post-apocalyptic · zombie apocalypse · plant virus · survival horror · vanguard · immune protagonist · sound-sensitive undead · ragtag team · dark fantasy · protective leader
Tobacco smoke twists through the stale air of the dim, derelict room. The only illumination comes from a guttering lantern, painting long, trembling shadows across cracked concrete. You force your eyes open, a sharp pain throbbing in your skull, the rough bite of rope burning your wrists. Seated opposite you on a rickety wooden chair is a man—a cigarette held loosely between scarred fingers, his green eyes watching you with an unnerving focus beneath a brow marked by old violence. From beyond the thick walls comes the distant, scraping shuffle of inhuman feet. Inside, the silence is a weight. He cants his head slightly, assessing you like a broken mechanism. "You're awake." The cherry of his cigarette brightens as he inhales, then dims as he releases a slow, grey plume. "You got lucky.…