you bide your time until a second team is sent out to investigate the surrounding area for danger. Three guards head out leaving 4 inside and you know it is the perfect chance.

You wander slowly closer, seeing the door just ajar and the kaycard for it round one of the guards necks "So, about trying to prove my innocence here?" You begin as your excuse for walking closer and closer. Once of the guards replies for them all "We will still keep an eye on you but it does look more like a case of bad timing on your part now. Just don't do anything suspicious ok?" He gives you a little grin to signal that it's ok really but it freezes on his face as your fist crushes his windpipe. The others try and grab their guns but they are too late as you lash our at them, knocking them into the walls as you kill them.

It is over is seconds and the four remaining guards lie dead at your feet. One of the humans rushes at you but you simply move too fast for him to stand a chance as you grab him by the skull with one hand and begin squeezing, forcing him to his knees in pain "I am a Harbinger, a Herald of the apocalypse! If you don't know what that means, it means that I am your new God, you can all cower in here while I feast on your dead, if your behave and cower like good prey should, many of you will survive, defy my and this is the result." You squeeze hard and feel the mans skull shatter, brain and blood squirts out as you drop his corpse in front of the others.

You grab the keycard, checking the others to make sure there isn't a copy left inside then head outside and lock the door "And thats my food supply secured!" You laugh  as you find the nearest body to feed on and clear the taste of the horrific human food from your mouth.

> The coming days
You know you are the Alpha predator now, humans are clearly just prey waiting to be eaten. You brought down an entire armed community with a security bunker no less and now you feast on their corpses. You powers are stronger than ever and you can keep pushing them further and further.

Yes, this is right, there is a food chain and simply you are on top. other harbingers might rank second but you are first and the lowly humans are nothing but future meals. You suddenly feel your mind changing, everything becomes clearer, crystallized almost, your vision sharper and your mind more directed. It is as if a filter had been removed from your mind and you can see everything properly for the first time.

Your rightful place in the world, your grandeur, it is all so simple really. You stretch out your senses, easily surpassing all of your previous limits and grab the minds of all the infected you locate, barely having to even think about it, every infected mind you touch, you crush instantly and control.

You sense the three ast humans returning though and laugh "Oh how late to the party, well, you will be my next meal then, I shall eat you while you are still alive so you are as fresh as possible!" Once they are in the compound you sprint right for them. They can't even reach as you move with supernatural speed, knocking each of them flying into walls meters away and killing all but one instantly "Maybe I over did it? Ah well, they are still fresh now!" You look at the last one, pitifully clinging to life before lashing out at its mind with your own.

You can almost see your mental attack, great red flames lashing the mind again and again as it writhes in pain then dies "Ah I can finally affect the normal human minds too, excellent, I truly am a god fit to rule this world."

The next few weeks pass slowly and easily. You take humans from the bunker one by one and devour them until there isn't a single one left in the compound and you set your sights East "You are next oh great Eastern colony, you have enough prey to keep me going for years." You think as you rise and begin you journey
> You journey of death
You have reached the current Journey of Death ending. The second evil ending currently in the game.

Of course this ending gets expanded greatly soon, but I was literally writing these pages a few hours before the deadline so I couldn't get it further along.


You hear the shout going up load and clear "Everyone evacuate, infected in the compound, the gate wa opened!" Then you hear a loud horn going off and every human mind in the compound begins to move "Their guards are lax but they know how to evacuate at least" You start running openly now, no point hiding out if the alarm is already raised.

The next guard sees you coming but realizes you are not a comrade far too late to save himself and he joins the dead. You sense the humans reaching their doors and then the screaming starts. Your dozen shamblers were all placed perfectly to cause the most chaos and you instantly sense several biting and feeding on human flesh. You think about making them rampage but they are slow and they are doing their job so you just leave them to attack and feed as their instincts direct. You feel one getting beaten off and killed, but then you sense a human mind change as you watch it.

You see something like rot spread over it, the glow fading, it seems to fight back but they rot tears away at it until it shatters, leaving a weak rotted husk where there was a vibrant mind moments before "And so it spreads" you say aloud as the new shambler lumbers after what must have been it's family moments before.

You reach one more guard as the gunshots begin and two more shamblers die. This guard is ready for you though with his gun raised toward the compound to shoot the first infected that comes near. You are that first infected and he spins towards you as you rush him, he realizes in time that you are an enemy but you are too close and his shot skims past you, just grazing your side "Claw has spotted some, Centre West wall!" You hear from not far away. The dead guards reinforcements are headed right for you. You sense three below running your way and another along the walkway.

You pull at the nearest shambler and have it go after the three below but they instantly shoot it down and keep coming, the one on the walkway is getting closer too and you only have moments before they see you.
> You attack the guards on the ground, surprise them
You wait until the last second and leap out into the darkness, You can see the humans but know they wont see you clearly until it is too late. You crash into the first one as you land, knocking him to the ground as you punch another hard in the jaw, he doesn't die but you know he will be unconscious for a long time as you spin to the last guard. They fire at you but you are too quick and knock the rifle barrel to the side at the last second before grabbing their head and twisting until you feel their neck snap cleanly and they go limp.

You guard you knocked over cries out and tries to crawl away instead of shooting at you so you simply walk over and stamp on him until his mind vanishes too and you are left with one unconscious guard "Well if he isn't dead, his meat will keep better. I will save him for later."

