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dinklebat · 2 years

Text

Static Screams

Zombie!Creepypasta

(Bitey Bitey AU by @krayolacolor)

Tw: dehumanization, medical malpractice, gore, cannibalism, death, general horror, angst, and whump, also I wrote this in one evening without proofreading.

wc: 2.9k

Summary: A series of severely damaged tapes reveal Cody (X Virus) and Jack (EJ)’s attempts at curing the (zombie) virus that has taken so many of their colleagues.

“Testing, testing.”

Through the static, the image of a dark-haired boy adorned in a gas mask and goggles cuts in. He impatiently taps at the screen, his scowl deepening.

“It’s not a touch screen,” a bored voice calls out from behind him, out of sight. He clicks his tongue and rolls his eyes, muttering something under his breath.

“I know, I know. I’m just trying to see if it’s recording or not.”

“The only thing it's recording right now is your stupid face. Just take a few steps back and chill.”

The first boy takes a few steps backwards, the rest of his body coming into frame. He’s visibly scrawny for his age, even covered in layers of protective clothing. He clears his throat and awkwardly waves a hand at the camera. “Um, hi. If you’re watching this, I’m either dead, or I’m about to win a Nobel Prize.”

He steps back, revealing more of his surroundings. The walls are old and weathered at their edges, but every surface seems to be well-maintained, polished and sterilized to perfection. Dark countertops are covered with various instruments and tools: beakers, bunsen burners, microscopes and more. Sitting at one of the various machines is another man, with dark, almost gray skin and large, pointed ears akin to those of a bat.

“Either way, here is the current situation. A viral outbreak has occurred and is quickly evolving into a larger pandemic. The virus behaves most similar to rabies and encephalitis. What starts as nausea, migraines, and a high fever escalates to rapid swelling in the brain, resulting in a loss of cognitive function, aggressive behavior, and a craving for raw meat. Other symptoms include disrupted sleeping patterns, necrosis of appendages, and organ failure. The virus appears to be transmitted through bodily fluids such as blood and saliva. Whether it can be transmitted through other fluids such as tears and sweat requires further testing.”

The boy pulls out a small sign labeled “Experiment 7A: Test 1” and proudly displays it in front of the camera.

“For our first series of tests we will be pre-existing viral medications for similarly behaving pathogens, especially those designed to fight encephalitis in order to reduce swelling of the brain.”

Suddenly a series of shouts ring out as a door slams open. The scientist quickly runs behind the camera, tilting it to better record the commotion.

A large beast, covered in moss-like fur broken up by bone-like armor, carries in a moaning, decaying body. The thing in its jaws clearly used to be human, but is now nothing but a hollow shell with bloodshot eyes and rotting gashes decorated by maggots. A girl with pink-streaked hair runs in after the large monster, muzzling the infected before prying it out of the beast’s jaws, only to immediately plop the writhing mass on the floor.

“Tadaaaaa,” she cheers. “We caught a zombie!”

She hops onto the counter, swinging her legs excitedly. “I totally lost an earring, but otherwise no one was hurt.”

“They’re not zombies. That would imply they’re undead,” the boy in the gas mask quickly corrects, earning an eye roll from both his companion and the girl.

The other researcher, the man with dark skin and pointed ears, turns towards the newcomers, his ears twitching impatiently. “It would probably be safer to tie up and muzzle it first next time,” he reprimanded. “But otherwise well-done.”

He picked up the infected as if it were a rag doll and plopped it into a chair. The thing growled and clawed at him, but it seemed unable to break his skin. From his pocket, he pulled out a syringe, carefully tilting the infected’s body around. His fingers trace the skin deftly , feeling for the vein. He plunges in the syringe and the body begins to still for a moment.

He steps back and sighs, seemingly admiring his handiwork. The infected’s eyes roll as its body begins to spasm and seize, foaming out the mouth.

“Damn it!” someone knocks into the camera, as the tape darkens into static.

