The Laughing Plague - A "Crossed" TL

[kspence92]

This is a timeline based on the horror comic series by Garth Ennis "Crossed", which follows a global pandemic that turns its victims into homicidal sadists.

I started this TL over on alternativehistory.com, but it was locked due to the potential for bringing Current Politics outside of Chat, which is fair enough, though that was not my intention.

//////////////////////


Day Zero

Aaron had never been a big dreamer, but he had been waking up and falling asleep since takeoff with awful nightmares. Dreams of exquisite tortures and perversions. He put it down to the previous nights bizarre experience and went back to sleep. Working in London as a Foreign Service Officer for the State Department was a rather interesting line of work and fairly well paid, but being so far from his friends and family did take a toll. Sure, he'd taken his mind off that issue temporarily thanks to a lovely young woman he had met on Tinder who lived in a quiet little village in the English countryside. Well, she had been lovely up until the previous night half way through a rather passionate love making session she had gone totally off the rails and out of the blue started screaming and smashing her own house up. He'd grabbed his clothes and ran outside naked. Luckily it was around midnight and there was nobody around to see him getting dressed behind a hedge. The crazy bitch had ran down the road hollering all sorts of profane insanity and banging on peoples doors. He grabbed a cab and made for Heathrow for the eight hour flight back to DC.
"Last time i meet anyone online." he thought to himself.
-------

TRANSCRIPT OF 999 CALL ORIGINATING FROM TADLEY, HAMPSHIRE, ENGLAND
DATE : 14 APRIL 2020 - 0023 HOURS

CALL HANDLER (CH) : POLICE, WHATS YOUR EMERGENCY ?

AMELIA SIMPSON (AS): SOME WOMAN BROKE INTO THE HOUSE. WENT MENTAL AND STARTED SCREAMING AND SWEARING. MY HUSBAND CAME DOWNSTAIRS AND PULLED HER OFF. CRAZY COW BIT HIS FUCKING EAR OFF !

*GROANING, INDISTINCT MUMBLING FROM A MALE VOICE*

AS : HE NEEDS AN AMBULANCE. HES BLEEDING ALL OVER THE PLACE. 147 FINLEY ROAD

CH : IM SENDING ONE TO YOU NOW. IS THE INTRUDER STILL IN THE HOUSE ?

AS: YES. JIM KNOCKED HER OUT COLD WITH ONE PUNCH.

CH: ALRIGHT. THE POLICE AND AMBULANCE ARE ON THEIR WAY NOW. STAY CALM. GET A CLEAN TOWEL AND APPLY PRESSURE TO YOUR HUSBANDS WOUND UNTIL...

*INDISTINCT BACKGROUND COMMOTION*

AS : JIM ? WHAT ARE YOU DOING ? BABE ITS FINE THE AMBULANCE IS COMING JUST SIT DOWN...

CH : WHATS HAPPENING ?

*A CLATTER IN THE BACKGROUND FOLLOWED BY LAUGHTER*

AS: JESUS CHRIST JIM WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING ?

CH: HELLO ? ARE YOU OK ?

AS: NO. MY HUSBAND ISN'T RIGHT. HE'S TAKING HIS CLOTHES OFF AND...JIM LISTEN TO ME YOU'RE IN SHOCK JUST SIT DOWN ITS FINE

*TWO DIFFERENT VOICES CAN BE HEARD IN BACKGROUND LAUGHING *

AS: THAT BITCH THAT BROKE IN HAS WOKEN UP. GET THE POLICE TO HURRY UP FOR CHRIST SAKE

CH: IF ITS NOT SAFE GET OUT THE HOUSE AND WAIT ON THE POLICE. THEY'RE ONLY A FEW MINUTES AWAY.

JIM SIMPSON (JS) : AMELIA GET OFF THE PHONE I WANT TO INTRODUCE YOU TO MY NEW FRIEND I MADE TONIGHT

AS: OH MY GOD. TELL THEM TO HURRY UP

CH : MA'AM GET OUT OF THERE NOW

JS: TIME TO TAKE YOUR MEDICINE YA LITTLE SLAG

AS: JIM ! JIM PLEASE NO! OH GOD, OH JESUS CHRIST NO !

CH : WHATS HAPPENING ?

*HEAVY BREATHING, LAUGHING CAN BE HEARD*

AS : UUURRR...WHATS HAPPENING....IT HURTS...HURTS...OH YEAH SO GOOD. SEND SOME PIGGIES FOR ME TO PLAY WITH

CH: MA'AM ?

*PHONE CUTS OFF*
-------
That would be the first of many seemingly unconnected incidents that would spread through the town of Tadley throughout the wee small hours of the morning. Neighbours called 999 to report unruly behaviour on the next street over about fifteen minutes later and a police car was sent in from the nearest station at Newbury a few miles away whilst a second car was dispatched to Finley Street at the same time to try and make contact with the officers initially sent to that address.
In total, four officers had been dispatched to deal with what was felt to be a domestic disturbance gotten out of hand. The responding unit reported the first car abandoned and the property empty but covered in blood. Upon inspecting the shed they found a badly injured and unconscious paramedic who appeared have developed some kind of rash on her face. An ambulance was called and she was taken to the West Berkshire Community Hospital.

The street over was where the action had moved to. The two officers who had found the injured paramedic joined their colleagues who had requested assistance. A number of residents were fighting in the middle of the street and a car had been set alight. At that stage it was still felt this was nothing more than a party gone bad. The four officers attempted to intervene when they saw a small group of people kicking and punching a man in his front garden. The mans wife was screaming from the front door pleading with them to stop. As the police officers shined their lights upon the attackers they realised that two of them were wearing police uniforms, and worse, it was two officers they recognised. They tried to reason with them but got nothing but a mouth full of vulgar insults hurled back. At that stage the man that had been attacked got back on his feet laughing despite his clearly broken jaw and pulled his trousers down and proceeded to run at the four officers whilst urinating. Within less than a minute, three of police had doubled over screaming in agony as a burning pain seared through their veins. The sole officer who had managed to avoid the splash of urine was running for life down the street. He was caught and so badly brutalised that his former friends that they were able to fit all of his remains through a post box. After half an hour of no contact with the two responding units, senior officers at the Newbury station were starting to become concerned.

-----

Superintendent Chris Grant sat at his desk and pondered the situation. Losing contact with one responding unit was alarming, but could have been put down to any number of communications equipment failures, but to lose touch with the other two sent afterwards was most worrying.

"So what exactly do we know?" Chris asked his second in command, Chief Inspector Sandra Young.

