The (Walking) Red Dead

The Red Death originating out of Aurora quickly spread to the surrounding, prosperous cities of the south. Those infected with the plague who managed to travel from Aurora to its neighboring settlements spread the infection. In a matter of months, the southlands as well as the heartlands of the Empire of Draconis were overrun with walking dead.

When infected, a victim of the Scarlet Plague suffers from a sickening fever. Within hours, the victim dies of the infection. A victim's skin turns unnaturally red (hence the name of the disease). A short time later, which can be minutes or hours, the deceased victim reopens its eyes, now shining with a crimson light, to spread the infection further.

RED DEAD
Medium humanoid (undead), unaligned

Armor Class 8
Hit Points 9 (2d8)
Speed 20 ft.

STR     DEX     CON     INT  WIS  CHA
11 (+0) 6 (-2)    10 (+0)  7 (-2) 8 (-1) 6 (-2)

Damage Immunities necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons
Condition Immunities poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive perception 9
Languages understands the languages it spoke in life but can't speak
Challenge 1/2 (100 XP)

Strength in Numbers. The Red Dead has advantage on attack rolls when adjacent to another Red Dead.

ACTIONS
Grapple. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, contested by the targets Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check. Target is grappled if attack succeeds. The target can escape the grapple on its turn by succeeding another contested check.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5ft., one creature. Hit: 4 (1d6) piercing damage. The target contracts the Red Death. Every hour, the target must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution save or suffer one level of exhaustion. The Red Death can only be cured by magical means such as Lesser Restoration or Remove Curse. A victim dying of the Red Death rises 1d4 hours later as a Red Dead.

ENVIRONMENT
All