One morning on a cargo ship off the coast of Miami, where a group of people that have survived terrible ordeals had found a safe place to live out the rest of their lives. One survivor named Annabel, a former reporter, walks onto the bridge of the ship. "Hi Fade, I found this video camera in the cargo hold," she says, "And I was thinking about going around to everyone and getting down their stories on how they survived." The man in his late 20's standing over the navigation charts turns around. He is 6'2", hazel green eyes, short curly brown hair, and caramel skin, the only give away to his Hispanic heritage. Wearing a black combat military suit his large stature caused many to feel intimidated in his presence, Annabel being one of them.
"Why would you do that? Some people want to forget what they've been through," he replies.
"I know but, if we allow ourselves to forget the past it leaves a chance for history to repeat itself," she explained "and since you are the one who brought us all together I thought that you could be the first, and then others might agree as well."
Fade proceeded to let out a long sigh and run his fingers through his hair. "That maybe, but I want you to ask anyone if they want to participate before you start recording them. I don't want this coming around and biting me in the ass," he replied. Annabel started to set up the camera when Fade stopped her and said, "I'm too busy to do it right now, how about tonight in my quarters. Why don't you try Ishtar in the mean time?" Everyone in on the bridge started to let out a snicker at what he said.
"Sir, you know better than anyone that she barely says two words a day, and they are to you, I've never heard of her even talking to anyone else" she explained.
"That is exactly why I'm sending you to her, she needs to learn to interact with other people. If I happen to die she needs to learn to trust others," he replied. She started to mull over what he said to her while she packed her equipment. As she started to leave the bridge she looked back to Fade and thought to herself, "He mustn't be as bad as he leads people to believe if he is thinking about a loner like Ishtar." As she walked off of the bridge she couldn't help but smile to herself a bit as she closed the hatch behind her. As she walked around the ship she started to think he was wrong about her ability to get Ishtar to talk, she also started to wonder why some people she had run into had these weird names, "They must have thought that there was no point in being called a name that reminded you of a past you wanted to forget. I wonder if that's why even Fade changed his name, I wonder what the story is behind his name change."
As she walked on she stopped in the ships mess hall suddenly aware that she had no idea where to find Ishtar on the ship, she didn't even know where the kid's room was. A group of girls sitting down at a table waved at her in hello, she was waved back as she made her wat to them. "I was talking to Fade on the bridge and he told me it was alright for me to go around and get people's stories," she said proudly to her friends. They sat there with looks of disbelief until her friend Bloom asked, "So he just gave his ok without any strings attached?" This caused her to cough up the water she was just drinking. She glanced away from her friends with a look of annoyance before telling them that he asked her to interview Ishtar first. She just shook her head lightly as her friends started to fall over themselves in laughter. "I have looked almost all over the ship and still haven't found her. I don't even know where she's bunked," she says to her friends with a look of disappointment on her face. "I heard a rumor that she stays in the captain's quarters with Fade," mentions Aqua, "Of course it is only a rumor since she doesn't talk to anybody." Annabel thought about what aqua said for a moment before realizing, "That is actually the likeliest place for Ishtar to be since she would only talk to fade." So she waved good bye to her friends and started to make her way to her assigned bunk to wash up before dinner.
When Fade got back to his quarters he jumped into the shower, he finished to find Ishtar there laying in her bunk reading another book she must've picked up from their last trip to the city. "Did you sanitize the book before you brought it on board," he asked Ishtar as he finished getting dressed. All she did was turn her back to Fade and faced the wall without ever saying a word. He just sighed and said to her "How long are you going to be like this? I know it's only been little more than a month since they died, but you have to talk to someone at some point. I won't be around forever and you'll need friends to survive in this world." She just continued to stare at the wall as if she was expecting it to suddenly change color. "Did the reporter talk to you?" Fade asked Ishtar as he sat down next to her, this caught her attention but she just shook her head. Fade reached out and patted Ishtar on the arm as he said "why don't you sit up and let me brush your hair while I tell you, she is going to come over later so you know."
She sat up next to him as Fade reached over to his desk to grab the brush, as he started brushing her hair he told her, "She will be going around taking down peoples stories about what they went through. Some people feel that if they can share their stories, their fears, with other people. That it may help relieve some of their own worries. I believe that is the reason she is going through all this trouble to try and get as many people as she can to tell her their stories. Although, I don't know whether she is doing it to help herself or everyone else." As he finished brushing her hair and putting it in a ponytail he thought back to when his hair was long. It took some lotions and conditioners to keep it under control, once Zero-day hit he didn't want it to get in his way so he cut it without hesitation. But he liked Ishtar's fiery red hair so he didn't mind going through the extra trouble of getting things for her hair. There was a knock on the door snapping him back to reality, "come in" he answered. As he began to stand in walked Annabel. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything," she said as she made her way in. "Not at all, I was just trying to get Ishtar's hair under control" he replied. Annabel noticed a quick glance Fade made to Ishtar in a caring manner, she made a note of that in the back of her mind. Fade then proceeded to usher Annabel into the empty chair at the table. "There doesn't seem to be enough chairs for everyone" Annabel mentioned. "That's fine, we're going to sit on the bed" he said as he took his seat next to Ishtar on the bed.
