My life is hell now.I know what you’re thinking—Aww, Nate, it can’t be that bad.Yes. Yes, it can.Imagine a scrawny, smart-mouthed guy trying to survive in a world filled with zombies, bandits, and the occasional undead goril. I haven’t talked to a human who didn’t want to murder me in over a month.But hey—at least we still have WiFi, right?Yep. The internet’s still kicking, somehow. No more cat videos, though. Just survival tips, scavenging routes, and warnings about newly discovered horrors. Most of the famous influencers are dead—one of them died on a livestreamwith his GoPro strapped to his chest. That was fun. Real cinematic stuff. Right up until his battery died.But that’s not my problem right now.Right now, I’m looting an abandoned convenience store.Well—was looting.Until some random girl showed up with a rifle aimed at my head.“Friend or foe?” she asks, her voice steady.My hands shoot up instinctively. “That kinda depends on the person, doesn’t it?”I’m still out of breath from my goril situation and really not in the mood for another fight. She studies me, her finger still resting near the trigger.She’s about my age, maybe a little younger. Long brown hair tied back in a messy ponytail, eyes sharp and wary, wearing a patched-up jacket that had probably been through just as much hell as I had.She lowers the rifle just a little.“What’s your name?”I smirk, shifting my weight onto one leg. “I prefer not to tell people that.”She narrows her eyes. “You prefer to be a pain in the ass?”“Hey, it’s kept me alive so far.”A pause. The tension’s still thick enough to choke on, but finally, she sighs. “Look, I don’t care who you are. I just need supplies.”“Great. Me too.”We eye each other for a second. I don’t trust her. She definitely doesn’t trust me. But then again, two guns—or in my case, one wrist-mounted crossbow—are better than one.“…Fine,” I say, lowering my hands. “Nate.”She exhales like she was waiting for a lie. “Cire.”I nod. “Alright, Cire. Wanna help me rob this pce?”We move quickly, sweeping through the store’s dark, half-ransacked aisles. Most of the good stuff is already gone, but there are still some scraps—cans of soup, bottles of water, a dusty-looking protein bar that might be more mold than food at this point.I stuff what I can into my pack. Cire does the same, pausing every now and then to gnce over her shoulder, probably wondering if I’m going to stab her in the back.That’s fair. I’m wondering the same thing about her.Then, we hear it.A slow, wet dragging sound.Cire freezes, her rifle snapping up. I activate my wrist bow, the mechanism humming as I load a bolt.The thing steps into the aisle, a rotting abomination of flesh and metal.A Merger.This one looks like it used to be a soldier—or at least someone heavily armed. The nuke that fused it had done a real number on its body. Its left arm is twisted, melted into its own ribcage. But its right?A machete—fused straight into its hand.“Oh shit,” Cire breathes.The thing lunges.I fire immediately—thunk!—a bolt smming into its chest. It staggers but doesn’t drop.“Seriously?!” I groan, quickly reloading.Cire opens fire. A shot rings out, punching through its skull—but it keeps moving. The machete whistles through the air as it swings wildly, forcing us both back.“Zombies with built-in weapons?! That’s just unfair!” I shout.It lunges again, nearly taking my head off. I duck, roll, and come up firing—another bolt, this time through its eye socket.It jerks. Twitches.Then colpses in a heap.I pant, staring at the corpse. The machete, still firmly embedded in what’s left of its hand, glints under the flickering store lights.“That could be useful,” Cire mutters, stepping closer.I nod, kneeling beside the body. “Yeah, if we can—”I grab the hilt and pull.Nothing.The thing doesn’t budge.I try again, bracing my foot against its chest. The metal is too fused, twisted with rotten flesh and charred bone. There’s no getting this thing out without sawing through the whole damn arm.Cire crosses her arms. “You, uh… you having trouble there, tough guy?”I let go with a sigh. “No. I just love grabbing zombie arms for fun.”She smirks. “Good to know.”I gre at her, then nudge the corpse with my boot. “Well, that’s a bust.”Cire shrugs, adjusting her rifle. “Let’s just keep moving. Before that thing’s friends show up.”I don’t argue.Because in this world?Sticking around too long gets you killed.