User:RazorICE/Undead Rising

Undead Rising is a fictional story and Flash-animated series written and designed by David Pye and Dan Padilha. Undead Rising was conceived during a school project in 2005.

The series strives for realism and detail and is primarily being shown in animation form, using Macromedia Flash MX 2004, however written and drawn versions may be produced in the future. The first Undead Rising episode was submitted by David Pye to the popular website Newgrounds on the 14th of November, 2005. It now currently resides in the Zombie Collection Archive with an average score of 3.64 from a maximum of 5.

Storyline
After the fictional company RIPE Enterprises accidentally releases an experimental virus labelled XAV-342²/3, hundreds of thousands of people across the United States of America are infected and turned into the undead. As a result, a quarantine is established and the United States is involved in a war unlike any other in mankind's history.

The story follows many characters as they try to escape the undead menace.

Development of the Virus
The origin of the outbreak in Undead Rising is caused by the accidental release of the experimental virus XAV-342²/3, by the international manufacturer RIPE Enterprises.

A year earlier the world had been plagued by a particularly bad case of Avian Influenza, which wiped out billions of livestock; and in some cases, humans. Companies and biological research laboratories around the globe struggled to find a cure to stop the spread of the virus.

The highly-successful manufacturer RIPE Enterprises, which owned a large quantity of Biological Laboratories throughout the world, began to help fight the pandemic. During research, however, the RIPE Bio-lab scientists came across an extraordinary discovery. When mice were exposed to early anti-viral tests, rather than eliminating the virus, the antidote would instead kill the mice. However, the lab rats would soon return to life. The project was quickly and discretely handed over to the RIPE Enterprises Military Research Facilities, where better laboratories would help develop the anti-virus faster. The United Nations was never informed of the discovery.

With further reasearch, different types of the virus were developed. XAV-127²/0 was developed and could bring small animals back to life, if only for a short time. Soon XAV-212²/1 and XAV-279²/2 allowed scientists to bring larger and more complex animals back to life within a shorter expanse of time for considerably longer than 127²/0. During research of XAV-342²/3 a standard material exchange across laboratories was required, and was the cause of the outbreak.

Outbreak
It is believed the Outbreak was caused by sabotage by an inside agent. At 10:32AM EST, as materials were being moved cross laboratory, an incident occured involving the inside agent. The virus was released into the air conditioning and although an automatic emergency quarantine alarm was activated, the virus managed to escape via a door which was jammed open by EXPLETED.

XAV-342²/3 travelled through the air vents and to the outside. Three in every four people who passed through the Los Angeles central business district in the next 24 hours were infected with almost no symptoms.

Reaction
A day later, on the 2nd of February 2016, the effects of the virus were felt in and around the Los Angeles area, causing people to commit sudden acts of inexplicable violence, most commonly attacking and killing of others. Although not technically dead, those who were infected possessed little vital signs, their bodies running on the most basic bodily functions. Most would die after weeks of malnutrition, exhaustion and exposure, however they would continue to operate, albeit with reduced mobility and cognitive ability.

Early on in the day of the outbreak (as well as the day before), a large scale protest was being held in MacArthur Park over illegal immigrants and an end to conflict overseas. This is thought to be the epicenter of the pandemic. In fact, initial reports believed the disturbance in Los Angeles was based on the protestors turning violent, however as the situation grew in size, it was reclassified as a terrorist attack. Only later on in the evening was the true nature of the disturbance realised. Throughout the day there was a large scale Emergency Services response. At approximately 12:31pm, the "Economy and Biology Centre of Research and Development" building in downtown Los Angeles was hit by United Airlines Flight 226 - a Boeing 767 with 201 people on board. Four hours later, the building collapsed, only a year after it had been completed. Conspiracy theories state that this was done on purpose to remove any evidence of RIPE Enterprises doing, since the building was their primary research center in the area. These claims have never been proven.

At around 3:00PM, the President of the United States mobilised the National Guard to deploy into the Los Angeles County Area and bring the situation under control. Throughout the following days, and even weeks, the National Guard helped hundreds of thousands of people escape infected areas.

