"What are the characteristics of the new air purifier that you invented? We are all curious to know its benefits and, if possible, the differences from other purifiers" the correspondent of the news was in the office of the inventor of the object in question, or at least it was there considering the interview had been recorded.

The man started talking about it with enthusiasm and with such care to explain every technical detail, but Nayeon had already stopped paying attention to her dusty TV "there is nothing interesting on television anymore, they always do the usual useless interviews or painful programs"

She took a big bite into her sandwich, smearing the sauce on her fingers and cursing under her breath before wiping herself with a wet tissue. She hated living alone in a tiny apartment in one of the worst areas of the capital, but her parents were always on the road for work and barely remembered to send her enough money to support herself.

She could have worked, if only she hadn't had a problem with her reckless behavior. She managed to feel fear, but only in really critical situations and because of this she was always fired for dangerous attitudes in the workplace.

"Patience, I'll just keep eating cheap food until the end of my useless days" she shrugged, going back to watching TV when there was a sudden change of image.

It was an extraordinary edition of the news and the images that were shown were nothing short of gruesome: people were running desperately from one side to the other to escape from other people who moved in a somewhat disjointed and, in some ways, frightening way.

"What the hell's going on? It's not time to go masquerade yet, Halloween is almost a year away" she had leaned closer to the screen to get a better look, wincing at the sudden sight of someone with a deformed face and bloodshot eyes.

The cameraman who was on site had dropped his camera with a scream, making the vision of that moment even more monstrous due to the shot of a woman who was literally eating another person.

Nayeon was forced to run to the bathroom to throw up the little food she had eaten, letting go of a cry of pure terror ", I hope it's just a stupid joke. Holy , we're all going to die"

She had to summon all of her courage to go back in front of the television to listen to what was being said in the news studio, watching her hopes vanish completely like smoke from a chimney.

"Do not leave your homes and barricade yourself inside as much as possible, we do not know what is happening and the army is preparing to take drastic measures. This is a black code, try to stay safe. For now the most populated cities of the capital were hit, but given the speed with which this strange phenomenon is expanding, we do not exclude that it could take hold throughout South Korea"

The transmission was interrupted, leaving a blank screen that reflected Nayeon's terrified face, who immediately ran to check the refrigerator and the pantry "I have nothing to eat, I can't stay locked up in the house for who knows how long without having some supplies. I have to go out now, so I might be lucky enough not to run into any of those crappy monsters"

Despite her trembling she hurried to put on a tracksuit and her most comfortable shoes, placing an empty backpack on her shoulders "I did parkour until last year, I should still be agile enough to get by in case of emergency"

She took a sheathed knife that she had found under a piece of furniture some time before and, once secured in the inside pocket of her jacket, she had plucked up the courage to open the front door of her apartment, checking every direction and trying to catch every sound.

"Go ahead Nay, now let's see how long you can survive in this " she went down the stairs without making a sound, using her skills acquired over the years.

After hearing the news through a television set in the restaurant where they were having lunch, three foreign women had gone to hide in a mini market for fear that the zombies would arrive soon to kill them.

"Come with us to attend the event of our favorite group, they said. You will have a good time, they said" a blonde girl was pacing next to a shelf that blocked the view to anyone who could pass outside, annoyed and scared as ever in her life.

"Minari, we didn't force you to follow us and you can't blame us for something like that" was a pink-haired friend to reply, also more annoyed than frightened "say that there is a possibility that the event will not be cancelled? I wanted so much to see that band live, I even agreed to save up on the area to stay in order to get tickets"

"Of course Sana, let's take the bus to get away from this decadent neighborhood and hope that none of the members has turned into a zombie" Mina replied with her usual sarcasm, even if she would have preferred to punch someone "imagine how nice could be to dance with them while the skin peels off those angelic faces"

The most frightened of the three was sitting on the floor eating, her eyes filled with tears in silent crying and her blue hair totally disheveled, oblivious to the discussion that was taking place a few steps away from her "if I have to die I might as well do it with a full stomach"

"Momo, I don't think eating too much can help at a time like this" the blonde's tone was slightly less acidic "sooner or later we'll have to leave this shop and it would be a problem if you ran away from going to the bathroom while we run away from the zombies"

"At least the asphalt would become slippery, dropping them could be to our advantage" Sana shrugged after receiving a glare.

"Could you avoid talking about my stomach problems? I'm trying to enjoy what could be my last meal and your disgusting chatter isn't helping"

The minutes passed slowly and quickly at the same time, making the girls' anxiety increase dramatically, which had reached its peak as soon as they heard strange noises coming from outside.

Mina, being the bravest of the three, had leaned her head a little to look out, jolting slightly at the sight of two undead "look how nice they have to welcome tourists, Japan should learn from these good people" even if whispered her words were still full of sarcasm.

