Dying Light: Volatile Virus

After some impulsed jumps, you stop in the edge of a roof, as you're almost in the bazaar, and then start observing it.

The bazaar is a mix of vibrant and decayed, a stark reminder of what Old Town once was and what it has become.

The centerpiece is a sprawling marketplace courtyard surrounded by crumbling stone buildings, their arched windows and balconies reflecting Harran's historic architectural style. Brightly painted wooden shutters hang askew, their once-vivid colors faded under the relentless sun.

Red cloth canopies and torn banners stretch across parts of the open courtyard, swaying gently in the breeze. Many are torn or sagging, their vibrant reds and yellows dulled by dirt and decay.

The stalls themselves are a mixture of abandoned vendor setups, with overturned tables, broken crates, and scattered merchandise littering the area. Rusted metal carts sit unused, their wheels locked in place by grime. A few stalls seem fortified, with makeshift barricades of wood and metal surrounding them, indicating survivor attempts to secure supplies here in the past.

The courtyard is eerily quiet save for the occasional groan of Biters shambling around. The infected move sluggishly in the open sun, their forms casting long shadows against the cobbled ground.

The red flag the survivor mentioned flutters faintly in the distance atop one of the larger buildings on the edge of the bazaar. The building itself is sturdier than the others, with its red-painted walls standing out among the muted tones of its surroundings. Wooden balconies frame the upper floors, one of which is precariously broken and hanging at an angle.

UV lights hang in some corners of the bazaar, inactive during the day but hinting at survivor efforts to reclaim the space at night. The faint sound of distant growls echoes from the shaded alleys branching out from the main courtyard, suggesting that danger could emerge from any direction.

From your vantage point, the scene is both haunting and oddly serene, a snapshot of a world caught between survival and ruin.

After a moment of observing, you leave the frustration you feel, growling in a deep and loud yell. Your Volatile loud growl is heard even in some far distance, reaching to 40 meters away.

After the yell, you feel much better, and start to go, but before, you notice under you some blood and saliva, so you touch your chin, as when you yelled, you also felt your mouth strange.

You caress your chin, but don't notice anything, until you open slightly your lips, and touch your chin also opening along. You continue touching your lips, and feel your mouth is bigger, reaching to take the chin as part of the mouth. Your mouth was normally as before landing in the Slums of Harran, but when open it, your entire mouth goes visibly like a Volatile's mouth.

You decide to remain your mouth close, and get back into what you were doing, searching that USB with the files.

You leap down from the rooftop, landing heavily but with precision, your sharp feet scraping slightly against the cobblestones of the bazaar. The Biters nearby hear the impact and turn toward you, their groans carrying through the otherwise quiet space. You keep your mouth tightly shut, conscious of the strange transformation you felt moments ago.

As you move cautiously through the bazaar, you scan the area, your enhanced vision marking the faint red trails leading to the building with the red flag. Your steps are deliberate yet swift, avoiding the sluggish Biters that barely seem to notice your presence.

Approaching the building, you notice the heavy metal door at its base is partially ajar, creaking gently as the wind pushes against it. You stop for a moment, your senses heightened, listening for any signs of movement inside. The faint shuffling of footsteps can be heard within, along with what sounds like hushed whispers or murmurs.

You glance up, noticing the flag fluttering again as you mentally map your way inside. Taking a deep breath, you prepare to enter, gripping the edges of the metal door and pushing it open further, its rusty hinges protesting loudly. The noise causes the whispers inside to stop abruptly, and for a moment, there's complete silence.

You step inside the building, your sharp claws clicking faintly against the tiled floor as your enhanced vision adjusts to the dim interior. The whispers have ceased, replaced by an eerie stillness, broken only by the faint rustle of debris shifting in the wind. The air smells faintly of decay and mold, mixed with something metallic—blood.

Your eyes scan the surroundings, marking the faded red trails snaking along the walls and floor. They converge toward a staircase leading downward, into the basement. You move cautiously, your instincts warning you that you're being watched.

As you descend, the faint red glow of the trails becomes brighter, guiding you through the darkness. The murmur of voices returns, louder now, echoing from below. You catch snippets of conversation, but the words are indistinct, distorted by the acoustics of the narrow staircase.

You reach the bottom and find yourself in a dimly lit storage room, stacked with old crates and broken shelves. The red trails converge at a heavy steel door, slightly ajar, with a faint glow of light spilling out from the crack. The whispers are clearer now, two voices arguing in hushed tones.

Voice 1: "I told you, we shouldn't have taken it. It's too dangerous to keep here!"

Voice 2: "We had no choice! Do you know what Rais would've done if we refused?!"

You pause, listening intently. The two figures are just beyond the door. You sense fear and tension in their voices, and the faint shuffling of their feet indicates they're pacing nervously.

The USB must be inside.

You look a little around the door, as you see more than two fade red trails behind. You yell a Volatile growl once again, and then, you start impacting the door. Each impact makes it tremble, each hit is loud metal noises against a high force impacting at it.

After a moment, slowly, after each impact, the door moved slightly back, until you take it down, and yell another Volatile growl. Then, you look around, before stretching your neck. Your mouth and chin open as a Volatile's mouth. 

Before any of them could react, but remain trembling and shaking with complete fear, you talk between growls.

-"Give me what Rais saves, and I'll let you live."

They hesitate, but quickly, they help you obtain the USB, opening the safe for you, and giving the USB to you. Their hands shaking, and more as you take the USB, then, you turn around and leave them be.

As you leave, you save the USB in one of the special pockets, now being for the gray case containing the USB inside. Such security, not only being saved inside a safe, but also inside a gray case that seems strong and resistant.

You jump to the nearest roof, and now, you continue making your way through the roofs with high speed and impulsed jumps. You strangely feel better than ever before, those growls made you quit a lot of stress and frustration, and you look up, directly at the sun.

When you look at the sun, at first your eyes get bothered by it, but slowly, you notice how your view starts changing, as all your view starts burning, shining with a yellow illuminated light. The bright light, glowing you directly, makes you feel the burning feeling inside your chest expanding to your whole body, and increasing in intensity, as if your flame if being fueled highly per second.

You don't feel hunger, you don't feel rage, you don't feel anything, but remain calm, your muscles resonating within your body, and your heart beating with strength, slowly but each time you feel it deeper as fulfilling your chest.

You remain for a big while standing still, your body absorbing everything from the light, and you feel how the virus inside you is transforming what you receive from the light, as is not the same as when you used to take the light other times when you wasn't infected. You feel how the virus is feeding you and itself inside you by using the energy, molecules transformed into more.

You feel your body refreshing, sustaining itself merely from the light. Your body glows brighter, your red veins more golden, your vest shaping along your body.