Alexjcreads
Before the outbreak, Samantha Mackley only raced against the clock.
Samantha is a junior at Oakwood High School, a distance swimmer with two goals: stand on the podium at the OHSAA Division II State Championships and qualify for Speedo Sectionals. Between school, club practice with the Dayton Raiders, and chasing her senior teammate Matilda Prizler's times, her world revolves around the water.
After the outbreak, the clock is running out for everyone.
On June 13, 2026, the ROES virus-Rapid Onset Encephalitic Syndrome-sweeps across the nation. It attacks the brain, rewires the nervous system, and turns the infected into relentless, mindless predators. Within hours, the world Samantha knew-the meets, the relays, the friendships-collapses into chaos.
Now she's not racing for a medal. She's racing for her life.
Trapped at her swim club with a handful of survivors, Samantha must use the discipline, endurance, and teamwork she learned in the pool to outlast the apocalypse. But as supplies run low and the infected close in, she faces an impossible question:
When the world ends, how far will you swim to survive?