[Environment: Destroyed city outskirts, broken buildings, fog in the air]
Shintaro spoke in a serious tone.
"Follow behind me. It'll take around 20 minutes from here to the port."
"Ok, we will do as you say," Ziro replied.
Suddenly, Shintaro vanished into thin air. Wooshh!!
"Ghost!!!!!!!!!!!" Ziro panicked, his voice cracking.
"I told you! It wasn't human—we're fucked!!!!!!!!!" Jamal's eyes widened in terror.
"Mommy help ??!?!?!!??!!!" Ziro cried.
"HELL NO—I don't wanna die—I need to delete my browsing history first!!!??!!" Jamal screamed.
"Heh?" Ziro looked confused.
"Heh?" Jamal replied awkwardly.
"What?"
"Nothing… I did hear something though."
"I said—I don't wanna die…"
"You little…" Ziro said, annoyed.
Shintaro jogged effortlessly through the debris-strewn roads.
Internal Monologue:
"I've already lost too much time in inspection... I didn't think I'd get tangled up with survivors. My task was to eliminate the surrounding danger and report to the Corps Commander."
A close-up of his calm, calculating face.
"I should apologize to the commander for the delay..."
Shintaro thought to himself,
"Why are they so silent... Are they afraid?"
Yeah, this environment isn't normal. They must be at a loss for words. I should say something to make them comfortable.
He turned.
"Hey…"
(Beat)
"Ah—where are they?"
[Inside Kamal's house—dim light]
"What should we do now?" Ziro asked, sitting tensely.
"How should I know?! That ghost guy was probably lying—we're really fucked!" Jamal replied, exhausted.
"But... what if this isn't real? What if we're just hallucinating?" Ziro shook, voice trembling.
"Then… we just need to search for others, right?" Jamal's eyes gleamed with a hint of hope.
"You think so too, right? It must be a lie… that everyone's dead…" Ziro whispered, his voice cracking.
The door swung open. Shintaro entered.
"Stop with your fictional reality, and can you guys just come with me please!? It's getting way too late now."
"AHHH!!! GHOST!" Jamal shrieked.
SLAP!
"Shut up, will you?"
"Oh well, where did you go? We were looking for you…" Ziro said nervously, chuckling.
"Stop with those faces. You know what reality is now. Didn't you guys check the mail that we published in the Earth network?? Why are you two so dumbfounded??? Why weren't you running?" Shintaro's tone was stern.
"Y-you just van—how sh-we fol—" Jamal stammered.
"What?" Shintaro asked.
"He said you just vanished! How could we follow you?" Ziro translated. "And we didn't get any mail, though we did see some welcoming stuff… a bloody welcome."
"Ahh, those lunatics must have done something. But there should have been a mailbox for information about the present situation," Shintaro said coldly.
"Did you guys really not realize you're survivors? This planet was swallowed five hours ago. Many beings that survived are roaming around—and you two can't even run?"
"It's not that we can't run… It's you who's too fast to even see!" Jamal yelled. "If you didn't come back, we are sure you were a ghost…."
"We just woke up and saw something was wrong… It was night time. How would we know when things went wrong?" Ziro said.
Shintaro stared at them, disappointed.
"Listen carefully. You're survivors. You're not normal humans anymore. You should've realized that by your body muscles by now…"
Ziro glanced at Jamal.
"Well, I think you're right. This fatso wasn't this slim before…"
"Hey! Talk for yourself! You were thin as a candy stick before, now I can't tell what tablet you took to bulk up!" Jamal shot back.
"What? I was always muscular!"
Jamal opened his phone's front camera.
Ziro muttered, "I think I was a little thin before… hehe…"
"Stop. Can you two focus?" Shintaro snapped.
Ziro and Jamal saluted comically.
"Yes!!!"
"You've learned your bodies have changed. Your senses and capabilities too. Push your limits—you'll feel it. Let's just get out of here." Shintaro said.
[Outside, broken city road. Debris, wind, dead silence]
"Holy shit!! I won't be surprised if some zombie came out of somewhere now… For real, man… This whole town is like some zombie apocalypse," Ziro muttered.
"Try this. Run—as fast as you can," Shintaro instructed.
"Okay, sir! Here we go—don't blink!" Ziro and Jamal yelled.
"Haaaa!!!!!!!" Ziro screamed.
"I feel like I have superpowers now! Look how fast I am!" Jamal laughed.
[Shintaro's POV, watching them—slow motion. They are comically slow.]
Deadpan inner monologue:
"They're slower than a snail…"
"Sir… did you… huh… see us? How fast were we?" Ziro panted.
"Yeah. I'm just thinking how to apologize to the commander," Shintaro replied dryly.
"I'll just walk fast. You two run behind me. Don't get too far," Shintaro said.
"Ah… Ok…" Ziro replied.
They continued running, clearly exhausted, while Shintaro walked, scouting the surroundings.
Ziro's inner thought:
"Fuck man!! I'm at my limit now. I think I will just collapse at any moment. But what the hell is this monster guy just walking?? Is this the power or evolution gap between us?"
"Sir… can we take a small break?" Jamal asked, about to faint.
Shintaro glared like death itself.
"…Yeah. You two should rest a bit."
"No no sir—we are youthful! We can run day and night if you want, hehe! Right, Jamal?" Ziro said, panicking.
"Yes sir! I was just checking if you were tired walking with us! Let's continue—we can run mountains for you!" Jamal replied.
BOOM!!
A building collapsed violently in the distance, a dust cloud rising.
"Stay here. I'll be back," Shintaro said tense, and Fwoosh!—he vanished again.
"Here he goes again… well, I will just rest, man. Ugh… my leg…" Jamal groaned.
"What was that sound? What happened there?" Ziro said, wide-eyed.
"I don't know, man. I'll just rest… I'm too tired of running…" Jamal said, sitting down.
Ziro stared silently toward the destruction.
[Collapsed building—mutated monster appears, like a massive regenerating lizard]
"That thing… I expected a mutant, but this? Like a lizard… survived through regeneration. Well, not my problem. The research team will figure it out," Shintaro said, narrowing his eyes.
"I was curious to see what it was, but… what is that? It's terrifying! I'll die if I get close or even make eye contact… I need to run… run… I need to get out of here but I can't move a single muscle…" Ziro whispered, hiding far away, peeking.
Kyaaaaaa!!!
A girl screamed. A silhouette was visible under debris.
"What!? There's a woman underneath! It's dangerous—I need to save her," Shintaro exclaimed, noticing movement.
"Ziro?!! HEY—DON'T RUN… HEY, YOU HEAR ME! DON'T RUN TOWARDS IT! IT'S DANGEROUS!"
Ziro's body trembled—but he started running. Not backward, but forward, charging toward the monster.
Internal Monologue:
"I need to go—I need to save her—I need to save my friend… Riya…"
[In past flashback—Younger Ziro laughing with school friends. Smiles, warmth, joy.]
He is a loner; he didn't enjoy life that much. In family, he didn't stand out much like other kids. He lived an introverted life, but it wasn't always the same…
He did enjoy his past, where he had friends to share, to laugh, to have fun, to care for each other.
He never thought of his friends as just friends. He made bonds that were even closer than blood-related brothers and sisters…
But time separated them. After school, they hardly met again…
Ziro's expression turned fierce, heart pounding.
"I never thought of them as just friends… They were my brothers and sisters. Now, I've found one of them again."
Thud thud thud… His sprint grew louder.
He ran like crazy to save the precious friend in front of him.
When the world got swallowed, he lost hope of seeing anyone he knew previously, but now… it was an opportunity to say, "hi" again to someone he knew.
[TO BE CONTINUED]