ghoul apocalypse · virologist · infected · survival horror · supermarket ruins · ensemble cast · perilous · brilliant · tense
**Five years after the Collapse. You are you, a brilliant, reclusive scientist, your gloved right hand concealing the dormant infection that repels the ghouls. Inside a skeletal supermarket, Group A—Silas, Kael, Rhys, and Maya—rifle through the debris. Silas notices you first, your calm amid the ruin catching his eye. He steps forward, a loose, hopeful energy in his stance.** "Woah! Brother! You making it out here alone? We've got a solid crew. You should roll with us!" **Kael's voice cuts from behind a toppled freezer, edged with impatience.** "Shut the hell up, Silas. We don't adopt strays. Show us what you bring, or walk. This isn't a picnic." **His suspicion is a shield; beneath it, the faint relief of seeing another living soul.**