"There was a 999 call from a property in Tadley just after midnight. A report of a burglary with the homeowner being injured in the process. We sent a car over to investigate. The paramedics turned up a few minutes after our lads and were apparently assaulted. One got away unharmed, the other was found later with grievous injuries. She had been nailed to a garden shed. Crucified essentially." The Chief Inspector said sipping at her coffee. She should have been home three hours ago.

"Crucified ? What the fuck?" Chris said aghast. "She alive?"

"Barely. Shes at the hospital in Basingstoke in intensive care. Now this is where things get confusing. The paramedic who managed to get away reported being attacked by four people. One was apparently the husband of the homeowner who made the call, another he assumed was the intruder and the other two were wearing police uniforms." said the Chief Inspector with a sigh "Which makes absolutely piss all sense."

"No, that is odd." the older officer said rubbing his greying stubble. "And our other four officers?"

"One car was sent to a disturbance on the next street whilst we sent another to the previously mentioned property where they found the injured paramedic. They also found a body of a woman who had bled to death in the garden. Her eyes had been gouged out. From what im told they think she did it to herself." she took a breath and went on "On top of that, the four officers we dispatched met up on the next street over to deal with what we believed to a be a domestic disturbance spilled onto the street. They radioed in to report around half a dozen people fighting in the middle of the road and that somebody had set a car on fire. We know they went to confront the troublemakers. We haven't heard anything since."

"We really need a clearer picture here. So we have at least one person dead, another in intensive care and six of our officers missing, two of whom might be involved in whatever this nonsense is. There's no point sending in the drone or helicopter in the dark. Even with night vision and thermal on they wont get a good enough picture to really understand what the situation is. I really don't want to be going higher up and asking for support. Makes us look bad if we cant handle a few no doubt drugged up idiots in a village." The superintendent paused for a moment "Right, send another car but under no circumstances are they to engage. Keep their doors locked and drive through the village and report what they see back to us."

"Will do, sir."
...
Fifteen minutes later a patrol car entered Tadley, the two young female officers unsure what to expect.

Superintendent ( Sierra Oscar 5 - 2) "Just relay whatever you are seeing, over"

PC Kerry Whitelaw (258) "258 to Sierra Oscar 5 -2. Roads are empty as you'd expect at this time. No sign of any disturbances yet. We will be arriving at the affected area ETA two minutes."

SO: Rodger, keep us posted

258: Got a burning car on main street. No sign of any people yet but looks like a group have been through here. Hang on, just turning onto Robertson Road. There's someone lying on the pavement. They're not moving.

SO : Do not get out to help. Stay in the car."

258 : Received. Just passed another two bodies. Jesus...

SO: Whats happening ?

258: These people look like they've been attacked by a wild animal. They're in pieces. Never seen anything like this. Ok we are heading along Carluke Drive. There is an RTC here. Two cars appear to have collided. One person slumped over the wheel of one of the vehicles but otherwise the cars are empty. There's a group of people up ahead, i cant tell what....fucking hell !

SO : 258 are you ok?

258: Sorry. There's several people up the street. They're naked and from here it looks like they're raping someone. That poor bloody woman. You need to send back up ASAP. This is fucked. I can see flames coming from a house too. We need ambulances and fire brigade turn out right now. I don't know whats going on but its bad. There are more bodies lying along the road. I count seven...no eight. Eight bodies so far.

SO: Could they be unconscious?

258: Negative. Not with injuries like what we are seeing. Its an absolute bloodbath. It looks like two of the people up ahead could be...no they definitely are wearing police uniforms. Holy fuck that's Ricky Clarke and Holly MacDonald ! They're...Jesus what are they doing ? They're holding severed heads. I swear to God i'm not making this up.
SO: Confirm that last one. Did you say Ricky and Holly are holding severed heads ?

258: I don't understand what we're looking at. Is this really...*sounds of screaming and dull thud*

SO: 258 come in !

258: They threw the bloody heads at us. They're running at the car ! Fuck this we're out of here.

SO: Rodger that 258 come back in.

258: Don't need to tell us twice.

...

The superintendent sat in his swivel chair in front of his computer and leaned back, rubbing his balding head.
"What the actual fuck?" he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

"PC's Richard Clarke and Holly McDonald are decapitating people in the street. I heard that right ? That was a real conversation that just took place?" Sandra asked in utter disbelief. "I mean this has to be some kind of a sick wind up? What in the name of God are we dealing with here?"

"We'll crack down hard on these little arseholes whoever they are." Chris said angrily "I'm not having this shit on my patch, and i want to know why two of my best coppers are getting in on it."

"You think we should call Kidlington ?" Sandra asked, referring to Thames Valley Police's headquarters.

The Superintendent pondered for a moment "No. Not yet anyway. We'll deal with this on our own. Nothing more than drunks or druggies no doubt."

"Sir, they crucified a woman." Sandra said "And are our two officers out there with them high as kites as well? There's more to this than drugs. Got to be. Could it be terrorism?"

"Terrorism ? In a Hampshire village at half one in the morning? Don't be daft. For now we will handle this on our own. We have the resources to deal with a small town disturbance ourselves. We'll bring in the dayshift early. Get on the phone and make some wake up calls."

"Right, will do sir." Sandra replied, barely hiding her contempt with her superiors decision.

------
Having little information to go on, the initial decision was taken to block the main road in and out of Tadley, primarily to prevent members of the public entering the town and becoming victims of whatever it was that was going on, but also to prevent any of the assailants from escaping the town. It was known that at least nine people were dead, at least one paramedic had been taken to hospital in a bad way and six of their officers had gone missing, two of whom had since been seen running around with severed heads. Needless to say the police didn't want these crazed individuals from going any further and hurting more people.
The dayshift officers, rudely awoken from their well deserved sleep, had been dragged into work four hours early and told of the situation. A total of thirty five officers were to make their way into Tadley from the Newbury station and comb the streets looking for the suspects. Already a further twelve 999 calls had come in from residents demanding immediate assistance as people broke into their homes. The ambulance service had been blocked from entering the village due to volatility of the situation meaning the injured could not get the treatment they needed.
Chris wanted the situation under control by the time the sun came up and people were getting up for work and was prepared to deploy his officers in full force to deal with the rabble-rousers.

Superintendent Chris Grant would be vilified in the years that followed the Laughing Plague. Had he immediately called upon support from HQ, perhaps things could have been contained in Tadley.

Perhaps.

But hindsight is a wonderful thing, and in all likelihood, all sending in officers from the other stations in neighbouring towns would have achieved would been to add to the casualty count. Regardless, he would never get the chance to speak during the inquiry. His body is likely one of the many thousands dumped in mass graves in the South of England that was never identified.

