New Jersey, also known as the Garden State.
Facing the Atlantic Ocean to the east, it had become the front line against the Jelly creatures invading from the sea. The once-prosperous cities had lost their former color.
After their defeat in Central America, the Alliance forces were no longer as at ease as before. They had no choice but to reduce their military presence along this coastal land.
Only a small police force remained to maintain the appearance of order. The regular army had pulled its defensive line inward, concentrating its strength against the ever-growing monster armies.
The Association's forces did not have enough of an advantage to land, either. Their numbers were still insufficient to establish dominance, and so this land had become a chaotic lawless zone with almost no law enforcement.
The pressure brought by war and death had made the people of the civilized world cast aside their refined disguises. Every life was now like a guttering candle in the wind; perhaps in a few months, or even a week or two, they would die in a war, swatted like flies.
The city's artificial intelligence and automated production lines barely maintained their former output, while the humans they served indulged their desires without restraint.
When night fell, the place was shrouded in deep darkness. The occasional cries of feral cats made it feel like the set of a horror movie.
Outside a house with lights showing through its windows, a man carrying an Electromagnetic Rifle and wearing a black hood kicked open the door. The immense force left a deep mark in the alloy steel door. Clearly, he was a Symbiote Fusionist.
The woman and child hiding inside screamed in terror. In this chaotic, disorderly city, ordinary people did not dare make a sound or turn on