Meet the Cast
Ishmael
Outsider. Consistent, but slow. Persistent, but incompetent. Sensitive to others’ emotions, but clumsy. Looking to figure out why he was guided to an environment so hostile to him. He looks worse and worse throughout the story.
Phoebe
Overachiever. Attempts to help the infected. Becomes a zombie early on.
Nick
Brief appearance. Dismissive, aloof. Becomes a zombie early on.
Rebecca
Insider. Jaded, but vibrant. Electric, infectious energy. Quick to anger. Quick to forgiveness. Conversational, witty, broadly knowledgeable. Averse to touch. She looks worse and worse over the course of the events.
Anna
Rebecca's friend. Peppy, feisty, scrawny.
Joh
Leader of J group. One of the closest things that can be described as an antagonist.
Priscilla
Rebecca's old friend. Bit of an accent. Emotionally distant from Rebecca for some reason.
Rachel
Celebrity figure skater in the story. The other closest thing that can be described as an antagonist.
Mercurio
Works together with Ishmael later. Bad listener. Annoying and pushes buttons. Seeks attention.
June
Works together with Ishmael later. Overbearing. Bad listener. Annoying and patronizing.
The Setting
The City sits in a valley around a basin of hills. Relatively sandy. Lots of salt—salt in the rivers, salt used in construction materials, salt in the otherwise dry air. Hardly rains, if ever. Temperate climate. Some skyscrapers, Neogothic/Art Deco themed. Radios, crude automobiles, steam locomotives, running water, incandescent light bulbs are all present. Crops, dishes, and cuisine is mainly Mediterranean, excluding tomatoes.
Shaped like concentric rings: farms & agriculture on the outside, then industry—construction—factories—docks—etc., then the majority of housing, and finally a central business district in the center. Seemingly artificial rivers cut each ring of the City cleanly.
Oh, the whole City is falling apart, by the way. Not overnight, but everyday, simple things become a little harder. Safety slowly becomes a foreign idea. Each day, inhabitants lower standards for everything. Whether real or metaphorical, residents slowly strip themselves of their humanity, incapable of feeling love or hate, incapable of seeing the pitiful nature of their situation for what it is or recognizing their own self-worth.
South of the City lies a forest. No one really goes there. Heavily rusted structures remain—something distinctly non-human may dwell there. That’s the unsettling feeling trespassers get.