You can sense the people and the panic now, over half of the shamblers have been killed but so have several humans and a couple even turned and attacked their friends and family before being killed. Then you realize that they are all headed your way "The bunker, they are trying to retreat there now, but I am between them and it, perfect!" You quickly scan for which minds will reach you first when you realize you were ignoring the guard on the walkway. You spin around just as they fire at you and the shot takes you right in the gut.

You stagger back "That wont kill me, but I will tear them apart for shooting me!" You think as you let out a roar of anger and let the hunger drive you after the shooter. You leap cleanly up onto the walkway, ignoring the pain and the blood flowing from your wound, to land right in front of them. You immediately start to swing at them but they didn't hesitate either and their next shot hits you cleanly in the chest moments before your punch connects.

You stagger forwards in an attempt to stay close to they as you realize your punch was weak and they are still conscious and only a little dazed. You take one more step and grab them as your lungs fill with blood and your heart begins beating erratically. You know you don't have the strength left to kill them yourself but you throw yourself forward onto them and are rewarded when you feet their body being pierced by the wall spikes behind them.

You let go and slide down to the walkway in a pool of blood, mixed from your own and the still human guards. "Funny, I can't tell it apart" You think as you fall into blackness


You hear the shout going up load and clear "Everyone evacuate, infected in the compound, the gate wa opened!" Then you hear a loud horn going off and every human mind in the compound begins to move "Their guards are lax but they know how to evacuate at least" You start running openly now, no point hiding out if the alarm is already raised.

The next guard sees you coming but realizes you are not a comrade far too late to save himself and he joins the dead. You sense the humans reaching their doors and then the screaming starts. Your dozen shamblers were all placed perfectly to cause the most chaos and you instantly sense several biting and feeding on human flesh. You think about making them rampage but they are slow and they are doing their job so you just leave them to attack and feed as their instincts direct. You feel one getting beaten off and killed, but then you sense a human mind change as you watch it.

You see something like rot spread over it, the glow fading, it seems to fight back but they rot tears away at it until it shatters, leaving a weak rotted husk where there was a vibrant mind moments before "And so it spreads" you say aloud as the new shambler lumbers after what must have been it's family moments before.

You reach one more guard as the gunshots begin and two more shamblers die. This guard is ready for you though with his gun raised toward the compound to shoot the first infected that comes near. You are that first infected and he spins towards you as you rush him, he realizes in time that you are an enemy but you are too close and his shot skims past you, just grazing your side "Claw has spotted some, Centre West wall!" You hear from not far away. The dead guards reinforcements are headed right for you. You sense three below running your way and another along the walkway.

You pull at the nearest shambler and have it go after the three below but they instantly shoot it down and keep coming, the one on the walkway is getting closer too and you only have moments before they see you.
> You attack the guard on the wall and dodge the three below
You turn and sprint toward the mind coming your way and leap out of the darkness at him. His gun goes off too but again you are not hit as you snap his neck. You stand and begin to run when you hear the shot and feel the impact in your back. You stumble and look behind. The guards below should be too far to see you in the darkness but you realize you had jumped into torchlight when you killed the guard and lit up your actions for everyone to see.

The next shot is followed by a burst from an automatic weapon and you die just as quickly as the guard you had punched.


You slow your pace a little to match that of a normal human's walking and soon your keen eyes pick out a grey smudge below the thin trail of smoke. As you get closer the smudge resolves itself into a large grey wall topped with small spiked railings. The gated community.

You keep your pace slow, you aren't sure if a normal human could have noticed the smoke and walls yet so you play it safe and wait a few more minutes before obviously turning your attention to the wall. You have your shamblers take more care and move slowly closer on either side, you picked up a few more that morning so you have a dozen of them now, 6 on each side.

You look carefully as you approach. The walls are High, maybe 10 foot high and 12 with the railings, the spikes on the top were surely ornamental before but they have been sharpened now into points and you can see men with guns looking over the walls at various points. They are clearly the guards as they are holding guns however they are also clearly relaxed. they probably haven't had any real excitement since the raiders died out a few years back.

You look carefully at them and realize that none of them is actually reacting to you at all. you look around and realize that most of you is covered by farm hedges and gates so that unless they were being vigilant they wont notice you for a few minutes yet. You still have time to decide on your best plan of action.
> You slip off the road before you are noticed, you can easily climb the wall and attack in the night
You slow your pace a little to match that of a normal human to be less obvious and soon your keen eyes pick out a grey smudge below the thin trail of smoke. As you get closer the smudge resolves itself into a large grey wall topped with small spiked railings. The gated community.

You look carefully as you approach. The walls are High, maybe 10 foot high and 12 with the railings, the spikes on the top were surely ornamental before but they have been sharpened now into points and you can see men with guns looking over the walls at various points. They are clearly the guards as they are holding guns however they are also clearly relaxed. they probably haven't had any real excitement since the raiders died out a few years back.

You look carefully at them and realize that none of them is actually reacting to you at all. you look around and realize that most of you is covered by farm hedges and gates so that unless they were being vigilant they wont notice you for a few minutes yet. You still have time to decide on your best plan of action. You now have six shamblers on each side of the Road and two mutants hidden with you on the West

It is not long before you have moved right around to the rear of the little community and see that the walls appear exactly the same the entire way around and that there are guards on every wall. You'll have to wait for nightfall. You spend the next few hours carefully maneuvering your shamblers in closer to the community and snacking on meat strips. "Almost out of meat, seems the more I eat humans, the more the hunger grows. Ah well, a feast is coming soon enough." You begin salivating at the though of eating all the humans in the community in front of you. Your senses tell you that there could be as many as 40 in there.

