The skeletal remains of a red double-decker bus lay on its side, a rusty tomb swallowed by the encroaching weeds. London Bridge, once a bustling artery, was now a desolate scar across the putrid Thames. Elias navigated the rubble-strewn streets, the air thick with the cloying sweetness of decay, a flavour he knew too well. He clutched the salvaged pipe wrench, its weight a comforting reassurance in this city of ghosts and horrors.