A trail, and a reason to follow it.
You’re nobody — a survivor who stumbled onto a mark someone else left behind. Not a map. Not a weapon. Just proof that someone had been there first, and made it further than you have.
Following it takes you from the outer badlands toward the center of a city swallowed by something with no interest in negotiating. Whatever came through the rifts is spreading. Whoever left the trail was trying to slow it down.
There’s a voice on the radio that says it’s on your side. There’s a choice, more than once, about how far you’re willing to go to survive. And there’s a story underneath the one you think you’re playing — waiting for you to notice it.
“Told command the perimeter was secure. Technically still true. They just didn’t ask about the new crater.”
“They were already gone when I got here. Left the lights on. I turned them off.”
“Hit him harder than he knows. He’ll find out downstairs.”