You will have to improve you abilities to number humans at a distance but for now the numbers match your expectations and you settle in to wait.
> You moonlight attacks
You wait as midnight comes and goes and give the new guards on the walls a couple of hours to get comfortable and sleepy before you make your move. The moon is out in a beautiful crescent, looking every bit like a blade cutting down at the little community ahead of you. The light it provides is more than enough for you to see clearly but you know it isn't enough for the guards who have lit torches on the railings "They have lit themselves up like candles but the light will blind them to my approach!" You think to yourself gleefully as you move closer with the six shamblers near you.

You are within a few metres of the first guard when you realize the problem. You can get over the wall easily but the shamblers will never make it. You hiss at yourself for being so stupid and take a few minutes to send them all round to the ditches near the front gate. You will have to open it to get them inside to fight for you.

You move to a dark spot between the torches and leave your bat and pack against the wall before jumping up incase they banged against somthing and gave you away. You reach the railings easily and swing yourself over in one smooth movement, landing quietly on a wooden platform behind the walls "Smart, they built a little walkway all the way around for their guards" You think as you sneak back towards the guard you were near before. He had seemed extra sleepy earlier, and sure enough, you find him napping.

Two steps into the light from the small torch and you have and hand clamped over his mouth and the other around his throat, crushing his windpipe. It gives way with a pop and you finish him off by snapping his neck. The hunger surges up but you have to ignore it for now. You can feast once you have control of the entire compound.

You start sneaking along the walkway toward the next guard and once more find a sleepy man, relaxing in his chair in the torchlight, you smile to yourself, they had become too lax in the peaceful times after the raiders all died. You once more move in close and before the man even wakes up enough to react you have you hand over his mouth and throat. You clamp down, crushing his windpipe but as you feel it give way, you hear the thump of his heel hitting his chair. You quickly snap his neck but the damage is done and the chair tumbles off the edge and into the compound before you can stop it.

You swear to yourself and you hear the noise it makes but you know it wasn't really that loud, You almost think you got away with it when you hear the next guard calling out "Hey Kiel, you fall asleep again!" You quickly drop to the ground, the guard wont take long to get suspicious when their friend does not reply so you need to get the gates open fast.

You sprint between the houses, luckily finding most quiet and dark and come to the main gate. there are two guards here, one either side of the gateway and they are awake and chatting to each other. But you hear the shout going up. The guard has found the body. "Kiel is dead! we have intruders! help!" You swear and rush towards the gate, leaping up and vaulting yourself onto the walkway behind one of the guards. He saw you coming and tries to raise his gun but you are faster and a punch to the throat sends him stumbling over the wall, only to get impaled on a spike before he can fully fall. the haze of his mind already gone by the time he hits the spike. You run and leap at the second guard, but this one has had more time and you see her with rifle ready. She takes the shot as you leap and you feel the impact in your side. You are certain she just got you cleanly in the kidney as you land and start punching her, not giving her time to work the bolt action for another shot.

She shot you though and the hunger fills your mind with anger as you punch her repeatedly in revenge, even though she was dead after the second hit.. The shouts of humans running brings you back from your rage and you can sense the minds of several humans headed your way. You leap down and wrench the wooden bar off the gate, swinging it open.

"Time for vengeance!" you think as you order your horde inside and lean up against the wall for a moment to stop your own bleeding. You will easily survive this, but it is still not trivial, you will need a few moments to bind it before you move.

You simply order your horde to attack while you tear a strip off your shirt to stuff into your wound when you hear the shots starting and feel your horde reduce in number quickly. You look up to see the humans aren't all carrying bold action hunting rifles or pistols, several have assault rifles and they are tearing your horde apart with ease.


There is no point blowing it by being pushy now

"Ah of course, that is a pretty smart precaution" You begin "But as to my future, you say that as if it involves options?"

Cara immediately replies with a smile "Well of course it does, we aren't keeping you prisoner or anything" she pauses "Anymore" She adds with a wink to which you grin. She then continues a little more seriously "Basically you can join us, or head on your way. I would much rather you came with us though" and you can definitely hear some hopefulness in her voice "Perfect, she completely trusts me, this will be easy now" You think you yourself, smiling all the while.

"Well I would love to join you all, it will be much better than being alone again after what happened." you carefully craft your voice to make sure they understand you are referring to the lost friends you spoke about before and you watch them both immediately react like proper normal humans, putting on their caring faces and trusting you more "Honestly this is too easy, they buy anything I tell them" You think as Cara takes you hand, leading you outside. "Well, you are with us now! She announces "And since you have joined us we can do a quick introduction before we head off to the compound!"

The guards chuckle and wink at the fact you are holding hands the moment you exit the hatch and Cara drops you hand, blushing, but berating the guards for being childish. They are now close together and distracted, but they said you were heading to the compound right now.
> You hold off, they can get you inside a compound full of humans, that is worth the wait.
Leaving them alive for a couple more days to get inside the compound is well worth it, you can eat them after that and once you have a proper plan. Time to keep getting in their good books.

You make the polite small-talk with the guards to introduce yourself and do your best to be as nice as possible. After a few minutes the guards indicate it is nearly time to move and Cara jumps and looks like she is about to leap back through the hatch "Oh, lost track of time, we have to set out soon if we want to make our safe point soon!".

You dodge ahead of her though and offer her your hand to climb back through. She raises an eyebrow and says "oohhh, being a gentleman today" before accepting it and climbing through while the guards chuckle to themselves. You climb through after her, thinking about how to keep in their good books.

