New York- Long Island
Created by Founder Serena Reynolds M.D. on Wed Aug 19th, 2026 @ 5:50pm
Millions lived here. Then the world went quiet.
New York was one of the most densely populated regions in America when the outbreak began. What had once made the city powerful — its people, roads, tunnels, towers and constant movement — quickly became its greatest weakness.
Manhattan became a concrete trap. Long Island became a fractured landscape of abandoned suburbs, barricaded neighbourhoods, farms, survivor enclaves and dangerous coastal territories.
Some stayed. Some fought. Some escaped.
New York
Manhattan & Long Island
Heavily Collapsed
Extreme
The Fall of New York
When the outbreak reached New York, the density of the city turned panic into catastrophe. Emergency services were overwhelmed, roads became impassable and huge numbers of infected accumulated throughout the urban centre.
Manhattan in particular became increasingly difficult to escape. Streets filled with the dead, routes out failed and survivors were forced upward into towers, apartments and rooftops.
In a city where the streets became killing grounds, height offered temporary safety. Upper floors, rooftops, fire escapes, elevated routes and hidden interior spaces became essential refuges.
Manhattan
Manhattan became one of the most dangerous places in the region. Dense walker populations made street travel extremely difficult, forcing remaining survivors to adapt quickly.
Apartments, hotels and upper floors provide temporary sanctuary above dangerous streets.
Gardens, greenhouses and rooftop spaces can provide food, observation points and routes between buildings.
Service corridors and forgotten spaces offered shelter, but darkness brought its own dangers.
The Children of New York
Among those trying to survive Manhattan were groups of children and teenagers who had been forced to function without dependable adult protection.
The Infernals maintained an underground refuge while Amythyst survived separately before the groups began crossing paths. Strand Bookstore became one of the places where those separate survival stories began to connect.
Their New York story gradually became an escape story. Remaining in Manhattan was not sustainable.
By 13 September, members of the youth group were aboard a yacht attempting to leave the city quietly by water.
On 14 September they reached the island that would become Safe Harbor, beginning a new phase of their story.
Connor McLean & Roxy Santiago
A separate New York survival story unfolded around Connor McLean and Roxy Santiago.
The pair escaped the chaos surrounding NYPD Headquarters, recovered equipment and supplies and eventually made their way toward Connor's Long Island property.
A S.W.A.T. vehicle enabled the pair to move equipment and supplies through the collapsing city.
A large yacht provided a viable route away from Manhattan and toward Long Island.
Their destination offered defensible shelter, supplies and a potential long-term base.
Long Island
Long Island stretches eastward away from the ruins of New York City. Conditions change considerably across the island, moving from dense urban destruction into suburban territory and finally into increasingly rural land.
Dense urban ruins, high-rises, hospitals, police facilities and damaged transit infrastructure.
Small survivor enclaves may occupy schools, churches and other defensible buildings.
Raider activity makes some areas particularly dangerous.
Abandoned suburbs, shopping centres and overgrown neighbourhoods dominate the centre of Long Island.
Barricaded communities and civilian militias have claimed some neighbourhoods as private territories.
Resources remain plentiful enough to attract scavengers.
Farmland, forests, vineyards and former tourist towns are steadily being reclaimed by nature.
Small family compounds and isolated survivor communities are scattered throughout the region.
Wildlife is becoming increasingly common.
Key Locations
Rusted ships and warehouses offer machinery and tools, but the area is dangerous and contested.
Repeatedly scavenged, although overlooked sections may still contain valuable medical supplies.
A major scavenging destination complicated by structural damage and possible hostile survivors.
Libraries and science facilities may still contain knowledge and equipment unavailable elsewhere.
The remains of an attempted police or military defence. The position is now little more than wreckage and graves.
Remote coastal territory offering defensible structures, navigation equipment and rumours of organised survivors.
Factions to Be Aware Of
Walkers are not Long Island's only threat. Several organised human factions operate throughout the region.
A ruthless coastal faction operating from derelict fishing vessels and shoreline hideouts.
They raid settlements, scavenger teams and coastal communities before withdrawing by water.
Based around former university buildings near Stony Brook, the Sanctuary believes the outbreak represents divine judgement.
Outsiders may be offered sanctuary — but acceptance often comes with a terrible price.
A secretive society living within abandoned Long Island Rail Road depots, utility tunnels and underground infrastructure.
Their knowledge of hidden routes makes them excellent smugglers, scouts and ambushers.
Survival Conditions
Dense walker concentrations remain one of the greatest dangers closer to New York City.
Abandoned vehicles, structural damage and failed infrastructure complicate travel.
Boats can provide routes unavailable by land, but the shoreline has dangers of its own.
Barricaded communities and armed factions make crossing Long Island unpredictable.
New York Story Timeline
New York's collapse reaches Connor McLean while he is caught in the destruction surrounding Police Plaza. Elsewhere beneath Manhattan, the Infernals continue surviving in their underground refuge while Amythyst survives separately.
Amy and Dodger encounter the Infernals at Strand Bookstore, strengthening links between the youth survivors.
Connor and Roxy gather supplies and move toward Connor's Long Island estate.
Moving Day begins for the Infernals as their existing refuge becomes increasingly unsuitable.
Amy secures a rooftop apartment and garden on West 12th Street, creating a temporary refuge with its own food-growing potential.
Amy returns to Strand Bookstore with food. The young survivors increasingly recognise that their Manhattan refuges cannot provide a permanent future.
The Manhattan children finally commit to leaving the city. By the night of the 13th they are aboard a yacht, attempting to escape quietly by water.
Amy, George, Dodger and the children reach the island that becomes Safe Harbor.
Their New York City story becomes something new: the attempt to build a home.
Leaving New York did not end the children's struggle. Safe Harbor became a base from which they gathered supplies, rescued others and began learning how to run a community without dependable adult protection.
The journey that began in Manhattan would eventually carry them from the coast, through Gull's Refuge and Leah's farm, and ultimately toward Pine Hollow.
Continue to Pine HollowView the characters connected to the New York and Long Island storyline.
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