No. A vaccine against the Z-Virus does not exist. Nobody has made one in 30 years. The Booster Shot only helps in the first 5 minutes after exposure. Once that window closes, a bitten person turns, dies, or wakes up changed.
A vaccine would mean a bite no longer kills. Strongholds could open their gates. Cities could be cleared for good. Whoever controls a vaccine would control the world.
Since 2064, a rumor has spread along the roads. People say a child was bitten and never got sick. They say her blood tests stay clean. They say she ran away from Lifeline and is on the run somewhere in the middle of North America.
Most people think it is a story. Some think it is true. Lifeline and Continuity Command both believe it.
Lifeline has sent hunting teams across the Plains.
Continuity Command listens to every radio call about her.
Tollmen, raiders and bounty hunters want the reward.
The Marked say that if she is real, she should be free.
The child is Nell Avery. She is 14 and female. She cannot be infected by the Z-Virus. A vaccine can only be made from Nell Avery's body or blood.
Nell was born in 2051 in Camp Seven, a Lifeline donor camp outside Atlanta. Her mother was Mutated and died when Nell was small. In 2063 zombies broke into the camp and Nell was bitten. She never got a fever, and her blood tests stayed clean.
Lifeline found out in 2064. Dr. Amara Osei, Lifeline's research director in Atlanta, believes a vaccine needs Nell's brain and spinal tissue. That means killing her. Osei is not cruel. She thinks one life for billions is the right trade.
Cal Rourke, 52, male, was a Lifeline guard. He was sent to move Nell to Atlanta. He learned the plan and ran with her. Cal wants to reach Continuity Command at Cheyenne Mountain. They say they can make a vaccine from her blood alone. That is half true. General Carla Nash also wants to control who gets the vaccine.
Ruth Keller, the Lifeline Retrieval captain, leads the team hunting them. She lost two children to the Z-Virus.
When the game starts, Nell and Cal are hiding at Halvorsen Farm in western Kansas. Greta Halvorsen lets them stay in exchange for work.
The ending stays open. The players might deliver Nell to Lifeline or to Continuity Command. They might hide her forever. They might find a way to make the vaccine from her blood without killing her. Or they might do something else.