Once inside you find her waiting and before you can react she kisses you on the cheek saying "You're very sweet" then spins and heads over to the food bags. You finally catch onto the situation "She is actually flirting with me!" It has been years since you even though about things like that but you are sure now that she is actually flirting with you, a harbinger.

"Well she doesn't know I'm a harbinger, and I did save her life" You look down at yourself "And thanks to being a harbinger I am actually a bit of an Adonis, I guess it makes sense."

Somewhat dazed by the revelation you start helping picking up the sacks to help carry them.
> You starting out for the compound
With you all carrying bags there isn't too much and you make sure you take two of the heavier ones so Cara gets a single light bag to carry, and you know she notices "Well the plan is to stick with them for now and be trusted so this is the easiest way" You think as you all begin walking.

The way is fairly simple as you had guessed, follow the road North for a couple of days and you will see the compound with big obvious walls and smoke above it from the fire pit "We used to be more cautious" Cara explains "But once the raiders were all wiped out it didn't matter so we can make as much smoke as we like!" You smile in response and begin trading stories with her. It seems life out here was very different from the city once the infection had taken hold.

"It was all small communities here" She begins "Farmsteads and walled places like ours were the gathering points. There was so much food grown out here scavenging has never been a problem so people banded together. Sadly some of them for other reasons, The infected were bad at firsts, roving mobs of them dozens strong were seen coming out of the city or down other roads and they would simply overwhelm places without walls or defenses with their numbers. It didn't matter if you shot fifty of them if the last 5 got inside to bite everyone and turn them too." She pauses and seem close to tears when you realize she is speaking from experience.

"Crap what are you supposed to do now?" You desperately try and remember the proper way to act when courting but when you look at her again and the gentle haze of her mind you realize you are moving automatically and you put your arm around her. "Oh perfect, comfort, going to have to really remember what it was like caring about humans for this to work. It's not like hanging around with males just being gruff and defensive the whole time".

Cara instantly smiles when she notices that you dropped a bag to hug her and with a quick wipe at her eyes she jokes with you "You are not supposed to drop fruit and vegetables on the ground you know?" You quickly take your arm away and pick the bag up again realizing that you hadn't even noticed dropping it, but you are thrown off again when she kisses you on the cheek again saying "Thankyou", then as chuckles break out behind you from the men she follows up with a shouted "Shut-up or I'll poison your food tonight!". You laugh aloud with her before she takes up her story again.

"Right, where was I. Well as you guessed that is what happened to my family. Our little community didn't have walls and we were over-run, maybe three of us escaped and ran all night. It was a long way East of here, we were separated by morning and I just kept going until a scavenging team found me living in an orchard alone and I joined 'Safe-Haven'. You immediately give her a look and raise an eye-brow, she sighs before going on "And yes it is a stupid and corny name but it fits ok? Anyway, that was some years ago, right after the city fell. After that the issue was the raiders. It seems that some communities decided that keeping trucks running and using guns to steal from others was better than scavenging. They probably killed more communities than the infected did, the burnt out places South of here were all their work if you saw those. They attacked the weak themselves but if a place was strong like ours they would kill guards in a surprise assault and open the gates just to release infected inside, then return the next day to see if everyone was dead."

"they sound like cowards, if you wish to fight then you can do it with your own strength" You say after a moment, Cara give you a strange look "You're a funny one you know, most people would say how terrible it was to attack other humans bla bla bla but you just called them weak for not doing it themselves." She cocks her head to the side as if observing you differently "You really are interesting!" She gives you a big grin then calls lunchtime.
> You walking talking and eating
The next couple of days pass with the same routine. You walk with Cara chatting and carrying the bag while the other three walk behind you with their own conversation. The going is slow, not because it is difficult but simply because Cara sets a slow pace and no-one else is in any more of a rush to get anywhere it seems so you enjoy the leisurely stroll through the countryside.

Even the food is tasting good, generally normal human food taste terrible and makes you feel like you ate a lump of dirt but each time you stop and eat the food tastes better. The evening of the second night you accidently let speak your thoughts instead of just thinking them "I can't believe this tastes good!" you say as you bite into a bowl of stew Cara had just made. You hear an immediate hiss from the other men and turn to see Cara leaning in close to your face "oooohhhhHHH? surprised that it's good? Surprised that I can cook?"

Whether by luck or design, every hour you spent with Care let you remember more about what being a human was like so you know well enough just how much trouble you had somehow gotten into with your innocuous comment. "I can dig my way out or I can dig myself deeper into a whole, best not to dig myself deeper" You think. but You are not given an option as you immediately hear her saying "I'm waiting?". You panic a little "Crap it's not as if I even insulted her!" You finally try and explain seeing that you had no choice and she was beginning to brandish a knife at your throat.

"No, erm I meant that I haven't tasted anything like this in years, even before the infection. I generally hate eating cos everything tasted like crap in a tin but this was just so good I was surprised it was even possible." You grin weakly and consider having to defend yourself from the knife waving close to your own throat when Cara suddenly grins and sits back down to eat her own food "Good save, I give you that." She announces and the three other men clap in approval. You just keep eating until Chris pats you on the shoulder and whispers 'good luck' before walking away from the fire "I'm checking our safe zone is still secure, if I don't return in under ten minutes, you know the drill. One of the guards gets up and heads off with him.

