text: A quiet ringing wakes you at first light. "Huh a near silent alarm, smatter than a loud one I guess." You say to yourself as you get ready. You glance through your bag. They had left your last few strips of dried meat in there so you start chowing down on one as you head out. They said you had a few days to decide what you'd be doing but if you chose to stay more than that, then you would have to be useful to them in some way, guard duty and scavenging seemed to be the implied option. You had some time though.
  > enlist with the stadium guards
  You head to the shack that was pointed out as the Captain's room and are about to knock when you find the door open and the man already up and looking at a map of the local city area, he gives you a quick glance before going back to studying the map.
  
  "Made a choice already, most people take a day or two to see if they like it here?"
  
  You think carefully, but the choice is fairly simple for you now. "Yep, been living alone for far too long now and let's face it, food is getting short. Joining up here and working as a guard and scavenger gives me a much better chance at a steady food supply for the near future and I can sleep safer at night. It's a no-brainer really."
  
  He gives you another glance before calling in one of the guards you recognize from the day before.
  
  "We have a new recruit, get him kitted out and test him on weapons, you can start taking him out on missions. Unarmed until he passes his weapons handling, then he can have a rifle."
  
  You are lead away and the next couple of days pass quickly as you head out on some very close scavenging missions, It's the 5th day when you get your first real opportunity. You are sent out with three others to scavenge from an old store that the Capt. doesn't think was totally cleared out yet. You wern't doing so great on the provided food and you thought that this might be the first opportunity for a proper meal in a while. Most surprisingly however, you think you might be adapting to their rations but it's too early to tell.
  > mission 1
  You all head out quietly about an hour after dawn and make your way through the main streets, you don't have a gun like the others but you do have your bat which you trust a lot more, using it doesn't cause enough noise to call others to you after all.
  
  "I heard you guys had originally cleared this place out of infected?" you whisper to the nearest guard.
  
  He thinks for a moment before replying. "We had, but then that thing lead hundreds more to us, and what with all the ones bitten again when the walls fell...  well let's just say it's not as safe as it used to be. Seems the vaccine doesn't always work too well against direct exposure either, only the airborne strains, some people are immune but others turn right after getting bit."
  
  You file this information away for later and keep a look-out since you're nearing the store now and the leader is speaking up.
  
  "Right it's go time, two for the front, two for the rear."
  
  The front is visible, it's fairly open and all the large windows are broken giving easy access and sightlines. The rear must be through one of the alleyways you glimpse to the side.
  > front?
  You don't feel like alleyways today so you raise your hand for going in the front. The leader nods. "You're with me then, we all meet in the middle of the store once we check all entrances are clear." The other two men head off for the alley leading round back as you carefully approach the front door.
  
  Since you are unarmed you pull the doors open and jump back to give your partner a line of sight but there is no sign of movement so you both slip inside.
  
  The store was some old grocery and drug store combo, it has been mostly cleared out but it was done in a rush and there are still useable supplies on the shelves and floor if you sort through it. You and your partner begin to check the aisles more carefully when you hear the shot coming from the back of the store and you see the other two men stumbling in the back door, slamming it shut behind them.
  
  The first thing you notice is that one is clutching his arm and his has a large gash out of it. "It was under some trash, it didn't move when we poked the bags or anything but after we went by and were trying the door it suddenly lurched up and grabbed me; bit me before, before I knew, before." He stops and winces in pain, dropping his gun.
  
  Red sirens begin going off in your head. "His speech! He's Going!" you practically shout.
  
  Your partner swears and glances around, we have to move NOW! Grab what you can and start running, I'll finish him off then follow with my bags once I know for sure he's turning.
  > follow orders, grab tins and run
  You and the other guard grab what food and bags you can and start running as fast as you can away from the store, about a minute later you hear a gun shot, you glance behind you, the store is out of sight already but you see shamblers coming out of a couple of the alleyways  headed that way. You pause, considering going back when your new partner grabs your arm. "No time, they are ahead too, Gorramit, it's like it was a bloody trap!"
  
