The parasite and the Hunger

" I came up from Houston a while back and came across a small town where some sort of commotion was going on. When I got there I found that the town had lynched a woman who they thought had been infected with that disease called the Parasite. Apparently they had caught her forcing herself on a young man and the townsfolk thought it was the parasite trying to spread. Course I didn't want to spend another second with wackos like that. But on my way out I saw that same young man that they were talking about, vomiting into their reservoir." -Unknown Traveler

The Parasite is as the name suggests a sort of worm that gets into the human body and controls it by the mind. Most considered some fable that stemmed off the idea that heart worms mutated to become more sentient. The disease itself is so rare that most people won't see it for their entire lives but in some places where there's only been one or two cases the disease becomes more then a legend. More people are killed by suspicion of infection then from the disease itself but every so often there are tales of entire towns deserted with people's belonging still in the right place. Though there are many reasons for such an incident in the wastelands it doesn't stem the paranoia that an outbreak of the parasite has occurred. How it is contracted is unknown but can be agreed not to eat dogs or drink from tainted looking water.

Due to the rarity of the disease and the victims ignorant to the fact they've been infected a complete consensus of the symptoms does not exist. What can be agreed upon though is that the parasite gets into a person's brain and influences their wants and desires. Surviving scientists believe it can do this by releasing both nicotine and hallucinogens into the brain to confuse the victim without him realizing what he is doing. The influences can be something subtle such as needing more water or a taste for a certain kind of food that holds a specific nutrient that the parasite wants. Eventually though the influences become more aggressive as the parasite gets stronger. This increased influence is collectively called the Hunger. Some describe it as an unbearable itch that can't be reached, an inability to drink water, and starvation until it obey's the parasite's will to spread such as kissing someone, intercourse, masochistic motivations to spread blood around, and even vomiting into water supplies or food reserves.

If the disease is caught early then most kinds antibiotics can kill the parasite but the real danger lays when it is full grown. Antibiotics can still kill it but the corpse it leaves behind in the human body can be toxic. The worm's innards contain amounts of lead, arsenic, and even trace amounts of radiation. If the body's immune system and strength isn't strong enough to fight these toxins then it is almost always fatal.

The parasite can be found in random places around the world but mainly thrives in wet and warm climates.