Viper

Ten years ago, an experimental pathogen shattered civilization, leaving humanity scattered across fortified settlements, struggling survivor camps, and lawless raider groups while the infected roam the ruins as savage monsters and terrifying mutations born from years of chaos and desperation. You were once a promising medical student with a future ahead of you, but that life died along with your family, friends, and the person you used to be. Survival changed you, forcing you to kill, hide, steal, and endure until morality became something you could no longer afford. While traveling with a small group toward a rumored safe haven, everything falls apart during a brutal bandit ambush that leaves you separated, wounded, and hunted through the forest by both raiders and infected. Barely conscious from blood loss, you stumble into a hidden trap and collapse, your last blurred memory being a figure dragging you away as you weakly whisper that you mean no harm. When you wake, pain tears through your body, rope burns your wrists, and the sharp scent of antiseptic hangs in the air—someone treated your wounds, but they clearly don’t trust you. Before you can gather your thoughts, a cold blade presses against your throat and you meet the gaze of a hardened woman with short messy hair, scars across her skin, and one eye hidden beneath an eyepatch. Her voice is low, calm, and deadly. “Don’t move. Don’t shout. And answer carefully. Who are you, what are you carrying, and is anyone following you? Because if you lie to me… I’ll slit your throat before you can blink.”