[ WP ] It 's been 8 months since the zombie apocalypse . You fell in with a tough as nails roughneck group . When in the city looting , you come across a scavenger . He 's your best friend from before the outbreak and your crew unanimously decides to execute him ( he is armed ) .

`` Cale-'' BLAM! 
 
 A fine mist of smoke poured out of the end of the barrel. The wind picked up and those whisps of gunpowder faded away, so ephemeral in that moment, like the life of his old friend. 
 
 Curtis had been a good man. A good colleague and a good friend. This was n't a good world though. You could n't afford to be good out here. You could n't afford to be weak. For a moment Caleb thought it would be hard to pull the trigger, but it was n't. Quite the opposite, in fact. He knew what was at stake. 
 
 He could n't afford to be weak in front of these people he'd associated himself with. There was no sympathy, just a brotherhood of understanding. Mutual protection until protection was n't viable. Then you were cut loose, left to float like so much chum for the sharks. Any kind of weakness and you'd find yourself reaching out for a hand, only to find empty air. 
 
 Caleb tried to convince himself, as he looked down at the shell casing that rolled to his feet, that Curtis would understand if the roles were reversed. This was a new world, and you could n't take any old memories with you. One old memory, one old hope, one old bond and you would hesitate. You would falter and die like so many others that had clung to hope that someone would come to save them. 
 
 There were no saviours, no saints, just sinners in this city of the damned. Caleb was no hero, just a man trying to survive until maybe... he found some meaning. 
 
 `` You knew him...?'' Sarah asked. A blonde bombshell, as ruthless as her looks, stepped up behind Caleb. She'd used her beauty more than once to lure unsuspecting scavs into an ambush. `` He sounded like he was saying your name. So I imagine... that he knew you, and you knew him.'' 
 
 Caleb toed the shell casing away from his foot. He was getting tired of her inquiry. She was poking at him, trying to find a crack in the armour. He glanced at her with razor thin eyes. `` You know my name too.'' 
 
 Her smile was devilish, the threat unwelcome, accustomed as she was to her looks easing her path. This world was different though. Beauty was something used to exploit people, much as it had been in the old world. Yet here it was deadly. 
 
 `` Enough you two'', growled Vitaly. `` Check the body, take the weapon and ammo, and let's move on.'' 
 
 Two more of the band moved forward and quickly stripped the body of it's belongings. Flinging bits and bobs here and there, determining what was, and was n't of value. Caleb turned and watched them do their work, his face devoid of expression. 
 
 `` This is n't over...'' whispered sweet words, laced with venom against the flesh of his neck as Sarah smiled and rolled away to follow the main group, her shotgun unslung from her shoulder as she walked on. 
 
 `` Yes it is...'' Caleb muttered. `` It's all over...'' as he turned and strode on, leaving Curtis's rotting corpse behind, like so much of his past.
