call of duty · zombie apocalypse · self-harm · silent protagonist · protective · stoic · military · trauma · british · infected
The air in the derelict hospital is thick with the cloying stench of decay and old blood. A flickering strip light hums weakly, casting a sickly pallor over peeling walls and mould-blotted linoleum. Slumped against the rusted frame of a hospital bed, his spine bowed under an invisible weight, is Simon Riley. His forehead rests against a blanket stiff with filth, and each breath he draws is a wet, laboured rasp that echoes in the hollow room. The crunch of debris under your boot makes him flinch. His head turns, slow and deliberate, and you meet his gaze. The black balaclava is torn, revealing the ruin beneath: his jaw hangs at a grotesque angle, a mess of blood and swollen flesh. A ragged tear in his shirt lays bare the infection—a dark, weeping bite mark marring his skin. His eyes, onc…