The attempt to regain control of the situation in Tadley by deploying a total of thirty five officers in five person teams to combat what was felt was perhaps a total of 15 - 25 hostile drunks had been seen as a proportionate and sensible measure. Unaware of the biological nature of the situation the police leadership at the time did not realise that those numbers would increase as their officers were attacked and turned. By 0400 the senior officers at the Newbury station could only shake their heads in bewilderment as contact was lost with multiple units, and when it was regained, profanity of the most vulgar kind filled the airwaves. By then half the force deployed into the area was either dead, missing or infected and the others were falling back in disarray. It had become clear that the situation was completely out of the control of the Newbury based officers and that support from Kidlington would have to be requested. They still could not figure out why many of their officers were joining in with what they were now terming "rioters". A number of homes and vehicles had been set ablaze and dozens of local residents had been killed according to responding officers reporting back into Newbury. This was no ordinary riot. By the time the Chief Constable John Campbell was awoken by a phone call just before six in the morning, the village of Tadley was a write off and the police force had been routed, with remaining officers who had been forced to flee for their lives from Tadley blocking the roads into neighbouring villages to try and keep the attackers at bay. Dozens of residents would die screaming down their phones to 999 operators as their homes were raided by crazed individuals. Orders were sent out that no emergency services were to respond to any calls from Tadley "until the situation becomes clearer." People who did call 999 were advised to lock themselves indoors and wait on help. That help would never come.

By the time the sun began to rise and the police helicopter got a proper look at the situation on the ground, already there were several hundred people infected and at least three hundred dead. A number of infected had wandered through the woods and fields and into smaller villages such as Bramley and Ramsdell, attacking people in the streets who had no idea about the situation in Tadley yet, which by then the news media was only just starting to get wind of. The Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police, having spoken to the Superintendent at Newbury and received the footage from the helicopter and later the drone that was sent over, telephoned the Home Office at 0700, who in turn contacted Downing Street ten minutes later after seeing the footage the Chief Constable had emailed them.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson was interrupted from his breakfast and informed of the situation. It was decided to call a COBRA meeting to address the escalating crisis.

COBRA MEETING
TUESDAY 14 APRIL 2020 Midday
PRESENT
The Rt Hon Boris Johnson - Prime Minister
The Rt Hon Dominic Raab - Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
The Rt Hon Priti Patel - Secretary of State for the Home Department
The Rt Hon Ben Wallace - Secretary of State for Defence
The Rt Hon Robert Buckland - Secretary of State for Justice
The Rt Hon Matt Hancock - Secretary of State for Health
Rt Hon Brandon Lewis - Deputy Home Secretary and Minister for Security

------
Johnson : Thank you all for coming on such incredibly short notice. I know it was a rush to get here. I didn't even have time to finish my lunch

Patel: Really Boris?

Johnson: A poor attempt to lighten the mood Priti. Anyway, lets get down to business shall we ?

Patel: Right, well we have a right mess on our hands it would appear. We're still limited on what we actually do know though. We have gathered as much information as we can from the police. Its not a pretty picture by any standard. At about half past 12 this morning, emergency services were called to a house in Tadley, Hampshire. A few miles west of Basingstoke. The paramedics arrived shortly after the police and found the house trashed and abandoned. They went into the garden and were confronted by a group of people that included the couple who owned the house, the person who broke in and two police officers. The paramedics were attacked. One managed to escape back to the ambulance, the other was captured and taken into the garden shed where she was nailed to the wall and left to bleed to death. A police car sent to check up on the previous car uncovered the situation and called an ambulance where the poor woman was taken to hospital. I understand she is alive but critical. The perpetrators had moved on. At this point more police were sent in to deal with a number of reports of domestic disturbances. The officers were set upon, and reportedly killed. Another car was sent to investigate and reported numerous mutilated corpses in the streets and claimed they seen a number of their colleagues partaking in the violence, including beheadings.

Buckland: Wait a minute Priti. Crucified paramedics ? Beheadings? By British policemen? Seems a bit far fetched does it not?

Priti: Well the accuracy of this report is increasingly likely. Since then at least thirty five officers were sent in in force to deal with what was felt to be a riot by drunken youths. Of those thirty five officers, only twelve made it back out of the village. The others were either killed or started joining in with the rioters. By six o'clock this morning the entire village had been abandoned by the police, and ambulances and fire engines had been told not to respond to 999 calls as it was too dangerous to enter.

Johnson: We really should have been informed of this situation much sooner. More to the point, what i want to know is why the hell so many police officers just decided to join in with a riot out of the blue? Now get they're pissed off with the policing cuts but that's simply out of order.

Buckland; Agreed Boris. Absolutely no need for our officers to act out in this way. I will certainly be having the full force to the law land on any police officer that...

Hancock: Good God...

Buckland: Don't be bloody rude Matt I'm speaking and you're on your phone !

Hancock: Sorry Rob . A video i was just sent. Unreal. God almighty what is going on?

[Matt Hancock passes his phone around the room so people can watch. The video was posted on twitter from Tadley ten minutes previous. A woman is tied to a chair, her face is covered in blood. Its quickly clear that her eyes have been removed. A blood soaked spoon lies on the table beside her.

*Open up sweetheart. Its full of protein !* The man is holding the woman's mouth open with a pair of tongs whilst he stuffs something in her mouth. * Chew ! go on chew them !* ]

Wallace : Her eyes. He's making her eat her own bloody eyes !

[The woman in the chair vomits and screams in despair. *Oh no don't be sad we are having fun ! Never mind time to make a smoothie hahaha* The crazed individual proceeded to use a large knife to chops the maimed woman's fingers and toes off and put them in a blender, all the while whistling the theme tune to the Archers. He pours the contents of the blender into a jug and drinks half of it before making the poor woman drink the rest]

[sound of gagging from Patel]

Johnson: Okay...umm....right well that was discomforting to watch, but what the hell has that got to do with today's meeting Matt ?

Hancock: Because that video was posted from Tadley ten minutes ago.

Johnson : Oh

Patel: What the fuck was that ? What are we dealing with here?

Wallace: The marks on that mans face? Was it some kind of face paint? Certainly wasn't a birthmark. If anything it looked like a rash.

Johnson: Could this be some kind of illness?

Hancock: I think that's maybe a theory we should be looking into. I'll phone the Chief Medical Officer after the meeting is done. We're already stretched dealing with coronavirus. This is the last thing we need.

