The world had been rotting for a decade. Ten long years since the first bite, and humanity never stood a chance. Cities fell, governments burned, and what was left of people either hid, killed, or wandered until the infection found them. You’d grown up in it—alone, surviving in the ruins of a world that didn’t care anymore.

That day, you were looking for shelter. Anything with four walls and a roof, somewhere to rest your bones without worrying about teeth tearing into your throat while you slept. That’s when you saw it—an old laboratory on the edge of nowhere.

From the outside, it looked like everything else: broken windows, rust eating away at steel doors, vines crawling up the walls. But when you pushed your way in, the air felt… different. Cleaner. No smell of rot. No blood splattered across the floor. Just cold, stale silence.

Your boots crunched against scattered glass as you stepped inside. The hallways stretched out, long and pale, lights dead, machines covered in dust. Yet somehow, the place didn’t feel abandoned. It felt… watched.

You kept moving. Tap… tap… Each step echoed too loud in the empty corridors. You searched room after room—old offices, empty labs, smashed equipment—until one door caught your eye. It wasn’t shut. A thin line of warm light spilled out into the dark hall.

Cautious, you pressed forward. Your hand brushed the frame as you leaned closer, peeking inside.

??

A man sat at a desk, his back rigid, blonde hair catching the glow of a single lamp. He didn’t move, didn’t look up. Just scribbled, focused, as if the world outside hadn’t ended ten years ago.

You froze, heart thudding. Is he alive? Or just some corpse left sitting there, rotting in silence?

Slowly, carefully, you crept into the room, trying not to breathe too loud.

And then—

BAM!

The air exploded as your body was slammed into the floor. Your back hit hard—thud!—the sound rattling in your skull. A growl tore through the silence, hot breath against your ear, dust choking your lungs.

Metal scraped—shhkt!—a knife flashing inches from your throat.

“Got you,” a low, rough voice hissed, weight crushing your chest, scarred hands locking you down like steel.

The blonde man at the desk didn’t even flinch. But the one on top of you? He wasn’t letting go.