The beginning of the End

Theo forced his way into the house, breaking the door open when he found the lock jammed. He stumbled inside, glass shards crunching beneath his torn boots. Leaning against the wall, his back scraped against the rough surface as he struggled to sit down. With a shaky breath, he buried his face in his hands, trying to piece together what had happened.

His eyes widened as realization dawned. How was he still alive?

The last thing he remembered was the searing pain—those mangled faces of the undead looming over him, tearing at his flesh, ripping him apart limb by limb. Before his consciousness faded, a strange screen had appeared in front of him:

[Rebirth process will begin once host’s heart stops beating]

At the time, he thought it was a hallucination—his mind playing tricks on him as he slipped into death. But when he woke up and saw another screen, it felt all too real.

Had that screen... saved him?

Since the start of the apocalypse, Theo had felt powerless. Useless. He didn't have the strength to save the ones he cared about from dying. And he couldn’t even find his little sister—the one person he had sworn to protect. The one promise he made to his mother before she died. And he had failed.

Everything had begun to fall apart a year ago.

After their mother died, Theo dropped out of school and took on a full-time job to care for both him and Emma, his ten-year-old sister. He had chosen her future over his, determined to give her a normal life despite everything. Their father had left them long ago—even before Emma was born. It was just the two of them now.

That day—the day the world ended—had started like any other.

It was 7 p.m. at the café where Theo worked part-time. All the customers had left, and only three people remained inside: Theo, Jack—an older guy who never stopped staring at his phone—and Lily, a girl Theo used to know from school. She’d stopped coming to class one day, and months later, he found out she was working here.

After his mother died, Lily had helped him get the café job. She was kind, even though they’d barely talked before.

“Finish up already, Jack,” Lily called, clearly annoyed. “You’ve been glued to your phone all day. This place won’t clean itself.”

“Alright, just one more level,” Jack replied, eyes never leaving the screen.

“A little help here, Theo?” Lily waved to get his attention. Her blonde hair was tied into pigtails, and her mocha skin seemed to glow under the café’s dim lights.

“Jack, you heard her. Let’s finish up so we can leave early. My sister’s waiting at home,” Theo said, trying to coax some effort out of Jack.

“Yeah, yeah. One more second,” Jack muttered, fingers tapping furiously.

“You know,” Lily said, resting her elbow on the table Theo was cleaning, “you could bring your sister here after school. She could help out instead of staying home alone.”

“That’d just be more trouble,” Theo replied, not meeting her gaze. “Besides, she won’t let me get any work done.”

“Alright, how about—” Lily paused. Her eyes narrowed at the front of the café. Purple smoke had started seeping through the cracks around the door.

“What the fuck?” Jack muttered just as the smoke flooded the café, swallowing them whole.

Then, as quickly as it had come, it vanished.

They remained frozen, stunned.

“What was that just now?” Theo finally asked, breaking the silence.

“Maybe... it’s the air conditioner?” Lily offered, clearly unsure.

“Since when do air conditioners do that—” Jack’s words were cut short by frantic banging on the door.

All three jumped at the sound.

“We’re closed! Can’t you read?” Jack shouted.

“Hey, no need to yell. I’ll check it out,” Theo said, trying to calm him as he approached the entrance.

The moment he opened the door, his entire body went stiff. What he saw didn’t make sense.