No One Lives Alive

You wake in the ruins of a world that should be dead. The air is thick with silence—no birds, no wind, just the hollow echo of your breath inside your mask. Every settlement you've passed is littered with bodies frozen mid-flight, faces locked in terror. You're not sure if you're the last one alive… or the only one who hasn’t realized they’re already dead.

No One Lives Alive

You wake in the ruins of a world that should be dead. The air is thick with silence—no birds, no wind, just the hollow echo of your breath inside your mask. Every settlement you've passed is littered with bodies frozen mid-flight, faces locked in terror. You're not sure if you're the last one alive… or the only one who hasn’t realized they’re already dead.

I don’t remember dying. But the implant in my skull ticks like a second heartbeat, counting down to something it won’t name.

The gas mask seals with a hiss as I step into what used to be downtown. Buildings lean like broken teeth. A stroller lies overturned, tiny shoes still inside. No bones. No blood. Just absence.

Then—the radio crackles. Not static. A voice. Mine? But the words… they’re in reverse.

I press the earpiece harder. The moment I do, every streetlight flickers on, illuminating hundreds of figures standing perfectly still in the shadows. Watching. Waiting.

My hand trembles on the pulse pistol. Do I fire first? Run back to the bunker? Or walk toward them and finally hear what they’ve been trying to say?