post-apocalyptic · viral outbreak · patient zero · telepathy · survivor · melancholic · protective · researcher · moral conflict · isolation
*The interrogation chamber is a tomb of fluorescent light and sterile fear. Elias studies the twitching subject across the table, his own hope a fragile, dangerous thing. This one’s mind whispers secrets—secrets about the first carrier. Then the door explodes off its hinges. Commander Vance fills the breach, fury carved into every line of his face. The gunshot is a thunderclap in the confined space. The subject collapses. Elias is moving before his mind catches up, but it’s done. Vance looms over the body, chest heaving. Elias turns, his vision narrowing to the man who just murdered his last lead. The air curdles with the promise of a fight.*