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I Love The Last Of Us

[center][b]The Last of Us: The Infection[/b][/center]

What would this amazing be without the Infected? Never mind the human enemies, the infected are the real threat in TLoU series. Based on my experience and knowledge, I'll tell you guys some simple info about each stage of infection and how dangerous they can be. How to combat them is another story I'll do soon.

First off, lets talk about HOW the infected beings came to be. There was a mutated strain of Cordyceps. A common type of fungi. Much similar in our world involving ants that may carry this, but this is far severe. The infection originally came from the crops of South America. The infection quickly spread to our country and this is where TLoU players are experiencing after 20 years of the start of the infection. During those years, everything went bizarre and human society was broken. It's humans vs. the Infected.



Now that you get the image of how bad this fungal infection is, by origin and world, I'll explain HOW humans become infected and what it does in your body:

The way that the Cordyceps Brain Infection (CBI) works is very simple, yet very disturbing. When humans get infected by bite or spores (I'll get to the stages after this), they may experience pain if bitten, start to get aggressive, and may go into a fit of rage, but this is all when this person haven't turned yet. This infection spreads in the brain, which makes sense to why infected humans act the way they do.

Because of what I just discussed, let's go over the STAGES. Each stage is more dangerous than before:


[b]Stage 1: Runner:[/b] This is the result of a person being infected and easily identified because of how recent this is. This starts within 1-2 days after becoming infected. In this stage, they may still express emotions because they are still human until what's left of them in later stages. They are literally scared in the face and THEY KNOW they're aware of this, but can't control themselves. Also, they may start to go blind because this is where the fungus grows, in which is to the point that light from flashlights aren't affecting them. And this is when you hear the moaning and grunting because they can feel the infection growing in their heads.

[b]Stage 2: Stalker:[/b] This is where things get to be noticeable. This is one of the rarest stages of CBI, at 1-2 weeks after infection. They start to show fungal "stalks" from their faces and it sacrifices one eye and the other almost perfectly intact. They all share their glowing, luminescent veins. This stage makes them almost blind and they then need to get around more by making slight croaking noise and it would lead to the 3rd stage. They still maintain what left of their humanity, but as always, the infection takes over and Stalkers attack you. They do so by sneaking silently and aware of your presence, also including to follow you around while hiding, hence their namesake.

[b]Stage 3: Clicker:[/b] This stage is the most iconic and also the stage of whatever, or whoever, that person is left is no longer there. At this point, this particular infected is very dangerous. This takes 1-2 months or fewer more after infection. Also at this point, they are completely blind, due to the fungal growth either covered the eyes or heavily scarred. The growth also grows more around the body, buy not as much. The Clickers may not see, but that doesn't mean they can't hunt. They have to develop croaking, clicking noise to have some sort of echolocation, similar to bats, to locate their prey. What makes this stage so notorious is how they can overpower a grown man and can swarm you in moments if giving off the slightest sound. They are tougher than Stalkers and needs a bit more finesse to take them out. Still, they are human, but have more resilience.

[b]Stage 4: Bloater:[/b] Probably the most severe and probably the rarest of all stages. And it gets worse from here. This "creature" is a force to be reckoned with. Due to overgrowth of fungus throughout the body to become plates of "armor", its sheer size, and how....disturbing this is, the Bloater is the most toughest of the infected. This is the result where a human survives, and live, with the infection for YEARS. I'm talking about 1-2 decades or longer. These ancient ones can kill you with a single blow. Over the years, CBI spread all over the body and they got slightly taller and bigger, giving a reason to name this thing. Also, they developed spore stalks on random parts of the body, in which these can be thrown to damage you by clouding you with mycotoxin. Because they are an advanced-stage Clicker, they still need to use more of croaking than clicking, but doing so in a deeper, almost mutated voice. Death from these guys are inevitable if you get too close.

[b]Stage 5: Corpses:[/b] There's nothing much to say about this one, but I find this the most dangerous. While technically not the next stage as this stage can happen between stages 1-4. If the infected feels like dying, just like how ants do a death grip, the infected goes into a dark, damp area where they use their last breaths. I'm no biologist, but I'm guessing days after that infected died, they grow stalks which releases spores and this is how CBI spreads pretty quickly. Most humans won't know that they're infected until it's too late.



My point is, I want to let people know what these enemies are and to prepare for them, for those who don't have the game. Other is for educational purposes. I hope this is useful for some. I love The Last of Us!

Be sure to get The Last of Us: Part II whenever it comes out. I certainly will.
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