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"May we meet again, Dad"
00. prologue
Surviving—that's what the world turned into, people wanting and needing to survive the nightmare materializing before them. A nightmare no one could have imagined becoming reality, something they can not and will never wake up from. An unfathomable horror that makes people the 'walking dead' and those who have yet to succumb to the nightmare become survivors, because that's all one can do—survive.
The real nightmare struck about two months ago but began as an incomprehensible virus four and a half months ago; scientists were baffled by the mysterious virus as they struggled to understand exactly what it was and its effects. After months of tireless examination, they still weren't able to understand the infection—eventually, they were unable to contain it. Before the world knew it, the virus had evolved into something indescribable, something frightening.
Strange occurrences began to transpire around the world as the infection launched its attack on the human race—that was the beginning of the outbreak, the beginning of the end. The dead rose to terrorize and feed on the living, erupting terror and confusion across the billions of people. The way of life changing and not for the better—the world now belonged to the walking dead, the living were simply existing in it.
x
Asteria Kane could not fathom the new reality as it befell upon them, not until the unthinkable happened. When her university abruptly cancelled the semester, she decided to visit her father and stepmother, wanting to know if they were okay after hearing about the eerie occurrences happening across the world and in neighboring cities. Asteria hadn't expected the outbreak to hit home, not in the way that it did at least.
As Asteria arrived to her hometown, she was startled by the ghost town that greeted her. An alarming, unearthly presence engulfing the place she once called home and sending a chill down her spine as she drove past the welcome sign. As she turned into her neighborhood, the sight was just as frightening—the houses appeared to be abandoned, many had seen hell, either raided or burned or both.
Asteria reached her house—it held the same eerie and damaged appearance as the rest of the houses.
She held back tears, afraid of what she might walk into, afraid that she was about to face the reality she had been dreading for so long. She had talked to her father, Marcus Kane, a few days ago but he hadn't disclosed how badly their situation had gotten. Maybe they were alright, she thought to herself.
Asteria parked her car in the driveway and exited cautiously, unaware to the dangers she might walk into. She treaded carefully, making her way to her front door, and reached for the doorknob, a dire feeling settling in her stomach. The door was unlocked and she pushed the door open slowly, a low creek escaping from the bottom.
"Hello?" Asteria called out. "Dad! Abby! Are you guys here?"
When there was no response, she allowed herself to open the door further, making her way inside but she immediately wished she hadn't—the sight before her caused her to gasp and collapse to the floor. A pool of blood painted the wooden floor of her childhood home, trailing down the hallway and up the stairs. She placed her hands over her face and began to sob uncontrollably, unable to grasp any idea about the mess before her. Her breakdown interrupted by a groan, causing Asteria's head to snap up—the sound emerging from upstairs.
