The morning sun broke through the thick canopy of vines and overgrown trees, casting a fractured, golden light across the settlement of Bowral. Before the world broke, the town had been a picturesque haven of Victorian-style architecture and charming cobblestone roads. Now, the cobblestones were cracked and upturned by long-past earthquake tremors, weeds bursting through the seams, and creeping ivy climbed the ornate, faded facades of the old brick houses. It was a beautiful, slightly buggered ghost of the past, adapted for grim, post-apocalyptic survival.
