It ended with silence… then scratching.
Omega remembered the last normal morning.
Warm sunlight through the window.
The sound of footsteps in the kitchen.
A hand brushing behind his ears.
Family.
Then the world changed.
---
It started with sickness.
People in the streets collapsing.
Rising again.
Not as humans.
As hunger.
The city fell in less than a day.
Omega ran.
He didn't understand words like infection or outbreak—only that the people he knew no longer smelled like people.
They smelled wrong.
Dead.
---
By nightfall, the house was empty.
No voices.
No footsteps.
No warmth.
Only blood on the hallway floor.
Omega didn't stay.
Something inside him broke… but something else kicked in.
Instinct.
Run.
---
He survived three days alone.
Three days of rain, sirens, and shadows moving between ruined streets.
Then, on the fourth day—
The world spoke to him.
---
[SYSTEM INITIALIZING…]
Omega froze.
The air shimmered in front of his eyes like invisible glass.
Words appeared.
Not spoken.
Displayed.
---
[USER IDENTIFIED: MUTT CLASS LIFEFORM]
[NAME ASSIGNED: OMEGA]
[SYSTEM LINK ESTABLISHED]
---
Omega tilted his head.
A low growl escaped his throat.
He didn't know what this was.
But it knew him.
And worse…
It was talking back.
---
[MAIN QUEST UNLOCKED]
> Survive the Zombie Apocalypse
Evolve
Build a Pack
Locate: "Family"
---
Something in Omega's chest tightened at that last word.
Family.
The system didn't know what it meant.
But Omega did.
And now…
He had a direction.
---
A distant groan echoed down the street.
Something was coming.
Omega lowered his body to the ground.
Muscles tense. Eyes sharp.
The first enemy of the new world stepped into view.
And Omega took his first step forward… not as a pet.
But as a survivor.