The screen tears and crackles as a new image appears. Muffled audio slowly rings in as he pulls out the sign again. The “1” has been erased, replaced by a “7”. Despite this, he remains optimistic in tone as his voice cuts through the static.

“We’ve determined that the antiviral medication was primarily ineffective at fully eradicating the virus, although it may be preventative in earlier stages. We’ve decided to now try introducing pre-existing vaccines into the system instead, namely rabies immune globulin. This is also typically used as a preventative treatment, but I theorize we may be able to at least slow the viruses’ ability to reproduce in the host.”

Another infected has been pinned to a chair, squirming in its chains.

“Cody, can you just take notes afterwards?” his bat-eared colleague complains as he tilts his face towards the camera, revealing dark sockets where his eyes should be. Cody scoffs, but hands him the shot, quickly pulling his hand away from the reach of the infected.

“It’ll be better for documentation in the long run if we have visuals of what occurred.”

“Mm,” the eyeless man hummed, injecting the test subject with ease. “I think it would be better to save memory space for full dissection of the specimens instead of these trials, that’s all. Especially since we can’t exactly go out and buy more right now”

The infected’s movements slowed slightly, its eyes glazing over.

“Alright, Jack, I’ll make sure to save you a tape.”

The voices fade out as the screen tears again. Sentence fragments clip in and out as the tape corrects itself, revealing a new image. Cody stands before the camera once more, though his goggles are now crooked and his hair is far more unkempt.

“Modern science is proving…ineffective, so Jack has suggested that we turn to the dark arts.”

“I said ‘ask around about magical alternatives’.”

“Same difference,” Cody waved away his partner’s protests. “So this week, I will be joined by my colleagues, Ben and Kagekao.”

The scientist gestures to the side, where a short blonde boy with bleeding eyes and a masked man with dark hair sit impatiently. Cody adjusts his goggles and holds up his sign displaying the test number: 16.

“First up, BEN. I would like you to attempt possessing one of our subjects.”

The blonde boy clicks his tongue disapprovingly, but approaches the infected nonetheless. As he moves, the screen appears to glitch and tear around him. Even the parts of him that appear outwardly normal on the screen are translucent, showing reflections of objects nearby where there should be flesh.

“Traditionally, possessions by more powerful spirits like BEN do not adhere to typical physical limitations of mortals. This is how they are able to contort bodies into otherwise impossible forms, such as rotating the head 360 degrees. Thus, I have hypothesized that BEN will be able to manipulate the body independently of the virus's normal restrictions, allowing for easier study and perhaps even isolation of infection,” Cody rambles to the camera excitedly.

“This is gross,” BEN mutters, stepping into the subject’s body. It convulses for a moment before slowly blinking its eyes.

“Yeah…gross…” it repeats, its speech slurred and gravelly. Its eyes stare blankly at the camera, a cloudy and unfocused gaze.

“How so?” Cody tilts his head, clicking his pen against his notebook. The possessed creature flinches at the noise.

“Well it's always…weird but…makes feel…sick…like really…really dirty clothes.”

“Do you still have any of the urges previously exhibited in infected subjects?”

“Not really…just kinda…tired…achy…” the possessed body’s head bobbed up and down, as if it were nodding off to sleep. It strains itself, trying to move beneath its restraints, chest heaving in deep gasps.

“Well, for a first test it could’ve gone worse,” Jack chimed in coolly. “Please try to exit now.”

The body convulsed again, even stronger this time, knocking both itself and the chair to the floor before finally stilling. BEN stepped out, gagging and shivering. “I’m def not doing that again. Don’t even ask.”

Jack leaned in closer to the specimen, his ears tilting towards it. “Strange. Its breathing and heart rate have slowed significantly.”

He nudged it with his foot but the infected remained unresponsive. He kneels down curiously, poking and prodding at the decaying mass of flesh.

“Even asleep they’re never this docile,” Cody agreed, jotting it down in his notebook.

