<> The footage blinks on and focuses on the face of a man in his mid-20’s. A yellow square appears around his face, disappearing and reappearing every few seconds in line with his motion. “Is this thing working now?” Hhe says with an exasperated sigh. “Let’s have ourselves a look.” Muffled scrapes are heard as the camera is lifted and pans around a small apartment. “Seems to be working alright.” He says, before the footage blinks off. <<████ █████ AND ████████ █████████ WILL BE REFERRED TO AS 01 AND 02 RESPECTIVELY>> [02: “For the record, Subject is Edward Johnson and will be referred to as Edward for the duration during which we view and monitor this footage. The footage is split into 5 total parts, and each part will be viewed separately. Did I forget anything █████?” 01: “We should probably state Edward’s file for the record as well.” The shuffling of some papers is heard. “Edward Johnson, male, age 26. Occupation, an editor for ████ ███████, and a part time novelist on the side. Parents deceased, no siblings, no significant other, medical Emergency contact is an aunt that lives in ████████. Edward was diagnosed with schizophrenia in the months prior to incident 006, and his psychiatrist, a Dr.█████ recommended an experimental treatment utilizing a video camera. Edwards psych file is too long to read for the transcript here but…” the intake of breath is heard “…he seemed to have been plagued by visions of his parents and childhood experiences. The camera will detect faces and place a yellow square over them, ideally allowing Edward to distinguish reality easily. Edward is currently missing, and presumed dead following incident 006” 02: “Thanks ████, starting the next footage now.]All Tracker Networks The cam switches on, and is placed in a pocket presumed to be on the left of Edwards chest. Muffled sounds can be heard as Edward presumably put on his shoes, followed by darkness as a coat is applied over his shirt. A few moments later keys jingle and a door opens, and Edward steps outside, locking the door behind him. The sound of wind rustling the camera is accompanied by the sound of gravel crunching. A car beeps as it unlocks nearby, and a car door opens, followed by more rustling as Edward presumably gets inside. The car starts and gravel crunches under the tired as Edward leaves his apartments parking lot. Several minutes of driving and traffic can be heard before Edward leaves the car, and the camera is finally uncovered. Edward takes a deep breath and moves pans the camera back and forth across a vibrant supermarket. Yellow rectangles quickly begin to flash onto the screen, highlighting the faces of the dozens of customers. Edward places the cam back in his front pouch, though the lens is still unobscured. What follows is several minutes of Edward putting groceries into a squeaky metal cart without interruption. [02: Can we fast forward through this? It's just a guy going through his regular, ordinary day. 01: We could, our objective is to see if we can determine the whereabouts of any of the key individuals found within these recordings. 02: I really sincerely doubt he’s hiding in a grocery store that, at this point has probably been demolished, in fact- 01: You-You’re probably right. I doubt it would do any harm.] <> [01: Hold on there were some weird audio spikes during that drive home, go back.] The footage is rewound until moments after Edward gets into his car. The camera focuses on an empty passenger seat. “You aren’t here dad; my car is empty right now. The camera tells me so.” Edward proceeds to leave the car park, heading home. “Maybe I actually DO trust this camera more than I trust you. Maybe you should just leave me alone!” Edward shouts at his vacant passenger seat. “N-no dad, I’m sorry, I don’t want to wake mom. I won't yell again.” He says, continuing a one-sided conversation with his hallucination. “But you aren’t real.” He mutters under his breath “and if I ignore you, you’ll go away”. Judging by the silence that follows his method works, as he heads home without further incident. As he heads inside his apparent layout becomes clearer. A 3-room loft consisting of a kitchen, a main room, and a bathroom. The main room contains a bed and beside it, a large mahogany desk. Above the desk an assault rifle with a black and green tiger stripe pattern sits on display, and a full military uniform sits in a display case beside the desk. A pair of dumbbells sit beside a desk chair. The camera is placed on a bedside table, the desk still in frame. Edward wanders off camera, putting groceries away in the kitchen. When he comes back, he seems to have forgotten about the camera, and sits down at his desk, where he gets to work. He curls the dumbbells while working, switching which hand writes and which hand lifts intermittently. After a few minutes he realizes his mistake, and reaches out for the camera, shutting it off. [01: That is what remains of pre 006 incident footage from this device. All further footage is filmed during the incident. For commentary on the footage we have General ███████████. Welcome General. <> G3: Thanks, and call me ████, please. 