2 days after the initial outbreak marked the end of the carnage in Los Angeles, however it marked the beginning of a 2 year long war in which the United States Military was charged with removing all traces of the infected from North West America.

The War
The Undead War began in February 2016, and lasted until the last known infected person was terminated in December 2019. Although North West America had been re-occupied before this (June 2018), it took a year and a half to fully eradicate the infection.

Although exact numbers will never be known, it is estimated that approximately 4,000,000 civilians lost their lives by infection, contact with the infected population or by conditions brought around by the infected (malnutrition, starvation, disease, suicide etc).

Almost 300,000 enlisted military personnel lost their lives in the war, 90% of which died from contact with the infected.

Only 351 vehicles and aircraft were destroyed or immobilized during the war, 80% of these being ground troop transports which were abandoned due to a variety of reasons. 25 Aircraft were lost due to accidents, infected gaining access to the aircraft or enemy fire from rebels or insurgents.

Controversy
There is much debate over how the virus was released. Some stated that RIPE Network released the virus deliberately to raise safety awareness or gain publicity, although in Episode 1 it is clearly shown as being human/manufacturing error. However, RIPE Network was tried and charged by the U.N. a few months later, and was in turn ordered to pay fines relating to unlawful practice of biological development and containment as well as the lawsuits from over a million families plus damage repayments to the United States government.

The final cost is not exact but it is estimated at approximately US$164.3 billion. RIPE Network was bankrupted instantly and a few weeks later the C.E.O. committed suicide, ending RIPE Network's long and glorious history as the largest company in the world.

Animated Episodes
The Undead Rising saga is animated using Macromedia Flash MX 2004 and is released first on Newgrounds. Episode 1 was released in mid-November, 2005. As of September, 2006, Episode 2 is still a work in progress.

Characters
Some of the characters in Undead Rising include: Plus many more.
 * Episode 1
 * the guard responsible for the outbreak
 * Episode 2
 * A soldier trying to recover a sample of the virus
 * A lawyer
 * Three army grunts
 * Two police officers
 * A news reporter
 * A young woman and her boyfriend
 * Leader of the zombies (Alpha zombie)

Criticism
Undead Rising Episode 1 became controversial within days of finalization. Themes, music and ideas had been extracted from the motion picture Resident Evil and Undead Rising was therefore seen as a "rip-off":
 * Many scenes had been copied, most notably the opening scene, which showed a man in a white suit moving highly contagious viruses into a carry case.
 * The music was the same as the opening in Resident Evil, which was performed by Marilyn Manson.
 * The virus was released in a similar way in both movies.

However, the ideas were taken because the makers felt that these views would enhance the film. The two movies share nothing in common in their storylines besides the cause being viral.

One viewer complained of having pressed the "Skip" button and not seeing the movie in its entirety. See Trivia below.

Trivia

 * A recent video game Dead Rising created for the X box has almost the same name as Undead Rising however UR was created a long time before Dead Rising was unveiled to the public.
 * The first Flash-animated episode was completed and submitted early due to a school-work deadline, therefore the quality was reduced considerably in a rushed attempt to finish it.
 * There are currently plans for at least two more Undead Rising animated features plus a remake of Episode 1, however this is subject to change.
 * The original name for the Alpha Zombie (David Wilcox) is actually the name of a locally famous writer located in Saint Louis. He has been friends with the creators of Undead Rising for a long time despite being on different continents.
 * The project was given an A and was the longest-running and best quality Flash project in the school.
 * A "Skip" button was accidently left in Episode 1, located in the upper left corner for the first few scenes. This button was originally intended for use by the animators to be able to quickly test any new additions to the movie, but remained in the submitted Flash copy.
 * Undead Rising has been heavily influenced by many of George Romero's Dead series, which include Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead and their remakes. Many camera angles, effects, music and themes used in these movies are employed in Undead Rising to give it an "apocalyptic" feel. This includes the infamous Romero beginning-credit-chaos montage.