“That’s because its soul dipped,” Kagekao laughed. “Normally when you kick someone’s soul out, they keep trying to take back control. But he was so horrified by what his body had become that he just left instead!”

Ben snorted. “That’s a first for me.”

“Very interesting,” Cody’s eyes widened beneath his goggles. “BEN, are you sure you wouldn’t mind going just one more time?”

The screen crackles, movements of the various individuals blurred under layers of static. By the time it finally clears, Cody looks even worse for wear. His outer layers of clothing have been scratched and torn and the lenses of his goggles are beginning to crack, revealing massive eye bags underneath. He shakily holds up a sign. “Test 30.”

“I’ve decided to move on to magical items. Our peers up in the mansion are trying to quarantine from the lab as much as possible, but they’ve graciously provided us with as much as they could.”

He gestures to a hastily-packaged box of miscellaneous objects on the counter behind him. “For our first trial, we’ll start with Rowan.”

“Hi!” another boy chirps, waving excitedly at the camera. Compared to some of the others, the blonde looks relatively normal, other than the bandages covering his chest. He begins to unravel the bandages, revealing large, rotting cavities in his chest filled with moss and mushrooms. Sitting right where his heart should be is a swirling crystal orb which he yanks out with a sharp tug. He holds it in his hand for a second, glancing nervously at Cody.

“You promise you’ll put it back, right?”

“I’ll try my best.”

“That's not very promising,” Rowan grumbled, but handed the orb nonetheless. As soon as it leaves his grasp, his body collapses to the floor, lifeless. Cody blinks owlishly, visibly stifling the urge to study him instead of the situation at hand.

Jack then drags in an infected with its chest already carved out. As Jack holds back the head of the subject, preventing it from tearing into Cody’s flesh, Cody crams the orb into the cavity. Roots sprout from the edges, latching onto the new vessel.

Cody turns to the camera, briefly explaining, “This orb is a fae artifact that provides immortality to the holder when placed where the heart should be, as long as the creature attached to it is fed on life force. According to records, it has worked on both magical and non magical beings, so we have high hopes for this one.”

“Cody.”

“We already talked about this, you have to keep meticulous records for future research-”

“No. Cody, the necrosis is reversing.”

The dark haired boy whips around, examining the specimen. Slowly but surely, the flesh was beginning to regenerate.

“Any improved cognitive function?”

“Nothing visibly, but intracranial pressure is slowly decreasing, so it’s not impossible-”

A growl erupts from across the room. A moss-furred creature the size of a dire wolf with rotting flesh stalks towards them. Its face is covered in an exoskeletal skull, with a jaw that cracked open ominously.

“I thought Rowan said he fed it beforehand…” Jack raises an eyebrow, the goo dripping from his eyes intensifying ever-so-slightly. He steps forward, blocking Cody from its view.

“Easy…” he whispers. Its hollow sockets gaze down at his own.

Then it pounces, tearing at him. Shouts and screams echo through the room as its tail knocks over the camera, crashing it into darkness. Muffled growls rumble through the audio for a bit, until eventually the camera is picked back up and placed in its proper position by an extremely disheveled and stained Cody.

In his hand is a dark, dripping orb. He pants heavily, adjusting his goggles using the reflection on the screen.

The camera refocuses, revealing an equally rumpled Jack, covered in scratches and bruises. The creature is pinned beneath him, but the action has little meaning. Its body lies utterly limp, a result of the orb’s removal.

Still panting, Cody plops the orb into Rowan’s chest. It pulses in delight and the body begins to move again, as the creature rapidly rots away into nothing but dust. As he regains control over his body, Rowan leaps onto the rotting corpse of the infected, tearing into it.

“Rowan-” Cody backs up in a panic. The blonde looks up, blood dripping down his mouth. Recognition soon fills his gaze.

“Sorry, I- I haven’t felt that hungry in centuries,” he trembles, averting his gaze. “I’ll…I’ll clean this up.”

