This world reeks. I’ve been here for three months and in that time I noticed that everyone here is pretty much a zombie. Not the average everyday eat your face zombie, more like they just shuffle about and don’t really pay attention to their surroundings or each other. They’re brainless, not undead like people think zombies should be. Turns out they’re being controlled on top of that, I just don’t know how yet.

I came here from another world, another dimension if you would, called Sarlian. Where we all have free will and were prospering from it. We were studying other ways of travel and teleportation. I volunteered for an experiment and that’s how I ended up here, in this forsaken world called Irias. The technology is the same but they aren’t doing any experiments here, they aren’t even growing. Even the kids aren’t playing; it’s as if the entire world stopped moving. I have to find the root of this disaster….somehow…. I’ve been looking through libraries and different books and science magazines in the old ruins around the city. They all point to an experiment being done several years ago. Heck between now and then it looks like there wasn’t anything else printed. So I’m going on outdated material. But the ones that I have read all point to the same experiment. Sadly they don’t say what The Experiment was supposed to do or where it was held, Or even if it was related to what was happening now. But I need to find out, it’s the only way I can get the world moving again.

I don’t have near the scientific knowledge to recreate the experiment that brought me here, much less understand how they did it. I honestly took part in it because I thought it was a cool idea to be one of the first people to be teleported, my name might not go down in history but I’d always have that knowledge you know? But I figure if I can get someone to recreate that experiment I can get home… only problem is the Zombie people. Why must this be so hard?

I really want to go home to Sarlian, back where everyone is. But that isn’t an option, not while this world is decaying as it is. There’s a tower in the middle of the city that everyone seems to avoid. I’m going to check there next. I’ll report my findings here when I do. If for some reason I don’t make it back, I hope someone finds this diary and picks up where I left off. Save your world, do something different. Open your mind and think, start growing, start experimenting, start living! If you can do that, then already you are different than the others.
Kiranim Silvanae

I sighed and closed my diary and placed it in my bag, placing it on my shoulder. While I did write that note, I didn’t intend for anyone to find it yet. I had to have my diary with me just in case. Walking over to the window and pulling up my hood I stared out over the city of decay towards the tower. The tower was impressive standing over 200 stories tall, the top of it loomed high in the sky glowing green as a symbol. A symbol that stated you are owned. The answers I’m looking for have to be in that tower….. they have to be.

I made sure all my stuff was packed into my pack and securely fastened on my shoulder. Leaving the room as I found it, I made my way towards the roof. After selecting my path I started jumping from building to building across the city towards the tower.

As I got closer to the tower, I noticed a patrol of drones flying around. They’d surely see me if I kept going so I dropped down to street level, kicking my feet off the walls as I did so to slow my descent. I never learned how to fight back on Sarlian, I never had to. Instead in my youth in the city I learned Free Running.

There was usually a group that gathered someplace in the city and they sent out messages to those that found them, was a sort of elite group that only allowed specific people in. Free Running wasn’t very popular in the city. In fact it was frowned upon as a dangerous activity that should be banned. The city council never did anything however. They’d discuss it and every time it ended on the same note, they could never agree. So it continued.

I found one of those groups by accidents and I guess I impressed them because I found out about them by pure accident, by stumbling upon one of their meeting places by falling in through the roof. I wasn’t spying on them I swear, the patch of roof I landed on just happened to have nothing supporting anything more than its own weight. So the second my food hit it, I went in.

Now I’m only 11 years old at the time, so you can imagine the looks on their faces when a little girl not only falls through the roof, but also manages to have a major panic attack and like a cornered animal does everything she can to try and get away. The leader Jeril, I never learned his last name so don’t ask, starts laughing. Apparently he found the whole thing amusing because even grown adults had a hard time finding them and here a little girl finds them by accident apologizes and starts to try and climb away.

From there Jeril just took me under his wing, and had the other group members teach me how to really free run. When I finally got it down, I felt like I was flying. I really wish Jeril were here now though, he’d think of a plan.

Shaking my head I turned my attention back to slipping by the drone’s surveillance. Unfortunately there was no way I could. Why did there have to be so many? I started to retreat when two drones started down the alley I was in from different directions. I tried to look for a way out but there was none, not even a door to break into or a garbage bin to hide in. Then they saw me, it took a second or two for the drones to recognize that something was out of place, but when they did alarms started blaring from the tower.

I broke into a run, staying on the street. I didn’t want to give them any idea of exactly what I could do, which admittedly wasn’t much in the first place. Heading away from the tower I noticed the zombie people, turning towards the tower and started shuffling towards me, as if to impede my path as much as possible.

Deciding not to test fate, I turned and hurled myself through a store window. Landing on the inside I rolled to my feet and ran through it to the back, looking for an exit. Instead I found myself in a utility closet with a sewer drain. It looked just large enough for me to slip into, so really what choice did I have? I closed the door to the closet and locked it, proceeding to pull off the drain cover.
Then I started to hear banging on the door, along with the sound of a saw. I really don’t have much time! Springing the cover free I hear the door cut down and fall in the closet. Looking over I see drones and the zombie people making their way toward me. Without waiting, I slide into the drain pulling the cover over the drain with me so they can’t follow easily. Hitting the sewer I broke into a sprint in a random direction, being careful not to slip. I had to work my way to the outer ruins of the city. It’s the only way I will survive this.

A few hours later I took a chance and moved out of the sewers through a broken grate on the edge of the city. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting by trying to break into such an ominous looking tower, I mean really you’d have to put ‘does secret things here’ on a sign above it to make it any more obvious. Combing through the ruins, I looked for a place to sit down and relax. I was tired of Free Running for a while. The zombie people really didn’t make it any easier to get away either. Heck my note prediction almost came true.
Finding a partially collapsed house I walked inside, pulling down my hood as I did so, and looked around. Everything was pretty much destroyed only thing left that was actually usable was a couch and a few chairs. Pulling off my pack and setting it next to the couch I laid down. I’ll have to find some food after a brief nap.

Waking up about an hour later I sat up and stretched. What happened next however is something I’ll never forget, I stood up from the couch and grabbed my bag. There was movement behind me, I turned around only to see a foot slam into my face sending me reeling backwards over the couch. I never even got a look at my assailant. Before I knew it I was picked up and thrown against a wall. Then they started to pummel me in the face. I tried to protect my face, but again, I don’t even know how to fight. What was I going to do? Finally I sat there dazed, fighting to stay just on the edge of consciousness as they grabbed my bag and started to riffle through it. Throwing the necessities I had gained on the ground. Finding nothing they were looking for they threw the bag on the ground and walked back over to me and started to pat me down. Then they noticed I was still awake.

“Seems you’re more resilient than I gave you lot credit for…” the voice said. How? How did they retain their mind?

“Hold on….you’re different…You’re not like the others….who are you? ANSWER ME!” they screamed before bringing their foot down on my stomach hard. I screamed in pain but was otherwise unable to answer. Really, I’m not like the others? What was their first clue, the fact I had a bag and a diary? “Fine, I’ll get my answers…. Sparrow this is hawk, I…“ At that point everything became hazy and I blacked out.

*****Authors Note*****
So This is the first chapter, and kind of an opening to the world, to really give an idea of what's happening over a wider area. I also wanted to explain why when the other humans of the planet are still in one piece, does Kiranim retain her mind upon arriving. That will be explained in future chapters. I also reworked the intro a little bit to help make it flow better.

Further more, I want to thank you for your feedback, if you have any comments on how I should handle it, I will certainly take that into consideration, and I do appreciate it. and finally, I thank you for your patience as I work to mold this world with my mind. ^^