1 Chapter One

"Perhaps every society is a utopia when you fail to peel up all the layers and look at what's underneath."

― Kameron Hurley

THE YEAR: 2084(23,375 days since the DianVirus "struck")

The zombies are getting through the barricade. I don't have much ammo left either.

"No! They're getting through! Aw man, I died." Henry Said. "Oh well, guess I'll try again tomorrow. Henry put down the game controller, turned the TV to cable, and watched his favorite show. The same one everyone else considered their favorite. It didn't matter that the show was the only one on TV, it was still his very favorite.

"Studies now show that if you come in contact with someone who isn't a family member for even a second, the virus will infect you even if the person you touched didn't have it." Said the reporter. "So stay inside, stay safe and remember, this is for your own protection."

"This is for my own protection." Henry repeated. This was something Henry knew was true, what he didn't know was that his cousin, of whom Henry had never met personally due to the lockup laws, was escaping her home. The cousin was running swiftly through the parking lot of the house she lived in. Left untouched for decades, the street was extremely smooth and cold.

She thought she was running as fast as she could, until she heard that horrible computer voice "Escapee detected." It said in an eerie monotone. The faster the cousin ran, the faster the Security-bot flew towards her. But then, she tripped and fell. As the Security-bot caught up to her it spoke.

"You have been deemed non-essential." It extended it's weapon and fired a beam of vaporizing energy at Henry's cousin. "Aaahhh!" She screamed as she turned to dust.