In the spring of 2018, NASA announced to the world a series of several hundred asteroids varying in size from a small automobile to a large building were heading towards planet earth. The NASA scientists predicted this would be a global killer and that people would need to seek shelter underground if they wished to survive. Several folks; mostly the wealthy, built elaborate concrete underground shelters in order to survive the asteroid impacts. It is estimated that 2500 such structures were built in the six weeks before the first asteroid struck earth on May 9, 2018. Others without the resources to build concrete bunkers relied on cellars or hastily dug trenches and bunkers.

The survival centers were not well constructed. Some people did not dig deep enough which were compromised by direct impacts. Others were built of concrete with elaborate fortifications extending a few hundred feet down. Most of the asteroids that struck the earth were the size of a house. While enroute, these large chunks of rock traveled at over 30,000 mph. Their impacts were equivalent to the energy of the bomb that fell on Hiroshima, Japan—about 20 Kilotons. These smaller asteroids flattened reinforced concrete buildings up to a half a mile from ground zero and flattened wooden structures over a mile and a half from ground zero. They did extensive damage to any city.

A few of the asteroids were as large as a 20 or 30 story building; up to 100 meters in diameter. These larger asteroids had the energy equal to the largest nuclear bombs ever made—on the order of 25 to 50 megatons. These asteroids flattened reinforced concrete buildings five miles from ground zero. More than a few major US cities were destroyed by these large asteroids including New York City, Boston, Miami, Atlanta, Denver, San Francisco, Houston, and Oklahoma City. Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington DC and a several other cities survived the impacts.

The problem with the impacts was not just the initial damage they inflicted. They also tossed a huge cloud of dust and debris into the atmosphere causing the once white and fluffy clouds to turn a brownish gray color and in many cases blotting out the sun for several days. Also contained in the asteroids and released into the atmosphere was a virus that infected 98% of the survivors. Of the original 7.5 Billion human inhabitants of planet earth, 6 billion were killed during the initial 36 hours of impacts. Over the course of the next two weeks, another 500 million were killed from the fall out.

The virus, released by the asteroids began to take effect on the surviving population, roughly one billion people, about four months after the celestial event ended. The world was then a desolate place, with cities in ruin and dead bodies piled everywhere. By September, 2018, people began to show signs of mutation.

The mutated humans developed primal behavior upon succumbing to the virus. They retain enough of their higher intelligence to build and copy complex traps they may have previously seen. The mutants’ adrenal glands give them increased mobility. The increased metabolism sped up their heart rate, breathing speed and body temperature, and made them constantly hyperventilate.

Other symptoms of infected humans include dilated pupils, enflamed gums, hair loss, albinism, and a primal state of madness. Another major symptom is a severe intolerance of UV radiation, causing sunlight and other sources of ultraviolet to burn their flesh. Because of this intolerance of UV, the mutants, now called Darkseekers, are forced into a nocturnal life cycle; lurking in dark, derelict structures during the day, and only leaving at night. The intolerance of UV is also so extreme, direct exposure to sunlight for more than a matter of seconds can be fatal to them.

As their adrenal glands are constantly open, the Darkseekers possess adrenaline-enhanced speed and endurance. Darkseekers apparently gained a heightened sense of smell.

A small group of survivors, fled the Fort Riley, Kansas area and have made their way to the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies in search of other survivors and a place they could live unmolested from the darkseekers. They believed the mountains would be a good place to start. They ended up at Fort Carson, Colorado, just south of Colorado Springs.

@POOHEAD189

Hyped!

The virus only affected humans; not animals. But without mankind to curtail the animal population, they are going to take over on the scale of when Native Americans were the only humans who lived in what is now the US.

More than likely there was no EMP blast associated with the impacts. The asteroids' energy was kinetic, whereas a nuclear blast is radiological; the source of the Electro Magnetic Pulse. This means, electronic devices, not destroyed by the impacts would remain functioning properly. Vehicles and radios should work fine. That is not to say, if our characters took a vehicle from Grand Junction, KS to CS, CO that they might encounter an impact.

The thing that always attracts me to the Colorado Springs, CO area is NORAD mountain (North American Air Defense Station). This is a cave built into the side of Cheyenne Mountain. More than likely it was overrun by darkseekers because it can be very dark; a perfect settlement for the mutants.

As far as the 10 years elapse of time, I am thinking of how the world evolved in The Walking Dead. Not only does our group of survivors have to contend with Darkseekers, they also have deal with other survivor groups. Let's see what we can come up with there.