[Sound of door knocking and someone entering]

aide : Sorry to interrupt but you need to see this. [Television mounted on the wall is switched on]

"...to cut away from the situation in Hampshire for a moment, we've got some breaking news coming in from the United States. There is an ongoing incident at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington DC. Whilst there has been no official statement from the authorities yet, speculation that there has been a terrorist incident onboard a KLM flight from Heathrow continues to abound. An amateur video shot just fifteen minutes ago shows some dramatic images. This report contains images of violence and dead bodies."
[An amateur video filed from the Reagan Airport control tower is played]

[Gasps from all in the room]

Johnson: Fucking hell...

Wallace: That was grim.

Hancock: It was the same markings. They had the same markings on their face as the guy in the video i showed you.

Patel : We need a plan. And fast.
.......

Reagan National ATC did not know what to make of the situation at all. KLM6187 had come in without any issues at all and had pulled up at one of the hard stands and was ready for the stairs. There hadn't been any distress call from the plane but a very sudden loss of communication. The pilot had told ATC after landing he was going to check of some kind of issue in the cabin. There had been no contact since. They tried for a few minutes to regain contact with the plane. One of the ATC's swore he could see blood on the windows through his binoculars. Whilst they couldn't be sure of what exactly it was without being on board, it was certainly enough reason to send in the first responders.

The MPAA Police Department had a number of their cars and officers surrounding the silent aircraft within two minutes, with fire trucks and ambulances a mere thirty seconds behind them. The doors on the aircraft remained closed, and views inside were obscured by red liquid on every window which could have only been blood. Whatever had happened, had happened in a stunningly short time. So short that there had been no distress call from the pilots or 911 calls from the passengers.
SWAT moved up the stairs armed and ready for anything. Or so they thought. No amount of training and experience could prepare anybody for what was about to unfold.
"Holy fuck ! What the hell is this ?" Was the first and last words of the first officer onboard before the gunfire started. It was less than thirty seconds before the remaining officers fled from the aircraft and down the steps, some screaming in terror. The other first responders on the ground instinctively took a few paces back upon seeing the terrified cops running. Then the passengers came spilling out and down the stairs after them.

There were no news crews on the scene, but the footage filmed from the control tower and posted on twitter by one of the air traffic controllers would be retweeted 258,000 times within an hour before being taken down for "breaching community guidelines". Of course it found its way onto Liveleak very shortly afterwards. The phone zoomed in as a number of SWAT officers ran out of the aircraft, minus half of their number who had entered less than a minute earlier. The man recording can be heard saying "what the fuck?" multiple times. The passengers soon began to follow them, a number tumbling down the stairs in their excitable chase of the cops. The passengers - along with the cabin crew - are absolutely drenched in blood and gore. One has what appears to be someones intestines around his neck like some kind of hellish necklace. Though the person filming is too far away to be able to record the voices on the ground, the facial expressions of the attackers look to be ones of people having a good time. Many appear to be laughing and all have some kind of cross shaped rash on their face. The camera zooms in to show three of the passengers set upon one of the EMTs and begin to savagely slam her head into the side of the ambulance whilst two of the SWAT officers who had entered the aircraft earlier come back, both soaked in blood and aim their weapons at the first responders who by now are starting to fall back. A firefight breaks out between the officers at the top of the steps and those on the ground. The camera cuts away a few seconds after.

TRENDING ON TWITTER as of 0900 EST
1. #ReaganNational
2. #KLM6187
3. #DCA
4. #JustinBeiberarrestedagain
5.#coronavirus
6.#TrumpImpeachment2

7.#EnglandMurders

----------------------------------------------------------------------

BBC NEWS 1310 14 APRIL 2020

Major Incident in Hampshire : Emergency services struggle to cope as violence shatters local communities

Thames Valley Police have declared a major incident in Hampshire around the village of Tadley including several nearby villages where reports have been coming in of rioting since early this morning. Superintendent Chris Grant in Newbury has confirmed that at least twenty eight people have been confirmed killed in the violence along with dozens of others injured and missing. Amongst the casualties there are at least ten police officers dead with many more missing. A police source who has asked to remain anonymous as they are not authorised to speak publicly on the situation has conceded that the number of dead only includes the bodies they have been able to recover and that the number of dead is likely far greater than the official numbers, perhaps in the hundreds.

There is still no known reason for the sudden outbreak of extreme violence in the Hampshire countryside, though Thames Valley Police have ruled out terrorism. Though unverified, a number of social media posts from the area claim that the assailants are not just attacking people but that there have been cases of rape and even torture. A number of extremely graphic videos have been uploaded to facebook and twitter but have since been removed . A spokesman for Downing Street has confirmed that the Prime Minister is chairing a meeting of the governments emergency COBRA committee in response to the situation and will have a statement once more facts are known. The public have been advised to avoid the following places in Hampshire : Tadley, Pamber Green, Pamber Heath, Kingsclere, Silchester and Bramley. Roads in and out of these villages have been closed to all but emergency services and people in the affected areas are urged to remain at home with their doors locked.

We will have more on this situation as it develops.

OTHER TOP STORIES :
. SUSPECTED TERROR INCIDENT AT REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT IN WASHINGTON DC
. JUSTIN BIEBER ARREST
. FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION : ALL MATCHES POSTPONED DUE TO CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

[kspence92]

Ben woke with a start. The third time since the previous night. He had slept on the couch since returning home from work, still haunted by what he had seen. None of the events that had transpired had made any sense. As a paramedic, he had grown accustom to unpleasant sights and dealing with the unexpected. Last night had been particularly unexpected. A 999 call from a woman reporting a break in and an assault been made. Himself and partner Laura had been dispatched to deal with the injured party only to be attacked by the very people who had needed help and even more bizarrely the two responding policemen. They had run, but Laura was caught and dragged away. Ben felt guilty about running, but he had no choice. Had he ? Still deep in thought, he was not expecting the doorbell to go, and certainly did not expect who stood on the other side of the door. Two men in yellow HAZMAT suits, flanked by four police officers wearing respirators and armed with G36 assault rifles. He was too stunned to form a response.

"Ben Smith?" one of the HAZMAT suit guys asked.

"Um...yeah" he replied. He realised he was starting to shake.

"Don't be alarmed. We're here to help. You had close contact with the infected last night we have been led to believe."

"Infected?" Ben looked puzzled "Infected with what?"

"You haven't seen the news?" the lead HAZMAT suit person asked.

"No. Not turned on the TV this morning. Whats going on?"

"If you would please come with us, we'll explain on the way."

He was led to an ambulance outside his front door where two of the armed officers sat in the back with him, the other two following in a car behind.

"The fuck is this ?" Ben asked exasperated.

