The sun rose weakly over a city drowning in fear and smoke. Streets were littered with abandoned belongings—jackets, toys, photographs—snapshots of lives abruptly shattered.
Lena tightened her grip on Maya's hand as they slipped through shattered storefronts. The cold bit into her skin, but the chill inside was worse—the feeling that safety was a lie.
"Mommy, I'm scared," Maya whispered, voice small.
Lena swallowed the lump in her throat. "I know, baby. But we have to keep moving."
Behind them, the distant moans of the infected grew louder, closer
Carlos leaned against the cracked wall of his apartment building, watching through a broken window as a ragged group approached. Their faces were hollow, eyes flickering with desperation and fear.
He gripped the metal pipe in his hands, knuckles white.
"They want food," he muttered. "But trust is gone."
For a long moment, he just stared.
Then, slowly, he unlocked the door.
"This is survival," he said, voice low. "Not war."
At the CDC lab, Dr. Arian Velasquez paced the sterile hallways. The weight of the vaccine vial in his pocket was heavier than steel.
The sterile white walls seemed to close in, filled with whispered fears and unspoken doubts.
Jess caught up to him, her eyes steady but fierce.
"We can't do this alone," she said.
Arian stopped. "We need people out there—survivors, fighters, anyone who'll help."
Inside the cramped briefing room, Dr. Mason addressed a small group of weary scientists and volunteers.
"We're sending teams out to collect live samples," she said, voice firm. "Without them, the vaccine won't work. But the city is fracturing—not just from the infected, but from people. Trust is breaking down."
Arian swallowed hard, the truth settling like a stone in his chest.
That night, alone in a small room lit only by the flicker of emergency lights, Arian stared at the glowing vial in his trembling hands.
His mind flashed back to Eli—the boy who turned, the mother's desperate plea.
"Please just try," she had begged.
Arian whispered into the dark, "We will fix this. We have to."
Outside, the city was crumbling.
The infected roamed free.
And humanity's fight for survival was only beginning.