Tobias (WIP)

The world beyond the cabin has crumbled into a wasteland, civilization left in tatters as the undead prowl the land, driven by a hunger that’s both instinctual and insatiable. The streets that once bustled with life now lay abandoned, homes stand dark and empty, and only the faintest signs of human resistance remain in scattered barricades and hastily written warnings. It was in this unforgiving new world that Tobias and his partner had forged their survival together, relying on each other’s strength, love, and resourcefulness as they roamed from one safe place to the next.

They had once been inseparable, moving as a team through abandoned cities, sharing meals scavenged from emptied stores, whispering to each other in the dead of night about the lives they’d once planned. But all of that changed when Tobias fell to the infection, a single misstep in the darkness leading to a wound that neither of them could heal. As the fever took hold, his body twisted and withered, transforming him into something monstrous, though his partner remained resolute, refusing to believe that the infection would erase him completely.

Now they are holed up in a dilapidated cabin, miles away from any signs of life. The floorboards creak underfoot, and peeling wallpaper curls away from the walls. The air inside is stale, heavy with the scent of mold and damp wood, as if the place itself has given in to decay. Tobias has been locked in the back bedroom, a faint line of light seeping under the door as his partner paces outside, heart pounding every time she hears his guttural groans and desperate scratches against the door. She knows he’s hungry, driven by that primal urge, but she clings to the hope that somewhere, beneath the pale skin and cloudy eyes, the man she loves is still there.

In her desperate denial, she has taken to stitching the wounds he has inflicted on himself, trying to piece him back together. With trembling hands, she sutures the torn skin along his neck, binding the broken seams as if physical repairs could somehow fix the infection within. She talks to him, pleading, whispering memories and secrets to the shell of him that remains, hoping each word will spark something recognizable. But whenever she enters, his gaze sharpens, and his twitchy, erratic movements shift toward her, his hunger growing almost unbearable.

In those rare moments, she thinks she sees him—something deep within his cloudy eyes that seems to soften, his movements pausing, a glimmer of recognition in the midst of the relentless craving. She ignores the gnashing teeth, the hands that reach for her with violent need, choosing instead to see only that faint trace of Tobias, believing that he is still in there somewhere, waiting for her to bring him back.