TKK Stuff

Stage one begins within two days of infection, wherein the host loses their higher brain function (and with it, their humanity), rendering them hyper-aggressive and (presumably) incapable of reason or rational thought.

• Despite appearing sickly and dishevelled, a runner is no different (physically) from an average person. The infection may have taken over their minds but as of yet, there is no sign of external fungi growth, though their eyes may appear milky and glazed over.

• Some people believe that an infected person’s mind remains partially intact during the early stages of infection; meaning they are fully aware of what they’re doing but are helpless to fight against it. If one were to listen closely enough, they may pick up on the Runners’ choked sobs or the faintest hint of retained language skills, but none have studied them close enough to make any definitive statements.

• Runners may have poor eyesight but are not blind yet and will typically attack non-infected survivors on sight. Despite their ability to see over marginally longer distances, some Runners won’t become aggressive until the non-infected person comes within a certain distance of them (i.e. 10 metres or so).

• They are terrifyingly fast and agile, often sprinting full-force towards visible enemies; aided by the fact that they don’t seem to run out of stamina. They can and will climb any barriers within reason (including ladders) to reach an NI, and doors/fences are not always strong enough to hold up against a swarm of them.

• When hostile, Runners will attack in flailed and erratic movements. Being the earliest and arguably the weakest of the stages, it is possible to engage them in hand-to-hand melee combat—although not recommended—if there is only one of them present.

• They group together and travel in packs, to compensate for their individual weakness. One Runner alone is a manageable threat. When they attack in a group, however, they tend to swarm and overwhelm their prey. If one Runner is alerted, it will scream to alert nearby infected, who will then responsively charge.

• When stood idly, Runners are usually hunched over themselves, arms drawn close to their bodies. They may twitch and stumble as they move, and gargle/moan incoherently to themselves. Their awareness of their surroundings is lacking while they’re idle (AKA not aware of the presence of non-infected) but they can be alerted by sounds.

• Straying from typical zombie rules, they don’t need to be impaled in the brain to die; they can be set on fire, bleed out from a stab wound, suffer blunt force trauma, suffocate, drown, etc. They’re not that much stronger than the average human, just more frenzied and relentless.

• Runners, much like all other infected past this stage, do not respond to light; meaning a flashlight will not alert them to an NI’s presence.