STORY

The end of the 21st century marked the end of the American empire. 

Despite claims from TexxGas reps that such a world was centuries away year by year climate catastrophes grew across the globe. Floods corroded the sprawling power grids, storms impartially ripped apart both factories and homes alike, and wildfires devoured the remaining forests faster than any machine could. 

Holo reels flashed with feeds of the devastation, each event spurring fear and outrage in the battered populations. The United States government struggled to quell the disaffected masses, whose numbers only grew with the mounting environmental disasters at their doorstep. In their failure to act, infrastructure crumbled alongside faith in the institution itself.

A power void formed, and a glittering opportunity became evident in the eye of every megacorp across the nation.

Supply chains were restored as privately owned transportation quickly outpaced that of the government and pharmaceutical monopolies supplied their own exclusively patented medications. NextGen rose to the forefront for their aid in finding missing civilians, Jabbr feeds raved about an artificial intelligence capable of identifying survivors from even the blurriest of camera footage.

Though the branding campaign masked the endeavor as charity, the politicians were aware of the true price. Tax cuts, deregulations, and even land rights fell into the laps of business moguls for their supposed civic duty. 

It wasn’t long before these allowances escalated to full blown displays of corporate sovereignty. With the national debt as overwhelming as it was, the American government was unable to support its citizens and had little choice left but to turn to privatization. 

What should have been a momentary grasp on administrative responsibility from megacorps soon became an iron grip. Key functions were sold off to the highest bidder. Social services were now on a subscription model basis, defense came from contracted paramilitary groups, and homeland security threats were handled by the ever popular NextGen founder.

This gradual upheaval of power was met with resistance from the populace. Months of mass protests followed. The uprising was labeled the Barons Revolt, and it ended unceremoniously beneath the shock batons of private defenders. This bloody period marked a crucial turning point - the veil had been lifted and it was time to cement that formally. 

As the 22nd century arrived, so did a new nation. The United States of America was dissolved in favor of The Union of Prosperity: a coalition of corporate run districts across its existing land. A great merger of the unchecked monopolies that so graciously lent a hand in its time of need.

With this now official corporate ruling on the region, former state lines were deemed meaningless. The nation was instead divided up into six distinct districts - represented by their own executives but united under the UoP banner. 

For many citizens existing in these newly allocated districts, life became even more inseparable from their work. Executives turned Presidents issued loyalty programs that determined what food you ate, where you lived, and whether you received medical care. Consumption was king and only those who staked their claim on the upper tiers of society could afford services that were once public. In spite of wealth disparity crippling much of society, beauty, fashion and entertainment industries flourished as an escape.

With the wave of mass deregulation that occurred in pursuit of profits, the environment did not fare any better. In certain sectors air became so polluted that filtration masks were mandatory and in others water tasted bitterly of pesticide. The livestock populations declined year by year, only to be solved by new age bioengineering practices - soon grocery stores were flooded with meat lacking a 100% DNA match to any natural animal.

While the lower rungs had to weather the worsening environment in urban centers, High loyalty citizens, namely those with valued skills or important familial ties, could seek housing inside the NextGen corporate Sci-Tech compounds. These buildings were at the forefront of intellectual endeavor, producing some of the most profitable inventions of the 22nd century: a pill that gives you a full 8 hours sleep before your next shift, a lion sheep crossbreed farmed for hair growth supplements, and a DIY surgery kit perfect for when your loyalty level has slipped just a little too low to be permitted a doctor visit. 

Though mental escape was encouraged, physical freedoms were limited. Crossing Union of Prosperity district lines was highly regulated and only possible with retinal scans at each border checkpoint, exiting the union entirely to neighboring countries was near impossible. The threat of a corporate gun at your head made that apparent.

With all the imposed limitations and distractions the masses were disaffected but defanged. From those in charge there was no fear of another revolt.

From its citizens there was no hope for change.

They say the Union of Prosperity did not suffer a slow death. It ended in a swift, bloody collapse.

In the midst of winter, citizens across the Union reported high fevers and nausea. Though the spread of such sickness was concerning, the season offered an easy explanation. It was likely another strain of cold worsened by the polluted environment. Best to down a CureAll-7 and continue on with the work day. 

