Hunter Clarkson made sure to be as quiet as possible as he pulled one more carrot from the field before grabbing his basket and tiptoeing silently back to his house. By now he was used to it. After the outbreak had begun three weeks ago, the world has found most of the human population becoming monsters. By now it was roughly estimated that 65% of humans had been transformed. Or at least that's the last thing the news reporter had said last Tuesday before the new stations were hijacked. Monsters had begun to take control of the world, and with their threat level, power, and exponential growth rate, who could blame them?
Hunter knocked three times in a specific order followed by a soft whistle in between at the front door before he heard it unlock with his sister, Piper, awaiting him. "Good job not opening it this time," Hunter told her as he walked inside and toward the kitchen.
"I can clearly just see you through the peephole," she said as Hunter ignored her and entered the living room. He passed his brother Mercer with a pair of binoculars on the couch taking a nap, clearly not worried for his safety, before setting the basket on top of the kitchen table.
"So... was it safe outside?" Piper asked inquisitively as she begin to take out a few vegetables and lay them on the table. Mercer let out a soft snore before waking from the noise of their voices. He turned his head toward the kitchen to see Hunter inside before yawning and getting off the couch. Placing the binoculars on the coffee table, he slowly began heading toward them.
"Yo! I thought you were going to be outside for ages." Mercer said as he pulled out a chair and sat down, making a quick glance at Piper who was meticulously examining and cleaning the produce. There wasn't much to be seen. Hunter had only been able to grab a few vegetables before he heard a noise from the woods and felt it was too unsafe to remain outside. Both Piper and Mercer seemed to be slightly disappointed at the turnout.
Hunter sighed. It hadn't been easy being the caretaker for the last two weeks. Growing up and homeschooled on a mostly technological-free farm in Indiana, Hunter and his family had been secluded from the city and digital devices more than most people would. But he'd gotten accustomed to it as it was the only life he ever knew. But this month, something happened that changed the 21-year old's life forever. A strange outbreak had begun in the world, speculated to have originated from a VR game, turning humans into monsters. Hunter could hardly believe it at first. Monsters? An outbreak originating from a video game? It sounded completely ludicrous. The news changed his mind quickly, as he was soon witness to footage of monsters running rampant in the world.
Anyway, where it came from didn't matter compared to the highly infectious nature of the sickness... the virus? Honestly, Hunter hadn't received too much information on the virus, if that's what it was classified as, since most scientists and researchers had been some of the first to be infected. Almost as if they had been targeted. All that was left was the little information professors or doctors were able to produce from their limited resources and whatever info the internet was able to speculate.
The whole situation was terrifying and it just kept getting worse. During the first week, his parents rode into town to grab some resources and find help, despite their protests, and hadn't made any contact since. Hunter didn't want to expect the worst but he didn't want to live in some foolish fantasy either. Heck wasn't that the cause of this whole mess to begin with? So he took over all responsibilities, as the eldest sibling, over his 18-year old sister Piper and 16-year old brother Mercer. To keep them all alive and safe, they'd been living off their crops and livestock for the past few weeks and hadn't once left the farm.
Hunter wasn't too worried about food and water. Not including their livestock and crops they had other options. Due to their father's hoardful nature, there were plenty of canned goods stocked in the pantry and basement to last them a while. They could also easily gain access to water from the pipes and electricity to cook in their house. He could only speculate their functionality to the fact that the monsters still needed them as well. He wasn't sure if all of them retained intelligence, but some could clearly think well as they had been capable of taking over the media and internet for themselves. Now the TV and computer laid turned off, now capable of producing more hinderances than help.
As the three lived on their secluded fenced farm, they hadn't had any encounters with any monsters and unfortunately... any people during the past three weeks. Despite this, Hunter still thought it was best to stay quiet outside when he or the others went to collect produce or complete small farm tasks that didn't make too much noise. Teaching his siblings a secret combination, he always had them lock the door and use it when someone entered. There were plenty of other rules too, such as: only two people allowed outside at max, one person always on lookout, no turning on the computer/television except for emergencies and etc. He could tell his siblings had begun to grow frustrated and bored being cooped inside their house and not being allowed to do anything considered noisy or enjoyable at all. Not helped by the fact that they had to take orders and follow a shit ton of rules by their older brother.
Regardless, Hunter didn't care what they thought of him, good or bad. He just wanted to keep his remaining family safe until the world found a cure or something. Hunter wasn't holding out too much hope, but he just wanted something good to happen.