Annabel nodded her head in acknowledgment as she started to set up the camera on the table next to her, making sure that she could get the faces of both of them on the camera. "Who would like to start first" said Annabel as she took a glance at Ishtar. Ishtar just then buried her head in Fades chest, "I was thinking that I should start off first and let Ishtar jump in when she's comfortable" he told Annabel. She nodded her head before hitting record on the camera, and then said into the camera, "I have Fade and Ishtar with me today. They will be telling us about the different things they saw and experienced since zero-day in a series of sessions. We will be beginning with Fade first. Tell me, if you can, when was the first time that you noticed the infected?" Fade laid up against the wall and put his hands behind his head before he said, "It was late fall and the cold had yet to come down, I was living in a small town a few hours north of Orlando. To people driving by on the highway it didn't look like much but woods and farms, but to those of us that lived there it looked like it was becoming a Florida version of silicon valley with bio-tech companies settling in. I had just moved into my new house so I had decide to stay home that weekend to finish organizing everything, turning off my cell phone so I wouldn't be disturbed. I lived out of town and introverted, so I was used to not having contact with others for days. Little did I know that my friends and family where calling me known stop wanting to know where I was. Don't get me wrong, they knew where I was living, but none of them wanted to take the chance of getting killed just to see if I was alive."
As Fade shifted on the bed, Ishtar snuggled closer to lay her head on him and for all appearances sake, feel to sleep. As Fade petted Ishtar's head he continued, "I was so enshrouded in cleaning and organizing everything that the weekend flew by without me noticing a thing. Of course it didn't help that I was drinking and playing games. On Monday morning as I was driving to work I noticed a few cars alongside of the road but there were always at least one or two cars on the side of the road so I didn't find it usual so I just kept on driving through town to my job on the other side." "What did you do for a living Fade?" asked Annabel. "I worked in research and development for a robotics company," he replied," that is how I was able to do a lot of stuff to stay alive."
Just then Ishtar got up and muttered something that sounded like "bathroom", before shuffling out of the room. "She still has a hard time letting go of the past and moving on, I understand she is a 10 year old child. But I fear that if she does not rid herself of this soon, it will burden her for the rest of her life," he told Annabel. He relocated himself to a sitting position before continuing his story, "If I remember I was just getting to town when I started to notice that things where way off. I saw splotches of some dark liquid all around, and as I drove further into town things started to get more horrific. Crashed cars, looted stores, blood and bodies everywhere. As I started to get ready to make a u turn and go home I noticed that people were walking up the road from where I had just driven thru. Curiosity told me take get out of the car and ask about what I had just seen, but another part of me said to keep driving because the road home was thick with them. I couldn't decide so I just sat there in the car, waiting, watching." He stopped and got himself a cup of coffee from the table before sitting back on the bed and taking a sip before continuing his story.
"As I sat there watching them getting closer, I started to pick out little details about the people walking towards me. Some looked like they were missing arms, one looked like its leg was bending the wrong way. It wasn't until I saw a little girl with her throat ripped out that it hit me, these people were crazed," he said as Ishtar came into the room. She went ahead and laid back down on her bed. "If you don't mind, did you and Ishtar know each other before all this?" Annabel proceeded to ask. Ishtar rolled over to face the wall as Fade said, "No, we didn't meet until later. In a way I feel responsible for what happened back then."
"Now where was I, oh, after I came back to my senses I decided to hide at my job because I remember they had back up power, and everything I would need to stay safe. Access to the R&D labs was highly restricted so they separated it from the rest of the building. It had scanners on every door, with shatter proof glass," he told her, "I knew that on the way was an elementary school and remembered in the back of my mind about how schools are emergency meet up locations. I decided to stop by it to see if there was anyone there. It took me a few minutes to get there, but when I did I grabbed a machete and crowbar I had in the trunk. I took in my surroundings one more time before I made my way to the entrance." "I think in those first few days nobody thought about saving others, just themselves," Annabel commented, remembering all the people she left behind. "In a time of great peril everyone adheres to the rule of nature, survival of the fittest," Fade replied hoping this might bring her some comfort.