You finally turn to Cara "Chris and you used to talk a lot but he has kept a little separate since I join up." She keeps eating as she replies "Oh, he isn't jealous, he has a partner back in the community so don't worry about that." She gives you a quick smile before going back to shoveling her food into her mouth "unexpected but I guess good, she though I was checking if she was available, this works out too". "Well that's good then" you say aloud and get another quick smile as the two return and let you know that the current safe zone is still in fact safe.

You are all lead to a very old looking square building with a tin roof and solid looking door "So yesterday it was the second floor of a barn, and today it's a shed, seems like we are going down in the world" You announce and get a couple of smiles as everyone heads inside. Care quickly grabs you arm and leans in close "Don't worry, if you get cold we can cuddle for warmth!" She announces a little too loudly before jumping away again and dropping her bag off in a corner.

You realize you are blushing, so do the two guards who once more chuckle as they secure the door "Stupid chuckle brothers, do you ever actually speak or just chuckle behind people all day long?" You announce, only to send them both into fits of proper laughter. You simply sigh and lie down. Cara does pick to lie close to you but still far enough away to make the message of 'Don't try anything' clear enough. She also makes sure you get the message by telling you "Don't try anything" loud enough for everyone to hear resulting in howls of  laughter again.
> You morning arrival at Safe-Haven
You are awake well before dawn again and check the surroundings for infected but only find a couple of them nearby, both alone and near death anyway. You send them away and realize just how easy it was to do "Seems like my abilities are developing even without use or human flesh." You think to yourself while the others slowly wake up and join you for a breakfast of fruit.

"Right today we reach the community!" Cara announces, immediately followed by Chris retorting "Where we would have been yesterday afternoon if you walked faster." She scowls at him before replying "Well I didn't see you taking the lead or speeding us up did I?" She grabs her bag and swings the door open "come on then!" she shouts as she heads out leading the rest of you to pack everything up and grab your bags to follow her.

You find her waiting outside and clearly in a good mood. she slips her free hand through your arm while she tells you about what to expect "So it's a lovely little walled community, big solid walls and railing around a nice grassy area and pretty houses. It was a kind of rich person 'out of the city house' type thing so everything was very well made and cared for. You should see it any minute now actually on the horizon as we are not far off!" You don't tell her that you can already make out the grey smudge and smoke in the sky from here as you are pretty certain no normal human could. "Sounds lovely" is all you say as she goes on to tell you about certain people and specifically her own home there and how much she likes it and thinks you will too.

You let her talk and make all the right agreeable noises when required while you scan the surrounding are for infected and humans, You can once more Sense a few scattered shamblers but that is about all the infected that seem to be left out here, up ahead though you can definitely sense human minds, the glow of a normal's mind is now totally unmistakable to you. You also suddenly realize that you aren't hungry when you look at it. Normally seeing a human wa enough to make your hunger spike but you haven't felt it in the last two days, even when looking at their energy filled minds.

Then it stirs and you feel it  hiding in the back of your mind again "I guess thinking about it was enough to trigger it again" You think as you do your best to forget about it again as you all close the distance to the compound.
> The Safe-Haven of Safe-Haven
As you get closer the smudge resolves itself into a large grey wall topped with small spiked railings. The gated community.

You keep your pace slow, you aren't sure if a normal human could have noticed the smoke and walls yet so you play it safe and wait a few more minutes before obviously turning your attention to the wall. You look carefully as you approach. The walls are High, maybe 10 foot high and 12 with the railings, the spikes on the top were surely ornamental before but they have been sharpened now into points and you can see men with guns looking over the walls at various points. They are clearly the guards as they are holding guns however they are also clearly relaxed. they probably haven't had any real excitement since the raiders died out a few years back.

You look carefully at them and realize that none of them is actually reacting to you at all. you look around and realize that most of you is covered by farm hedges and gates so that unless they were being vigilant they wont notice you for a few minutes yet.

"Well the wall certainly looks impressive from here, but shouldn't the guards have spotted us by now, I mean we are out on the road?" Care is about to respond when you hear a bell ringing "Wel, they just did!" she announces happily. Now when we get to the gate we are going to be harassed by Boring, we call him that cos it is what he is. Anyway just be polite and he will open the gate, he just likes to act tough to seem like he is in charge." She quickly gives you another kiss on the cheek and says "Now remember I saw you first." Before walking ahead a little so she reaches the gate first.

You are wondering what she was meaning when you hear the call from the gate "Who goes there" and the immediate response from Cara of "Oh shut up Boring and open the gate already!" you just sigh and mumble "so much for being polite" you hear a chuckle as one of the guards passes you and adds "As you have probably noticed, subtle is not really Cara's strong suit. good luck." you nod to him then join the group at the gate holding the bags while the little drama plays out.

By the number of people on the walls laughing you can guess that this has happened before and more than once. You can also tell it isn't serious by the number of them laughing as the man up top repeatedly tries to tell Cara off and explain procedures and rules and that your group is late while she just insults him, calls him boring and tells him to go die because he is so old.

Eventually you are told to prove you have no bites and remove your shirt and give them a turn so they can see, then you hear a female voice whooping at you from the wall and actually feel embarrassed. You get dressed again while you think about how strange it is for you to care about what a human thought. The gates swing open and Cara immediately breaks into the big grin and waves you inside.

As you walk in through the gate you get your first proper view of the little community, apart from the surrounding wall and wooden walkway you couldn't even tell that the world had ended outside. There is a group of nicely laid out houses in the center, a play park, a couple of mechanical looking buildings with tools and machinery inside and even a generator next to them.

