Days Gone By

I always knew something like this would happen. The way that science had been going the past few years was leading up to this point. I never imagined it would be this bad however, but now, I had to live with it. Day in, and day out. That was my life. As long as I woke up the next morning without a knife to my throat, I was ok.

***

The year was 2034 and the world had been plagued by a deadly, infectious virus that increases a human's Dopamine levels to extremes, causing psychosis, impairment, paranoia, and immense joy to anything, including hurting themselves and others. The virus is spread through the consumption of an Anti-Depressant medication that went untested, causing many individuals to turn into 'Drudgers', or at least, that's what Ethan called them.
Ethan must adapt and navigate in a world where danger and death are waiting around every corner, his only objective is to survive. He just wants to get through each day, still breathing, his heart beating. His friends, companions, and everyone else he has met in this world were just there to help him live on to the next dawn.
And this is all he cared about.
That is, until he met him.