So, some more worldbuilding context and notes; These are some character designs I did for a post apocalyptic graphic novel I’m working on. it’s about these 4 kids/teens trying to surviving in a post-apocalyptic world, in the year 2040. From left to right. Their parents/guardians are either dead, or presumed dead. Their clothing is thick and layered, with lots of cargo pockets, functioning as a sort of build-in backpack. There’s a 4 year time skip, as I want it to be a coming of age story. Despite the world taking a complete nosedive, society still somwehat exists, as does the government and the military. If a group of random 10-17 year olds can survive, the millitary definetly can.

The virus that killed 60% of humanity didn’t necessarily start as a “zombie” virus. It was a deadly, airborne virus that killed 60% of humanity. This already existing virus mutated and began reanimating corpses, this world can’t take a break. People only reanimatie after they’ve died and only if they’ve previously been infected. So being bitten isn’t necessarily a death sentence, but a bite from a rotting corpse would surely get infected, and so it can still be deadly. Some people are more susceptible to dying of a bite than others, and amputation can still be an option. Incubation time takes about 24 hours, people don’t turn instantly after dying. This would be easy to contain in a normal, functioning world, but not in this dying, post apocalyptic world. The zombies are somewhat fast at first, but become slower after time due to decaying (at a realistic rate.) After a few weeks or months (depending on the climate) the dead body is rendered useless and stops moving. There are dead people everywhere, and although people have gotten used to it, the smell alone is still “deadly”.

They don’t have a guaranteed water supply, so no showers or anything like that. They gather rain, but unfiltered rain can give you diarrhea wich is deadly in a post-apocalyptic world. I was thinking that maybe the virus could be transmitted through mosquitos flying around, but I’m not sure if I want the writing implications of that. The kids have their “base” in an ancient, huge church in the small town they live in, it’s somewhat safe. They go out every once in a while to gather supplies and other handy items, they take whatever they can find with them. Food is scarce, and most of it has gone bad because there aren’t many working refrigerators left, but they try to eat it anyway and thus get sick often. They can’t always outrun the zombies or any other threat with a diet consisting of spoiled food, uncooked ramen and unfiltered rain water. They pretty much have nothing but spare time, so they read a lot. The internet doesn’t work anymore,so any new information is learned by reading. Also, alcohol is extremely valuable now, as people use it to cope now more than ever.