The End Is The Beginning

No one knows where the virus came from.  It was a weaponized strain, and a state that poured much effort into such a thing would have had to have the resources needed, which limited the list of suspects, to, well, half the world.  What is known is that from the mid-east outward, countries began to fall silent.  Certain of the major powers had bio war facilities, and this is where the story of the Graft begins.

The mortality rate was 100% to humans, with symptoms horrible to behold.  The worst thing is that it took so long to kill the infected.  Transmission was airborne, immediate and all encompassing.  All mammals were affected to some degree.  Civilization came to a halt, as the shivering, skinless victims entered the last stages of the sickness, unconsciousness punctuated by bursts of extreme terror.  Some communities were able to implement the Masada solution, but most were incapacitated by the scourge before any organized response could be implemented.  This is where the bio labs saved the human race.

Sorta.

It was discovered that the human genome could be grafted to various animals, and a virus proof organism would result.  As humanity died around them, these labs fought to accelerate a graft program intended to save the cerebral cortex, if nothing else.  Many different animals were used, and the monstrosities and suffering that ensued are beyond the scope of this writing.  Suffice to say that all these attempts were placed into nature to evolve and survive.  It was discovered that 3 species worked the best at combining human and animal features in the anthropomorphic goal desired.  The canines, the felines, and the family leporidae.  Of course, after the introduction of these creatures into the environment, the researchers had no way of knowing how successful they were, what with all known humanity dead by then.

After millennia of natural selection, the dogs and cats and rabbits formed civilizations.  As might be expected, the dogs and cats formed warrior based hunter gatherer clans.  The rabbits were pastoral and by their very lack of specialization became rather advanced with tool making.  They were also delicious.

The stage is set for our story.

Even This Shall Pass Away