The man in the yellow HAZMAT suit introduced himself as Paul, and explained "Those people who you had a run in with last night ? Well they were infected with something. We don't know what but whatever it is is ridiculously potent. It drives its victims batshit insane basically. Makes you want to kill people."

"Wow." Ben could only say as he tried to digest that information "So what is it, like rabies?"

"As i said, not got a fucking clue mate. Could be some mutant rabies strain. Maybe bio terrorism. Christ it could have been dropped by a bloody meteorite for all we know. Its totally unknown to us. Its been spreading through Tadley and nearby towns all morning. A right mess from what we can tell. A lot of folk dead, and i mean a lot." Paul replied then went on "We're taking you in purely as a precaution. You have been in close proximity to who we believe to be Patient Zero. We're not totally sure how this thing spreads so we're not taking chances. We know it is spread by body fluids but we still don't know if it might be airborne and we cant take the risk. There's a specialist quarantine unit set up a the hospital in Basingstoke. We'll be there in a few minutes."

This is fucking bonkers Ben thought as he looked out the ambulance window and saw them pull into Basingstoke Hospital. At the main entrance was some kind of long tube like tent which the ambulance was reversing up to. The HAZMAT guys and armed police led him through the white decontamination tent at the entrance of the hospital and into the reception area where a number of staff milled around wearing protective gear.

"Fucking hell there's another one of those nutters" one of the police officers said as two orderlies wheeled a man by on a gurney. He was strapped down and writhing. His mouth had been taped shut.

"Whats that on his face?" Ben asked nobody in particular.

"A rash. They all seem to have it. Helps us tell them apart from normal folk at a distance." the policeman replied.

"Why am i here then? I've not got a rash or acting like a bloody mental case." Ben questioned as he looked around and saw three more of these "crossed" wheeled by accompanied by armed police.

Paul, his voice slightly muffled by his HAZMAT suit, responded honestly "You're probably fine. But its just not a risk we can't take. It somehow got from here to America overnight on a flight from London. The virus didn't kick in so to speak until the plane landed. So it appears that in at least some cases that the incubation period is longer for some people. Right, lets get you up stairs and get some tests run. I'll get you a sandwich and a cup of tea afterwards, I know you must be freaking out. "

"Its a bloody lot to take in mate, I'll tell you that for fuck all. Do you know how my partner is doing ? Laura. She was taken here last night. In intensive care last i heard." Ben asked, his eyes pleading.

"Ben. I'm sorry. She was exposed to the virus. We're trying all sorts of medication on her and the other infected but nothings making any difference. She had passed out when the next ambulance crew found her last night. They transported her here and when she woke up she attacked some of the staff. Killed a nurse and infected another. Luckily security managed to detain both of them and we have them isolated in a ward we have set aside for virus victims. They're being held by restraints and administered sedatives which are having barely any effect at all in calming them down. The police are struggling to detain these "crossed" as they're calling the infected now. They put up a vicious fight from what I'm told. We have eighteen here so far but it appears the powers that be are now increasingly resorting to the use of lethal force rather than detention."

"You mean they're killing people ? They're killing sick people ?" Ben asked in utter disgust.

"You've clearly not seen it out there. These poor bastards might be sick, but they're downright bloody evil. They're not just attacking people, they're torturing people until they die." Paul said then added quietly "even kids."

"Its like a horror film." Ben remarked as he was led into a room to have his blood taken. Paul waved the armed policemen away.

"I'm taking a bit of a risk sending the guys with the guns away but i' confident you're ok. Shouldn't take too long for the guys in the lab to get some preliminary results back. In the meantime, would you be alright with helping out around here? I know you're supposed to be day off today but we're incredibly short staffed. In addition to the eighteen Crossed patients we also have a couple of hundred regular patients and to tend to them we currently have three doctors, eight nurses and hopefully your good self if you'd be so kind?" Paul asked with a smile. "I'll get you some protective gear of course."

"Well if you keep your promise of a cup of tea and a sandwich then I'm game." Ben said forcing a smile. The whole situation still seemed surreal.


.........

By early afternoon on the 14th, the situation overall was going from bad to worse. Crossed police officers - after having exhausted their supply of victims in Tadley - were advancing northwest towards Newbury, intent to torching the police station there. They had quickly overpowered the police roadblock set up on the A39 at Bishops Green , killing the officers guarding it and turning the few that survived. The remains of the Newbury force of Thames Valley Police had a fall back position at the disused former Royal Air Force base at Greenham Common on the southern outskirts of town. If this line fell, Newbury would be wide open to attack. Armed response units had arrived from Kidlington and were setting up defensive positions with orders to shoot to kill. Realising the extreme gravity of the situation facing the town of some 45,000 people, the local council issued an order to evacuate as many people as possible. Most road traffic would be directed northwards along the A39 towards Oxford, whilst the towns two train stations were being utilised to evacuate others eastwards towards Reading. The orders went out over the local radio stations and via the councils facebook and twitter pages. Many older people without access to social media would miss this order and remain at home where the enemy drew ever closer. To the east, officers deployed from Reading manned road blocks at Burghfield Common in a vital effort to prevent the Crossed reaching the busy M4 Motorway and beyond that, Reading.

Newbury was not the only fairly large town under threat; to the south Basingstoke was almost wide open to attack. Although the police had closed the A340 between Tadley and Basingstoke, a couple of vans and a dozen policemen armed with batons and tasers would only be able to offer token resistance. At that point, the situation was still very confused and information on the Crossed lacking desperately. Nobody expected a large mob of baying maniacs to move southwards into Basingstoke. The only armed force in Basingstoke was a single unit guarding the Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital on the northern outskirts of the town, and their primary orders were to keep the hospital secure from the Crossed patients inside should they get loose, rather than deal with any rabble coming down the road. The valiant resistance of the officers manning the blockade a mile to the north gave their armed response colleagues at the hospital just enough time to get into defensive positions and to order the hospital staff to try and evacuate the patients. Three doctors, eight nurses and one traumatised paramedic would do their duty and save as many as they could.

It would not be enough.

At 2:00 PM, the Crossed arrived in force in northern Basingstoke, led by the newly infected police officers that only minutes earlier had been attempting to protect the town.

All Hell broke loose.

--------------
3600 miles to the West...

Donald John Trump, 45th President of the United States, sat at the desk in his bedroom and prepared for to type another twitter tirade at his opponents. A knock at the door grabbed his attention. Frowning, Trump grumbled "Come in."

"Sorry for the interruption Mr President. We have a problem." Robert O'Brien, the presidents National Security Adviser responded, closing the door behind him.

Trump sighed "When do we not have a problem Robert? What the hell are the Democrats up to now?"

