Judging by the rags that clung to the pus seeping from their burst boils they used to be farmhands back when they were still alive. They were an odd find, the plague hit hardest in the cities and apparently never made it as far out as the countryside but the opposing evidence was lurching towards me.
After a couple of hits of our latest downer (think horse tranquiliser on steroids), we had them docile enough to restrain and contain while we took samples. Then it was just a quick and neat beheading, bagging and putting the bastards in the back of our unit before scoping out the rest of the place.
Oozers this far out meant a minor breach at best and at worst our entire food supply was infested and we were doomed to a slow death. Our first point of call was the nearest building where we found infected cattle - a whole herd swaying just like the human oozers do, almost sliding against each other for all the pus they were leaking.
They didn't seem attracted to our scent but there was enough dried blood and missing pieces to assume they'd been after each other. It's interesting to think the plague can jump species but the variant them seems to self-contain within that species rather than endlessly branching out and causing humans to attack cows to attack rats etcetera.
As there was no immediate threat we just locked the doors and carried on to the next building in search of the originator. Dispatch advised they'd take care of the herd and cull any others within a 10km range just to be on the safe side.
By 1800 we'd completed the search of the farmhouses and surrounding fields and found no evidence of the infection coming from the quarantine zone. Current research indicates contaminated rainwater, an airborne variant or spontaneous reactive infection.
After a couple of hits of our latest downer (think horse tranquiliser on steroids), we had them docile enough to restrain and contain while we took samples. Then it was just a quick and neat beheading, bagging and putting the bastards in the back of our unit before scoping out the rest of the place.
Oozers this far out meant a minor breach at best and at worst our entire food supply was infested and we were doomed to a slow death. Our first point of call was the nearest building where we found infected cattle - a whole herd swaying just like the human oozers do, almost sliding against each other for all the pus they were leaking.
They didn't seem attracted to our scent but there was enough dried blood and missing pieces to assume they'd been after each other. It's interesting to think the plague can jump species but the variant them seems to self-contain within that species rather than endlessly branching out and causing humans to attack cows to attack rats etcetera.
As there was no immediate threat we just locked the doors and carried on to the next building in search of the originator. Dispatch advised they'd take care of the herd and cull any others within a 10km range just to be on the safe side.
By 1800 we'd completed the search of the farmhouses and surrounding fields and found no evidence of the infection coming from the quarantine zone. Current research indicates contaminated rainwater, an airborne variant or spontaneous reactive infection.
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