THE MOMENT
"And that's it?" Angus was surprised the whole adventure was over. He'd had a full couple of days having his mind blown. He was minding his own business, wandering the Earth, wondering where everyone went when he met Justice. She was a teen girl with pink twin braids and a crisp white blazer who approached Angus completely aware of his immortal status.
She introduced herself and explained the Earth belonged to her company, Sharp Development, now. Angus was inclined to dismiss her, but she easily explained where the rest of humanity had gone and even offered to give him a personal tour of the multiverse. And now, after seeing things he'd never imagined, she was leaving him behind on an Earth. He'd asked for it at some point as they Traversed between realities, but it was still somewhat unexpected in that particular moment.
"I just stay here... and survive?" he asked.
"As long as you want," Justice nodded. "You already know how to use the node to get to a different Earth if you get bored here," she reminded him. Angus glanced out the window. They were inside a small home in a quaint neighborhood. He could see another house across the street built exactly like the one he was standing in; the whole neighborhood seemed built of identical houses. But, he wasn't looking at the houses, he was focused on the shambling undead roaming by. "Since you wanted an 'entertaining' world, I thought this one would suit you."
"And this is what people across the multiverse do for pleasure?" he asked. He wasn't sure if he'd made eye contact or not, but one of the zombies outside turned and headed towards the house Angus and Justice were in. Except, Justice was in the middle of leaving. She opened a tall black portal and was already stepping into it while she answered Angus' question.
"It's one of many games available in the AlterNet," Justice nodded with a smile. "You have my contact info in your node if you need anything else. Good luck and have fun," she said. When she left, Angus realized they hadn't locked the door when they walked in. Justice let him choose whichever house he wanted and he charged in to explore the nearest one, assuming they were all identical.
He'd lost sight of the zombie and guessed it continued on to somewhere else. But, as he approached the door, it flew open with the zombie scurrying in to rush Angus.
For the first time in a long, long time, Angus felt genuine fear. He knew it was technically 'a game', but he also wasn't logged in. He wasn't entirely sure how his immortality would interact with the AlterNet systems that Justice explained. She’d been deliberately vague on whether the nanos that ran everything would honor his immortality. The undead body was surprisingly strong as it tried to wrestle Angus to the ground. And, it's dry, flaky skin along with its putrid stench made the entire scuffle more real than any bar fight he'd been in. He was always aware that he would survive those. His heart was pounding, his senses were heightened, and he honestly had no idea how the situation would end.
The creature was straining and reaching for his neck while biting at the air, hoping to catch some skin as Angus held firm. The animated corpse was supernaturally strong, but Angus had plenty of fight experience. He was able to hold the creature back and turn them so that his own back was against the window.
Then, he went slack and dropped low just enough to throw the zombie off balance. He moved out of the way and let the zombie run head first through the window. Then, Angus grabbed its undead legs, lifted and pulled all at the same time, while it was still recovering. Its exposed neck fell right on the broken glass pane, and its head was cleanly separated into the front yard. The body twitched as Angus dropped it while catching his breath.
"Whoa...," he sighed as he surveyed the grotesque mess, then he chuckled. "...alright, that was kind of fun."