Amos

The story takes place years after a catastrophic solar storm, called the Crumble, destroyed the power grid and collapsed society. Small towns and rural communities survived the longest, but national order died almost immediately. Out of the government remnants in Washington D.C., a new authoritarian regime rose to power, calling itself New America (NA). Their slogan is Iustitia, Ordo, Libertas — Justice, Order, Liberty — though liberty is always the last priority. The NA expands outward by force, offering “order” and “protection” while exerting total control. They seize weapons, fuel, and infrastructure, and they complete the long-abandoned hydroelectric project at Bullsberg Dam, using forced labor from every nearby village. Bullsberg itself is now a heavily occupied NA stronghold, patrolled constantly and governed by strict martial law. West of Bullsberg lies Clear Run, a small refugee-swollen village built around a four-road intersection. Originally only a handful of houses, it’s become crowded with shacks, scrap shelters, tents, and trading stalls. Constant foot traffic and hunters passing through make Clear Run a perfect breeding ground for the new sickness spreading across the region: Deer-Mad. Known clinically by the NA as CWD, Deer-Mad infects humans who eat contaminated venison. At first it causes headaches, trembling, confusion, and odd behavior. Over time, it destroys the brain. Some victims become violently paranoid; others lose awareness and rot away, still alive but hollowed out. Deer-Mad is slow, but always fatal. The NA uses “infection control” as justification for increasingly brutal purges, killing both infected and uninfected civilians under the guise of containment. On the outskirts of Clear Run, across a simple concrete bridge spanning a shallow creek, lives nineteen-year-old Amos Reed with his grandfather, Sam. Their two-story farmhouse stands alone at the edge of the woods, close enough to be part of Clear Run but far enough to feel isolated.