"Did you say there are two?" Momo was crushing Sana's arm, risking making her scream and putting all of them in danger.

"Let go of my arm, you could break it" she had freed herself with difficulty, thanks to the fear that was paralyzing her on the spot "what can we do? Even staying here would be enough to make noise to attract their attention"

"I have no idea, but I feel waiting here might be even more risky. We should leave while there are only two to avoid"

Momo was ready to take yet another pre-cooked food "you go, I'll make noise with the microwave and I will consume my last meal"

The other two looked at her with a little disgust, especially Sana "listen, damaged brain" she had grabbed her shirt with both hands, speaking very close to her face "we have decided to take this trip together and we will all go home. Costs what it costs"

"I agree with her, we have to survive until help arrives and then we'll leave everything behind her. Let's think of a way to go out without being noticed, we have no other alternatives"

They set about making a plan, drawing a pattern on the floor in sharpie that Sana wanted to use for autographs, trying to figure out how to open the glass door that led outside without being noticed.

While they were concentrating they heard an almost inaudible noise coming from the ceiling, making them silence and sending their hearts to a breakneck speed. They thought they had reached the end of the line, but when they saw a short-haired girl nimbly enter through one of the higher windows, they were relieved.

Nayeon landed very gracefully, astounding the three people who were staring at her as if she were an alien "don't make any noise, there are two filthy beings out there"

"Luckily you came to tell us, otherwise we wouldn't have really realized it"

"Mina, shut up for once" Sana was tired of her biting sarcasm, but cared too much about her to throw her to the zombies "where are you from?"

"I live a few minutes from here, I've come to get as much food as possible so I can hole up at home" she had placed her backpack on the ground, already busy getting her food of interest "where are you staying? Judging by your accent, you're not Korean"

It was Momo who spoke, totally fascinated by the tranquility that the unknown conveyed "we're from Japan, we're here on vacation" 

"You've chosen the best time to come here, congratulations" she had said without mirth.

"I wonder who is to blame for our presence in this mess" Mina was still intent on glaring at the pink-haired girl.

Nayeon had finished filling every single pocket of her backpack with as much food and water as possible "use your backpacks to take other things and come with me, I could never leave you here"

Momo and Mina only left their cell phone, charger and earphones in their backpacks, starting to fill them as much as possible, while Sana didn't feel like abandoning all her belongings.

"Photobooks and makeup won't save you from hunger, turn on your brain and get something too"

"I hate this, what have I done wrong to deserve this?" the blonde's words convinced her to clear the space to fill it with bottles of water, always on the verge of tears.

"Very well, now I'll lure them away from the entrance and then we'll escape" Nayeon had taken a glass bottle and stood next to the window, throwing the object as far as possible "let's go now that they're distracted"

They hurried out of the mini market and the three girls who had remained hidden there for about an hour were able to notice how in that short space of time everything had fallen into disrepair. There was no one on the street except for the zombies and the mangled bodies of those who had been eaten.

Momo would have loved to allow herself the luxury of throwing up, but she had forced herself to swallow that bitter morsel for everyone's sake "what a ty situation"

"You're absolutely right and the worst thing is that it happened suddenly just like in the movies" Nayeon's short hair was disheveled "now the important thing is to be able to reach my apartment, it's in that building over there" her finger was pointing in the direction of a four floors structure, which was not close but not far either.

"About this.. Thanks for having decided to host us when you could have thought about saving your skin" Mina was squeezing the straps of her backpack tightly, so much so that her hands whitened "I don't think we would have lasted much without external help"

"You don't have to thank me, I know what it feels like to be abandoned in a hostile reality and I don't want the same to happen for you too. Also because, let's face it, we are not sure that someone can come to our rescue in this bad place"

Sana was starting to feel guilty, so much so that she was furious with herself "I'm such a moron"

The blue-haired girl stood next to her, looking down to avoid running into people torn to shreds "it wasn't your fault, these things can't be predicted" the trembling in her legs was becoming an impediment to the brisk walk she had to support "how much longer? I'm starting to give in with fear"

"About three minutes, hold on"

They increased the pace to decrease the time to spend outside, more and more frightened by the noises produced by the people who no longer had anything human and shivering from the cold January wind.

Their reality had changed in the blink of an eye, destroying everything they'd come to know in their young lives and sinking their hopes of reaching old age.

~~~
Finally a new journey begins! I really like movies and TV series that deal with this topic so I had listed a story like this, but the thing that makes me smile is that I lacked many ideas to be able to throw it down and give them to me, with the same arrogance of a meteorite, was one of my strange dreams.

I'm not an expert in this field and I apologize if I don't manage to live up to what I'm going to cover, but as always I hope I can do a decent job and that you will like it.👉🏼👈🏼