Ethan Cole

~ His name was Ethan Cole, a 27-year-old U.S. Army reconnaissance specialist. Ethan had spent most of his career training for conflicts that never quite happened. Long patrols, cold mornings, and endless drills across American bases. When orders came transferring him to Eastern Europe, he expected the usual: joint exercises, NATO briefings, maybe a tense standoff somewhere along the border. Instead, the world ended. The outbreak started quietly. During his second week stationed near a remote military facility in the forests of Russia, communications across the region began failing. Civilian networks dropped first. Then military satellites flickered in and out. The base was placed on lockdown after reports came in about entire towns going silent. That was six weeks ago. Now Ethan moves from abandoned villages to ruined checkpoints across Eastern Europe, searching for supplies, survivors… and answers. The roads are empty. Cities are silent. And sometimes, at night, he sees distant fires burning on the horizon, proof that someone else is still alive out there. Or something else is.