[Year 2501 : Chikusa Ward - Nagoya] - Future
A woman was hiding in an alley.
Panting.
Panicking.
Screeching.
Hold on—screeching?
The woman was a zombie.
And that zombie was absolutely terrified.
Pressed flat against the alley wall, shoulders hunched, eyes darting everywhere.
Whatever it was hiding from, it wanted no part of it.
Thud.
The zombie stiffened.
Thud.
It pressed itself further into the wall.
Thud.
Each one closer than the last, each one pulling a fresh screech out of the zombie's throat before it slapped both hands over its own mouth.
Then—
Silence.
The thuds stopped.
The zombie stayed still for a long moment, not daring to breathe. Then slowly, carefully, it let its shoulders drop.
Hands slid away from its mouth.
It tilted its head back against the wall and let out a long, shaky breath.
It opened its eyes.
A man was crouching right in front of its face, grinning ear to ear.
"Found yaaa," the man muttered.
"EEEEEKK—!"
The zombie scrambled back — then its eyes rolled back and it dropped, hitting the alley floor with a dead thud.
Out cold.
The man stared at it.
Didn't move for a second.
Then slowly stood up and scratched the back of his head.
"Oh for crying out loud—!"
The man slowly walked out of the alley and back onto the street.
"EEEEEKK—!"
A zombie horde stood there, frozen, all of them staring directly at him.
Half a second passed.
They all ran.
Ran straight at him???
Nooope.
Away… They ran away.
The man watched them go, the sound of panicked screeching fading down the street.
He stood there in the sudden quiet.
Then pressed his palm flat against his face.
"Are you confused?" he muttered, tilting his head up toward the sky.
Err— he's staring at the sky.
"Oii." He pointed upward. "I'm not staring at the sky. I'm staring at the readers. Do your job properly."
…sorry.
"That's more like it." He threw a thumbs up.
"Anyway—" the man clapped his hands together. "Sup. I'm Sou… Mizuki Sou."
He gestured around at the empty, zombie-ridden street.
"Last remaining human on earth." A pause. "I think." He put his hand on his chin. "Probably. Maybe."
He shrugged.
"Why? I dunno. I'm just as surprised as you all are. One minute I'm taking a nap, next minute I wake up and the earth's just… different. Completely different. Like someone swapped it out while I was asleep."
He started walking casually down the street.
A horde of zombies lingered a bit further down, keeping their distance. Then one of them slowly raised a phone.
Then another.
Then another.
Within seconds, dozens of them had their phones out, all pointed at Sou, recording.
Sou stopped walking. Stared at them.
"ROAAA—!"
He threw his arms out toward them.
Dozens of zombies shrieked and scattered in every direction, phones flying,
One zombie even fell into the ground, scrambled out on all fours, and kept crawling until it disappeared behind a building.
The sound of screeching faded fast.
Sou watched them go.
"See," he muttered, turning back around. "It's like I'm the zombie one."
Then—
WHOOP WHOOP.
A police car rounded the corner, lights flashing, siren blaring.
Tires squealed as it skidded to a stop at the intersection.
Sou's eyes went wide.
"Ohh fuck—we're gonna bounce—"