"Nothing to do with the Dems. We have a very serious situation developing at Reagan National Airport. A plane landed and the passengers went on a rampage across the terminals. Police are in response but they're overwhelmed. We may be looking at hundreds killed and injured." Robert informed the President.

"Goddamn terrorists. And they wonder why i wanted the travel ban?" Trump fumed.

"We don't think its terrorism." The National Security Adviser said before beckoning the President to follow him "We need you in the situation room. Everyone else will be there shortly. The media is starting to pick up on the story so we'll need to put out a statement as soon as we can get more facts."

"Where did the flight come from? One of those goddamn middle eastern shit holes?" the President asked as they made the walk to the Situation Room.

"No sir. Came in from London about half an hour ago."

"Huh, London. Little Mayor Khans Islamist stabbing paradise. Damn shame what he's done to that city. A lot of people are saying London was better before he as elected, believe me." Trump said shaking his head.


The Situation Room was abuzz with activity. A TV on the wall was showing live footage from CNN covering the airport incident. One glare from Trump at an aide ensured that it was switched over to Fox News.

"Extraordinary scenes here at Reagan National Airport. For those who have just joined us, an extremely violent situation is unfolding just across the street at the airport, where we understand a flight from London's Heathrow Airport landed a little over 30 minutes ago. Passengers exited the aircraft and immediately began to assault first responders and airport staff before making their way into the terminal and continuing their rampage. All flights to and from Reagan National have been cancelled or diverted and officials are urging people to keep away from the area for their own safety. Police confirm that there have been many casualties but cannot yet provide a number. For the past ten minutes, as you can hear, there has been a steady stream of gunfire from inside the terminal after responding police entered to deal with the incident. If you look over...can you zoom in the camera in please...if you look, you can see people coming out of terminal. It appears the police officers are coming back out. Something does not look right here. What is that on their faces? They're coming over to us...Oh...oh shit...run...run ....fuck , hey get the hell off me. I'm a journalist you cant. Oh God....help, please help...hel...oh yeah thats good hahahah"

"My God. Um we're going to cut away there we some kind of...technical difficulties."

"Okay. So who's gonna tell me what the fuck we just watched?" Trump said in astonishment staring at the TV screen.

Nobody spoke for several seconds. Everyone was shocked to their core.

"We um...we don't yet know what this is." The White House Chief of Staff, Mick Mulvaney spoke up first. "We don't think its terrorism. At least it doesn't fit with the profile of terrorism. As far as we can tell, all of the attackers were passengers and crew aboard the flight. Men, women and children have been taking part in the violence. Its got us totally perplexed."

"Right, okay. That does not explain why i just watched two cops rape a reporter on live TV." the President said leaning over the table "And the whole country is watching this and looking to us for answers. We have an election coming up and we cannot drop the goddamn ball here !"

"The face markings we're seeing on the attackers," the Director of National Intelligence began "We assumed it was face paint, but closer inspection seems to be it could be some sort of rash. I just got sent a few photos from a contact in England and, well sir, it looks like we may have the same problem. There were reports on the BBC about a series of murders in the countryside west of London. Extremely violent murders committed by people with a cross shaped marking on their faces. We also know that the plane came in from London. We're thinking there is a direct connection here. It might be prudent to have the CDC look into this."

"You're telling me these people have some kind of bug?" the President asked.

"Its one possibility." The DNI offered.

"Great. Another fucking bug. Like we haven't had enough of that shit the last three months" Trump shuddered. Germs freaked him out. "So what do we do about it?"

"If and that's a big if," the Secretary of Homeland Security began "This is some kind of biological agent, we need to suppress it immediately. Quarantine the airport."

"I'll get in touch with the Brits, see what they know about this. We'll need to coordinate on this if it is indeed connected." Mike Pompeo chimed in.

"Right, well make what needs to happen, happen." Trump said rubbing his temple as a headache set in.

The meeting went on for a further ten minutes as everyone added their 2 cents and tried to patch together what was going on, when one of the phones of the desk suddenly rang.

Defense Secretary Esper answered the secure, direct line from the Pentagon and put it on speaker.

"Go ahead, the President is listening." Esper said.

"Mister fucking President ! hahaha. Always wanted to say this : You are a fucking retarded dumbfuck ! hahaha"

The entire room fell silent and everyone looked at each other. Trumps face was red with rage.

"Who the fuck is that son of a bitch?" he nearly screamed.

"That sounds like David Norquist." Esper said in utter bewilderment, referring to the Deputy Secretary of Defense.

"Its me Espie ! Oh it burns so good in my veins. Wait till it happens to you * Background commotion, screaming, distant gunfire* "Everything is beautiful. Even things that are dead. Especially dead things. I'm gonna fuck your asses. All of your asses. The dying time is here hahahah."

Then the phone clicked off.

"That piece of shit is fired ! Talking to me like that. Dumb as a goddamn rock that guy. Who does he think he is?" the President said in a rage "I'll ruin him, ill fucking ruin..."

"Oh God. Oh my God !" Mark Esper said as he took a call on his cell phone.

"What?" Trump asked in annoyance.

"Somethings happened at the Pentagon. Some kind of attack. Reagan National is only a five minute drive away from there. Those people from the airport are storming the building, Several hundred civilians and cops attacked the building." The Secretary of Defense said as he stood up and paced around the room.

"Several hundred?" the Director of National Intelligence inquired "There was 134 people on the plane. That means that people on the ground must be participating in the attack too. If this is biological as we are theorizing, then the people from the plane have passed it to the people in the airport, including our own police officers. This is bad. Christ this if fucking terrible."

"Thanks a lot Obama." Trump muttered as he stared at the table. The others merely looked at the President, and then at each other.

They had work to do.

........

Within only a matter of minutes of storming the terminals, the situation was out of control. The number of Crossed dramatically increased as terrified passengers were assailed by the thousands. Grievious injuries meant that many hundreds died within minutes, but hundreds of other who were attacked would soon turn and join the insane mob, including several dozen police officers. They spilled out of the airport, tearing apart bystanders and news crews who were setting up to film the developing incident. A number of Crossed officers took their vans and cars and make a mad dash north to the Pentagon a mere five minute drive away. Behind them the civilian infected followed, most happy to tear apart drivers in their cars, though a few hundred of the Crossed maintained enough thought process to realize the chaos they could cause by holding off on violence until they reached their target. The Pentagon Police Force, though well equipped and trained, was in no way expecting a small army of insane police officers to attack them, nor did they expect the baying mob of civilians who followed closely behind. Despite a valiant defense, the Pentagon police were shattered with the survivors retreating into the building to fight a room to room battle. It was only an hour since KLM6187 had landed at Reagan National and already there were almost two thousand infected on the ground, and several hundred corpses scattered between the airport and the Pentagon.

