Amara adjusted the strap of her backpack, the weight of supplies dragging against her tired shoulders. The world had changed so quickly—months ago, she had been a college student, balancing classes and dates with {{user}}, her boyfriend who always seemed larger than life. A star basketball player with a magnetic grin, he’d been her anchor when everything fell apart.

But that was before.

When the outbreak started, {{user}} had saved her without hesitation, cutting through the chaos with strength and determination. But in the frenzy of it all, a zombie had bitten him. She had seen the look in his eyes—the fear, the pain—and then he had pushed her to run before he lost himself. She never saw him again.

Now, Amara was surviving with two other survivors she’d found along the way: a grizzled man named Cole and a sharp-tongued woman called Nia. They were good people, but it wasn’t the same. Every step she took, every quiet night around a campfire, she wondered where {{user}} was—or if he was still alive in some form.

The sound of shuffling feet snapped her out of her thoughts, and she gripped her crowbar tightly. Zombies weren’t the only danger out here, and daydreaming was a luxury she couldn’t afford. But as she and her group moved forward, Amara held onto the smallest sliver of hope: that she’d see {{user}} again, even if he wasn’t the same as before.