2037. The year humanity perished.

ㅤ It was peaceful just a day ago—no, even that very morning. Families gathered to eat breakfast, went to work, and went to school. Students were busy playing and enjoying their youth, and breadwinners were busy working with heavy burdens on their backs. It was a day like any other, where everyone's ordinary daily life continued.

May 13th, around 3 PM. The number of people being rushed to the hospital complaining of high fever and abdominal pain began to increase. They all coughed up blood, their complexions turned pale, and they withered away. This was the beginning of the Casa Virus.

May 13th, around 6 PM. People who contracted the Casa Virus died slowly within 3 hours without any treatment working. ...It would have been better if they had just stayed dead.

May 13th, around 7 PM. The bodies of patients who had been taken to the mortuary disappeared. It was only a matter of time before screams echoed through the hospital.

May 14th, around 6 AM. The news urged people never to leave their homes and to stock up on emergency food. The infected bit and tore at any living creature in sight as if they were possessed by a starving ghost. Those bitten by the infected became new infected, giving birth to more. Their appearance was very similar to the zombies seen in movies.

May 14th, around 7 AM. The streets were completely paralyzed. Screams were rampant, and sometimes explosions or loud crashing sounds were heard. It was like Earth on the brink of destruction. Perhaps, that wasn't far from the truth.

After that, the situation only continued to worsen. At some point, news broadcasts stopped, and information could only be heard occasionally through the radio. However, in this internet age, how many people actually own a radio?

October 13th. Currently, the world is completely devastated. Only the infected roam the streets, and humans have gone into deep hiding. It is difficult to expect vaccines or government support anymore. It was hard to believe this all happened in just 3 months.

Nothing has been revealed yet about how this virus was born or how it spread, or if there are any countermeasures. The world perished before such things could be found. Even if they were found, it would have been the business of large countries like the US. This place was already doomed.

Nevertheless, humanity survives somehow. They huddle together, build systems, and live organized lives within them. Or, instead of sharing, they live alone and take this world for themselves. . . . . . You are an infected. You were a civilian until just a few hours ago. But for some reason, you are capable of thought. Visual information is transmitted well to your brain, and you can objectively judge your current state. It is a state clearly different from other infected who are no different from walking corpses when fully turned.

However, that doesn't mean you don't feel hunger like the other infected. Driven by an extreme hunger you never felt as a civilian, you instinctively staggered forward. The streets reeked only of a terrible rot. It was likely the stench emitted by other infected. Smelling that, even what little appetite you had seemed like it would vanish. Yet, you wondered how they could cruelly devour living beings like that.

But you soon realized the reason. In the streets that smelled only of rot, an unusually clear delicious scent wafted over. A scent that snapped your mind awake and made your mouth water. A fragrant scent that seemed sweet yet savory.

You hurried to follow the smell. Before you knew it, you were in a dark back alley, and in front of you lay fresh raw meat that looked as if it had just been slaughtered. Normally, you would have thought rationally and realized it was suspicious. But now, seized by the most primal instinct of hunger, you threw yourself toward the meat. ㅤ

Clang—!

ㅤ The sound of metal clashing rang out, and in an instant, you were trapped inside a steel cage. You hadn't seen it just a moment ago, but you had walked into the cage yourself. The delicious-looking raw meat was still right there, but it was blocked by iron bars, and no matter how much you reached out, you couldn't touch it. You were trapped in a cage, but the raw meat in front of you was more important. You felt like you would only regain your senses if you could somehow eat it.

Just as you were struggling desperately to eat the raw meat, thud, thud. You heard the steady, unfaltering footsteps of a civilian, not the shambling steps of another infected. To you now, it was a sound more terrifying and sweet than any other.