Worse was to come. Much worse.

[James G]

I always like reading about the Crossed. Thoroughly evil creatures!

[lordroel]

Mar 1, 2020 16:19:49 GMT kspence92 said:

This is a timeline based on the horror comic series by Garth Ennis "Crossed", which follows a global pandemic that turns its victims into homicidal sadists.

I started this TL over on alternativehistory.com, but it was locked due to the potential for bringing Current Politics outside of Chat, which is fair enough, though that was not my intention.

Never heard of Crossed verse until now, so going to watch this thread to Hopefully learn more about it.

Well i am going to allow the TL as i have a feeling that Current Politics will not last long in this TL before it completely change from OTL.

[stevep]

   kspence92 ,

   This is developing very rapidly. One other factor you haven't included is what is immediately north of Tadly, i.e. AWE Aldermaston. Which has the potential benefit of armed police very close by but their small enough in number, especially during the night that they could be surprised and overwhelmed.

   Any particular reason why you choose Tadley for the initial outbreak?

  Steve

[kspence92]

Mar 2, 2020 16:19:11 GMT stevep said:

   kspence92 ,

   This is developing very rapidly. One other factor you haven't included is what is immediately north of Tadly, i.e. AWE Aldermaston. Which has the potential benefit of armed police very close by but their small enough in number, especially during the night that they could be surprised and overwhelmed.

   Any particular reason why you choose Tadley for the initial outbreak?

  Steve

Purely at random. had a look on google maps and choose it. I was aiming for a smallish town that is in fairly easy traveling distance of the larger towns of southern england

[kspence92]

The police blockade at Greenham Common defending Newbury held for a while, but more and more Crossed kept pressing the attack. Police officers, despite their training and discipline,were still merely human and spending several hours engaging in running battles with seemingly rabid women and kids (in some cases people known to them) was simply too much. The units defending the blockades at Greenham Common were gradually being pushed back into Newbury itself. What started as a fighting withdrawal soon became a frantic rout. Nonetheless, the men and women of Thames Valley Police had held the line long enough for a significant number of people to evacuate from Newbury and their sacrifice would not be forgotten. By four in the afternoon, the police line had fallen back to the railway tracks running through the middle of the town. The train stations had thankfully been emptied by that point as the crossed continued their advance. Orders went out from HQ at Kidlington : All remaining units abandon positions and proceed north to the Moto Chieveley motorway services just off the M4. They were to hold the line there and keep the motorway clear of crossed at all costs. A few miles to the east, the crossed were also pressing the police defences at Burghfield Common. A fairly large armed response force had amassed here backed by riot police. They were under orders to hold their ground at all costs. If they were overrun, Reading and its quarter of a million residents would be wide open to attack. If Reading went down, London's Heathrow Airport was only a forty minute drive along the M4 from there. Failure was not an option.

Whilst the rearguard action by Thames Valley Police managing to hold off the crossed long enough to allow Newbury to evacuate could be considered a success, sadly that success would not be repeated to the south in Basingstoke, the next large town in crossed sights.

--------

Ben had finally got his sandwich and cup of tea, for which he was enormously grateful for after the hellish morning he had had so far. His tests had - as expected - come back negative for the Crossed Virus. He was happy to help out around the hospital given how severely understaffed they were. Many of the hospitals employees had been caught up in the chaos of the outbreak a few miles to the north and were unable to make it into work. The few that were there did what they could to help the patients under their care. The NHS had promised to send support but none had been forthcoming so far. After two hours of running about like mad helping out around the ward he finally had time to get a break and have a chat with one of the staff.

"Ben? Ben?" a voice said. "Ben?"

"Oh." he said looking up from the mug he had been staring into without even realising "I was in a world of my own there. Whats up, love?" he asked the young nurse sat next to him. Nicole her name badge said. Only 23 and looked 18. She also looked terrified.

"You think they'll get this under control soon?" she asked.

"No." he answered honestly "not soon anyway. I mean i have never seen anything like this. Well, other than in films obviously. Its kind of like "28 Days Later". Except this is probably worse. The videos on twitter are fucking horrific. They're actually torturing children."

Nicole looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"Don't worry. We'll be fine. It'll take a few days but i'm sure they'll get on top of it. I reckon they'll call out the army." Ben tried to reassure her as he sipped at his steaming cup of tea. The TV in the corner droned on :

"...whilst we await an official statement from Downing Street. In the meantime, the situation in Hampshire continues to deteriorate with casualties estimated to be in the low thousands. Newbury has essentially been abandoned and we now have information coming into us from reliable sources that those afflicted with the contagion are attacking police officers on the outskirts of Reading. To the south, Basingstoke is now threatened by...

Suddenly a police officer barged through the double doors and into the hall, almost running down to the nurses station. Ben almost dropped his mug of tea.

"You have to get these people out of here !" The officer hissed as he looked from Ben and over to the patients in the ward.

"Eh? How the fuck do you suppose we do that then? We have like twelve staff and about 200 or more patients." Ben exclaimed.

"You need to think of something because they're coming. We thought we had more time. The bastards can use cars ! Not very good drivers mind you but good enough to cover ground in no time." the officer sounded exhausted and borderline hysterical. "We need to try and move as many patients as possible."

"Move them where? and with what exactly? All the ambulances are out. And a lot of these folk cannot be moved in anything other than an ambulance. They're too frail." Ben responded rubbing his face with both hands. "I...i don't know what to do."

"Mick !" the officers radio piped up "Hurry the fuck up and get back out here. We need everybody we can get. There's a shitload of them coming down the street.

"Roger, on my way." the cop replied as he took off running.As he opened the double doors the sound of gunfire from outside was clearly audible.

"You got any idea's?" Ben asked Nicole "We cant just run and leave these poor people."

"No. No we can't. We can't move them either though. Hold on a second." She ran off down the corridor into a store room and came back with several syringes. "You've seen what they do to people. We can't let that happen here."

"Fuck me Nicole you can't be serious." Ben gasped.

"You need to help me. We don't have time." as if to underscore her point, a burst of automatic gunfire outside caused them both to wince. They could hear screaming outside now. And laughing. Soon enough it was all just laughing.

The Accident and Emergency Department was full to the brim. Many patients from car accidents, fires and the odd one who managed to survive a crossed attack without becoming infected.

"Where the fuck are the rest of the staff?" Ben hissed at Nicole.