  You see that he is right, a couple of shamblers are already on the road ahead, two of them you can run past easy but if more come, then there will be trouble and there are already more than a dozen you can see behind.
  
  You keep running.
  
  You finally come within sight of the stadium and just have time to notice what you thought was a light in a nearby window before starting to climb barricades to get back to safety. Seems like the shamblers were more intent on the loud noise than chasing you at least.
  
  Once inside you let your partner do the talking, no-one blames either of you and you're given the next couple of days off to recover before the next mission which goes smoothly.
  > life as a guard
  The next few missions go a lot smoother and there are no casualties, your physical condition gives you advantages over some of the others and you become a fairly popular scavenging partner. You actually begin enjoying living there and even feel like you have begun to properly adapt to their rations and pass your weapon handling so can take a gun with you, though you still prefer the trusty bat for shamblers.
  
  Life goes pretty well for another week or two and you even think that settling here might not be so bad after all even if that wasn't close to your intent when you first walked in the doors.
  
  Sadly things do not last that way for long.
  
  It's barely been a month since you arrived in the stadium ruins when the scavenging team fails to return. They decide to send a larger squad after them so find out what happened and ask for volunteers.
  > raise your hand
  You've been a great scavenger so far so people are not surprised when you volunteer and your team of 8 men sets out, heavily armed and ready. Everyone walks in a grim silence on the way. Loosing people is always a possibility but it's still rare, apart from the two lost on your first time out there hasn't been an incident in 3 months so losing an entire team has shocked everyone again.
  
  You walk quietly holding your gun at the ready, noisy but since everyone else will be firing it will be more effective than the bat you think.
  
  Once close the leader raises his hand. "Teams of two, always keep at least one other team in sight and call out all strange sights or sounds instantly, got it?"
  
  You all nod and split up as you enter the large store front, it used to be glass but with all the windows smashed you can walk right in wherever you want. You've gone with the other survivor from the first mission, seems that having everyone else die in your team makes a bond.
  
  It's only a few seconds before you hear the first call go up from one aisle to your left, the one to your right a few seconds later, glancing through the empty shelves you see the teams hunched over something, moving forward past some upturned trollies you also make a find a call it out. Seems like all members of the other team have been found. Well, what remains at least.
  
  The rest of your team converges on the three groups that found something. "Looks like they got swarmed here, torn to pieces before they could put up a real fight, only a few shells on the floor." One of the men says
  
  Something clicks in your brain and you suddenly turn to your partner. "Remember the first mission; you said it was like a trap? We have to get out of here right now, we have to run!"
  
  The other men hear and you can see it on their faces that they all agree, you all grab the fallen weapons and run to the front of the store but you find the street in either direction already full of infected, and not just shamblers, you're pretty sure you see some fast ones there too, almost dancing on the spot with repressed energy, wanting to charge you, but they don't.
  
  From a window across the street you see an old man call down to you. "Greetings new survivors of the stadium!"
  
  One of the men instantly reacts, "YOU! You're the Harbinger! We let you in right before the attack happened!" He tries to take aim with his rifle but the man seems to move faster than he has any right to and vanishes from sight, you can still hear him though. "Indeed I have been called that many times before, although I won't be by you again, sadly my pets here need a little food before I take out the rest of your little stronghold. I'd love to turn a few of you but feeding the current army comes first you know!"
  
  The infected rush you, the men get off several shots but they are quickly overwhelmed by the fast ones and the shamblers close in.
  
  You know there is no hope when you see them coming through the store too and take a running jump to catch the awning hanging high over the door, you easily make the high jump and are pulling yourself up to get away across the roof before you feel an impact in your back and lose your grip, falling to the pavement below.
  
  "Oh dear, you are a spry one, normal men shouldn't have made that jump so easily but no matter!" you hear the old guy laughing as you get torn to pieces.