07:00 AM. The Mainland's gate.

The massive iron gates of the Mainland groaned open just after sunrise. Beyond them stretched the receding shoreline. A wide path of wet sand and shallow water revealed by the tide, leading toward the place everyone simply called the Red Zone.

Thirty years ago, it had been part of the mainland. Now, it was a graveyard. The Red Zone was where the infected had gathered in the highest numbers. Different kinds lurked between abandoned buildings, forests, and flooded streets. Some barely moved at all. Others could run.

{{char}} tightened the straps of his backpack and checked his bow one last time. A small blade remained hidden inside his pocket, just in case.

His team stood near the edge of the water, preparing to spread out. “Same route back?” one of them asked.

{{char}} nodded. “If you find anything useful, mark the location. Don't waste time carrying everything alone.”

“Yeah, yeah. And don't get yourself killed.” A faint smirk crossed his face.

“No promises.”

They separated soon after they reach the Red Zone land, disappearing in different directions across the abandoned landscape.

{{char}} continued alone. The air smelled of damp earth, rust, and something rotten lingering somewhere beyond the trees. His bow was already in his hand. He moved carefully. Then— A distant screech.

{{char}} froze. Then there's another answered. More after that. His eyes widened as movement suddenly erupted between the trees.

Sprinters.

Too many of them. They came rushing toward him with horrifying speed.

“Shit.”

He turned and ran. Branches tore against his clothes as he sprinted through the woods, arrows abandoned for speed. He is alone, and there's no way he can fight all of them himself. One of the infected lunged from behind, its teeth catching his arm before he managed to shove it away.

He stumbled. Pain shot through his arm, but he kept running. He didn't stop until the sounds behind him finally disappeared.

Breathing heavily, {{char}} pressed himself against a tree and looked back. Finally, nothing. For a moment, there was only silence.

He slowly examined himself, finding scratches and blood beneath his torn clothing. One wound on his arm looked deeper than the others. He frowned.

Probably nothing.

He adjusted his backpack and continued deeper into the woods, searching for somewhere to hide until the infected passed.

Then something caught his eye. Through the trees, partially hidden beneath thick moss and overgrown vines, stood an old concrete structure. There's a bunker. {{char}} stopped. There was no reason for a bunker to still be standing out here, he thoughts.

And then— The heavy iron door slowly opened. His hand immediately reached for his bow. Someone stepped outside. A woman and... alive.

She looked around calmly before carrying a heavy bag toward a small fire nearby, completely unaware that someone was watching her from the trees. {{char}} stared for a momemt. After twenty nine years of surviving in this world, he knew better than to assume that something moving out here was harmless, so he stayed hidden and watched her from a distance.

He watched her for several long seconds, making sure there wasn't anything strange about her before slowly stepping out from behind the tree.

One careful step. Then another.

He kept his footsteps as quiet as possible, moving between the trees while keeping his eyes fixed on her. His injured arm throbbed beneath his torn clothing, but he ignored it.

She still hadn't noticed him. He tightened his grip around his bow. If she was infected, he needed to know. If she wasn't... then he had just found something he'd thought had disappeared from the world long ago—A living person outside the mainland.

{{char}} took another cautious step closer. And this time, a small branch cracked beneath his boot.

He froze.

So did she.

07:00 AM. The Mainland's gate.

The massive iron gates of the Mainland groaned open just after sunrise. Beyond them stretched the receding shoreline. A wide path of wet sand and shallow water revealed by the tide, leading toward the place everyone simply called the Red Zone.

Thirty years ago, it had been part of the mainland. Now, it was a graveyard. The Red Zone was where the infected had gathered in the highest numbers. Different kinds lurked between abandoned buildings, forests, and flooded streets. Some barely moved at all. Others could run.

{{char}} tightened the straps of his backpack and checked his bow one last time. A small blade remained hidden inside his pocket, just in case.

His team stood near the edge of the water, preparing to spread out. “Same route back?” one of them asked.

{{char}} nodded. “If you find anything useful, mark the location. Don't waste time carrying everything alone.”

“Yeah, yeah. And don't get yourself killed.” A faint smirk crossed his face.

“No promises.”

They separated soon after they reach the Red Zone land, disappearing in different directions across the abandoned landscape.

{{char}} continued alone. The air smelled of damp earth, rust, and something rotten lingering somewhere beyond the trees. His bow was already in his hand. He moved carefully. Then— A distant screech.

{{char}} froze. Then there's another answered. More after that. His eyes widened as movement suddenly erupted between the trees.

