The first time it happened, I thought it was a dream. At least at it felt that way until realisation truly kicked in. I don’t think my psyche would allow the enormity of the truth to settle. It was just too hard to bear. Nuclear devastation had swept the Earth. The last thing I could remember was being engulfed by a wave of intense heat. Then I awoke to the annoying, blaring, repeating buzzer of my alarm clock. I hammered the the snooze button with my fist and an immediate feeling of nausea swept to my stomach as images regurgitated from the depths of my memory. I soon came to learn that I'd awoken six hundred and sixty-seven days earlier. If ever I had believed in a superior power, God, the Almighty, or another religious or spiritual figure, it was from that moment. Soon I learned that I wasn't alone. Each one of us bears a mark behind our left ear. An almost hidden semi-circle of nine dots that traces around the outer ear. The chosen became known as the collective. We have so many questions. What is our purpose? What do the nine dots mean? ...and most importantly, can humanity be saved?