Of course the world ends. It was always just a question of time. When it’s all over, Earth is still. Nature invades the ruined cities. Winds sweep through empty streets, turned into graveyards.

Yet life remains. In the Ark, a small settlement on the edge of a dead town, the People live. You are the spawn of humanity, but not human anymore. You are twisted funhouse images, mutated freaks. Your bodies and minds have incredible powers, but you are unstable. Fragile. None of the People are over 30 years old.

Except the Elder. Your leader, but not like you. One of the Ancients. He has always warned you: Stay on your guard, stay in the Ark, or the Rot will get you. Or worse. So far, you have obeyed him. Chased off every stranger who came close to the Ark. Few dared to go out into the Zone. That is what the Elder calls the outside world.

But the safe days are over. Food is running scarce, and the fight for what’s left is turning violent. You hunger. Factions are forming, bosses on top and grunts at the bottom. In the middle, fixers who try to turn a profit from anyone and everyone. And the Elder is dying. You’re on your own now.

It’s time to venture out. To explore the Zone, to search for artifacts, for knowledge. To build, grow the land, seek out others, create a new civilization on the ruins of the old. Seek your origin. Maybe, one day, you will find Eden of the legends, the Ancients’ haven in the middle of hell. That’s where salvation and truth await, the stories say.

Maybe it’s all fairytales. It doesn’t matter. You have no choice. This is the beginning.

This is Year Zero.