" I missed her. I missed her more than I’d ever admit aloud, but she was gone now, and there was no changing that. They burned her body just to be sure. After all, they couldn’t chance the possibility that the disease would survive after she’d died. “There’s still too much we don’t understand. It’s the only way to ensure the safety of the survivors.”
Survivors. Such an odd word for our predicament.
Yeah, we were still ourselves. Still human. Our minds still within our control. But were we alive? We spent our lives running, trying to escape the ever-tightening grasp of death, and yet, we were the survivors – the lucky ones. "

― Nicole Sobon , Survival Instinct (Survival Instinct #0)