After the Pandemic: The Guardian (1241 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.57 on 26 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Professional Peon <prof_peon.at.yahoo.com> (View user info) at 2005-03-11 11:55:20 EST
This is where it all begins - http://www.ubersite.com/m/61238
Dear Diary,
The Guardian
That is what they call me. That is my job. I am known in this small town, a small town that had become more so since the outbreak. Our town has become our world and it is isolated from influence of outsiders.
I am what the changed referred to as a sunriser, but I am a protector as well. My family was granted safe haven from the feedings as I agreed to ferry the changed to the mainland. Although this decision weighed heavily on my conscience, I knew my children would not survive without my guidance.
Before the world ended I had devoted a great deal of my time to helping humanity. I was a scientist, I helped heal. I retired to a sleepy little island and adopted many children from all parts of the globe. I stay alive for their sake. They let me live for that very reason.
The town had become infected by the one known as the traveler. He was a distant relative of one of the townsfolk and came to us for protection. He didn't realize that in the process he had damned us all.
When the children became sick I helped as much as I could. Nothing I did could stop the change. Of the dozen children I cared for all but two succumbed to the infection. Two did not. Michael & Lisa the eldest are as I, not affected by the epidemic.
I couldn't bare the thought of hurting my children. We did what we thought was right. We moved them into our neighbor's houses, separating them according to infection. Four went to the basement next door, Michael and Lisa helped me move them and paint over the basement windows to protect them from the daylight. The other four were locked into the house across street.
They are most helpful children. They lovingly feed their siblings for me so I can spend time with the most unusual pair. My twin boys John & Jason are the exception to this rule. They are my youngest, and they are the reason I am still fighting for humanity's survival. The five year old pair did not suffer the same fate as their siblings.
They were the last to change. I thought they would make it through as Michael, Lisa and I but they did not.
I keep them in my basement along with the new supplies I gathered to find out what is happening to my children. I fear as of yet I cannot find a cure, only more questions. The changes are different and it seems to be affected by blood type. Michael, Lisa and I are all B+. I believe this is our saving grace, but I cannot account for other possible variants with the equipment I currently have in my possession.
The children whom the outsiders refer to as 'Leeches' have A+ blood type, I have yet to determine the significance of this, however this is the only concrete evidence I have at this point. The children with B- blood were not as lucky. Their blood rejected the mutagen and they become what are called 'Munchers'.
It appears to activate the Rh- (Rh negative) and begins by destroying the person from the inside out. This is similar to the way a mother can loose a child if her blood type is B- & Rh- and her baby is A+ or B+. This is known as "erythroblastosis fetalis." However in this case the cells are not fighting a foreign object, but somehow treating the person's internal organs as a threat. More research is being done on this but it appears that the Rh factor could be the main cause of death in 'Munchers', yet leaving the 'Leeches' unscathed.
I have not determined the reason the 'Muchers' reanimate. Lisa often cries over them and will occasionally beg me to put them out of their misery, yet I cannot bring myself to do so. They may hold the key to a cure for their siblings.
John & Jason however both have type O blood. They exhibited different characteristics then the other two groups. They are deceased like the 'Munchers' however they have a strict aversion to sunlight. Which is a characteristic typically only shown in 'Leeches.' They also are not as pale as their siblings, with their skin having a more ashen green hue to it. They also retain some higher brain functions and decay at a slower rate. They can match the speed of their 'Leech' siblings.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to find another sample of this as the O blood type is scarce in these parts, even before the epidemic. I may soon have to leave my children in order to further my research.
As strong as my desire to stay with my children is, I fear I will not be able to save them without leaving our quaint little island and entering the new dead world.
User Reviews
Submitted by Feijuada (user info) at 2005-09-21 13:22:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2005-08-17 17:49:43 (#)
Ranking: 1
I have to say, I don't like this blood type idea.
-------------
I agree. Too few people would turn into a muncher or vampire.
Submitted by zakalwe (user info) at 2005-08-17 17:49:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I have to say, I don't like this blood type idea.
Submitted by notyou (user info) at 2005-07-12 13:54:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
No Comment
Submitted by missflibble (user info) at 2005-05-13 08:55:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
rather good, but this "The changes are different and it seems to be affected by blood type. Michael, Lisa and I are all B+" kind of leads me to belive you've read James Herbert's 48?!
Submitted by nrduncan (user info) at 2005-05-12 17:50:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I have just got done reading these all and I have enjoyed them all. Great work everyone, +2's for all!
Submitted by nrduncan (user info) at 2005-05-11 11:29:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
+2 for the contribution
-4 for all the linkwhoring.
Submitted by Yankee_In_TX (user info) at 2005-03-16 10:16:24 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Jack- this is on target! I know at least ONE story that fits in the genre mentioned that they thought early on immunity was related to blood types, but that theory turned out to be false :-)
Submitted by DavyJones (user info) at 2005-03-12 20:54:14 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Hmm, I'm AB+, which can only mean AB+'s must become super awesome gods with no weaknesses.
Submitted by Kre8rix (user info) at 2005-03-12 14:33:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
sorry,
I'm an idiot.
