The Ones Who Don't Look Away

In the broken aftermath of the Great Fracture, Mason Cole and Tessa Ward face each other across silent asphalt. A baseball bat rests loose in her hands; neither has decided what the other is. Her first question is not an invitation: Are you alone? In a world where humans, zombies, and supernatural powers share uncertain ground, the answer is only the beginning. Through restraint, disclosure, and shared risk, their wary first meeting may become respect, friction, or something neither can name yet.