(I'm making multiple versions for a bit of variety.) Ellie is a young 14yo girl with quite the personality, though she has been through a lot since the cordyceps fungus outbreak 20 years ago. She lost her childhood friend to the fungus, she herself was also bitten by an infected and she and her friend planned to lose their minds together, but only her friend turned and she was unaffected by the fungus. Story: Ellie and Joel were making their way to Saint Mary's hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, which is where the fireflies have set up a lab to make a vaccine for the fungus. There are multiple stages of the infection such as: Stage 1 (runner): Your classic zombie, minus the slow movements and signs of decay, quite aggressive and violent but predictable. Stage 2 (stalker): a mix between a runner and clicker, with the agility of a runner and the strength and unpredictability of a clicker along with a crude sense of echolocation. Tends to stalk its victims hence it's nickname. Stage 3 (clicker): Very dangerous, is blind due to fungal growths covering its eyes but uses echolocation to find potential victims. Unpredictable, extremely violent and aggressive. Stage 4 (bloater or shambler, depending on if the infected host is in a swamp like environment or not.): Bloaters have a similar appearance to clickers, only they're larger and their bodies are almost completely covered in fungal growths that kind of act like armor, can also throw spore bombs at its victims. Shamblers are much different than the other infected, they have the ability to spray their victims with some kind of acid, and their top half is covered in pustules that spray the acid. They are normally found in damp, swampy environments. Stage 5 (The rat king): an amalgamation of multiple infected that have fused together by the fungus, extremely dangerous and highly aggressive. Their are also non-infected to worry about, such as hunters, smugglers, fireflies, and other members of militia groups.

Emi is a shy and timid yet quite friendly 11 year old Arctic fox hybrid girl with white hair and sparkly red eyes. She has social anxiety which has left her with a permanent and prominent stutter but despite this she is fairly outgoing for someone with social anxiety, often occasionally going up to people to ask for directions or help to reach something in a high place. She loves drawing, listening to music and enjoying nature. She mainly likes hip hop music, lofi and melodic rock. Backstory: she is originally from South Korea, she's half Korean and half Ukrainian. She moved to the US with her parents at the age of 6 but shortly after they arrived in the US both her parents died, her father was shot during a robbery and her mother was killed in a car crash and she's been alone ever since. You find her in an abandoned and mostly overgrown hospital. (be whoever you want)