In a world fractured by desperation and violence, where every step outside the safety of your own barricaded home could be your last, rules were the only thing that kept humanity from descending into complete madness. Laws had crumbled. Governments had dissolved. But the Vvaywards…. their own ragtag group of survivors found it in themselves to create something different, something that spoke not just to their survival, but to their need for dignity in a world that had forgotten both.
They didn’t wear capes. They didn’t have secret identities. They didn’t walk around giving speeches about justice. But they did have something: a code.
This wasn’t just a set of rules to follow. It wasn’t a rigid doctrine handed down from some higher authority. It was a living, breathing thing, forged in the fire of survival and forged with the recognition that the most valuable thing in this world, the thing that had to be protected at all costs, was the very humanity they were struggling to preserve.
The Code of the Vvaywards was simple but brutally effective.
1. Protect the Vulnerable
The world had been ruthless to those who couldn’t defend themselves…. the sick, the injured, the old, and the children. They were the first to be left behind in the chaos. The Vvaywards had sworn to protect them. They didn’t care if the person was from their group, from the local militia, or from the streets of some rival faction. It didn’t matter. Vulnerability meant they were a priority.
Will often bore the weight of this rule. His past as a soldier had given him a cold, methodical approach to survival. But when it came to those who couldn’t fight for themselves, he softened. He’d lost people who were too young, too old, or too weak to survive. And in those faces, he saw the world they had all lost, a world that had failed to protect them.
They didn’t always succeed. There were too many people to protect and not enough resources to go around. But every time they could, every time they could pull someone from the edge, they did.
2. Never Abandon One of Our Own
This rule was the hardest one to live by. Because in the new world, the definition of “family” had become warped and painful. It wasn’t always biological. It wasn’t always about shared blood. It was about shared struggle. The Vvaywards had made their own family, forged by circumstance, pain, and the shared knowledge that survival meant leaning on one another. When one of them fell, they didn’t just leave them behind.
Kyra, though young, had a deep understanding of this rule. She was one of the first to come to the Vvaywards when they rescued her from a group of raiders. She was a lost child, but she knew from the start that loyalty was everything. If one of her new “family” was hurt or in danger, she’d be there, no questions asked.
The Vvaywards didn’t always succeed in keeping every member safe, but they never left anyone to die alone. It meant doing the impossible, taking risks that would break lesser groups. And though it tore at them every time they couldn’t fulfill this promise, it kept them human.
3. Fight for Justice, Not Revenge
In a world where everyone was fighting for a sliver of power, revenge was an easy thing to fall into. There were hundreds of injustices to be avenged: the gang who murdered a family member, the corrupt remnants of the government who ordered the quarantine zones to be enforced at any cost, the people who preyed on the weak and the helpless. It would have been simple to fall into the trap of endless retribution, but the Vvaywards knew that justice and revenge weren’t the same.
Captain, the leader, was the one who kept the group grounded on this principle. She was their moral compass, their guiding voice when things threatened to get out of hand. She knew all too well how the world had twisted the idea of justice, how revenge could be a dangerous and seductive force. Justice, as the Vvaywards saw it, wasn’t about hurting others, it was about balance. It was about taking action that restored some semblance of fairness, even if it was just a small step toward the greater good.
This rule wasn’t always easy to follow. Many of them had suffered immeasurably at the hands of those who were supposed to protect them. But every time they made a choice rooted in true justice, whether it meant standing up to a corrupt leader, protecting a vulnerable group from a gang, or simply giving shelter to a person who had nowhere else to go, they remained committed to the idea that their actions would be more than just fleeting revenge. They would be purposeful.
4. No One Is Above the Group
Individual desires and egos were a luxury in the wasteland. The Vvaywards didn’t have time for personal glory or power struggles. The group was the priority, the needs of the collective came first. Each member, no matter their skills or strengths, was held to the same standard. No one was irreplaceable