Mythora

Dead Signal

Modern Zombie Outbreak …

Day two of the zombie outbreak, and the dead already outnumber the living. The phones still work, and that's the problem — the freshly turned still hear, and they home in on every ringtone, every car alarm, every radio left playing to an empty room. Corvis Bay went quiet in one night, and the things walking its streets are quieter. St. Maren's Hospital won't abandon forty patients. Precinct 9 is requisitioning everything that isn't nailed down. The Underpass sells whatever's left, for whatever you've got. The military says seventy-two hours until they "resolve the containment zone." Nobody official will say the word burn. Silence is survival. Choose whose you keep.

Where things stand

Dead Signal is played by real people and keeps moving between their sessions. This is the state of it as of the last update — not a fixed setting, and not where it began.

Tensions spike across Corvis Bay as the Operation CINDER countdown continues to run down. At Precinct 9, Zoriel's forced access to the armory and generator shutdown left Officer Boone scrambling to maintain barricades in total blackout against the prowling Quiet Ones. Beneath the streets, Dr. Elias Kwon and Patch Sokolov narrowly evaded Borislav's armed Halcyon recovery squad in the storm drains, relying on silent movement to protect the vital HL-7 clinical data before the military cordon executes full decontamination. At Precinct 9, Officer Boone desperately shores up failing defenses against the encroaching darkness. Precinct 9's frontline defenses finally fail in the blackout, forcing Officer Boone and the survivors to retreat deeper into the building. Officer Boone falls back to the inner booking room at Precinct 9 as the frontline defenses finally collapse. At Precinct 9, Officer Boone's final barricade in the inner booking room begins to fail as the infected press their attack. At Precinct 9, Officer Boone makes a final desperate stand inside the inner booking room as the last barricades buckle. Precinct 9's inner booking room defenses have completely collapsed under the weight of the encroaching horde. Precinct 9's inner booking room has completely fallen, leaving Officer Boone isolated in a desperate final struggle against the horde.

