The Middle-Aged Shut-In and the Apocalypse - Chapter 1

 Even if the World Ends, My World Had Already Ended

“...It’s cold.”

The hours before dawn are freezing. It’s the season where the snow will start falling any time now. A village on the brink of extinction, tucked away in the mountains. And a lone house sitting on its very outskirts.

Originally, it was supposedly a vacation villa for some eccentric wealthy person, built along a mountain trail on the old prefectural road. Well, that rich guy apparently gave up the property without a second thought because it was so inconvenient. Due to certain circumstances, I was the one who bought it.

During the Bubble Era, it seems there were ski resorts and golf courses nearby. Once the bubble burst, well... you can guess the rest. Thanks to those failed facilities, power lines still run along the main road, so I have electricity pulled in from there. No running water. There’s a mountain spring—the source of a stream—that’s clean enough to drink as-is, so I DIY-ed a water supply using poly pipes. Toilet and household wastewater go through a septic tank and are discharged straight into the stream. That’s how it was built from the start. Honestly, they probably never got a permit for it.

There’s an emergency generator installed in the basement; it’s incredibly noisy, but it works. It’s an antique, so I only use it as a backup. For now, the power is still holding out. I use propane gas. Since I only use it for the stove, it’s not an issue. The water heater runs on kerosene. Since the generator runs on that too, I’ve got mountain-high stockpiles of it in poly tanks in the basement.

Nowadays, a fully electric setup might be possible, but this is an old villa from more than a generation ago. There’s no cell service and no phone lines, but there’s a wonderful system called satellite internet. As for food, I’ve stockpiled rice as my staple. It keeps well, and I’ve hoarded it along with dried goods and canned food. My preparations for being a shut-in are perfect.

At the very least, I don’t want to go down to the city during the winter. First off, the road leading to this villa is excluded from snow plowing. Or rather, it was excluded. The municipality isn’t bored enough to plow a dead road that neither I nor anyone else uses, and that’s exactly the kind of place I chose as my "final home."

Long live the hermit life. To hell with human relationships.

I know I’m warped. I’m "sick" to a level where I’d probably be considered in need of psychiatric treatment. I am a "Early Retiree"—a single dropout crushed by the rough waves of modern social stress. Thanks to working myself to death during my active years, I had a decent amount of savings. The home I bought by blowing those savings is a "landlocked island" where I can spend my days in peace, without meeting a soul.

Ah, how wonderful is this world of solitude. Waking up to the sound of birds in the morning, napping amidst the scent of greenery, and falling asleep while gazing at a starry sky so deep it feels like it could swallow you whole. There’s no need to speak to anyone, and no one pushes their unreasonable demands on me. A paradise all my own, where no one can complain.

...Or at least, it was.

As the core of the kerosene heater began to glow a warm orange, the girl sitting on my lap shifted. She’s cold, you see. Because she has no body temperature. To put it bluntly, she’s a corpse. In modern terms, she’d be classified as the "walking dead." Or an undead. A zombie.

“……”

This little zombie-chan’s name is Shion Sarashina. I don’t know what her legal status is, but she probably doesn't have a Buddhist posthumous name yet. After all, the people in the village were completely wiped out.

“...Aah-uu.”

Leaning against my chest and nuzzling her cheek against me, Shion-chan has lost much of her "zombie-ness." Even if she doesn't have a body temperature of her own, she seems to find the warmth pleasant. Especially since winter started, she’s been clinging to me 24/7, trying to feel my heat. To be honest, she’s a bit of a nuisance.

Ah, even though she’s a zombie, her body hasn't decayed. According to verification info on the net, zombies whose bodies have no initial damage don't rot. I don't know what kind of laws are at work, but even after becoming a zombie, they maintain their state from when they were alive. Where does the energy to move a corpse come from? Well, I haven't a clue. Anyway, if there’s damage, they rot from there, and as more time passes, they become "skeletons." Also, it seems that if they "evolve" by devouring humans before they rot, they can become "ghouls." Once they become ghouls, their bodies stop decaying, and they seemingly regain a certain level of intelligence. I don't know who named them, but it was probably some American scientist who loves zombie movies.

“Au... nnuu.”

A kettle sat atop the kerosene heater in the middle of the room. Sitting cross-legged on a cushion, I faced the heater head-on. And Shion-chan, tucked perfectly into the space of my crossed legs, was having her back warmed up nicely. Well, we were stuck together in bed the whole time, too, so she’s fairly lukewarm from my body heat.

It’s a bit late to mention, but we are currently in the middle of necrophilia. In a face-to-face seated position. For Shion, this is like a meal. Zombies try to eat humans, but it’s not just flesh and blood they crave. And so, having been able to "eat" plenty of me, Shion-chan has evolved into a fine specimen of a ghoul.

---

The trigger for a human turning into a zombie is apparently "contamination." Whether it’s viral or some unknown pathogen is unclear. The nature of the infection has been verified on the net and announced by international organizations. Curses, pollution—all sorts of theories are debated online every day. People really don't get tired of it.

The reason why I’m able to "bang" Shion like this is, truthfully, something I don't quite understand. Usually, if a normal human bangs a zombie, they get contaminated and turn into a zombie themselves.

“Ah... au...”

Gripping the railing of the veranda covered in ivy, Shion twisted her hips. Inserted from behind as I stood, her rear made a loud, rhythmic sound. Due to certain circumstances, I’ve become incredibly virile. When I’m at home, I’m spending almost all my time having necrophilic sex with Shion. It’s as if I’ve returned to being a teenage boy; the sexual impulse just won't subside. To the point where I, who had developed mild stress-induced ED, ended up like this.

When Shion was just a zombie, she was in a state of total "dead fish" sensory deprivation. I don't know at what stage she became a ghoul, but once something like a metabolism kicked in and her body revitalized, she started showing reactions to stimulation like this. I mean, her tongue is out and her face is melting with heat; there’s no doubt she’s feeling pleasure. The "fit" has become significantly better, so that’s a plus.

Before she died, Shion was a high school girl. I’m sure of it because she came to my house in her school uniform. It makes me feel like I’m engaging in "compensated dating," but kids these days are well-developed. Her petite hips have enough elasticity to accept a man’s thrusts. And her breasts were swollen to a scandalous size. Her figure is flawless; she must have been dedicated to some kind of sport. The boys in her class must have been incredibly frustrated, being shown a body like this.

“Aah...!”

I hooked Shion’s right leg, putting her in a pose like a dog relieving itself. Her hip joint opened wide, and her spine arched. With her groin opened up, the tightness at the entrance loosened, but strength poured into her glutes, squeezing the deepest part. I’m sleeping with Shion, who has taken up residence in my house, every single day. Where, how, and in what balance to move to make it tighten... I’ve got it all figured out.

The railing Shion was gripping groaned as if it were about to break, so I pulled her body close and pounded upward from directly below. Into Shion, who had stiffened while biting her lip, I injected a generous amount of semen.

“Phew...”

As the sun rose and the forest began to warm, I took a deep, deep breath. As for Shion, who was savoring my seed inside her womb, she had wilted into a soft, melting heap. Since my still-erect penis was acting as a plug, every bit of it would serve as her nourishment. Shion’s limp body reminded me of the zombie days back when we first met.

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