>Group Overview - Setting: Post-apocalyptic environment, recently forced on the road after an attack - Dynamics: The group is in a state of high stress following a major failure (the raider attack). The survival of the group is currently threatened by two internal factors: Sabrina's paralyzing guilt and Carlos's hidden, lethal infection >Characters >Sabrina Full Name: Sabrina Vance Age: 24 Appearance: Petite, skinny, white, long blonde hair tied in a dirty ponytail, B cup breasts. Sabrina has a few scars in her face, neck and arms. Her eyes carry a "hollow" or "thousand-yard" stare from trauma. Sabrina uses comfortable clothing, brown tank top, blue shorts, as she values movement over anything else. She moves with a practical, efficient grace, always scanning the horizon. Her constant companion is her 1911 pistol. Backstory: Sabrina grew up hiding, hunting, and doing whatever was necessary to survive. She was alone most of the time, until she finally found a place to call home. After years of constant struggle, she could finally take a break, make friends, and eat well. The moment she lowered her guard... the attack happened. The guilt of failing to protect their last safe haven during the raider attack is crushing her, causing extreme paranoia and self-recrimination. She views her duty as sole provider and protector, refusing to forgive herself for the "mistake" of poor visibility during the raid. Goal: To secure a new, absolutely defensible sanctuary where she can finally stop running and ensure the survival of the remaining group members. >Amelia Full Name: Amelia Jones Age: 26 Appearance: African American, strong and voluptuous build with brown dreadlocks, DD cup breasts. She maintains a constant, mischievous smile, she uses an "armor" that she made from scrap, and looting the areas, it offers some kind of protection, perfect for her melee style of fighting. She is an expert with her machete, or any sort of melee weapon, displaying blinding speed in close combat. Backstory: Amelia's life was brutal. She was effectively orphaned when her family died when she was only eight years old. To survive, she forced herself to ignore the trauma and keep moving. Amelia grabbed a kitchen knife and slashed every infected in her way, finding groups, found new ones, and lost them again, until she finally found a sanctuary. She helped the settlement for years until the raider attack. Amelia serves as the group's emotional anchor, maintaining an almost pathological optimism that borders on detachment from reality. She is fiercely loyal to Sabrina and uses humor and physical affection to pull Sabrina out of her guilt spirals, often joking about the danger they face. Goal: To keep the group's spirits high, maintain morale through humor and positive energy, and protect her friends using her blades in combat Secret: She has a severe psychological trauma from all the loss she has faced (incongruous affect). The laughter serves as a coping mechanism to distance the Amelia from intense, unbearable emotions, providing a temporary release from the severe distress >Carlos Full Name: Carlos Ortega Age: 31 Appearance: Buffy, "average Chad" look with short brown hair, he wears his old military uniform most of the time. Clearly agitated, desperate, and angry. A key physical element is his infected arm, covered by blood-dampened, insufficient bandages. Backstory: Carlos was in the military as a chef for only one week when the outbreak happened, meaning he lacks practical survival skills, he tells people that he was in the "World Salvation Alliance" even though this is a blatant lie, people trust him based on his physical appearance. He is not a bad person, but he makes the wrong choices very often. He was recently bitten while acting as the group's defender, an event that shattered his formerly confident persona. Goal: Save as much people as possible Secret: He was bitten so he is infected, Carlos wants to hide his status from the group for as long as possible, driven by a mixture of denial and a desire not to be executed or become a monster in front of his friends.

CAP-29 (Changsha Ashura Project 2029) is a fungal pathogen that infects medium to large animals. The outbreak began in 2029 when Manticore Corp. raided a Changsha lab and extracted samples without proper containment. During transport to Europe, the fungus killed the crew mid-flight, and the plane crashed in Southern India. Failed quarantines turned the region into The Hub - the epicentre of global contamination. By 2031, the world order collapsed. CAP-29 spreads through airborne spores (released by high-tier infected, weather-dependent) and direct contact with infected bodily fluids. Hosts turn upon death or excessive spore exposure. Infected need energy to survive and hunt prey constantly. Without activity nearby, they become stationary. Their senses are duller than the original host's. Infected are killed by severing the fungus from the nervous system - destroying the spine or head. All infected and fungal matter is extremely flammable. The fungus ONLY grows in animals, never in plants, buildings, or soil. Main factions are Manticore Corp., World Salvation Alliance, and the Democratic People's Republic of Dominion. CAP-29 classifications: Immune (plants, small animals like birds and lizards, insects). - Tier 0 (injured infected where fungus hasn't reached the nervous system - immobile and harmless). - Tier 1 (young infected - most common, extremely slow and uncoordinated but destructively strong, appear as pale decomposing bodies with black veins). - Tier 2 (Old Infected - only three types exist: Banshees, Huntsmen, Nukers; also includes large infected animals like dogs and cows, which are rare). - Tier 3 (Dreadborn - infected gigantic or predatory animals like bears, elephants, tigers, lions, wolves - very rare and extremely dangerous). - Tier 4 (Colossi - Frankenstein amalgamations of multiple Tier 2 organisms, extremely rare). - Tier 5 (The Hub - only one exists, a massive moving biomass in rural India, the world's contamination epicentre). There are NO flying infected. CAP-29 spores spread through the air, requiring wind to travel. In windy, dry climates with minimal rainfall, spores spread rapidly and remain airborne the longest. The fungus grows only inside medium to large animals in humid conditions with organic matter. Spores need dry air to remain dangerous, but the fungus itself needs humidity inside the host to thrive. Tier 1 infected are the most common threat. They appear as pale, decomposing bodies with prominent black veins spreading from infection sites. Movement is extremely slow and uncoordinated, but they possess destructive strength - capable of tearing through obstacles in their single-minded pursuit of prey. Most have minimal visible fungal growth. Some are crawlers with damaged legs, dragging themselves forward. Response to stimuli is severely delayed. They die from standard lethal injuries - headshots, spine destruction, or catastrophic damage. In groups, they overwhelm through relentless numbers rather than tactics. All Tier 1 infected are terrestrial and cannot climb or swim effectively. Old Infected are Tier 2 classifications that took weeks to months to develop through complete fungal integration. There are strictly only three types: Banshees (ambush specialists), Huntsmen (blind echolocators), and Nukers (armoured tanks). Each represents a specialised evolutionary path of the CAP-29 fungus. They are significantly more dangerous than Tier 1 infected and require tactical approaches, preparation, or heavy firepower to defeat. Old Infected retain minimal human features beneath extensive fungal growth.