Zack casually wandered the familiar streets of the business section of town. He looks at the buildings, picking out good places for killing zombies and avoiding people.
As he walks along, part of the great colourful crowd flowing down the pavement, he can't help but feel like a foreign cell in a bloodstream. All the people around him have no memory of what has happened to them. They don't know what's coming. Even after more than half a year, they're all still oblivious.
It makes Zack feel isolated. He wanted to scream that the end was coming, and they should all stay inside tonight. If no one falls in the rain, there will be no Red Zombies. Perhaps then everyone could survive until tomorrow.
He knows it's just a pipe dream. Human nature dictates that if he really tried telling them, the people would report him as being crazy and lock him up. They'd likely try pumping him full of drugs and making him more crazy. Worse, they could find the strange nasty thing hiding inside him and spread this unknown thing to everyone else by accident.
"I can't believe he cheated on you Ruby! You should ditch that bastard and find a new guy!" A voice rings out of a nearby park, and Zack looks over to see two girls sitting on a bench.
Both are pretty, but he can scarcely take his eyes away from the younger girl. Brown hair, tied in a bun at the back of her neck. Small bolero jacket and kitten heel shoes. A pretty white sundress with printed flowers in yellow and pink. A light frown on her face, as she listens to her friend talking smack about her cheating boyfriend.
Zack almost trips over his own feet, shocked at how familiar this girl is. It's the first Zombie he ever killed - the one he deliberately didn't look at the face of. After death it was impossible to see that she had been pretty.
But now here she is, in the bright afternoon light, and so very much alive. Zack had long gotten over seeing his murder victims walking around the morning after, but this was different - she was different.
This girl, who's name is apparently Ruby, Zack has never seen since that night he killed her. He had looked before, trying to find her before she could die, to get rid of that guilty feeling that had haunted him over bashing her head in. She had been his 'first', it's only natural he'd still feel awkward about her second death at his hands.
Quietly, Zack finds a different bench in the park, and starts stalking the girls. Today, to make up for the past, Zack is going to do his best to understand this girl, and perhaps he will prolong her life for a while, before the inevitable.
Maybe, if he watches her long enough, he will get to see her smile. Zack snorts at himself sarcastically as he settles into his watch.
As if he had the power to save a smile.