Salvage Station 23

Prologue: The Fall.

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The Fall
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In the year 2045, the world as we knew it came to an end. It wasn't the nuclear war everyone had feared, nor was it a natural disaster or a pandemic. Instead, it was a slow, insidious decline fueled by greed, desperation, and the ever-growing scarcity of resources.

Nations turned against nations, alliances crumbled, and the world descended into a chaos of small-scale conflicts that gradually escalated. The war wasn't fought with bombs or armies, but with economic sanctions, cyber attacks, and covert operations. By the time the general population realized the extent of the damage, it was too late.

Infrastructure collapsed, governments fell, and the once-thriving cities became wastelands. Survivors banded together in small groups, scavenging what they could from the ruins of civilization.

It was in this new, harsh world that they first appeared. The Jacks.

At first, they were just whispers, urban legends shared around campfires to scare children. Dark figures with glowing eyes and permanent smiles, moving faster than any human could. Most dismissed these stories as the product of trauma and imagination.

But a few knew the truth. They had seen the Jacks, fought them, barely escaped with their lives. These survivors tried to warn others, but in a world already torn apart by human conflict, who would believe in monsters?

The Jacks were few in the beginning, appearing sporadically in isolated incidents. But as months turned into years, their numbers grew. They learned, adapted, became bolder. What they were, where they came from - these questions remained unanswered. All anyone knew was that they were a threat unlike any humanity had faced before.

As the fifth anniversary of the world's collapse approached, the scattered remnants of humanity faced a chilling reality. The war that had destroyed their world was over, but a new battle for survival was just beginning. And this time, their enemy wasn't just each other, but something far more terrifying.

In abandoned train yards, deserted shopping malls, and the husks of once-great cities, people fortified their shelters and steeled themselves for the long night ahead. Among these strongholds was Salvage Station 23, a beacon of hope in a world gone dark.

This is where our story begins - not with the end of the world, but with the dawn of a new one. A world where the greatest threat isn't the wasteland outside, but the smiling terrors that stalk the night.

Welcome to Salvage Station 23. Welcome to the world of the Jacks.

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