The world had not healed. It had been three years since the initial outbreak of the virus that turned people into mindless, ravenous creatures. Survivors were few, scattered across the abandoned cities and desolate countryside, clinging to pockets of safety that never lasted long. Jessica, who had once endured a harrowing escape from a relentless stalker and hordes of the infected, now roamed the northern wilderness alone. Her cabin in the woods had burned down during the last attack, forcing her back on the road with nothing but a backpack, an axe, and the memory of all she had lost. The silence of the wild was deceptive—behind every rustling branch or echoing footstep was the possibility of death.
Traveling north toward rumored safe zones, Jessica stumbled upon a small logging town, long abandoned but strangely untouched by scavengers. Inside, she found canned food, bottled water, and—most unsettling—a freshly lit fire in one of the houses. She wasn’t alone. A man emerged from the shadows, his clothes worn but his eyes sharp with suspicion. He introduced himself as Elias, claiming to be one of the last survivors in the area. Though wary, Jessica decided to camp nearby, keeping her weapon close. In this world, danger came in many forms, and not all of them had rotting flesh.
As the days passed, Jessica began to notice strange behavior from Elias. He avoided certain streets, refused to enter the forest after dusk, and seemed almost paranoid about a sound he called “the whispering.” At first, she thought it was a symptom of isolation, but one night, as the wind howled through the pines, she heard it too—a low, unnatural murmur that seemed to slither through the air. The infected didn’t whisper. This was something else. And when she looked out from her makeshift shelter, she saw shapes in the darkness—tall, thin, and moving with a deliberate, almost intelligent rhythm.
Elias revealed the truth the next morning: the infected were no longer the only threat. Something had begun hunting the hunters. These new predators did not kill for hunger but for sport, tracking survivors and luring them out with the whispering until they were trapped. They were fast, silent, and terrifyingly coordinated. With winter approaching and their supplies dwindling, Jessica and Elias had one choice—abandon the town and make a desperate run through the forest to reach the frozen lake, where Elias believed they could escape on an old, half-buried snowmobile. As the whispering grew louder, they realized they might already be surrounded, the trees watching them like a thousand unblinking eyes.