01: Sure thing ████, can you provide any information on incident 006 prior to our viewing of the next tape? G3: Only that this seems to be taken about two days after our first sighting of the being which orchestrated incident 006. We sighted the being who became known as ‘Prophet’ some 43 kilometers away from the city, on foot. First contact with The Prophet resulted in the loss of 4 highway police and 2 further city responders before a response force from 1st battalion of the 38th division moved to engage them. During the engagement some 1,200 rounds were expended and we took another 7 casualties. The Prophet appeared immune to conventional weaponry, including grenades and 20mm shells. The response force retreated to the city after this, and waited for further orders. Keep in mind that incident 001 was covered up until this point, and while we were on high alert from when incident 002 occurred in █████ ██████, we weren’t prepared for incidents 003 through 008 to occur simultaneously. Under the circumstances I believe we operated the best we could. 02: We aren’t attacking you or your men General, this isn’t a hearing. Our job is to view these tapes and ascertain the location of those within, especially The Prophet. G3: Of course, of course. Forgive me. Shall we continue?] The cam turns back on, much a recreation of the first one. Edward heads on another grocery run, following the same route and routine. The weather outside is a stormy grey, but the wind is oddly still. Upon Reaching the supermarket the camera is pulled out again, however the supermarket is quite different. Concrete barriers have been erected around the sides, and a pair of armoured vehicles sit at the entrance to the parking lot. “Well at least I’m not hallucinating…” Edward mutters to himself as the camera places several yellow rectangles around the faces of the clearly armed soldiers that patrol the perimeter. A long pole covered in speakers is being erected next to a black command vehicle near the entrance to the store. Edwards phone begins to let out a high-pitched scream, and the radio lets out a deafening squeal. “ATTENTION CITIZENS” it declares “DO NOT PANIC. MARTIAL LAW HAS BEEN DECLARED. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. ALL NON-GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES ARE TO HEAD HOME IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR HOUSE. OFFENDERS WILL BE PUNISHED THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW.” The mast erected near the command vehicle begins the blast recordings of the same message. Cars begin to turn around, and Edward is caught in the ensuing traffic jam. And the next hour and a half are fast forwarded through as he attempts to make his way home. When he arrives home, he places the camera on his desk. He begins to fill a backpack with several things. A few canned foods, a few bottles of water, a small red plastic kit with a white cross, and a bottle of Crown Royal brand rye whiskey. He also takes the rifle down from the wall and places it next to the bag. A tan plate carrier and a set of front and back plates are also set down, as is an old looking handgun and several boxes of ammunition and a handful of magazines. The handgun is soon taken apart, its furniture discarded and part thoroughly oiled before being put back together. [G3: Does Edward have military experience? 02: No, the rifle, a Colt C7A1 was given heirloom status after the barrel was cemented. The rifle belonged to his father, who served in Afghanistan in 03 and several peacekeeping operations in the time prior. The Handgun appears to be a grandfathered Inglis Hi-Power, belonging to his grandfather who served in the second world war. Edward does possess the necessary firearms licenses, but no records of him ever purchasing one are to be found.] The rifle is brought onto the table next, and is soon disassembled in turn. [G3: That rifle doesn’t look very cemented. The receiver certainly seems fine, and I doubt he would be able to take it apart like he did if it was filled with cement. 