ComPostmodern

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ComPostmodern is an adventure series written and illustrated by Wallem.

Plot
Roughly 8 years following a catastrophic event that resulted in the death of a significant portion of the population, Ray, a half-human-half-plant hybrid called a branch escapes from a government-backed testing facility to a world entirely unknown to him. He is soon captured by InSpec, and placed into a team of "Interns" sent out to the center of the city in an attempt to find the Heart of the Greenhouse, the rumored source of the initial event. This is essentially a suicide mission, as evident by the fact that they're assigned group number 12. From this point, the team will influence each other to change their perspectives on the world, and learn to tear down the barriers they've set up to protect themselves.

Setting
Though the city itself is never expressly named, the presence of the Greenhouse in the center looms menacingly over the remains. The city is divided into three layers; The Outskirts, where the influence of plants is weakest, is where most of the remaining people live; The Brush, where greenery has covered the buildings and concrete, leading to structurally unstable conditions; and The Greenhouse, which has been completely leveled and replaced by a dense forest of massive trees. These layers dig lower and lower into the earth the closer to the center one goes, as a result of the root systems of the largest tree digging up the soil.

The city is antagonized by several pale humanoids, who are able to control nearby plant life, and use this ability in an attempt to exterminate any remaining human beings.

Breathe In
Ray emerges from the rubble of the Cellar Pharmaceuticals building, one of only two people to survive its collapse. After searching around the rubble aimlessly for a bit, he finds a medkit and makes his way into the outskirts. After coming across no signs of life beyond the increased plant growth for two days, he finally notices some movement through an alleyway, and just before he can follow it and yell out to see who it is, Vince grabs him from behind, shushing him until the movement passed. Ray then proceeds to follow Vince despite his repeated threats, having nowhere else to go and not having seen any other human beings.

Eventually Vince reaches his breaking point with Ray, turning around and yelling at him to get lost, which confuses Ray, as he explains to Vince that he is lost. Vince’s earlier yell attracted the attention of some InSpec goons, which swiftly make their way to the pair, incapacitating Ray quickly.

Vince and Ray are strapped with modified house arrest anklets, designed to kill them upon any tampering or at the press of a button. Here they meet the third person who was captured and assigned to their Intern team, Alex. The CEO of InSpec, Sarah Spec, informs them that they are tasked with entering the Greenhouse in search of the rumored "Heart", which many believe is responsible for the extreme growth of plants. If they return, they will be set free and compensated for their work.

They are the 12th group sent out to do so, with a 13th already being captured as they speak.

They are given a week's worth of food as supplies, and escorted out of the building, making their way towards the center of the city.

MacArthur's Park
Cornered by an oncoming horde of leaves, the trio run into a nearby gated park, which to their surprise has been trapped with an assortment of spinning blades, crushing machines, and the like. After nearly dying from these multiple times, they finally are met with a small child pointing a shotgun in their face. He forces them inside, and introduces himself as MacArthur, telling them that in order to make sure they're not "goons lookin' to steal our food", he won't disable the traps until his father arrives.

The Cascades
In order to get deeper into the city, the Interns need to cross a quarter mile of river, but every bridge has been destroyed by falling buildings and overgrowth, meaning they must go by boat. Luckily, they were able to find one that with just a few repairs would be able to get them across the currents. All appears to go well at first, but when the engines cut they find themselves floating aimlessly down the river. Vince starts to notice movement under the waves, causing him to realize the kelp below has been following them. In this arc they fight a Knight Branch.

Chapel Perilous
The Interns are captured in their sleep, and forced to be props for a stage play performed by the leader of a cult, worshipping him and his abilities as an actor. They are bound and placed in cloth sacks, and told to be the still writhing corpses of those who had fallen to a powerful demon who had rampaged across a medieval empire. After the play, the leader informs his stagehands that the old props had gotten "stale", and as such they should be disposed of. Escaping from his sack by breathing heavily until it dissolved enough for him to squeeze through, Ray cuts off his bindings on a nearby shard of glass from a broken light, and frees the other two. Searching through the backstage areas, they find enough food to feed a large settlement for a month, as well as several other people bagged in a similar way to how they were, some of them moving while others lay completely still. Over the course of the arc they discover that the cult does not include the audience, and that the leader has taken their food stores by force and will only relinquish rations to those who attend his "performances."

Burn a Picture (Working Title)
The Interns descend a sunken building, the layout shifting more and more the further they go. In reality, they are inside the trunk of a large tree, being controlled by a Bishop Branch. It is capable of reading Ray's thoughts through the pheromones he unintentionally exudes.

Danse Macabre (Working Title)
The Interns discover a private militia, lead by wheelchair-ridden Achilles, an ex-military operative who was discharged due to his sudden development of lung cancer. Achilles was recovering from surgery when the world ended, and as such he assumes his son had been killed the day it happened. He sees Ray as a second chance to keep his son, and when Ray gets incapacitated and taken to their on-site infirmary, he makes a personal visit to speak with him. A majority of Achilles' actions in this arc are an attempt to persuade Ray to stay with him, which ultimately ends in Ray and Vince being trapped in a dark basement while Achilles slowly searches for them with a loaded revolver, ready to take him by force.

Ray
The main protagonist, Ray is an optimistic and naïve boy who will accept most things told to him as fact. Ray acts as the moral backbone to the 12th Interns, however what he has in morals he lacks in physical strength. If he wants to survive in a world that wants him dead, he'll need to learn how to defend himself. Ray approaches most problems strategically, albeit with little experience in most matters.

Vince McMeera
A secondary protagonist, Vince is an angry and violent man who puts his own safety and survival above most all others. If he had a choice in the matter, he would have left the 12th Interns immediately. It's clear that he's hiding much about himself, though how much of that is out of spite for others is unknown. Despite his anger towards others, he goes out of his way to save Ray in the beginning of the story, something that even he can't explain a reason for. Vince approaches most problems straight-on, preferring to leave his conversations short and his fights shorter.

Alex Greene
A secondary protagonist, Alex is a distant and annoyed woman who keeps most people much more than an arm's length away. Alex acts as the rational thinker between Ray and Vince, attempting to mediate between their wildly different perceptions on what they should do. Though she's cold in most social situations, those closer to her will recognize it as simply a mask to push people away. Alex approaches most problems one-by-one, preferably picking them off from a distance.

Sam Raglan
A traveling blacksmith, Sam goes from settlement to settlement to help keep everyone's armaments in top condition. She is a boisterous and warm woman, willing to help others for little compensation. If someone brings her the materials, she'll happily make them whatever they need. Sam approaches most problems with a swift punch in the face or a pat on the head.