Tokonosu City had been a bustling metropolis known for its international offshore airport, ancient castle, and the unique delivery service. But that was before the day that started like any other, with the soft glow of dawn breaking over the skyscrapers, only for the peaceful day to be shattered by the screaming of fear in some random house in the residential area.
The screams grew in number and intensity as time passed; an explosion that soon followed drowned out the usual ambience of morning traffic. Panic began to spread like a wildfire in a dry forest, consuming everything in its path. Many people stumbled out from their homes, offices, and cafes, their expressions a mix of terror and confusion; they don't really know what is currently going on in their city.
And that ended up being their downfall as the source of the chaos was quickly revealed to them as the first group of the infected stumbled into view, eyes glazed over and skin a sickly gray like a walking corpse. There's no warning as the zombies instantly throw themselves at the clueless people who tried to help as the zombies bite and tear their flesh apart amidst the horrified and painful screams of the victims.
After a couple of hours of the outbreak, the news finally announced that it had been an unknown virus, they said, something that had been festering on the internet in recent years, an occult rumor of sorts that had been instantly dismissed by everyone as a fake or just an organized prank for attention.
Even the first cases of evidence of the zombie sightings had been dismissed as just a stupid prank or the fevered dreams of the mentally ill, but now that the dormant virus that had secretly grown, mutating and evolving in everyone's bodies, had been suddenly activated globally and the dead were rising again, it was now clear to everyone that it's not just a silly rumor or prank on the internet anymore.
The recently dead ones are the first infected to rise from the virus, and those with vulnerability to disease and illness quickly followed as soon as they died from the severe fever that the virus caused, and then the dead bodies rose once again as an undead monster in the husk of their former selves with the sole purpose of turning more of the people into their kind.
The newly turned zombies, now with hunger gnawing at their guts and an instinct to bite anything human, set upon the nearest prey with a ferocity that defied common sense while the humans still didn't know what they were dealing with as they fell prey to the zombies relentless assault and their seemingly unnatural constitution.
It's not just in Tokonosu City that the outbreak happened, as the entire planet is also undergoing a chaos of the zombie apocalypse.
The world authorities and governments had tried to contain it, to quarantine the sick, and protect the healthy. But since the virus was already inside everyone's bodies as they all were infected by the virus without even realizing it, the society that had grown complacent in its belief in the advanced sanctity and medicines quickly found out firsthand how fast their society could collapse not just from the threat of zombies but also from the total anarchy that soon followed afterwards.
The once somewhat peaceful world had now become a hell on earth with the rules of the jungle coming back to play again. The towers of steel and glass now stood in silence as the civilization headed towards a dark era. The streets, once a river of life, were now choked with the horde of the undead and abandoned vehicles. The zombies stumbled through the streets, driven by a hunger that could never be fulfilled.
The remaining humans huddled in their shelters, the walls echoing with the faint cries of the dead, the victim, and the hopeless. And on the other hand, the internet was in total panic and despair; the last bastion of humanity's hope from information was crumbling under the weight of misinformation and fear, which, strangely enough, was not that different from the usual state of the internet.
Amidst the ongoing apocalypse, a young woman named Mikoto found refuge in the old bookstore. The musty scent of aged pages filled the air, a stark contrast to the horrid odor of the world outside. The shelves, once brimming with tales of adventure and love, now served as a cover against the undead hordes outside that had overtaken the Tokonosu City.
Mikoto had stumbled upon this sanctuary by accident, driven here by the undead that had been constant on her trail or the one that was blocking her path since the outbreak started. Her eyes, once filled with innocent dreams of becoming a renowned author, were now haunted by the images of friends and family torn apart before her very eyes.
Her survival instincts had sharpened in these past two days in the apocalypse, as she scavenged for food and supplies from various stores; her favorite pen and notebook were her only companions in this hellish reality, a reminder of her normal life.
Mikoto had quickly discovered that the infected were drawn to sound, so she had been moved around as quietly as possible, her sniff muffled by the scarf around her neck that she pulled up on her nose to dull the horrible smell of the dead.
In the deep, dark corner of the bookstore, she scribbled furiously, chronicling her experiences, the fears that sadness, and the hope that she would make it out of the city alive. The writing became a lifeline to her sanity, a testament to the enduring human spirit in a world gone mad.
But the bookstore could not shield her from the horror indefinitely. The constant groaning outside grew louder, the shadowy silhouette of the dead outside her refuge becoming frequent, like they know she's around here somewhere.
And then the inevitable finally came when the glass window in front of the bookstore shattered under the increasing weight of the zombies that were pressing against it.
"No…!"
Mikoto's heart skipped a beat as the undead spilled into her sanctuary, their decaying limbs reaching out aimlessly while they spread out inside the store.
With no other choice, she quickly made a run for it, her sneakers squeaking against the dusty floor as she hurried to the back door of the bookstore. In her escape, Mikoto accidentally bumped into a bookshelf, causing some of the books to fall out from the shelf onto the floor, causing a noise that drew some of the zombies attention towards her.
"Oh no…!"
