Earth, 2021. In a metropolitan city, inside a dilapidated, unkempt apartment, a man opened his unit door.
"I'm home," he muttered, though he knew there was no one else in his apartment but himself.
He put down his bag, took off his jacket and shoes. The man walked inside carrying his bag and sat cross-legged in the empty living room, which had no furniture at all. He opened his bag and took out his laptop. He turned it on, then opened his bank balance.
Seeing no change in his balance, he grabbed his smartphone and sent a message. After that, he stretched his body while continuing to monitor his bank balance on his laptop. Not long after, "Pling." A message came into his smartphone. The man immediately opened it. The content of the message was:
"Transferred. Account name Zane Wilson. Job finished, thank you."
Zane immediately refreshed his laptop, and his balance had changed. Zane smiled and closed his laptop. "Blugh," he flopped his body onto the floor and stretched out his arms, a wide smile gracing his face.
"Now I have enough balance. I can live peacefully, buy that ranch I've been eyeing on the outskirts of the city at age 20, and no longer have to be a hitman," he thought.
Zane immediately closed his eyes. He began to imagine a quiet life on the ranch, alone, accompanied only by his animals, smiling to himself. "Tok... tok," his door was knocked. He immediately got up and stood, grabbing the pistol on the table. Slowly, he approached the door, his hand holding the pistol behind him. He peeked through the peephole and quickly slipped the pistol into the back of his pants.
Then he opened the safety chain and the door. Behind the door was a beautiful girl who was his neighbor, carrying a Tupperware container of lasagna that smelled wonderfully fragrant, like it was freshly cooked.
"Evening, Zane. Here's some food. I happened to make a little extra than usual," said the neighbor, offering the Tupperware.
"Oh, perfect timing, thank you, Amanda," Zane replied, taking the container.
"Eat it right away, it's still warm. I'll get going now. See you tomorrow, Zane," Amanda said.
"Alright, see you tomorrow, and thanks again," Zane replied.
Amanda turned and walked toward her unit next door. Zane watched the sexy Amanda from behind, who was wearing a casual T-shirt and looked sweaty.
"Well... if I'm accompanied by someone like her on the ranch, that would be okay too," Zane mumbled to himself.
He brought the container in and placed it on the table. Then he walked to the window and opened the curtains. He saw it was a full moon that night. Zane returned to his seat, then opened the container. The lasagna in front of him still looked hot and incredibly appetizing.
"Enjoy the meal. This is truly a blessing," Zane thought, picking up his fork.
He began to eat the food his neighbor gave him. Afterward, he immediately lay down under the table.
"Ah, so delicious. I have to return Amanda's kindness. Maybe tomorrow I'll buy her something, and maybe even ask her out for coffee," he thought.
"Kyaaa... help... no!"
But suddenly, he heard a commotion in front of his apartment building, accompanied by screams from outside his apartment. Police car sirens sounded loud, seemingly driving around the city center. Zane immediately got up, then looked toward the window.
"What's going on? Why is it so loud?" he wondered.
Zane returned to the table and picked up the TV remote, but all streaming services and conventional TV channels had no broadcast. Since he was full, tired, and in a good mood, Zane didn't pay any attention to it. He lay back down and closed his eyes to sleep. But before he could fall asleep,
"Druk... druk... duk... duk," his door was being pounded loudly, like the police trying to catch a criminal inside a house.
All his instincts kicked in, and he was instantly alert. He immediately grabbed the pistol on the table and slowly walked to the door. When he peeked, he quickly backed away, his face pale.
"W-what? N-no way,"
Zane approached the door again and saw many terrifying zombies in front of his door, pounding it as if they wanted to break it down. Zane immediately turned and ran. He grabbed his backpack and his sniper rifle bag. He opened the window and went out onto the balcony. His eyes widened, seeing many fires illuminating the city at night. He looked down and saw many zombies roaming, chasing people who were screaming for help. He also saw a cluster of zombies feasting on the people they had caught.
"How could this happen? There was nothing this afternoon... oh no... Amanda," Zane said.
He turned to look at Amanda's balcony next to him. With a quick movement, he ran and jumped, then he peeked through a gap in the curtain covering the window. His eyes immediately widened, seeing Amanda's door already breached, and Amanda lying on the floor with several zombies digging into her stomach to eat her internal organs. Zane's heart ached at the sight, but he couldn't do anything because it was too late to save Amanda.
Zane immediately put on his backpack and hung his sniper rifle bag on his shoulder. He looked down once more.
"No way I can jump down. Alright, I'll go that way," Zane said.
He jumped onto the balcony next to Amanda's, then jumped to the next balcony until he finally reached the balcony at the very end. He immediately climbed onto the roof via the drainpipe and wall. Once on top, he saw many fires burning the streets and buildings, making the city look bright. He also heard many sirens, people screaming, and horrifying growls in the distance.
Zane ran to the edge of the roof, then jumped to the next house, hoping not to fall. When he reached a building, he immediately climbed the emergency stairs from the side of the building up to the roof. As soon as he reached the top, "graaaah," a zombie attacked him. Zane immediately blocked the zombie with his arm instinctively. "Dub," his other hand shot the zombie's head until the zombie fell over.
"Ah," Zane looked at his jacket, which was penetrated by the zombie's bite, and the teeth marks embedded in his arm. He immediately took off his bag and grabbed a towel.
"This is bad, I've been bitten. In the movies, I'd turn into a zombie. Hopefully, the real world isn't like that," Zane said, tying his arm with the towel from inside his bag to prevent the virus from spreading.
Then he ran again toward the building across from him. When he reached the edge, he stood at the end of the roof and looked around. "Help... hey... help," he looked down, and a woman stuck her head out the window and looked up from the floor directly below his feet. The woman was very beautiful, around 20 years old as well, with black hair tied in a bun, a blood-stained face, and looking very panicked.
"I'm coming down, can you open the window?" Zane asked.
"Yes, I'm opening it, hurry," the woman replied.
Zane immediately jumped, then caught the window and pulled his body up. He climbed inside and saw the woman. Zane was surprised because the woman was injured on her thigh, and the wound looked like a bite. Her hand was holding a sword, even though she was wearing a brown blazer suit, and she was breathing heavily. Zane looked around. There were many zombie corpses around her. He turned to look at the room's office-like door, which was already broken and shattered. It seemed the woman had been defending herself alone in her office.
"Are you alright?" Zane asked, extending his hand and bowing.
"I'm fine... but I've been bitten. Will I turn into a zombie too?" the woman asked.
Feeling they shared the same fate and seeing the woman unable to move, Zane finally chose to sit down next to the woman, who looked confused at him.
"Wait, why are you sitting down?" the woman asked.
Zane didn't answer. He just showed his arm to the woman and smiled. The woman was shocked, but finally, she smiled too.
"We have the same fate, huh? My name is Viola. What's yours?" Viola asked.
"Zane. Nice to meet you," Zane replied.
"If I turn into a zombie first, can I ask you to kill me?" Viola asked.
"Okay, and please do the same for me. But let's hope the real world isn't like the movies," Zane replied.
"Hehe... you're right. Thanks for staying with me," Viola replied.
"Groaaaaah,"
Suddenly, a horde of zombies rushed in but got stuck in the doorway because they were all rushing together, and no one wanted to be the last one in. Zane stood up, then helped Viola stand.
"Can you manage?" Zane asked, drawing his two pistols.
"Yes," Viola replied, already standing and tying her leg with a torn piece of her skirt fabric.