
The Infected humans have since undergone a strange mutation by a specialized strain of cordyceps. Over time, the host's facial and physical appearance changes from how typical people look prior to infection. The infection causes fungal growths that make their faces completely unrecognizable. At later stages, their body begins to bulge, and more fungi growths can be seen on their skin. They may be eventually killed by the fungus, at which point their corpses will begin producing infectious spores. Their teeth are horribly rotten and jagged.
Upon becoming Infected, the victims eventually lose any ability to think and begin to behave irrationally as the fungus spreads in the brain. Relying on instincts, the Infected will attempt to throttle any human they find. Humans can become infected through bites, scratches, and by inhaling free-floating spores in the air that are released by deceased infected.
As the fungus grows, it gradually makes the host blind. They then develop echolocation to locate prey, which results in them making a distinctive clicking sound. After some time, the fungus will kill the host if too damaged, usually in a closed-off space so the fungus can spread further.
The Infected, while having a higher pain tolerance than ordinary humans, still have a vulnerability to injury. A Runner, when not attacking survivors, will moan in pain due to the fungal growth deforming its body. Clickers will occasionally struggle while being attacked from behind, showing extreme sensory awareness. Sometimes the ones that still have their entire faces intact look sad or worried as they attack others. This may indicate that first and second stage infected are aware of what they are doing, but they can't control themselves. Gunshots are capable of startling an Infected individual, so it's likely they feel fear just as any ordinary person would.
The first reports of the infection occurred in the city areas in the south (as heard from Tommy). Individuals who worked in the cities were the first few to be infected. Once infected, the fungus will travel up to the victim's brain. Once this happens, fungus will start to grow out of the victim's face. It was stated in the "Hush" development trailer, that at a certain point in an infected's life cycle, when it feels it is close to death, it will find a dark corner to die and then the fungus grafts to the environment. When the body dies, it becomes skeletal and brittle as the fungus continues to grow and is capable of releasing infectious spores. It is also known that the dead can't be infected. It has also been stated that the people in the quarantine zones are relatively safe because the fungus needs tightly closed areas to spread. As well as being spread through spores, the infection can be spread through bites.
The group called for the return of all branches of government to end the military's rule; support from the public increased when soldiers executed six Firefly members. The Fireflies were successful in overthrowing several quarantine zones such as the one in Pittsburgh, but none had the desired results.
The remaining Military is controlled by FEDRA, the remnants of the U.S. government after the worldwide outbreak of CBI.
INFORMATION
As you may or may not have noticed already, this role-play will be centered around the 2013 Ps3 exclusive release of "The Last of Us". The game itself centers around the characters of Joel and Ellie as they chase down the fleeing fireflies in hopes of bringing Ellie who is immune to the fireflies scientists in order to extract a cure. However, in this specific role-play, we will be changing 'history' by going back just 15 years after the infection, 5 years since the creation of the fireflies. The group is strong and morale is high as they successfully capture the Pittsburgh Quarantine Zone from the brutal, corrupted remnants of the US Military. From here, the Fireflies branch out, sending men and women who wish to die for the cause out across the country, locating and destroying any military personnel or those who simply get in their way. In order to win the war over the military and fine their cure, they must be just as brutal as those who they fight.
In this role-play you will pick from one of the two factions from above and fight along their ranks for what you believe in, or simply because you were told to do so, or maybe because you need the extra rations for your family; that is for you to decide.
The rules for this role-play are simple and the same as any other well-made RP, if you do not know which these may be referring to, perhaps this is not the role-play for you. I ask that posts be kept at the minimum of two detailed paragraphs, with the exception of some dialogue situations, as I realize you can not and do not feel like writing out two paragraphs to give a two word answer. I only ask that these posts be more than just a simple one-liner, or a simple phrase in a set of quotes.
The reason that this RP is SEMI-OPEN is because I am only accepting (1) those who I invite and (2) those who fit the role-playing standards of this RP.
*Please don't use pictures from in-game characters unless they are random and not pertaining to the story line, keep things original.




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