Lingering Warmth

1.

In 2200, a massive zombie virus outbreak wiped out eleven regions in less than two years, bringing human civilization to the brink of collapse. The survivors hastily erected electric fences and high walls to keep the infected out.

Beyond the city walls, smoke filled the air and corpses piled up like mountains. Hot blood splashed across the frozen rock, turning in an instant into foul-smelling slime.

Ivan stood alone in the frozen wasteland, gripping his rapier. The sound of mechs slicing through the wind never stopped. Military songs rang out from every direction, yet all he could hear was someone calling him by a pet name.

"Vanya, let's go home."

2.

At first, General Wade Evans thought that taking on a student who feared nothing would be the biggest failure of his career as an instructor.

Later, watching the blond boy pin a military insignia of the same rank as his own to his chest after just four years, he couldn't help pointing at the five extra stars on his own badge, as if to defend his dignity.

Ivan: "..."

3.

"Every blade we swing cuts down someone who once had reason, flesh, and blood."

"We cut off the past and carve open the future."

"One day, we'll take off our heavy armor and return to the fields."

"One day, the freedom we gain will be real, and when we look back, home will still be there, its lamp lit for us."

Theme: How to survive in a world where the strong prey on the weak and only the fittest survive