As the officer hurried off, the twitchy man’s breathing got heavier.

His lips twitched.

His hand on the gun began to convulse.

Masaru noticed.
He stood slightly in front of Sakura without realizing, whispering just enough for Kaito to hear.

MASARU:
“…That guy’s not right.”

KAITO:
“His fist—it’s bitten.”
(panicking)
“Masaru… he’s infected.”

Suddenly—

THUMP!

The twitchy guy dropped to his knees, eyes rolling back, blood bubbling from his mouth. Then, in a violent burst, he lunged forward, biting into the neck of a nearby officer who had been too close.

SCREAMS.

GUNFIRE.

HOZUKI (yelling):
“Shit—INCOMING!”

He raised his pistol and fired point-blank into the twitching man’s head. The gunshot echoed, Blood spatters the checkered tile floor. The echo of the gunshot still rings in everyone’s ears.

HOZUKI, calm but grim, lowers his smoking pistol.

The bitten officer collapsed with him, already convulsing on the floor, blood pooling beneath his shattered skull.

From the hallway, RYO's voice rang out, sharp and alarmed.
RYO: “WHAT THE HELL—?!”

HOZUKI didn’t flinch. He ejected the spent casing with a practiced flick and leveled his weapon again, just in case.
HOZUKI: “They turn fast. Told you—this ain’t a game anymore.”

MASARU grabbed Sakura’s hand without thinking, his grip firm and shaking. He yanked her behind a row of overturned chairs as more screams erupted across the lobby.

KAITO stood paralyzed in shock, eyes wide and glassy. His lips moved, but no sound came.
Panicking.

MASARU (shouting): “MOVE! Get behind the counter!”

He tackles Kaito behind the reception desk. Sakura follows, ducking low.

The bitten officer begins to rise—no longer human.

His mouth stretches into an unnatural grimace, blood drooling down his chin. Bones crack as he lurches upright, twitching like a puppet on strings. His head snaps in the direction of the escaping civilians.

SCREAMS ERUPT.

Civilians crash into one another—some clawing for the front entrance, others frozen in place filming on their phones.

SAKURA (terrified):
“They think it’s a prank…!”

Someone trips. A woman tries to help, only to be yanked back by the infected officer’s grasp.

HOZUKI, eyes burning, turns to RYO.

HOZUKI (grimly):
“Still think I’m the craziest guy in this station?”

RYO, pale and shaking, stares at the half-dead creature growling and crawling across the floor toward civilians.

RYO (hoarse):
“…Get to the lockers. Now. We’re clearing this station or dying in it.”

HOZUKI:
“Glad to hear that!”

RYO turns, barking orders at nearby officers who are still frozen in shock.

RYO:
“Evac who you can—civilians out first! Rest of you, gear up!”

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM

The room was still.

Too still.

J-in sat slouched in the hard metal chair, fingers nervously tapping against the table. His eyes flicked between the detective and the sealed door—his instincts were screaming.

DETECTIVE (coldly):
“You think this is just going to go away? That you can say ‘I didn’t do it’ and walk out of here?”

J-IN (quietly):
“I told you. It’s not me.”

DETECTIVE:
“You made the last panic viral. You know exactly how to stir the internet. Now people are biting each other in the streets, and guess whose name's trending again?”

J-in didn’t answer.

Because…

Distant gunshots echoed.

Then a scream.

Then two.

The detective’s head turned toward the door.

DETECTIVE (tense):
“…What was that?”

Another scream. Louder. Then a muffled announcement blared through the hallway speakers:

 “All available units report to the front lobby— Possible attack—possible biohazard.” 

The detective stood up fast, his hand going to the sidearm on his hip.

J-IN (rising):
“Hey—hey, you heard that. You have to let me out now.”

DETECTIVE (snapping):
“Stay in the damn chair!”

He turned toward the door—but a heavy thud hit it from the other side.

BOOM.

BOOM.

SCRAAAAATCH.

Blood leaked under the doorframe. Something—or someone—was clawing to get in.

J-in backed into the corner of the room, breathing sharp.

J-IN:
“…Let me out. Please.”

DETECTIVE (gun raised, yelling):
“Stay back!”

The door handle started to twitch.

J-IN (voice cracking):
“I told you it wasn’t me!”

INT. POLICE STATION – ARMORY / LOCKER ROOM – SECONDS LATER

Doors burst open.

RYO storms to his locker, punching in his code with zero patience. The locker swings open to reveal HOZUKI's personal stash: a combat shotgun, an engraved pistol, and a few extra clips in a custom rig. Everything meticulously arranged. 

RYO (reaching for a box of ammo nearby):
“We need more rounds—”

HOZUKI (coldly):
"Dont play with my stuff man!"

Beat.
He slams the locker shut and throws a spare sidearm across the room toward Masaru.

RYO and HOZUKI stand back-to-back, flanked on both sides by slowly advancing infected—at least six. Shuffling feet. Guttural snarls. Blood smears streak the walls like dragged fingers.

