Seattle—The City of Rain—was a place where the line between the living and the dead was thin, and the fog that crept in every evening seemed to carry the weight of the past with it. A city that had once been a symbol of progress, innovation, and power had become a battleground for survival. The sky, heavy with endless rain, cast the streets in a perpetual twilight, and it wasn’t just the weather that blurred the line between night and day. It was the uncertainty, the looming threat of violence, and the ever-present shadows in the corners of every building, every alley.
In the wake of the C-23 pandemic and the societal collapse, Seattle’s underbelly had transformed into a dense labyrinth of dangers: roving gangs, corrupt militias, and hidden survivors all fighting for control. But among these shadows, a new force had begun to rise. The Vvaywards, once a nameless group of displaced survivors, now commanded more attention. But with this rise came darker attention, and those shadows in the rain were no longer just a backdrop, they were closing in.
The Emergence of the Vvaywards
The Vvaywards had made their mark by doing what few others dared: standing up to the chaos, taking in the lost, and fighting for something beyond themselves. They had rescued a few key survivors, confronted corrupt forces, and slowly began to build a reputation in Seattle. People whispered their name in the dark corners of the city: The Vvaywards, the group that helped when no one else would, that fought against the corrupt factions, that protected the weak.
However, this newfound notoriety wasn’t without consequences. As the Vvaywards began to show their presence, others noticed. The Market Lords, the remnants of the National Guard, and the other major players in Seattle’s new order saw them as a threat. Their survival meant something more than just survival; it meant hope, and hope was a currency far more valuable than anything in a post-apocalyptic world. And those who controlled hope could control the future.
But the Vvaywards weren’t the only force emerging from the shadows.
The Other Players
The Revenants—survivors from the quarantine zones—had their own shadowy agenda. In the early days, the Revenants were scattered, lost souls whose minds had been shattered by the horrors they’d witnessed and endured. But now, they were reorganizing, growing bolder, and increasingly violent. Their leader, Ash, was rumored to have powers beyond the ordinary, something to do with the virus itself. Some believed she was part of the new breed of “infected” that were stronger, faster, and harder to kill. She had become a terrifying figure in Seattle’s ruined landscape—a specter who appeared in the night like a ghost, pulling her followers from the fringes of society.
Then there was The Black Fangs, a gang notorious for their brutality and control over the city’s dwindling drug trade. They controlled the South District with an iron fist, their influence extending into every corner of the city. Their leader, Wolf, was a figure that even the Vvaywards feared, ruthless and calculating, but with an uncanny ability to inspire loyalty among his followers. While the Vvaywards were still a loosely organized group, the Fangs had a military-like structure, and they weren’t afraid to crush anyone who stood in their way.
As the city grew darker, the Vvaywards found themselves at the center of these shifting power dynamics. Their every move was being watched. Their every decision had consequences, and they had no choice but to play the game if they wanted to survive. But the more they rose, the more they drew the attention of those who sought to manipulate them for their own ends.
The Shadows Closing In
As the Vvaywards solidified their hold over certain parts of the city, the shadows they had once operated in began to feel more like a trap. There were no safe places in Seattle anymore, except for the Vvaywards hidden Lair, but nowhere was truly hidden from the eyes of those who sought to control its future.
Captain, ever the calm strategist, understood this well. She had spent years watching the shifting alliances and power structures of the city, and she knew that no one could be trusted. Captain protected the Vvaywards Location using her mind power. The Vvaywards had to keep moving, adapt to their changing environment, and stay a step ahead. The key to survival was not just strength, but knowledge, the ability to see the shifting tides before they overwhelmed you.
But even with all her foresight, Captain was starting to feel the weight of what it meant to lead a group like this. Hailee, her second-in-command, often found herself questioning Captain’s decisions, pushing for more aggressive actions, more direct confrontations with the city’s corrupt factions. Will, ever the pragmatist, wanted to ensure that they maintained their moral high ground, but he knew there was a cost to every decision.
The tension within the group was palpable. They were a family, yes, but families could fall apart under pressure. And that pressure was mounting.
A Growing Threat
In the shadows of Seattle, another threat was rising an enigmatic figure known only as The Eye. No one knew exactly who or what The Eye was, but their presence was everywhere. People began to whisper about strange occurrences in the city: power outages, disrupted communications, people vanishing without a trace. The Vvaywards started to notice the same patterns—someone was watching them, tracking their every move.
The Eye’s influence was subtle at first, but it was clear they were involved with the city’s factions, manipulating events from behind the scenes. They were rumored to be connected to Ash and Wolf, perhaps even controlling them from afar. Some speculated that The Eye had access to a hidden network of surveillance technology, possibly something left over from before the collapse, a tool to keep the city’s most dangerous players in check.
Captain, as always, was one step ahead. She knew that dealing with the visible threats was one thing—but it was the unseen ones, the ones who operated in the shadows, that would bring the Vvaywards down if they weren’t careful.
But there was something more: The Eye wasn’t just watching. They were waiting. And when the time was right, they would strike.
The Choice
The Vvaywards had risen from the wreckage of the old world, but the true test of their strength was just beginning. With each passing day, they found themselves faced with difficult choices: Should they continue to fight for the weak and the helpless, or should they start thinking like their enemies, focusing on power and control? Should they keep trying to build something new, or would they fall victim to the same cycles of violence and destruction that had claimed every other group that had come before them?
As the shadows in the rain closed in on them, the Vvaywards realized that survival alone wasn’t enough. To truly rise, they would have to confront not just the threats outside, but the darkness within themselves.
The rain fell harder as night began to settle in, the city’s silhouette shrouded in mist. But deep in the streets, amidst the shadows, the Vvaywards moved forward, unseen, but no longer invisible.