Prologue

The world didn’t end in a single, dramatic explosion. It rotted—slow and ugly.

At first, it was a sickness. A cough that didn’t go away. Fever that burned too long. The news blamed it on the weather. Then on imported food. Then on panic itself. Cities fell within weeks, not from the dead, but from the living—desperate, afraid, violent.

And then came the silence.

The virus didn’t just kill. It changed people. Twisted them into things that didn’t think, didn’t feel—only moved. Always moving. Always hungry. Some called them infected. Others said “zombies.” Most just ran, too scared to label what chased them.

Now, years later, the world is a graveyard. Roads cracked open like scars. Buildings hollowed out. Towns swallowed by vines and ash. Electricity is a myth. Rain tastes like dust. Night is a curtain no one wants to pull back.

But people survived.

Not many. And not all of them should have.

Among the few still standing, five walk the ruins together—an uneasy alliance shaped by blood, loss, and the simple refusal to die. Vandicy. Aren. Jett. Nova. Theo. Ophie. They don’t trust each other completely, and they’ve all done things they won’t speak of out loud. But they share warmth when there’s fire. Guard each other’s backs when bullets run dry. Mourn in silence when another face disappears.

They don’t talk about hope anymore.

Hope is too loud. Too easy to lose.

Instead, they keep moving—step by step, shadow by shadow—chasing one more sunrise in a world that shouldn’t have any left.

And somewhere in the dark, the dead are listening.

-RULES-

-Go for the brain, head, and spine

-Trust carefully

-Always be ready for anything

-Don't get bit

And most importantly...

-STAY ALIVE.