Jack pats the smaller man on the back and whispers something to him quietly. Cody blinks, then returns his focus to the camera. “Moving onto Test 31-”

The screen returns to static for a few seconds before a new image quickly fades into view. This time, Jack stands in the foreground, holding the sign, as Cody works quietly in the background, peering into his microscope.

“Magic has proved almost entirely ineffective thus far, but I have a working theory on why,” the eyeless doctor explains. “Whereas someone else decided just to give up.”

Cody puts his hands over his ears childishly, tuning out his partner.

Jack chuckles, his hand instinctively raising to hide his pointed smile. “Anyways, the majority of items and individuals that we have available are either demonic or fae in nature. Both of these species share a weakness to iron, a substance which can be either extremely conductive or entirely nullifying towards magic depending on the type of mana channeled.”

Cody leans in closer to his microscope, muttering to himself, but Jack remains unphased. “The diet of the infected, which primarily consists of raw, red meat, is extremely rich in iron. This excess iron build up is likely interfering with otherwise smooth proceedings. It may also account for some of the liver and pancreas failure we’ve seen in several subjects. Thus, if we restrict the iron in a subject’s diet over a period of time, returning to more anemic levels-”

Suddenly, Cody jumps up from his seat, his hands flapping excitedly. “JACK! JACK!”

The man sighs, pointed ears swiveling towards him. “What is it now?”

“I think I found a combination of antiviral antibodies and chemicals that kills the virus. It worked on all 3 of my samples!” The boy jumped up and down, eagerly showing off his petri dishes to his partner.

“I’m still blind,” Jack patiently reminds him, tapping his dark sockets. Even so, he is unable to hide the excitement creeping onto face. Cody blushes beneath his gas mask and mutters an apology.

“We should test it on a live subject as soon as possible,” the smaller boy grins.

“But Nina said that they’ve already cleared out most of the local packs.”

“Well, there’s one group we haven’t tried yet,” Cody whispers, running over to the camera and clicking it off.

The screen goes dark for a moment before flashing with color a final time.

Cody carefully preps a syringe in front of the camera, enthusiastically noting each step in his process. In the background, Jack and Rowan pin down a squirming infected. This one in a later stage of decay, his face torn and skin gray. Despite this, he remains strong, struggling against both Jack and Rowan as Nina cheers behind them. He growls and claws at them, bloodshot green eyes narrowed.

But Cody remains calm as he preps the syringe. He nods to Jack, who twists the infected’s arm, revealing a pulsing vein. As the others pin back his dangerous teeth, Cody presses in the syringe, injecting his latest creation. The subject pauses his struggle, falling limp into Jack’s arms.

The others hold their breath, but the infected continues to stare lifelessly.

‘I thought you said this would cure him,” Nina sniffles, tears beginning to creep down her face, leaving dark streaks from her mascara.

“I said it would kill the virus,” Cody repeated, kneeling down and taking the subject’s face in his gloved hand. “I don’t know how reversible the other effects are. With some intensive care, we might be able to restore cognitive function, or he might remain a vegetable.”

He releases his grip, sighing. “At least we’ll have a way to reverse early stage infections. I should also be able to easily adapt these results into a vaccine.”

Nina sobs harder, running in and hugging the infected tightly. “Doby…”

“Nina…?” a hoarse voice whispers. Dobby blinks slowly, the horrors of the lasat months slowly dawning on him. Tears flood down his face as he breaks down. The others pause, aghast.

“OMG YOU’RE OKAY!” she wails into his shoulder.

“Hh…it all hurts…” he murmurs.

Cody removes his goggles, taking a closer look at the scene playing out before him. “Incredible…”

Jack smiles, the goo from his sockets dripping down like tears. “Good job, partner.”

“One down, half the world’s population to go,” Cody replies, leaning towards the camera and clicking it off for a final time, plunging everything into darkness.

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