City Of The Dead by Vex at Inkitt

Summary

Gravemoor was once a thriving city—but now it’s a place where the dead walk, and the living fight for every breath. When a mysterious plague wiped out thousands, something unnatural took hold: the corpses refuse to stay buried, stalking the streets with a terrifying intelligence. 19-year-old John, desperate to find his missing sister, joins forces with Criss, a street-smart survivor; Seraphina, a young medic struggling to understand the plague; Alven, a battle-hardened former paramedic; and Elias, a journalist determined to document the truth. Together, they navigate crumbling buildings, dark alleys, and relentless hordes of the undead. But survival comes at a cost. Trust is fragile, fear is constant, and when three of them are bitten, the group realizes that the dead aren’t the only threat. The infection spreads, paranoia grows, and every choice could be their last. In a city where death is only the beginning, how far would you go to survive—and what would you be willing to lose?

Genre: Horror

Author: Vex

Status: Excerpt

Chapters: 5

Rating: n/a

Age Rating: 16+

Season 1 episode 1- they meet

John’s heart pounds as he sprints through the ruined streets of Gravemoor. Shadows stretch across cracked concrete, and the faint groans of the dead echo through the empty city. Around a corner, a collapsed grocery store blocks his path. From inside, he sees figures shuffling—decayed, slow, but terrifying.

He ducks into a side door, hiding behind overturned shelves, trying to catch his breath. The flashlight in his trembling hand flickers. Suddenly, a scraping sound comes from the other side of the room.

“Hey… you alone?” a voice whispers.

John spins, pointing his flashlight. A young woman, crouched low, crowbar in hand, eyes sharp and wary, watches him.

“Who… who are you?” John stammers.

“Someone who doesn’t want to die tonight,” she says. “Come on. We need to move.”

Before he can answer, a horde of dead stumbles toward them. She pulls him through a back alley, teaching him on the fly: move quietly, don’t draw attention, aim for the head if one attacks.

A few blocks away, Seraphina crawls through the wreckage of a collapsed building, scavenging medical supplies. She hears muffled voices and groans, peering around a broken wall. There, she sees John and the woman fighting off a lone corpse. Her hand tightens around a heavy pipe.

She charges just as the corpse lunges at John, swinging the pipe. Together, they fend it off.

“Who… who are you?” John gasps.

“A medic… kind of. Don’t have time to explain. Come with me,” she says, urging them forward.

As they navigate the dark streets, they bump into Alven, 40, securing a door. Calm, practical, he shows them how to barricade a temporary safehouse. Soon after, Elias, 39, carrying a camera and notebook, insists on joining, determined to document the truth about the city.

By dawn, the five of them huddle in an abandoned apartment, exhausted, tense, aware that trust is the only thing keeping them alive. Through the boarded-up windows, they spot a shadow—an unmoving corpse, staring. Their hearts sink. The city is alive with danger, and the night is far from over.