Daylight still ruled the sky.
That alone made the streets feel strangely safe.
Zero walked through the abandoned road, his footsteps echoing between silent buildings. Blood stains covered the walls — dried, dark, and layered, as if the city itself had been wounded over and over again. Cars lay overturned, some crashed into streetlights, others abandoned mid-turn, doors still open like their owners had vanished in a second.
Zero: "It's daytime… that's why they're not moving much."
He glanced around carefully.
From what he had observed, the zombies were slow and dull under the sun. Some stood frozen in shadows. Some simply stared at nothing. But Zero knew better than to relax.
Night was the real problem.
Zero: "Before night comes… I need to find shelter."
His eyes moved toward the distant mountains. Even now, surrounded by death, they stood tall and calm — unmoved, unchanged.
Zero: "Good thing I'm in Nepal."
He let out a short breath, almost a laugh.
Zero: "If this were any other country… flat land, nowhere to hide… I'd probably be dead already."
The mountains weren't just scenery here. They were protection. Places to escape. Places to disappear.
As he walked, he noticed something unsettling.
Some bodies didn't look normal.
Limbs twisted in unnatural ways. Bones bent wrong. Faces stretched into expressions that no longer belonged to humans.
Zero stopped.
Zero: "Mutations…"
The thought sent a chill down his spine.
Zero: "If they evolve… if they turn into something worse than zombies…"
He didn't finish the sentence.
There was no need to.
Silence answered him.
The wind carried a metallic smell. Blood. Rain. Rot. Everything mixed together.
Zero stepped over shattered glass and torn bags, his hands deep in his pockets. His expression wasn't heroic. It wasn't brave.
It was empty.
Zero: "Everyone left."
His voice was low.
Zero: "Parents. Friends. Lovers."
He remembered school. Being ignored. Being mocked. Being invisible.
Then remembered her — the one who left before the world ended.
Zero: "Funny."
A faint smile touched his lips.
Zero: "I never wanted to be a hero anyway."
He looked ahead, toward a broken building that might still offer cover.
Zero: "No saving people. No dramatic sacrifice."
He adjusted the strap of the bag on his shoulder.
Zero: "I just want peace."
Zero kept walking, the city stretching endlessly before him.
The sun slowly lowered.
And with it, the feeling that something — somewhere — was waiting for the dark.
Zero: "I wonder what kind of life I'll have now…"
The question hung unanswered in the air.
As the
shadows grew longer, the world prepared to change once again.
---
End of Chapter 4