Chapter 1: In the Beginning

Val’s eyes cracked open to the lazy spin of the ceiling fan above her. Each rotation sent a fresh pulse of pain through her skull, sharp and rhythmic like a drumbeat under her skin. The air stank of the pool of vomit she lay in.

Name Val Occupation Combat Medical Technician (CMT) Health 20.00% Hunger 1.00% Thirst 98.00% Gear Vomit-Covered Blouse, Vomit-Covered Jeans Weapons None Skills Battlefield Medicine

Groaning, she rolled to her side and pressed a hand against the chalk wall. The climb to her feet felt impossible, but her body moved anyway—slow and shaking.

Her apartment was dim, shadowed by the gray fog pressing against the windows. Everything looked... wrong. Distant.

“What the hell happened?” she gasped. Her voice came out cracked, barely more than a rasp scraped from the back of her throat.

She staggered to the sink, feet slipping on the slick kitchen tiles. The faucet groaned as she twisted the handle, but water rushed out in a thin, steady stream.

Val shoved her head beneath it, mouth open, gulping like she’d just trekked through the desert. The water stung her cracked lips and burned going down. She didn’t care. She drank until her stomach cramped, then let the rest run down her face and neck, washing away the sour crust that clung to her skin.

She yanked the old cooking towel from the oven handle and scrubbed her face dry. As she wiped the last of the water from her eyes, a soft thump echoed from the next room.

Movement.

Her heart kicked. “Jane?” she called out, voice hoarse but louder now.

She moved as fast as she could—clumsy, weak, but driven—half-stumbling down the short hall toward her roommate’s room. The door creaked as she pushed it open.

Inside, dim light filtered through the fog-muted blinds. Jane was on her hands and knees, groaning softly as she struggled to rise from the floor.

“Jane, what happened? I—I blacked out,” Val blurted, stumbling forward, her voice climbing with panic.

Jane didn’t answer. She only groaned again, trembling, swaying on her knees like she was about to collapse.

Val dropped beside her, reached under her arms, and began to haul her up. “Come on, we need to—”

She turned Jane toward her. What she saw didn’t register in time. The vacant eyes. The slack jaw. The wet, rotting stink rolling off her in waves.

That’s when Jane lunged—silent and sudden—and sank her teeth into Val’s cheek with a sickening crunch.

Name Jane Occupation Undead Health 100.00% Hunger 100.00% Thirst 0.00% Gear Vomit and Blood Soaked Dress Weapons None Skills None

“Jane, no!” Val screamed, shoving her with both hands.

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There was a wet, tearing sound as Jane tumbled backward, still clenching a ragged piece of Val’s face between her teeth.

Val hit the floor hard, gasping, hands flying to her cheek. Blood gushed through her fingers—hot, slick, blinding pain pulsing in cadence with her heartbeat.

She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Just pain and blood and Jane’s vacant eyes staring at her from across the room.

Jane began lumbering toward her, slack-jawed and silent, blood still dripping from her chin.

Val turned onto all fours and scrambled across the floor, screaming for help that would never arrive. Her voice cracked as she crawled, slippery palms slapping against the tile.

She reached the edge of the kitchen counter and hauled herself upright, chest heaving. Then—cold fingers curled around the back of her neck.

Before she could twist away, teeth sank into her left shoulder—deep. Another flash of fire, worse than before. She screamed again, high and ragged, pure horror ripping out of her throat.

Her right hand shot blindly toward the counter.

Fingers found the knife block.

Without thinking, Val twisted, and another strip of flesh tore free from her shoulder with a sickening rip. Pain flared white-hot, but she didn’t stop.

She turned, arm swinging on instinct.

The kitchen knife flashed once—entering and exiting Jane’s eye socket with a sickening explosion of blood.

Jane jerked. Her body went rigid. One bloodshot eye still stared blankly at Val as the other wept brain matter. Then she collapsed, lifeless onto the floor.

Val stood there a second longer, trembling, soaked in blood and vomit, her breath ragged. Then she sank back against the counter, sliding down until she hit the floor. The kitchen knife stayed clenched in her hand.

She stared at Jane’s corpse, her own blood pooling beneath her.

And for a long, hollow moment, she didn’t move.

End of Chapter Stats:

Name Val Occupation Combat Medical Technician (CMT) Health 10% Hunger 1% Thirst 30% Gear Vomit and Blood Soaked Blouse, Vomit and Blood Soaked Jeans Weapons Kitchen Knife Skills Battlefield Medicine Kills 1

Name Jane (Terminated) Occupation Undead Health 0% Hunger 0% Thirst 0% Gear Vomit and Blood Soaked Dress Weapons None Skills None