Submitted by Kre8rix (user info) at 2005-03-12 14:15:07 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Taken from: http://www.pleasegiveblood.org/education/blood_types.php
* O Rh-positive: 38 percent
* O Rh-negative: 7 percent
* A Rh-positive: 34 percent
* A Rh-negative: 6 percent
* B Rh-positive: 9 percent
* B Rh-negative: 2 percent
* AB Rh-positive: 3 percent
* AB Rh-negative: 1 percent
====
There was another site that had extremely rare blood types that I had never heard of, h's and k's and what not, but I didn't want to bother.
This is still great though. takes an amount of research I'm not really willing to do, which is why mine is just death and mayhem.
I'm glad a few of you have taken it upon yourselves to do some background, and this is done very well.
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-03-12 13:13:31 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
You rock plenty in your own right, Prof.
Submitted by hcp28 (user info) at 2005-03-12 10:33:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
What about people with O+? I think something like 60-80% of the population is O+. Surely someone in that village would have O+ it is the move common blood type in the world.
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-03-12 02:10:22 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Seriously? I was under the impression that if a person with an A blood type makes it with a B blood type, their spawn has a good chance of being AB, which seems like it would be pretty common.
This, coming from a guy who knows so little about blood types that he can't even remember his own.
And you're welcome on the sigh of relief thing. I'm interested to see how you write her in the future.
Submitted by Professional_Peon (user info) at 2005-03-12 01:44:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-03-11 17:35:25 (#)
Ranking: 2
Peon, that was great. I liked the character, who I see as sort of a semi-delusional altruist.
By the way, Adam, I was under the impression that O is the least common blood type...and that O- is highly sought after because a person with any type of blood will not reject O- blood, making it quite handy to have lying around in hospitals for emergency transfusions.
Anyhooo, nice technical knowledge displayed here, you obviously did a bit of research. Question though: What happens to AB (+ and -)? A-? O+ vs O-?
------------------------------
O- is a universal blood type although anyone can take it, they can only receive it from other O- blood. From what I read AB- is the most rare of the ABO types (1%), however the ratio of people vs. blood types varies by region and ancestry. I didn't do a refresher before this post and got the two confused. I have never met anyone with AB type blood and only one person with O type so I often forget that 'technically' AB- is the rarest in the world. However, I thought making Jack's character Smith AB- would be a good way to explain why he is immune.
"""Peon, that was great. I liked the character, who I see as sort of a semi-delusional altruist."""
Good, that's what I was going for, I was afraid I wasn't going to pull it off correctly. Thanks for noticing and helping me breathe a sigh of relief.
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2005-03-11 22:13:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No time to read this... +2 till I can.
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-03-11 19:45:17 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
NOT crazy about the whole blood type trend.
LIKE the isolation of the island. Do more.
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-03-11 17:35:25 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Peon, that was great. I liked the character, who I see as sort of a semi-delusional altruist.
By the way, Adam, I was under the impression that O is the least common blood type...and that O- is highly sought after because a person with any type of blood will not reject O- blood, making it quite handy to have lying around in hospitals for emergency transfusions.
Anyhooo, nice technical knowledge displayed here, you obviously did a bit of research. Question though: What happens to AB (+ and -)? A-? O+ vs O-?
Submitted by Avals (user info) at 2005-03-11 15:27:41 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Hooray for vampires!
Submitted by Kre8rix (user info) at 2005-03-11 15:05:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2005-03-11 13:14:30 (#)
Ranking: 2
Cool!
You managed to pull off explaining the whole blood typing idea.
====
Nice work
Submitted by Phinch (user info) at 2005-03-11 14:41:47 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2005-03-11 13:14:30 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Cool!
You managed to pull off explaining the whole blood typing idea. I didn't want to go near anything biological in my post, because it would require even more research on my part. I spent two hours researching recent Iraqi history and Arab customs, and I was left feeling a little fried. I didn't want to risk sounding like a total dumbass talking about something that I'm not very familiar with.
Nicely done.
Submitted by Adamdidit2u (user info) at 2005-03-11 12:46:46 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
whoops
Submitted by Adamdidit2u (user info) at 2005-03-11 12:46:35 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
You ca invent a new blood type for all i care. Just a question..
I really like how Blitzkreig Bobs, intermingles with this whole blood type thing
Submitted by Professional_Peon (user info) at 2005-03-11 12:41:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Adamdidit2u (user info) at 2005-03-11 12:34:32 (#)
Ranking: 2
Awesome, but why did you make o, which is by far the most common blood type, the most rare in the story?
-------------------------------------
Because in my world it is MUAHHAHAHAHAaaaa
Ah, who am I kidding... I got all excited about the idea I guess I confused it with AB type. Can we pretend I said AB instead??? Hmmmm? hmmmmm?
Submitted by Adamdidit2u (user info) at 2005-03-11 12:34:32 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Awesome, but why did you make o, which is by far the most common blood type, the most rare in the story?
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-03-11 12:08:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Cool. I wondered how long it would be before someone linked blood type with everything.