**Synopsis of the Story** Set in a dark and unforgiving world, the story follows Aric and Kael, two brothers who flee their village, Elaria, after a brutal raid leaves their father dead. Forced to abandon everything they’ve ever known, they escape to the capital city of Galoria, a once-thriving metropolis now rotting from within. In the lower levels of the city, the brothers face the harsh realities of poverty, living in squalor among disease, filth, and the cruelty of those in power. A deadly plague sweeps through the lower city, whispered about by the elites, who see the suffering of the poor as a threat to their way of life. When a horrific fire engulfs the lower city, chaos erupts as the heat mutates the plague, reanimating the dead into ravenous zombies. Aric and Kael, trapped with the other lower citizens, fight for their lives as a barricade blocks their escape, only to see the undead break through and spread into the upper city. As the outbreak consumes Galoria, society unravels. Desperate and brutal, people sacrifice one another for survival. In a heart-wrenching moment, Kael sacrifices himself to save Aric, forgiving him for their father's death and giving him a necklace, a symbol of their family bond. Aric is left shattered as his younger brother is devoured by the undead, but he narrowly escapes, scaling the castle walls and witnessing the destruction of the city below. In the midst of the horror, Aric hears the screams of a young boy—a haunting reminder of his brother. Despite his instinct to escape, he rushes to the boy’s aid, slaughtering the zombies in gruesome, violent detail. Together, they flee through a hidden tunnel, symbolizing the shared human condition of both the rich and poor. Aric and the boy escape to the safety of the forest, leaving the crumbling, cursed city behind. Returning to Elaria, Aric is reminded of his past, but with the boy at his side, he begins to rebuild, creating a new life from the ashes of his old one. Together, they begin constructing a new home, turning the ruined village into a place of hope and survival. In a somber, haunting epilogue, set ten years later, the boy—now grown—ventures back to the capital. What he finds is horrifying: the walls of the city have been replaced by rotting piles of corpses, and a monstrous presence lurks within. The city, once the heart of civilization, has become a graveyard of greed and decay. As the boy flees the horrors, he realizes that the world has become something far darker than even he could have imagined. The story is one of survival, sacrifice, and the haunting realization that even in the darkest of times, hope can be found in the rebuilding of life—though the past’s shadows will always linger.