01: Preliminary viewing came to the same conclusion. The rifle was likely never cemented in the first place, though we have documentation saying it was.] When the rifle is reassembled it too is placed off camera, before the boxes of ammunition are slumped in its place. Several Magazines are produced, 3 for the rifle and another 6 for the pistol. All three rifle magazines are loaded to a full capacity of 30, with a spare 40 rounds staying in their box, being placed in the backpack. Of the Handgun magazines, two are discarded, their weathered exterior hinting to their age. The remaining 4 appear newer, and accept the fat .40 S&W rounds without complaint. A total of 40 rounds goes into them, leaving the package of 50 with a magazine’s worth of spare. The cardboard package too, is packed into the bag. A sleeping bag is then slumped next to the backpack and the camera is lifted up, and attached to the shoulder of the plate carrier. The camera is then switched off. [G3: His magazines weren’t pinned to 5, and he doesn’t have the necessary permits for acquiring handgun magazines. 01: It seems like it must have been Edwards father who originally acquired them, as we couldn’t find any trace of the purchases from Edwards account. 02: Are we really that interested in what laws he broke when we’re watching footage of incident 006? Keep in mind we still aren’t enforcing justice for crimes committed during the incidents. G3: Of course, Of course. By the way-How many more tapes are we expected to get through in this session? 02: Just two more, but the next one is short.] The camera activates once again, the room is dark and Edwards frantic breathing can barely be heard over the sound of gunfire outside. Emergency sirens wail in the distance as Edwards heavy footsteps dash across the room where he presses the phone up against a window. Yellow rectangles begin to appear over the faces of a dozen or so soldiers which retreat backwards, huddled around the dark shape of an APC, firing as they go. A swarm of dark shapes, presumably human, clamber over the corpses before them and each other in a desperate fever to reach the soldiers. One of the forms separates slightly from the mob, looking up directly at Edward and the camera. A yellow square barely has time to frame the silhouettes face before it and everything around it vanishes in a blast of smoke and rubble. The cannon on the APC had begun firing, carving a swathe through the creatures. “Oh-oh my god” Edward stammers between cannon shots. “This is real. This is actually happening.” The footage immediately cuts. When the footage blinks back on it is clear several days have passed. The camera blinks a square around Edward's face. He has bags under his eyes, and appears not to have shaved in some time. He addresses the camera. “Let this be a record for if I die. My name is Edward Johnson. I’ve been trapped in my apartment for about 2 weeks. I have no food, and water was cut off yesterday. Electricity has been out for over a week. I need to find food and water. I intend to survive.” With those harrowing words he places the camera on the right shoulder of his plate carrier, attaching it there before donning the carrier itself. He grasps his rifle firmly and heads out through the door. The hallway eerily silent, and Edward heads down the staircase without incident. Heading out the front lobby, Edward audibly gags. The Street is dyed red, but strongly absent of corpses. The burnt out remains of an APC sit in the middle of the road, and Edward dashes over it to investigate inside. He peeks inside, then immediately turns and retches all over the red tinted street. He then moves inside, suppressing his vomit. <> [01: You ready to continue, ███? 02: Yes, I’m sorry. Let’s continue.] The interior of the APC is black with dried blood splatters, and empty in the rear cabin. The dividing wall between the two cabins is mostly destroyed, allowing view of the driver’s compartment and gunner's seat. The gunner’s seat is empty, but a pair of mangled dismembered legs are wrapped up in the seatbelt, one ending at the knee and the other mid war up the thigh, a shard of bone jutting out sharply. The driver's seat has a hole through the backrest, the occupant’s spine is visible through it. The skin seemed to have been torn off the driver’s torso, and a large hole gaped through the chest as well, in line with the hole in the seat. A pistol hung limply in the driver’s right hand, a large hole was blown through the back of his skull, exposing the dark matter inside. A yellow square frames the remains of the person's head. Edward quickly searched the