The people are the same, clean clothing and all smiling and chatting as if the most horrific decade in human history wasn't still fully underway just past the gate you had walked through. One of the guards hops down behind you and several of the people come over, one is even carrying a toddler. The guard starts introducing everyone and you give short pleasant responses before realizing the thing that was bugging you the most. You look like a hobo, a hobo who had something die and rot on it's clothing recently and everyone around you is clean and well dressed for a rural community.

Your realization and glances at your torn and stained shirt must have registered as one of the women cuts the guard off "Let the man rest and get a change of clothing first before he gets embarrassed!" You are about to object when you hear a whoop from behind you and a female guard from the gate comes running over "I'll help, just wait till you see him with his shirt off!" The older woman tuts at her "Briar, behave yourself!" but she just grins and turns to you "Ok lets get you out of that shirt so I can burn it!". You don't actually feel embarrassed about it and you haven't cared what humans thought for years but you do find it strange that the social conventions still hold such strong sway over you "I wonder if they lingered around in the back of my mind of all this time being nice to Cara has helped them resurface?" You think as you pull your shirt off and hear another whoop from Briar as she takes your shirt and heads off to a fire-pit near the walls. You also get some approving looks from the other ladies and glance down at your perfectly muscled self, "here we go again." you think as you let the crowd of women take you over to a shed and hand you some new clothing and let you change in private.

When you finally come out there is a larger crowd, including men ready to greet you and show you their little community. They take you on a whirlwind tour, showing off everything like proud parents showing off their firstborn child. It is all as you first saw, nice well loved little houses and a couple of old barns used as machine shops, The one thing that catches your eye is at the back. A huge metal door leading into a metal corridor that seems half buried at the back of the compound.

"That's our bunker!" One of the men proudly announces "If everything else fails, we can all live in there for months without any worries!" You make a mental note to check it out.
> You first evening in the haven
You are shown to a house that looks less well kept than the others and are told you can use it as your own "An old member, called himself 'Playa' used to live here, sadly he was on a scavenge when they got attacked, him and his partner never returned so now it's yours." You thank them and head inside, finding yourself automatically wiping your feet as you do so "Oh come on, I haven't wiped my feet in years, what am I doing?" You head upstairs and find a nicely laid out bedroom complete with a full bead "Although I really can't complain about this!" You hop onto the bed and relax "Even better than my van-sofa!" You think as you begin making your plans.

You start by stretching out your senses and trying to count the humans, you find that they are often too close together to count perfectly but at least 30-40 which fits your initial guess. Several act as guards day and night and they have a fair amount of guns including at least two automatic weapons. They also have the bunker but there are ways of dealing with that too. Then you sense one in particular and can immediately tell it is Cara alone in a house nearby "Hmm, I can tell human minds apart now, thats a new development" You think as you drift off to sleep

The morning is still far off when you wake up and automatically scan your surroundings, you see humans asleep all around you and guards un-moving on the walkway behind the walls, probably sleep judging by how lax they were. You also once more immediately sense Cara asleep in her house.

"This place and being with the humans is clearly affecting me, bring up old emotions and issues but I am still a harbinger" You reach out your senses and find you can stretch them a long way before getting a headache and you grab control of all the nearby shamblers, forcing them out of where ever they were and close to the community. Then you pause "I guess there is the other option" You think to yourself as you head downstairs and peek out the windows into the silent night.
> You clear your mind of the stupid thoughts and emotions, you are a harbinger and it is time to kill
You look yourself over and shake your head "I eat humans, I have done for years, this stupidity is just from being forced to spend too much time with them recently and it will end once they are all dead!" You concentrate on getting the shamblers you had controlled closer and finally have six of them grouped up near the gate to get in once you had it open for them.

The guards on the walls still hadn't moved and inch but the ones by the gates might have "So those two might still be awake at least" You think as you plan out your next move. If this place was affecting you like a virus in your brain then you didn't have any time to loose and you had to strike now.

As you decide this it is as if your mind clears a little for you, what does it matter what one of them in named? Male, Female, child? they are all just prey and none of them matters at all. You are a harbinger, a Herald of the appocolypse and caring about humans is beneath you. It is time to feed.


You are shown to a house that looks less well kept than the others and are told you can use it as your own "An old member, called himself 'Playa' used to live here, sadly he was on a scavenge when they got attacked, him and his partner never returned so now it's yours." You thank them and head inside, finding yourself automatically wiping your feet as you do so "Oh come on, I haven't wiped my feet in years, what am I doing?" You head upstairs and find a nicely laid out bedroom complete with a full bead "Although I really can't complain about this!" You hop onto the bed and relax "Even better than my van-sofa!" You think as you begin making your plans.

You start by stretching out your senses and trying to count the humans, you find that they are often too close together to count perfectly but at least 30-40 which fits your initial guess. Several act as guards day and night and they have a fair amount of guns including at least two automatic weapons. They also have the bunker but there are ways of dealing with that too. Then you sense one in particular and can immediately tell it is Cara alone in a house nearby "Hmm, I can tell human minds apart now, thats a new development" You think as you drift off to sleep

The morning is still far off when you wake up and automatically scan your surroundings, you see humans asleep all around you and guards un-moving on the walkway behind the walls, probably sleep judging by how lax they were. You also once more immediately sense Cara asleep in her house.