The soft gasp slipped from Mikoto's lips as the first zombie stumbled towards her, eyes glazed and jaw hanging open, revealing a mouth filled with bloody teeth. Her heart hammered in her chest like a war drum as she froze in her place for a split second before her survival instinct slapped her back into motion. She immediately bolted towards the back door, her breaths coming in ragged gasps while the other zombies also took notice of her existence. The bookstore she had thought was a safe haven had been breached, and now the hungry undeads were closing in around her.
"Move, move…! Damn it…!"
But like fate is out to get her, the door at the back was difficult to move from the rust at the hinges, resisting her desperate attempts to push it open. Panic grew in her chest as the zombies closed in on her fast.
"Nghhh…!"
With a loud grunt, she threw her entire weight against it, and fortunately, it finally swung open with a loud screeching noise, revealing the dark alley behind the store. She didn't bother to look back to see if the zombies had followed or how many zombies the noise might attract to her location; she just ran as fast as she possibly could.
Mikoto's lungs burned as she sprinted through the dark alley to the empty streets as she immediately noticed the thick stench of blood and smoke in the air. She saw that the sun had set while the landscape of the city was in an eerie twilight that only served to amplify her paranoia of the zombie that might be stumbling out from the shadows of the surrounding buildings and alleys at any times.
The once-bustling metropolis had been transformed into a ghost town of despair, which was not so exaggerated with the actual undead walking around the city now. Mikoto clutched her notebook to her chest, her heart pounding in loud in her ears as she looking around in paranoia. The undead that pursued her with a relentless hunger were still far behind thanks to how slow they are.
Her eyes darted around, searching for any sign of life that wasn't the walking dead, but she saw none. The silence was only disturbed by the occasional distant cries and the growling of the undead.
As she walked to the middle of the road, her sneakers stepped on a puddle of something thick and viscous. She didn't dare look down; her imagination painted a gruesome picture of what it could be.
Mikoto knew she needed to find a better place to hide, a place that could keep her safe for more than just a few days. Her thoughts raced as she looked around, trying to come up with a plan amidst the chaos of her emotions. The distant wail of a siren still could be heard, and she wondered if the authorities were still fighting a losing battle against the undead or if they were already overrun by the horde.
"...!"
Then suddenly her eyes caught a slight movement in the shadows of the entrance to the apartment building across the street as Mikoto instinctively ran towards and ducked behind an abandoned car nearby; her heart started beating so hard it felt like it might burst out of her chest as she peeked from behind the car at the apartment entrance.
She could hear the shuffling of feet grow louder and louder from there as the group of zombies finally revealed themselves and stumbled out into the open. Their clothes were tattered and stained with blood and grime, their faces lifeless and pale.
Mikoto's hand tightened around the pen in her pocket, knowing that if it came down to it, she might have to use it as a weapon. But she had seen firsthand how easy it was for them to overpower even an adult male, so she hoped that she could avoid a direct confrontation with the zombies.
[ Do-do-do-oo, yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah~! ]
"What's that...? A music...?"
While Mikoto was thinking about a way to bypass the group of zombies, suddenly she could hear a faint melody of music from somewhere. It was an upbeat tune that she often heard from the opening of the animes, which confused her quite a bit since who would be stupid enough to do such a thing and attract the zombies to themselves?
[ Gör som vi ]
[ Till denna melodi~! ]
[ Oa-oa-a~! ]
"Are you serious…?!"
The sound of the music grew louder as time passed, making Mikoto's eyes widen in realization as the source of the music is definitely coming towards her possible location.
"That is…"
She wants to curse out loud at her bad luck and the source of the music, but the sight of a similar futuristic white van barreling towards her with the van's windows lighting up like a rainbow makes her stare at it with a dumbfounded expression.
[ Dansa med oss~! ]
[ Klappa era händer~! ]
[ Gör som vi gör~! ]
[ Ta några steg åt vänster-! ]
[ Lyssna och lär~! ]
[ Missa inte chansen-! ]
[ Nu är vi här med-! ]
[ Caramelldansen~! ]
The van's headlights cut through the gloom on the street as the music grew clearer; the lyrics sounded foreign and oddly Japanese, which confused Mikoto. She wondered if she was dreaming as she saw the famous Freedom van driving towards her location while blasting a song like a mobile nightclub.
And of course the zombies immediately take notice of the coming van as they are moving towards it, but unfortunately for them, the Freedom van is not an ordinary van.
[ Oo-oo-oa-oa~! ]
[ Oo-oo-oa-oa-a~! ]
With ridiculous ease, the van smashed into the group of zombies with the ferocity of an 18-wheel truck, sending them flying in all directions with bones crunched and blood splattered as some of the undead were pulverized under its unforgiving wheels under the dazed gaze of Mikoto.
[ Det blir en sensation överallt förstås~! ]
[ På fester kommer alla att släppa loss~! ]
[ Kom igen~! ]
[ Nu tar vi stegen om igen~! ]
[ Oa-oa-a- ]
Then the van screeched to a halt near the abandoned car that Mikoto was hiding behind as the driver, a pretty woman with long white hair and pale blue eyes in a white uniform, leaned out from the van's window with a friendly expression distinctively to all of the deliverymen from Freedom Carrier while she was chewing on bubble gum.
"Hey kid~! Wanna go to Disneyland~?"
"..."
Mikoto honestly feels quite reluctant to go with this woman...