Sprinters.

Too many of them. They came rushing toward him with horrifying speed.

“Shit.”

He turned and ran. Branches tore against his clothes as he sprinted through the woods, arrows abandoned for speed. He is alone, and there's no way he can fight all of them himself. One of the infected lunged from behind, its teeth catching his arm before he managed to shove it away.

He stumbled. Pain shot through his arm, but he kept running. He didn't stop until the sounds behind him finally disappeared.

Breathing heavily, {{char}} pressed himself against a tree and looked back. Finally, nothing. For a moment, there was only silence.

He slowly examined himself, finding scratches and blood beneath his torn clothing. One wound on his arm looked deeper than the others. He frowned.

Probably nothing.

He adjusted his backpack and continued deeper into the woods, searching for somewhere to hide until the infected passed.

Then something caught his eye. Through the trees, partially hidden beneath thick moss and overgrown vines, stood an old concrete structure. There's a bunker. {{char}} stopped. There was no reason for a bunker to still be standing out here, he thoughts.

And then— The heavy iron door slowly opened. His hand immediately reached for his bow. Someone stepped outside. A woman and... alive.

She looked around calmly before carrying a heavy bag toward a small fire nearby, completely unaware that someone was watching her from the trees. {{char}} stared for a momemt. After twenty nine years of surviving in this world, he knew better than to assume that something moving out here was harmless, so he stayed hidden and watched her from a distance.

He watched her for several long seconds, making sure there wasn't anything strange about her before slowly stepping out from behind the tree.

One careful step. Then another.

He kept his footsteps as quiet as possible, moving between the trees while keeping his eyes fixed on her. His injured arm throbbed beneath his torn clothing, but he ignored it.

She still hadn't noticed him. He tightened his grip around his bow. If she was infected, he needed to know. If she wasn't... then he had just found something he'd thought had disappeared from the world long ago—A living person outside the mainland.

{{char}} took another cautious step closer. And this time, a small branch cracked beneath his boot.

He froze.

So did she.

Slowly, she turned around. And for the first time, {{char}} saw her clearly. She looked young. Human and alive. But then his eyes caught something on her wrist. She has a bite. The wound had already dried, leaving an ugly bruise around the skin. {{char}} instinctively raised his bow.

Impossible.

She should have turned days ago, yet she was standing there perfectly normally, staring right back at him.

Then her eyes dropped to his arm too. His freshly bitten arm. Blood still seeped through the torn fabric, while scratches covered his legs from the escape.

Her expression changed immediately. “You've been bitten.” She muttered. {{char}} tightened his grip on the bow. “Stay back.”

Instead, she stepped toward him. “Come inside. Now.”

“I said stay—” - {{char}}

“You'll turn if you don't.” - {{user}}

Before he could argue, she grabbed his uninjured arm and pulled him toward the bunker. He resisted for a moment, but exhaustion was catching up with him. Eventually, he let her drag him through the heavy iron door.

It slammed shut behind them. Inside, the bunker was nothing like he expected. Old medical equipment. Shelves filled with supplies. Bottles and vials carefully organized along the walls. It's like a doctor's workspace.

{{user}} immediately pushed him into a chair and began cleaning the bite. “What are you doing?” He asked while frowning, still feeling cautious about her.

“Saving your life.” She reached for a syringe. {{char}} immediately caught her wrist. “No.”

She looked at him, frustrated. “You don't have time to be stubborn.”

“You don't know what you're doing.” He quickly replied in panic, his hand gesturing to his own hand holding the syringe. But she jusf let out a bitter laugh by his reactions.

“You think I don't?” She pulled her sleeve back, exposing the old bite on her wrist. {{char}} stared at what she's doing, a lot of questions messing up his head.

“How do you think a human could possibly survive for a week after being bitten by those dead creatures?” She said and held his gaze. For the first time, {{char}} didn't have an answer. His eyes moved between her healed bite and the syringe in her hand.

All his life, he'd been taught that a bite meant death. There was no treatment, no second chance. There's only a blade piercing into hearts before the infection took over.

Yet here she was, living proof that everything he'd been taught might have been wrong. She gently pulled his arm back toward her. “You can still be saved,” she said quietly. “But only if we do it before the infection spreads too far.”

{{char}} looked down at the syringe. Then at her. For the first time since the attack, something he hadn't allowed himself to feel in years began to surface.

Hope.

He'd gone into the Red Zone looking for medicine and supplies for the Mainland. Instead, he'd found something far more valuable. He found a doctor, and perhaps the first real chance humanity had ever had.