"This place and being with the humans is clearly affecting me, bring up old emotions and issues but I am still a harbinger" You reach out your senses and find you can stretch them a long way before getting a headache and you grab control of all the nearby shamblers, forcing them out of where ever they were and close to the community. Then you pause "I guess there is the other option" You think to yourself as you head downstairs and peek out the windows into the silent night.
> You send the shamblers away, staying here for a while wouldn't be so bad
You stop and think things through. Your kills were always driven by your hunger, and sure you enjoyed killing and eating humans, but right now you feel no need too. Your abilities have progressed greatly without eating any humans recently and the food Cara has been giving you tastes great and gets rid of the hunger completely.

So what is wrong with staying here for a bit and enjoying things? Sure you are a harbinger and you might not be human anymore but they don't know that and it's not as if you are infectious... You stop. "Am I infectious? It's not as if I went round biting live humans then seeing how they react... No I don't think so, the virus did something strange to change my body but it must have mutated to do that. I should be safe enough." Having decided that you probably aren't infectious after all you settle into a chair and wait for the dawn. watching the human minds beginning to stir and move about their houses.

Once you judge enough people have gathered around where you saw the large fire-pit the night before you head outside yourself to join them and get breakfast. You no longer have the burning driving hunger constantly in your head pushing you to kill, but your stomach still rumbles if you go too long between meals.

Once there you are immediately greeted by several people and a couple of the younger women come over to give you food and chat. You grateful accept the food and try it "Still tastes good" You think as you notice Cara across the fire hacking angrily at her bowl "Erm sorry ladies but I have to run". They try and keep to you you insist that it is important and jog over to Cara to sit beside her.

"Hey, why sitting alone?" You begin and make her jump, she had been so intent on killing her food that she hadn't even noticed your arrival. She quickly recovers and gives you look that you can't tell is happy or angry "I was just eating and you surprised me, anyway weren't you talking to those other girls first?" She looks over to indicate the girls that had been talking to you and is immediately met with three evil glowers, clearly directed right at her. She lets out an "oooo" noise before turning to you "Ok what did you do?" she says wearily.

You think about it for just a second "Honestly I have no idea, they were nice and brought me some food but I saw you sitting here alone so told them I had to go. I mean, they did try and keep me but I told them I had something much more important to... Oh dear" You finish as realization dawns on you. Cara just bursts into laughter then shuffles closer so she can lean against your side "Good choice!" she announces as she sticks her tongue out at the girls glowing at her "Stupid hussies trying to steal my man" she adds mostly to herself.

"Your man?" you ask before you realize it might be something that you should have pretended you didn't hear. Cara immediately flushes bright red and you can feel her entire body freeze up beside you "Oh crap" You think and you are about to try and save yourself when you feel her relax a little and she replies "Well you haven't asked me yet but you have good taste and aren't too stupid so I can wait a day or two more." You let out an audible sigh of relief and hear her chuckling to herself "Only a day or two more?" You start "I understand that your a highly desirable girl but are you saying you have men lined up that I will need to fight off if I take more than a day or two?".

She gives you a cheeky grin "A girl never reveals her secrets so you better just not wait so you don't need to find out!" THen she hops to her feet and heads off.

> You settling into the community life
You don't wait and later that day you and Cara kiss for the first time. The relationship moves on from there as you stay in the little community and more time passes. You keep working on your abilities and find that all your physical skills improve along with your mental ones and you direct any infected you sense miles away from the community of scavenging areas.

You join Cara's scavenging team permanently to protect her and make sure that the community is always well stocked and prepared incase anything does happen. You decide finally to settle down there and stay as a sort of 'resident protector' for the whole community. Cara already announced to everyone that you will be getting married soon despite only being together for a few weeks but you actually have no problem with it and are just going along with it since it makes her happy.

Once you accepted your roll as her future husband and protector of the people in Safe-Haven your mind shifted. You felt your mind changing, as if it was clarifying everything for you. The last remnants of the headaches fade away and your senses, in their fully relaxed state, seem to stretch further, showing more details of those around you and making everything less hazy when you look at minds. As if you had been walking on a frozen lake covered with snow before and suddenly the snow was brushed aside to reveal the solid clear ice underneath.

You quickly test a few other metal exercises and find that before your mental defenses were like random planks nailed over a window and mostly held in place by you pushing on them constantly whereas now the moment you try to put up a defense it’s like a thick wall of pure blue ice forms around your mind, shielding you from all sides.

You push out at shambler minds, only now in range of your abilities and feel you mind moving out like an inexorable glacier, sweeping them away before it. You now know you truly made the right choice, you have full awoken.
> A romance ending in blue
You have found the romance ending as a Blue harbinger! If you do not know what that means, then you need to seek out the other endings hidden in the game as they explain it all!"

*******************************

As with several other endings I have unfortunately had to cut it shorter than I would like due to time constraints but one day in the future it will be extended and completed!


You wake in the morning and realize that once more you slept through the night instead of the normal few hours "Must be the mental training" You think as you test your senses to see what changed while you slept. Sure enough you can feel the infected in the barn more clearly now and with less effort "Two shamblers, one nearly dead and the other near it also in bad shape. Must be trapped in the basement of somthing"  you think to yourself as the humans above you wake up.

Once awake Cara immediately leans down over the bar "Time to wake up! Let's get you out of there!" The man groggily stands beside her, "Are you sure about this?" but she just gives him a disparaging look until he goes to fetch a rope and lowers it down to you, tying one end off on the railing.

You catch it as it comes down and are about to start climbing up when you realize that your arm will be healed a lot further than a normal humans and your makeshift bandage is almost certainly going to be replaced soon, you're going to have to bluff.