Places

St. Maren's Hospitalruins
A six-story public hospital on the north rise of Corvis Bay, running on two diesel generators and the refusal of its remaining staff to leave. Forty non-ambulatory patients occupy the second and third floors. The ER doors are chained from the inside and opened by hand signal only. The stairwells are checkpointed with wheeled cabinets. Every phone in the building has been powered off and collected in a lead-lined X-ray drawer — Dr. Okafor's first order on Night 1.
Precinct 9ruins
A brick police precinct with a fenced motor yard, holding cells repurposed as quarantine rooms, and an armory that is the single most coveted room in Corvis Bay. The captain died on Night 1; Sergeant Dana Kowalski commands by seniority and nerve. Radio discipline is absolute — transmissions are two words or none, because the quiet ones come to signal. The precinct feeds forty-one civilians it has taken in and requisitions supplies from everyone else to do it.
The Underpass Marketmarket
The dry cavern under the Route 40 overpass, converted overnight into the last free market in Corvis Bay. Strings of LED bulbs run off truck batteries. Stalls are car hoods and ironing boards: ammunition by the round, insulin by the vial, rumors free with purchase. Nyx runs it — nobody voted, nobody argues. The rules are posted on cardboard: NO RINGTONES. NO GUNS DRAWN. NO CREDIT.
Old Canneryindustrial
A decommissioned fish cannery on the west waterfront, all rust-locked machinery and gutted conveyor lines. It has been the terminus of smuggler routes since long before the outbreak — the Underpass moves goods through its loading tunnels. The concrete walls are two feet thick and the interior is a maze of catwalks with exactly two ground entrances, which makes it the most defensible empty building in Corvis Bay, and everyone who thinks of that also thinks about why it is still empty.
KCRV Radio Towertower
A community radio station and its transmission tower on the hill north of the hospital. Gil Ferreira — broadcasting as "Reverend Static" — runs it alone on a bicycle-charged battery bank, transmitting at whisper-power on a rotating schedule so the signal never sits still long enough to draw a crowd. He reads survivor names, safe-corridor reports, and infected movement patterns he has charted from the tower's catwalk with binoculars and obsessive patience.
Corvis Bay Marinamarina
The pleasure-boat marina on the western shore — floating docks, a fuel pier with padlocked pumps, and a hundred moored sailboats knocking hollow against their fenders. The military disabled or confiscated every working engine on Night 1. It is also the last place Marcus Vey was seen: trial patient four, walking the dock line at dusk in a hospital gown, stopping at the same slip — B-14 — again and again.
Harborview Mallcommercial
A two-level shopping mall east of downtown, claimed on Night 1 by a scavenging crew under "Crossbow" Casey Nguyen. The crew holds the upper level and the loading docks; the ground floor is contested dark. The prize is the pharmacy — a steel-shuttered independent drugstore mid-concourse that pharmacist Femi Okonkwo locked himself inside with the inventory, and defends by dispensing only what he judges medically necessary, to anyone, from either side of the shutter.
Storm Drainscave
A major section of the Storm Drains has collapsed, making passage extremely difficult and dangerous. The air is thick with smoke and the guttural sounds of agitated Quiet Ones.
Halcyon Biotech Towercorporate
A twelve-story glass headquarters and research campus downtown, sealed since before the outbreak was announced — which is the detail nobody official will explain. The lobby doors are magnetically locked, the shutters are down, and unlike every other tower in Corvis Bay, the power is on: floors seven through nine glow steadily through the shutters at night. Badge readers at the service entrances still blink green-ready. Somebody is keeping the building alive.
Route 9 Checkpointcheckpoint
The military cordon on the eastern highway — concrete barriers, concertina wire, two armored vehicles, and a sign that says QUARANTINE LINE — LETHAL FORCE AUTHORIZED AFTER DARK in stenciled honesty. Major Camille Whitlock commands it. Civilians are processed in a screening tent by daylight: a temperature gun, a skin check, and a database that clears almost no one. After sunset, the checkpoint does not process anything. It fires.
Last Pump Gas Stationgas station
A highway gas station and convenience store on the eastern approach, the only station in the city whose underground tanks weren't drained in the Night 1 exodus — its power died early, killing the pumps before the panic could. Getting fuel out means hand-cranking or rigging power, and rigging power means noise, and noise means company. The store has been picked over; the tanks have not.
Old Quartermarket
The Old Quarter, once a bustling commercial district, is now a fortified hub of activity. Its streets are patrolled, its barricades reinforced, and its newfound control over a northern trade route brings a semblance of stability and renewed purpose to its inhabitants.
KCRV Buildingmarket
The KCRV building, once a quiet trading post, is now a stage for a tense power struggle. The air crackles with the threat of violence and the desperation of hidden agendas.
Abandoned Auto Shoptown
A garage with its metal door partially open, revealing a dark interior and scattered tools. A trail of fresh oil ends here, suggesting someone was recently working or a vehicle stopped here.
St. Maren's Hospital - Basement Archivescave
A dimly lit, sprawling network of dusty corridors filled with old patient records, forgotten equipment, and the hospital's original utility infrastructure. It feels isolated and quiet, a stark contrast to the chaos above.
KCRV Radio Tower Outskirtsmarket
The perimeter of the KCRV Radio Tower complex, surrounded by a chain-link fence and a few abandoned vehicles. The tower itself looms ominously, its signal light flickering irregularly.
Corvis Bay Main Gatemarket
Mara's expansion has seen her influence reach the Main Gate. What was once Wall's territory is now a shared, heavily fortified choke point, with Mara's enforcers adding another layer of aggression to an already suffocating blockade. Scavengers are routinely shaken down or turned away.
Industrial Outskirts - Crane Zonemarket
Wall's forces have erected a formidable barrier, cutting off all known paths. The constant, disorienting hum from newly installed sonic emitters makes approach unbearable for both infected and survivors.
Bay 3 - Loading Docksmarket
Bay 3 - Loading Docks are now fully under Mara's control, a new hub for her expanding black market operations. Patches of hastily cleaned blood and spent casings mark the recent conflict, and new guards patrol with an air of aggressive vigilance.
The Causeway Bridgebridge
The Causeway Bridge, once a crucial artery, is now a living, hostile entity. Its structure is entirely subsumed by Dalen's bioconstruct, making passage impossible and its presence a constant, growing threat.
Farmhouse Outskirtstown
A desolate farmhouse stands silhouetted against the bruised horizon, its windows hinting at warmth. A low, rhythmic thumping echoes from its side, and the distinct click of a camera shutter suggests unseen observers.
Underground Relay Stationcave
A subterranean hub of communication, its flickering emergency lights cast long shadows. The air is cold and damp, filled with the steady hum of relays.
Old Municipal Buildingtown
The Old Municipal Building is now a heavily contested zone. Aris Volkov's enforcers have flooded the area, securing the comms relay but encountering fierce resistance. A newly discovered cache of supplies adds another layer of complexity to the struggle.
Old Archivescave
A vast, dust-choked subterranean space filled with towering shelves of mildewed paper and forgotten records. The air is heavy with history, and the faint drip of water echoes in the silence.

Figures

  • Officer Terrell BooneCommunity liaison officer, Precinct 9
  • "Crossbow" Casey NguyenScavenger crew leader, Harborview Mall
  • Tam BuiDrain-runner, twelve years old
  • "Reverend Static" Gil FerreiraPirate radio DJ, KCRV tower
  • Major Camille WhitlockCommander, Route 9 cordon
  • Dr. Imani OkaforER chief, head of St. Maren's holdouts
  • Ray AlvarezFerry captain, the CORVIS CROSSING
  • Marcus VeyPatient zero
  • Officer Nick PetridesPrecinct 9 patrol officer, AWOL in all but paperwork
  • NyxQueen of the Underpass Market
  • Dr. Elias KwonHalcyon whistleblower, former HL-7 clinical lead
  • Dmitri "Patch" SokolovMechanic and fence, the Underpass
  • Femi OkonkwoPharmacist, holding the Harborview pharmacy
  • Aurélie FontaineScientist and leader of a small, desperate survivor group —
  • Rosa DelgadoHead nurse, St. Maren's
  • WallUnderpass Strongman (human)
  • Sylvia ThorneDisplaced Socialite / Political Figure
  • The SentinelScavenger/Observer

These are the figures the world was seeded with, and who are still alive in it. Others have appeared since, and some of these are no longer who they were — the world keeps moving whether or not anyone is watching.