APC, finding little except a pair of MRE’s, scattered off to the side. He packs them into his bag then leaves the burnt husk, returning to the street. Edward stays low, moving fast along the side of the street. Trees crop out of the sidewalk every couple meters, keeping him obscured in shade. The city looks like a warzone, bits of sidewalk and road are missing and some buildings are missing huge chunks. Luckily, Edwards building seemed to have avoided terrible damage, but most other buildings weren’t so fortunate. Despite the excessive rubble and even entirely collapsed buildings, not a single corpse is to be seen, although many body parts litter the rubble. And arm there, a leg there, the remnants of an infant’s forearm lay trampled in the middle of the road. The road itself fared no better, huge chunks of pavement missing, and abandoned cars scatter along the road. Vehicles on the road seem to share a few common traits. Their windshields are usually crumpled and shattered, their fenders bent and blood, and their doors torn off. Not all doors, but always the driver side and sometimes others. A few cars still idle, the remains of their fuel burning off in the thin sheen of exhaust. Edward seems to survey everything, taking it in without comment as he moves along, never braking or forgetting his purpose. The shrill silence of the city is suddenly broken by a loud scream. A woman’s scream. Coming from the apartment right next to Edward. He stops, crouching down and ready his rifle while muttering to himself. “-on’t be a hero don’t be a hero don’t be a hero don-” he’s cut off as the scream echoes again. “Dammit!” he growls and moves into the building, carefully sweeping his rifle back and forth. [G3: Where did he receive his training? Look at tha-the way he does-and there!] <> [01: His father didn’t die until he was a teenager, perhaps he trained him?] << General ███████████ grumbles and the footage continues>> Edward follows a hallway right, then follows a turn, until the scream echoes again, close by. He seems to have located the source, and dashes towards an apartment room with the door torn clean off the hinges, littering itself in the hallway. “Let go of her!” he shouts into the room, where a large bald man holds a woman by her hair while another lifts a fire axe, his intent clearly to behead the much smaller woman beneath them. The two muscular men look towards him, their eyes pale, white, and blank. No iris and no pupil. Yellow boxes flash over all three of the figures, as Edwards rifle points unerringly at them. Suddenly the camera is rustled to the ground as Edward is blindsided from off frame, the rifle being torn from his grasp. A third, much skinner man stands over him, and the yellow box that appears around his head serves only to draw more attention to the blank white eyes that socket the figure head. The scrawny figure raises the rifle towards Edward, and pulls the trigger. A barely audible click is heard as the safety prevents the triggers from pulling. <> Edward clambers back to his feet, then ducks low and bull rushes into the scrawny man’s belly, pinning him against his shoulder and driving him into a wall. The rifle clatters out of the scrawny man’s hands, somewhere off screen. Edward steps back from the stunned form, throwing a wide haymaker that connects with the man’s jaw. The scrawny man barely reacts as he pushes Edward back with considerable force. Edward tumbles backwards, then rolls to the side as the fire axe plants itself where his neck had just been. Climbing back to his feet Edward has little time to do anything as the axe swings towards him, which he barely dodges by throwing himself back. The scrawny man throws himself at Edward, and he screams as he fails his attempts to dodge. Blood splatters across the wall, and when the scrawny man is forced back the nails on his red are a bloody scarlet. The fire axe swings again, and this time Edward ducks under its lateral swing. He quickly draws his sidearm, and fires a shot into the side of the muscular man’s torso. The .40 S&W blossoms out from the barrel in a ring of magnesium flare, punching perfectly into the muscular man’s rib cage. He staggers back from the force of the shots, blood spatter coating the wall behind him. “…no fucking way...” Edward mutters as the axe wielding maniac regains his composure and rushes him again. Two more shots punch into his chest and shoulder, before a third punches through his skull, between his eye and his nose. The muscular man goes down, but his momentum leads him directly into Edward, staggering him back. Edward barely doesn’t