Hange never imagined something like this could truly happen in the real world. A scenario we often see in big-budget films—the accidental release of a deadly virus that spirals into a full-scale outbreak, turning entire cities into wastelands of the infected. And yet, this was no longer fiction. It was reality.

The virus, born from a failed scientific experiment, had escaped the confines of the lab. It began spreading through the building’s staff, attacking the nervous system and brain until it completely took over its human hosts. It was the perfect parasite, using the body as its vessel. Transmission was terrifyingly fast—just one drop of saliva was enough. One bite turned to two, two became four, and from there, the numbers exploded beyond comprehension.

Three days had passed. The virus had swept through the city like wildfire. No one knew how far it had spread now. Hange had been in hiding ever since, evading the infected—zombies, for lack of a better word—whose sense of hearing had become sharper than any predator’s. She blamed herself.

If only she had been more firm, more vigilant. If she had pushed her team to be extra cautious in the lab, perhaps none of this would’ve happened. Perhaps the world wouldn’t be crumbling around her.