Life Goes On

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Content warning:

1. Zombies and accompanying gore

2. Confetti

“Oh fuck, oh fuck, it bit me!”

I shove the zombie away, and then BAM, finish it off with my shotgun.

The monstosity turns into a fine, red mist that sprays all over me and this dark, dilapidated pharmacy.

How was I supposed to know not to open the closet that had DON’T OPEN!!! written on it with big, red letters? There was no indication that there could be a zombie inside!

Now, I’m a goner!

Breathing heavily and crying, I touch my throat and see blood on my fingers.

Maybe the zombie was dirty? Yes, that’s it, it got blood on it from some other unfortunate fool.

I run around, trying to find a mirror somewhere. Strangely enough, lots of people have looted this pharmacy. The place looks so destroyed, like it’s a zombie apocalypse or something.

Obviously, there’s a mirror in a small bathroom in the back. My heart sinks even lower as I see that the fucker had gotten a chunk off my throat. I examine myself closely, and yes, Mom definitely implemented a different design.

What am I gonna do?

I back down, trip over something, and crash to the hard floor very painfully. Yes, that’s it, you won’t turn into a zombie if you break your neck here.

“Maaaark! Maark, you’re there?” Justina’s voice calls out from a distance.

Shit!

I try to stand up, but the pain won’t let me. Maybe I broke something? Am I destined to die in this dark, damp, destroyed place?

“Mark?” Justina’s voice is near now. “Oh, there you are!”

I give up and get comfortable on the cold floor. A few footsteps later, Justina’s upside-down face enters my field of view.

“That was a fresh kill,” she says, offering me a hand. “Are you okay?”

I inhale fully, wondering if it’s time to confess my love to her. Well, lust mostly, but maybe at least a little bit of love?

“Nope.” I shake my head, feeling the pain finally starting to subside. “I’ve been bitten.”

Justina’s bright, green eyes dim a little bit, and her face darkens. “Well, we’re in a pharmacy. Wanna try out the rumors? Cut off the bitten limb?”

I finally take her hand, and she helps me up.

“The fucker bit my throat. We can’t cut it off.”

Justina’s tired, dirty face lights up. “Not if you have A-JAR 3000!”

“A jar 3000?”

“No.” She shakes her head and points towards a beam of light that appeared out of nowhere. “A-JAR 3000!”

Accompanied by triumphant music, a circular patch of the floor lit by the beam opens up, and a fancy-looking pedestal appears out of it. On top of the pedestal is a large, cylindrical jar filled with clear liquid. A metal plate attached to the bottom reads “A-JAR 3000.”

“What the fuck?” I frown, trying to locate the source of the light beam, the source of the confetti in the air, or the source of the music.

“Step one!” Justina’s cheerful voice yells.

I turn towards her just in time to see how a huge machete in her hands slices my head off.

“Step two!”

I can’t see shit, for my head rotates and shakes rapidly while being handled.

PLUM!

All sounds get muffled as I experience a familiar sensation of being underwater.

As I get my bearings, I see my own headless body on the floor, lying in a pool of blood. Justina’s face is beaming as she looks at me. The music dies off, and so does the light beam.

“It worked!” She exclaims. “Now, Mark, you will become my back watcher. I don’t mean that you’ll be walking behind me, staring at my ass. No, I’ll carry you as a backpack, and you’ll alert me about zombies. Do that, and I’ll be feeding you well.”

Lost for words, I just watch her gathering salvage and constructing a harness around the jar, and then experience a dizzying sensation of being moved.

Satisfied, Justina leaves the pharmacy into a world full of zombies and death. She seeks survival one day, one hour at a time, and since the zombie population is capable of diminishing, there’s always hope.

Indeed, life goes on. At least, I can still do something useful and be her lookout. And who knows, maybe we’ll survive this zombie apocalypse yet. And maybe, Justina will eventually give me a kiss. And maybe, just maybe, they’ll invent robotic or android bodies in the future, so that it can be more than just a kiss.

The End

Anton Anderson, 2026