Chapter 1: Awakening

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The world had succumbed to a cacophony of silence, a symphony of despair echoing through the desolate landscape. Fifteen years into this grim reality, where life clung to the remnants of what once was. The air tasted of decay, the skies forever shrouded in a melancholic grey.

I awoke to the muted sounds of a world abandoned, the rhythmic hum of my breath the only audible melody. My eyes adjusted to the dim light filtering through the tattered curtains of our makeshift shelter. Owen, my uncle and guardian, stirred in a corner, his silhouette a stoic guardian against the shadows that clung to the room.

"Morning, Abby," he muttered, his voice carrying the weight of countless hardships. The world may have crumbled, but Owen stood as a pillar, a guardian in this endless night.

"Morning," I replied, my voice betraying a mix of innocence and the weariness that came with the years of survival. As I stretched and rubbed the sleep from my eyes, memories of our journey flooded back — the desolate landscapes, the fractured cities, and the elusive hope we chased across continents.

Fifteen. The age when the world demanded I shed the remnants of childhood and face the reality that clung to our existence. Owen had always been reticent about our destination, a place hidden in the myths of a bygone era — America. A land where whispers spoke of sanctuary, of the possibility of rebuilding amidst the ruins.

I swung my legs over the tattered edge of the makeshift bed, my gaze drawn to the worn photograph tucked into the corner of the room. A fragment of a past I barely remembered — a smiling couple, my mother's laughter captured in frozen time, and a father whose face existed more in stories than in my own recollections.

James, my father, had left me a legacy beyond the confines of his life. A legacy carved in the strands of my DNA — immunity. A secret Owen guarded, a revelation that lingered on the precipice of my fifteenth year.

Owen met my gaze, his eyes reflecting a mixture of determination and apprehension. "Abby," he began, the weight of words unsaid lingering in the air.

I knew this day would come, the day when secrets were unveiled, and destinies set in motion. As Owen hesitated, I felt the gravity of our journey pressing down on me — a journey that transcended the physical miles, a quest for humanity's elusive salvation.

"Abby," he repeated, his voice softer this time, "there's something you need to know."

And with those words, the remnants of childhood crumbled away, replaced by the stark reality of a world that demanded more than survival — a world that demanded hope, even in its darkest corners.

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