Gradually those afflicted experienced stranger symptoms. What was once chills in their extremities soon became an overwhelming numbness, followed by an inevitable paralysis of the limbs. As these conditions worsened the sick were rushed to hospital. The emergency floor filled with garbled, choked sounds as the disease claimed their voices as well.

By the tenth hour after the first report the only sound that could be heard was shallow breath. One by one they slipped into comas.

By the sixteenth the hospital rooms were entirely silent. Death took hold.

A mania ensued amongst the people, frightened and enraged that this disease could wipe away family members and friends over the course of a single day. Officials scrambled to address the blow to the work force and pushed top scientists to search for a cause. Before the bodies had even grown cold, droves of them were wheeled into the Sci-Tech compounds for answers.

For all the tests they ran, nothing could explain what happened nearly twenty four hours after infection. The dead opened their eyes.

To those who lived long enough to recall that day, they speak of a flood of hollowed out humans devouring all within their path. 

Of hundreds of hungry sets of eyes ripping through cities, towns, and homes with feral hunger. Of men, women and children alike absorbed into the writhing mass. 

Of becoming one of those things. 

Alarms screamed throughout the night rallying citizens to take shelter. Holo Reels flashed with leaders calling this an attack against our way of life, a coordinated biological warfare from terrorist groups. Evidence, naturally, that people should further invest in their security tech.

It happened so swiftly that the Executives barely had time to finish their announcements before the reborn mob reached their own doorsteps. While they ran to personal bunkers their fleet of contracted military turned their guns to protect the warehouses and assets. 

The undead were not deterred by weaponry. Shots that might disable a mortal man were only met with a gargled hiss and a return to their feet. Where bombs blew some to pieces, hundreds more rose in their stead. 

It wasn’t long before their bunker doors were cracked open like a tin can. 

With no official leadership left, civilization was pushed over its long awaited tipping point. 

The horde was unrelenting and endless. In a matter of days it moved through the urban landscape, far more catastrophic than any other natural disaster they’d suffered. A heralded sign of the end times. Shelters were ripped apart board by board, factories burned for days, and the bioengineered creatures broke from their cages and ran rampant in the chaos. 

The death toll was immense, and those with the least to their name faced the highest cost. Between the husks of smoldering Cyber Cars the streets were littered with corpses - some stripped to the bone, others taking the first breath of their new life.

In the hopes of finding land untouched by the virus, a mass exodus from the cities ensued. Before the power grids cut off completely, fledging survivors placed frantic calls to other districts only to find they suffered the same ruin, the same silence — the same fate. No corner of the earth had gone untouched. 

The world they once knew was gone. All that was left was survival.

The skyscrapers have long since crumpled.

Their husks lie scattered throughout the hollowed out cities, an effigy to a time long past. The skeletal structures of burnt buildings and vehicles pepper the cracked streets. Where once the streets rang with car horns, drilling machinery, and human voices, there is now only silence.

Yet beneath all the rubble, a new form of life teems.

Over time the pavement has been split by saplings and rivers flow where subways once ran. Moss and vines wrap their way around the building skeletons like a second skin. The bioengineered animals claim this land as home alongside their untainted brethren. Birds bred only for meat make nests of the plastic bags that couldn’t compost, herds of deer and elk cross without fear on the sprawling highways, and packs of dogs that have never known a collar howl like sirens in the night.

When the sun sets, no light can be seen but the thousands of stars overhead.

Humanity has endured in ways both recognizable and not.

Alongside the packs of animals moves a new ecological niche: the undead horde. Though many once clung to hope that age would eventually deteriorate them, the undead have weathered the years without natural decay. Without the ample supply of prey they once had during the outbreak, they now shuffle through cities and rural lands alike in search of their living counterparts. 

They bear no interest in the buzzards and coyotes that trail after them.

The lucky few who did not fall victim to infection nor its carriers are left scattered across what remains of the world. Their numbers have thinned. Humanity, once the apex predator, has been reduced to quarry. 

While some still cling to the ruins of the cities, the majority have fled the far reaches of the country. To the towering mountains and the dense forests that may provide protection. What began as a temporary refuge hardened into something more over time. Settlements took root, walls were raised, and leaders emerged. Children were born who had never known a world before.

The old world was dead. Humanity lived on.