"The Great Outbreak" people call it. This was back in a world where technology reigned and everyone was in some way tapped into the digital world (worlds to be specific). Everyone used their implants to interact with everything, payments using digital money (cryptos/cryptocurrencies), starting their car, unlocking their door and even monitoring their health. Heck, I was one of them... But because of my work I had made sure to have safeguards in place and keep an extra layer of security between me and the digital world.
At first no one knew for sure what it was that caused it, the Outbreak was widespread but still seemingly random. Some said it was gods punishment while others blamed the implants. It took a fellow computer programmer to figure out the truth. Someone had managed to introduce a virus on the bigger crypto blockchains: BitCoin, Ethereum, Neo, take your pick, almost every single one of them was vulnerable. The virus, later named "The Phage", could trace the neural implant of the users, access it and trigger an overload which induced a permanent zombie-like state.
I can't image someone would want to create a world of 10 billion zombies, but that is what happened. A mistake maybe?! Overpopulation was a huge problem and maybe someone thought they had found a solution?! Again it doesn't really matter, here we are and just trying to survive. I don't think it really matters who caused it or why but what is important is to deal with the aftermath. At least the zombies aren't contagious, apparently it was a one-time thing, but it is going to take time to cull out 10 billlion of them and sadly they aren't the shambling messes as in the movies. No, think more animal level intelligence with human reflexes and speed, with one goal: raw meat for food.
Contrary to popular culture, all technology doesn't just disappear in a zombie uprising, some stuff is still working, running on solar panels, geo-thermal energy, wind and water power etc... It's a lot less than before but there are some working computers out in the world (even something resembling a global communications network) and radios of course. Those of us alive that still have our neural implants are few but it gives us the ability to remotely access what remains of the digital world. As as source of information there is still no better place.
Most needs have reverted to the basic essentials: food, shelter, work and information of course. Digital money is still a commodity used between digital information brokers but the virus is still out there and the cryptos that are safe to use are few and getting fewer. The largest one to survive being DeepOnion. Being a former supporter of the DeepOnion project (back in it's infancy) I guess I could considered it lucky that I have a sizeable fortune in the currency, which is part of the reason why I am accepted as the leader for this rag-tag group of 5 survivors.
What to do now?! I guess apply my skills, selects as they are, to try and survive in this brave new world that someone has created for us. Maybe there is still room for the skill set of a former computer programmer, even in a world where not much of the digital remains and the dead roam the streets.
Chapter 2 is coming later this week...
