They all had been human at one point and then something changed, the air changed, then the world changed and they changed. The human race had been destroyed by chemical warfare on it's own soil. Except the humans didn't die, they were transformed into these creatures and they roamed the world in pain and torture. They were in their own personal hell and no one knew it. There was no cure for what they were. They were not only in Chicago, but worldwide. Just wandering the world, hoping they could be turned back into normal human beings. This transformation only affected the humans their phenotype. When people saw them, all they saw were monsters and things that would infect the world even more. They were not humans anymore, they were alive to an extent. If you shot them with lead bullets they would die and finally be at peace. So they flocked to places where they thought crowds of people would be. The term 'people' was not just used for humans. There were other beings in this world that walked and talked on two feet and roamed the world as well. When these creatures, the 'chemical zombies' gurgled or roared. They were talking to the other chemical zombies. That is how they communicated. They were faster and stronger now, they all had been weak when they were just humans. But what would you give up for such powers? Your life? That is what happened here. There had been one chemical zombie that tried to fight it's transformation but it failed and he had to give into the form. Death was a lot more merciful than living like this for the rest of your life. Maybe someday there would be a cure for what they were. Why there had been a chemical bomb dropped on Earth, no one would ever know.
Maybe beings from another world saw them as a threat. There had been proof of aliens visiting earth since the 1950's. Maybe they finally got sick of Earth's bullshit. There really wasn't evidence of that. Yet. Right now it was simply speculation. The chemical zombies were on the move, they were moving in groups and they were very hungry. They couldn't find anything in the city, it seemed like whomever was still in the city had gone into hiding. That was fine. When the people in the city would go out for food and supplies. That is when the chemical zombies would strike and gobble these people up. It was a zombie-eat-people world out there and the chemical zombies were not the only creatures in the city. Even though they were grossly mutated chemical beings, they could still sense presences and they knew when other creatures were around them and there was something in the sky, it was circling them like a vulture. Was it going to strike them? They looked up to the sky and then scattered in different directions to distract whatever was in the sky. It wasn't a good time to be a chemical zombie.
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The creature in the sky had caught Amelia's attention and she looked up at it. What the hell was it? Something that was going to deliver more hellish creatures to Earth? They didn't need that. She didn't need that. The world didn't really need that, it was fucked right now anyways. She still had her mind on finding a weapon to defend herself with. She watched the group of chemical zombies scatter. So whatever was in the sky had scared the zombies. That was an interesting development. She could use this to her advantage right now. Running around on foot was a pain in the ass, she was still in one of the alleyways. For some reason they didn't like to go into the alleyways. So this was her safe space for a few minutes. She needed to find some sort of form of transportation. Her feet hurt like hell and she had only been running a few hour. She walked out of the alleyway and began slowly walking around. She was looking for something and then she spotted it. A motorcycle. That's it. It would make her getting around a little easier. She mounted the bike like it was a royal steed and thankfully the keys were still in the ignition. Whomever had this bike had probably gotten vaporized or something.
Amelia closed her eyes as she started the bike. "Whatever happened to you. I'm sorry." the engine had roared to life and this made getting around a little easier, she made sure the kickstand was up before she speed off into the distance. She was looking for a place called Hoffman's Gun Supply. It was where all the good guns were, it is where her father got all of his hunting shit. To thin about it, she hasn't seen her father since all this chemical zombie shit had happened. She really hoped he was okay, he had to be. He was the one that taught her how to survive and there was no way he could be dead or gone. She finally made it to Hoffman's and parked the bike in front of the store and it looked like the store had been hit pretty hard, busted out windows and the door had been ripped off it's hinges. Yeah, fucking great, she got off the bike and walked into the store. As she entered the lights started to flicker on and off.
There was enough light in the store for her to see what was there and there wasn't much there. She did see a crossbow sitting on one of the glass cases and she grabbed it and looked around the store for a few more minutes and then she noticed a full quiver of arrows behind a wall of glass. She balled up her fist and hit the glass. The glass shattered into a million pieces and she removed the quiver of arrows carefully and slung it over her shoulder and walked out of the store and got back on the motorcycle. Now she could defend herself.