"No idea. I think they've fucked off when they heard the rumours of crossed coming this way."

"Cunts." He growled "I dunno if i can do this."

She grabbed his by the arms. "You can. We can."

Some of the patients were unconscious. Others were fully aware of the situation.

"Its OK son" one older gentleman said to him. "Do it. Better than being left for them."

Going full Harold Shipman was not how he had expected his day to go, but here he was murdering his patients. There were still another twelve patients left when they heard the doors burst open and the laughter echoed down the halls.

The patients pleaded for them to continue their work, but time was up.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Ben cried as he dragged Nicole away from the pleading patients. They spotted crossed down the hall, a few wearing police uniforms, others worse a mixture of civilian clothes, some nothing at all.

"Quick, hide under here." He whispered as they got under the desk at the nurses station before anybody could see them.

The laughing grew louder and louder until it was terrifyingly close. Someone knocked Ben's cup of tea off the desk where it shattered on the floor and splashed them both with scalding hot liquid. They dared not make a sound. Then the screaming began. Begging. Screaming. Begging. Screaming. It seemed to last forever. Ben, despite his utter terror, had to know what was happening. He gingerly popped his head around the corner of the desk and saw a scene of absolute horror. He took out his phone and started to record live via facebook. Not out of some sick kick from seeing people hurt but because the world had to know what it was facing if it was to come together and defeat this evil.

One patient, a man of about thirty years of age, lay on his bed with his broken leg from a motorcycle crash held up by a sling. A crossed was repeatedly beating down on the mans broken leg with a cricket bat, smashing his already broken bones to pulp. The screams were unbearable to listen to. A woman with stitches on his side from a stab wound had each and every stitch cut out one by one before two crossed reached inside the newly reopened wound to pull her internal organs out. Another woman - a stroke victim - no older than 60, had her oxygen mask removed from her face whilst two crossed watched and laughed as she struggled to breath. She was then violently tipped from her bed and onto the floor and savagely kicked all over body before being raped repeatedly and then turning and joining in on the torture herself. One of the crossed barged into the ward with a box of scalpels and passed them around. The remaining patients were slowly skinned alive in their beds as they howled in agony. The crossed whooped and hollered as they stapled the flayed skin to their own bodies.

After an hour, the last of the patients finally stopped screaming and the crossed got bored and moved on. Ben and Nicole sat there under that desk for another twenty minutes before daring to move. Nicole stifled a sob as she braved a look at her former patients and swallowed a mouthful of sick.

"Come on, lets get out of here. Like a fucking slaughterhouse." he whispered as he took her hand and they quietly made their way to the exit.

........

The Basingstoke Hospital Massacre quickly became one of the most watched videos in the history of the internet. It went viral in all the wrong ways. It was all over Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. Social media quickly gave up on taking down this kind of content as it was so widespread as to be totally pointless by that point. Whilst the video uploaded from the hospital gave the government and public a much clearer picture of just what exactly they were dealing with, it also led to mass panic the length of the country. Millions of people from the south coast of England to the north coast of Scotland were suddenly inundating shops and panic buying tinned food, bottled water and other essentials. Even toilet roll started to become worth its weight in gold.

The rapid collapse of Basingstoke would see tens of thousands of more people become Crossed within a couple of hours, and several thousand innocents slaughtered in their own homes or in the streets. The M3 Motorway would come to a standstill as the crossed spilled onto the road and caused dozens of car accidents. Injured drivers were ripped from their wrecked cars and brutalised on the road. Crossed commandeered vehicles quickly reached Woking and Farnborough and were now only a few miles from London's south western limits by 5:30 PM.

[stevep]

Mar 5, 2020 6:36:37 GMT kspence92 said:

Mar 2, 2020 16:19:11 GMT stevep said:

   kspence92 ,

   This is developing very rapidly. One other factor you haven't included is what is immediately north of Tadly, i.e. AWE Aldermaston. Which has the potential benefit of armed police very close by but their small enough in number, especially during the night that they could be surprised and overwhelmed.

   Any particular reason why you choose Tadley for the initial outbreak?

  Steve

Purely at random. had a look on google maps and choose it. I was aiming for a smallish town that is in fairly easy traveling distance of the larger towns of southern england

kspence92,

  Very nasty and I fear its going to get worse.  Its already too late to use nukes to suppress matters in Britain and you would need to realise immediate large scale military action to try and wipe out the infected. 

  The fact the infected aren't like zombies, i.e. many retain at least a level of intelligent and also apparently a desire to spread the infection makes things far, far worst.  Going to enable the plague to spread much further and faster and at least Britain and N America are going to be badly affected even if its possible to keep it out of elsewhere.  Is there any danger that they would be capable of using weapons other than simple melee ones.

  Hopefully I'm dead in TTL as I can't see myself getting away and the alternative is something I'd rather avoid.

  Very brave decision by the two nurses and a pity they couldn't kill off all the patients.  Mind you they were very lucky to get away themselves, assuming they manage to.

  Steve

[lordroel]

Mar 5, 2020 16:22:43 GMT stevep said:

  Very nasty and I fear its going to get worse.  Its already too late to use nukes to suppress matters in Britain and you would need to realise immediate large scale military action to try and wipe out the infected. 

I agree with that, its not going to get better i fear.

[gillan1220]

This timeline will become alternate history next month

[ukron]

Did Coronavirus will be linked with Crossed oubtreak ?

[lordroel]

Mar 10, 2020 15:24:16 GMT ukron said:

Did Coronavirus will be linked with Crossed oubtreak ?

I think it is a totally different virus, ore at least i think it is.

[gillan1220]

What will happen to the ongoing Coronavirus? Will it die down?

Also WHO and all health agencies would freak the F*** out

[ukron]

I think, in such conditions, Coronavirus outbreak will be more important:

Actually Crossed people can be affected by "normal" disease such as Flu,or Cold, then having a bunch of crazy psychopaths with pneumonia can be a reality in this TL.
Anyway, Crossed virus biology (if it's really a virus, i doubt so) will be a scientific mystery, i have never heard of having two viral diseases in the same time is something very scarce.

[gillan1220]

Mar 12, 2020 13:03:52 GMT ukron said:

I think, in such conditions, Coronavirus outbreak will be more important:

Actually Crossed people can be affected by "normal" disease such as Flu,or Cold, then having a bunch of crazy psychopaths with pneumonia can be a reality in this TL.
Anyway, Crossed virus biology (if it's really a virus, i doubt so) will be a scientific mystery, i have never heard of having two viral diseases in the same time is something very scarce.

That gives me the idea. Utilize the Coronavirus as bioweapon against the Crossed.