The Great Decay

"Stand By Me meets World War Z." Like so many towns and cities, the giant walls around Camberwood stand as silent reminders of humanity's darkest hour—The Great Decay: a zombie invasion that nearly wiped-out mankind. For seventeen-year-old Ruby and her friends, these walls are nothing more than relics of a history they're too young to remember, monuments to their parents' trauma. Ruby dreams of a better life away from this small, soul-crushing town. Away from her alcoholic mother who still grieves the loss of her husband. But boredom suddenly lifts when Ruby and her friends discover what seems impossible: a lone, emaciated zombie, perhaps the last of its kind, trapped in an abandoned coal mine. The creature appears docile, almost pitiful—a living artifact begging to be studied. Against all reason, they keep it secret, drawn to this rotting piece of forbidden history. But their dangerous game of friendship with the undead is about to shatter their safe, uneventful world. As a new wave of infection erupts within Camberwood's walls, Ruby faces a devastating realization: she and her friends haven't just unearthed a scientific curiosity—they've unleashed the very nightmare the last generation barely survived. As the shadows of the past rise again, Ruby must fight to prevent a second Great Decay—or watch everything she loves crumble into ruin.