Xenia, After

The boisterous sounds of civilization simmered down into timid whispers. And mankind, robbed of its digital luxuries, existed within a perfect, inviolable silence. Death swept the largest cities first, and it decimated the outer communities next. Rural dwellers fared longer with luck and open land around them. Even as the summer months set in, humans failed to rise back to the top of the food chain. No one arrived to help, no one showed up with emergency aid. Only travelers wandered through in long search of loved ones, answers, or home. They gave reports of barrenness and death for dozens of miles. Yet Xenia endured.