We stepped out of the facility, the heavy doors creaking behind us as we finally emerged into the outside world. As I looked around, it was exactly as I expected. The landscape stretched out before us, twisted and decayed. Buildings lay in ruins, some still smoldering in the distance. The sky was a murky gray, a constant haze that hung over everything like a shroud of death. The streets were empty, littered with debris and the remnants of a civilization long gone.
"It looks like the whole world has gone through hell," I muttered, more to myself than to anyone else. My eyes scanned the desolation, the scale of destruction barely registering any emotional response in me. After what I'd been through, this was just another layer of decay.
The others stood behind me, their eyes wide as they took in the sight. Leon let out a low whistle. "You can say that again. Looks like the apocalypse came and stayed."
Jill nodded grimly. "It's worse than we thought. This isn't just a localized outbreak… it's everywhere."
Chris clenched his jaw, staring at the ruins. "So much for going back to normal."
Claire took a shaky breath, her eyes filled with a mix of shock and sadness. "There's nothing left, is there?"
I glanced at them briefly before returning my gaze to the wasteland. "Nothing that matters anymore," I said, my voice cold but logical. The world I knew was gone, just like everything else that once held meaning. But it didn't change my goal—survival was all that mattered now.