manage to regain his footing in time, and goes down on his back hard as the scrawny many leaps above him. Edward holds him at bay with his left arm, then brings the butt of his pistol around in a wide arc, slamming the scrawny man’s temple hard once. Then again. Then a third time. The scrawny man shows no sign of stopping as his hands jostle past the camera and around Edwards neck. Edward in turn places the barrel against the side of his head, just under his ear and pulls the trigger again. A loud bang goes off and blood spatter marks the ceiling. The newly made corpse is rolled off Edward with some effort, and he regains his feet as the third muscle bound man exits the apartment into the hallway, still dragging the screaming girl by her hair. He throws a powerful punch towards Edwards jaw, which he tries to deflect with his fist but still sends him sprawling. The meaty beast thunders towards Edward, who raises his pistol blindly and pulls the trigger. Again, and again, and again; until no sound comes but the clicking of the now empty chamber. Edward regains his footings, observing the carcass of the muscly man. His hand was almost blown off, and another shot had left his upper bicep as pieces of meat scattered around the apartment’s hallway. The next two shots had miraculously found his head, cementing Edwards growing suspicion. The Girl, now free, lay collapsed on her knees, whimpering in pain. “Y-y-you a-aren’t like them” she said, as much a statement as a question. “y-you’re s-still normal?” Edward seems to gaze at her for a few moments, before offering her his hand in assistance. The yellow box around her face seems to be almost a halo to her saintly visage, now streaked with tears. Curling blond locks spill down her shoulders, and her pale skin almost seems to gleam in the darkness. Two icy blue remain slightly muddled by the tears that still leak down her face. “I don’t even know what normal is anymore.” Edward says as she takes his hand and he lifts her to her feet. Edward grabs his rifle, and the two bade a hasty retreat out the front of the apartment complex, sprinting the length of the street until they come to a stop in a nearby alley way. No sooner were they off the street before the growl of an engine filled the air. A large white van sped past them, squealing to a stop in front of the apartment they had just left. Several figures stepped out, armed with a variety of weapons, from baseball bats and planks of wood to revolvers and even an olive green C7A3, covered in laser sights and attachments. Last out of the van is a single man, bald and naked save for the black robe that adorns him. He takes a few steps out of the van, then turns to look directly at Edward and the camera, hidden nearly a block away. The robe is open in the front, displaying his chest for all to see. Edward gasps lightly as the figure makes eye contact with him. “We need to go. Now.” He mutters, then takes off down the alleyway, bobbing and weaving his way past litter and dumpsters. The woman follows him silently, the odd whimper of pain escaping her as she runs. They run for several blocks before making it back to Edwards own apartment complex, where they sprint through the entrance and up the stairwell, not stopping until they get inside Edwards apartment behind a locked door. After a minute or so of heaving and attempting to catch their breaths, Edwards looks again warily at the woman. “I’m, uh, Edward, by the way” he says in between heavy breaths. “Alex.” She responds, still panting heavily. “Well, Alexandra, but you can call me Alex.” [01: The person in question is Alexandra Tate, female, 23 years old. Full time Student, majored in biology and psychology. She was living in dormitories at the nearby university when incident 006 occurred. Currently missing, presumed dead. 02: Maybe she’s still in hiding with Edward? 01: Could be, but I guess we’ll see] “You can call me Eddy, then.” Edward said. His stomach growled angrily. He slung off his bag, getting it caught on the camera along the way. Pulling out the pair of MRE’s he had scavenged earlier, he passed one to Alex. “You must be hungry.” She accepted the offering gratefully. The two began preparing their MRE’s, and Edwards' hand came over the camera, toggling it off. The footage came to a still. <> [02: And that should conclude our meeting for today, 4 more footage groupings to go. Is there something we feel we should state for the record? █████? ████? 01: I can’t think of anything. G3: I’m of the same mind. 02: Then I formally call this meeting to a close. I look forward to seeing you both again] <>