Slow Burn

Summary: Everyone thought the end would be quick. They'd blink and the world would be gone. But the end was anything but quick; it was a slow burn which ate and ate at humanity until there was nothing left except fear, loss, and hatred. Just ask Alec - all he wants is his damn knife back, but a fellow survivor is making that rather difficult.

Two survivors, one shrouded in mystery, the other haunted by guilt. Together, can they find a strange sort of happiness in the wreckage of the end of the world? Or will humanity's remnants, as well as the mutations, destroy what little comfort they've managed to find? Because if Alec's learned one thing, it's that nothing good lasts forever, and happiness, as well as forgiveness, is something he's not entirely sure he deserves...

Warnings: Story contains assisted suicide/murder (depending how you look at it), violent content, potential tragedy, slash, and foul language. If any of this is not your glass of pineapple juice, return to the fridge and try again. In other words, don't read it if it bothers you.

Note: This story is a very rough first draft and will probably be split into two books because right now it's over 130k and still has roughly 20 chapters to go. There will also be a companion book entitled Ramble On which focuses on a separate group which are mentioned later in this story, and be told from their POV and their view of things.

Story history: Zephroes and neutrohales don't mean anything - they are simple words I made up back in 2010 when I started thinking about this story. Yes, I do plan to maybe change them to something more meaningful and not as random in later drafts, but for now that's what they're called. I started this story in 2010 with a different set of characters whom are now later mentioned in this story, and are the main focus of the companion story, Ramble On. A little over a year ago I found the new(er) story plot and the new title (Slow Burn), and a few weeks later the main characters presented themselves to me. I did no research in this version. By the time I got the books for the research (which was a few days ago), the story was over 40 chapters and it was too late to change things or randomly start adding things of a scientific nature, but I do plan to remedy that problem in future drafts. There are going to be a lot of mistakes and inconsistencies, but later drafts will have this fixed, I hope. Also this is slash right now because gender has very little meaning to me in terms of stories, and I like writing male characters much better than females. Also I do plan on cutting this story in half and making part 2 entitled Slow Spinning Redemption, because right now it's over 130k and, as I said, has a lot of chapters to go before that story arc is finished.