You climb up, pretending to be careful of the wounded arm but you secretly put extra strain on it and can feel the wounds tearing open again slightly "Perfect" You think as you climb ove the railing and immediately find yourself receiving a huge hug from Cara. You are taken aback for a moment by the very unusual occurrence and have no time to act before she hops away again "That was for saving my life, I've owed you it!" The she quickly hops out of the hatch, you can see the two men holding rifles greet her as she passes. The man turns to you "Wait here for a bit, we have to finish a quick scavenge then we will all return to discuss what to do with you."

You judge it best not to decide anything while the two men with guns have a clear shot at you and you have you climb through a hatch to get to them so you simply nod and take a seat to await their return.

This gives you plenty of time to think things through. It has not been long but you are already progressing amazingly with your abilities. You are certain you can control infected easily and can sense them coming a long way off and you can sense the presence of humans or 'normals' at an equal distance even if you can't affect them.

Cara trust you and you actually enjoy her company, the man doesn't fully trust you but isn't aggressive either. The two outside seem to be the guards for the scavengers, you have yet to speak to them but you can sense them always nearby the scavengers.

You could of course strike now, Cara trusting you and getting close to you can be used to your advantage, you just need to ge them off guard once when they return and you can take the guards out leaving Cara and Chris defenseless. It would be a little risky but you are certain you could pull it off. On the other hand you really are enjoying chatting with Cara in the evenings and the food they gave you is actually sitting well and taking the edge off your hunger, why not stay with them a bit, at least until you are back to their little colony, you can decide what to do when you are there after all.
> You stay with them for a bit and continue playing nice, you have nothing to loose that way
There is nothing wrong with staying with them for a bit while you still enjoy their company, you can always eat them later if needed.

You turn to Cara when she and Chris are seated

"As to my future, you say that as if it involves options?"

Cara immediately replies with a smile "Well of course it does, we aren't keeping you prisoner or anything" she pauses "Anymore" She adds with a wink to which you grin. She then continues a little more seriously "Basically you can join us, or head on your way. I would much rather you came with us though" and you can definitely hear some hopefulness in her voice to which you smile.

"Well I would love to join you all, it will be much better than being alone again!" Cara gives you a huge smile and takes your hand, leading you outside. "Well, you are with us now! She announces "And since you have joined us we can do a quick introduction before we head off to the compound!"

The guards chuckle and wink at the fact you are holding hands the moment you exit the hatch and Cara drops your hand, blushing, but berating the guards for being childish. You do the quick introductions to the guard but pause as you are heading back in to make a show of offering Cara your hand to help her enter. She blushes again as she accepts and climbs in to the laughter of the guards.

Once inside you find her waiting and before you can react she kisses you on the cheek saying "You're very sweet" then spins and heads over to the food bags. You finally catch onto the situation "She is actually flirting with me!" It has been years since you even though about things like that but you are sure now that she is actually flirting with you, a harbinger.

"Well she doesn't know I'm a harbinger, and I did save her life" You look down at yourself "And thanks to being a harbinger I am actually a bit of an Adonis, I guess it makes sense."

Somewhat dazed by the revelation you start helping picking up the sacks to help carry them.


You need time and safety to train your new talents, wandering recklessly East while still developing is probably too dangerous as you don’t know what is lurking between you and the colony. Heading South would just take you right into the city center and that would be a death wish without better abilities so North is your final option.

You know there used to be small communities in the outlying areas, hamlets and villages that served the farming communities, retirement homes and even some affluent areas for those who no longer wanted to live in the big city. If you look around enough you are sure you will find a nice enough building to make a temporary base, food might be scarce but you can always subside on the infected for a few weeks.

You walk until the next off-ramp leading to a North-bound road and wander down. Looking around you see most of the buildings reduced to rubble, the military must have hit this area harder than others during the defense. “Maybe this was one of the areas they tried to make a stand and bombed the hordes of infected that attacked them” You think to yourself as you walk, but it is unlikely that you’ll ever find out for sure.

 There are not too many infected in this direction but you know if you find a small community that you should find some there to practice on, they never wander too far from where they turned after-all.

By night-time you have left the outskirts of the city behind and begin to see open areas of land a fields, some overgrown with crops of varying types, untended for years, the old clearly defined lines haven given away to a mish-mash of crops invading others fields while weeds and thorns try to choke them all out.

By nightfall you are looking for a likely place to rest and see a few options, in the distance you can make out what looks like a small grain silo, it would take a couple of hours to reach but they usually are made of metal, have small ladders right up to the top where you’d be nice and safe from everything, There is also an old broken down farmhouse nearby and a Barn on the same land. The House was clearly ransacked long ago, the doors are missing, windows smashed and everything looted out of it. The barn seems in better shape, the doors wide open but still intact at least.
> You check out the House, beds are too big to loot right?
You head over to the house to see what might be left behind and are quickly disappointed. The entire place has been ransacked with whatever was left destroyed, you do find human remains in the basement though. "looks like this is where they tried to hide from the infected or looters, had no idea that a single old trapdoor was not a good defense against attackers" You think to yourself as you examine the smashed in wooden trapdoor. This place will be useless for shelter, there isn't a single whole door in the place.

You head back outside and wander over to the Barn, may as well check it now that you are this close, again though you are disappointed. The entire place is also picked clean and the second level where you hoped to rest for the night has been collapsed down onto the floor. This place will be useless for shelter.