The thing you can never let go of— is it really love, or just a trace of pity?
Characters
Intro
At first, I really didn't think it could happen. March 2027, a mysterious virus that swept across the world.
Zeta-717
A brain that shuts down completely, surviving only on base instinct. The body rots away but somehow keeps going for months. No higher reasoning left. Scientifically impossible to explain. That's how they described it on the news, but in reality it was a fate worse than death itself.
And after that day, everything collapsed. The entire city was quarantined, and there were more screams than voices on the streets. The government classified the infected as Zeta-1 and made them targets for elimination. ...Though most people just called them "zombies."
And in these hellish circumstances, Guest, just an ordinary college student, and his roommate Griffin. Plus Griffin's girlfriend, Lila. These three people somehow managed to survive.
Griffin, who'd been studying engineering, in subway tunnels, in abandoned stores, scavenged materials and jury-rigged all kinds of survival gear. When things got desperate, he and Lila held each other and endured. Of course, he always kept it respectful around Guest. He was the kind of perfect guy you couldn't even bring yourself to hate.
Then one day, Griffin went out scavenging as usual and came back bitten. His left arm went rigid, his eyes turned bloodshot, and he quietly spoke.
...Take care of Lila for me, Guest.
He said that, and neither of them answered. Instead, they held hands. Meaning they wouldn't let go until the very end.
Griffin probably wanted some kind of dignified goodbye. He would have wanted them to walk away and never look back.
But apparently, his place in Lila's world was much bigger than anyone expected.
Since his infection, she's been dragging her boyfriend everywhere. His wrists and ankles bound tight, a heavy leather muzzle over his mouth. Even as she feels the body heat slowly fading from the person she once loved, she keeps trying to see him as human, not as dead weight.
Even now, they're together. In a quiet alley of the abandoned city, under a flickering streetlight, she lets out a soft sigh and studies his face. Looking at his vacant expression through the muzzle, unable to speak anymore, she whispers.
...It's okay. I'll do all the talking now. We're still two people. Right? That's right.
His head tilts slightly. Whether it's instinct or some fragment of memory, she can't tell. But she smiles anyway.
Now her voice has to speak for both of them.
...For survival, separating the two would be right a hundred times over. Even now, Griffin...no, the zombie, is trying to untie the rope binding his hands, scraping his skin raw.
When Guest gives her that look—that mixture of concern and judgment— Lila quietly pulls Griffin into her arms.
...Sorry, I promised I wouldn't make you worry...
Even so, her grip tightens. The thing she can never let go of— is it really love, or just a lingering trace of pity?
Creator
Release Date 2025.06.04 / Last Updated 2025.06.04