HOZUKI pumps his shotgun. Shells clatter at his feet.

A zombie moves—

Hozuki blows its head clean off, brains painting the wall.

RYO (raising his pistol, breathing hard):
“We should fall back. Lock ourselves in the evidence room!”

HOZUKI (cutting him off):
“You can run if you want. I’m not leaving my gear behind.”

*Another zombie lunges from the side. Ryo fires wildly—two shots miss, third one lands in the jaw but doesn’t stop it.

RYO (panicking):
“Damn it—!”

HOZUKI (snapping):
“Give me that. You’re embarrassing the gun.”

RYO:
“Screw you—!”

Ryo shoves the zombie back with his shoulder, then finally lands a kill shot. He stumbles, panting, sweat dripping.

HOZUKI (wiping blood off his face):
“Breathe, Captain. I thought you were the cool-headed leader around here.”

RYO:
“I wasn’t trained for this. These things used to be my officers!”

HOZUKI:
“And now they’re meat in uniforms. You think I care if it was my old boss, or my Sunday poker buddy? Dead’s dead.”

A zombie grabs at Hozuki’s shoulder. He jerks violently, headbutts it, and slams it to the ground. Just as Ryo moves to help—

HOZUKI (shouting):
“DON’T! I don’t need your damn help!”

He stomps the creature’s head with a vicious crunch.

HOZUKI (panting):
“No one touches my fight. No one touches my guns. And no one saves me. Got it?”

RYO (quiet, bitter):
“Yeah. Got it.”

A beat. Another growl from around the corner.

RYO:
“…How many more you think?”

HOZUKI (cocking his gun, smirking):
“Doesn’t matter. I brought enough hate for all of them.”

More screams echoed from the lobby. Officers were yelling, weapons discharging in sharp bursts. The infected were inside now—tearing through the front of the station like a storm.

Masaru, crouched behind an overturned bench, looked to Sakura and Kaito, who were both shaking.

MASARU (grim):
“We can’t stay here. The whole station’s about to fall.”

KAITO (panicking):
“Where do we go?! We don’t even know where the exits are!”

MASARU:
“We find one. Or we die here.”
(then, glancing at Sakura)
“Stay close. No matter what.”

SAKURA (softly):
“…Okay.”

Gunfire rang out just a few doors away. Masaru took a breath, clenched his jaw, and led them deeper into the corridor—away from the lobby and toward the detention wing.

J-in jolted with every bang echoing down the hall.

Gunshots.
Screams.
Something was happening.
Something bad.

He stood up fast, eyes darting toward the door.
No officer in sight.
Whoever had been watching him was gone—or worse.

A loud metallic crash echoed from outside, followed by wet gurgling. 

Then silence.
Too much silence.

With shaking hands cuffed in front, he reached into the inside of his hoodie—fingers fumbling, heart pounding.

He pulled out a thin pin—one he’d stashed for lock tricks.
Now it might actually save him.

He crouched low near the door, jammed the pin into the door lock, and began twisting.

Click. Twist. Click.

He flinched at every distant snarl.

The lock refused to budge.

J-IN (gritting his teeth):
“C’mon… just like that video… Left, tension, rotate—”

CLICK.

J-IN (gasping):
“Yes!”

The door creaked open.

He slipped into the hallway.

Red emergency lights flashed overhead, strobing the corridor in blood tones.
It smelled like copper. And sweat.
And death.

SHRRK.
A low dragging sound echoed from the corner behind him.

Then—a snarl.

J-IN (turning):
“…No. No no no—”

A figure lunged—gray-skinned, foaming at the mouth, half its face torn open.

J-in screamed, bolting down the hallway.

Footsteps thundered behind him—wet, angry, fast.

He turned a corner, slipped, barely caught himself against the wall, and kept running.

Heavy doors ahead.

He slammed through them.

Right into—

Masaru.

Both men crashed to the ground, grunting.

MASARU (shoving him off):
“What the—!?”

J-IN (panting):
“ZOMBIES! I’m not kidding—dead, teeth, foaming freaks—right behind me!”

Masaru blinked, wide-eyed. Then he heard them.
Snarls. Heavy thudding.

Sakura (off-screen):
“Masaru! What’s happening?!”

No one waited for an answer.
No one hesitated.

They ran.

And J-in?
He didn’t need to be told.
He just ran—
Right behind them.

The night opened up in front of them.
They burst out from the back side of the police station and into the side-street maze of Kyoto’s old shopping district, neon signs flickering overhead.

Shutters were half-closed. Stores abandoned mid-shift. They hid there, thinking it a safe place.

INT. ABANDONED SHOP – KYOTO SHOPPING DISTRICT – MORNING

The bustling shopping street is now silence outside, with only a few blood streaks colouring the ground.

Masaru, Sakura, Kaito, and J-in sat silently inside, behind partially dropped shutters, gathering their breath, eyes heavy with fatigue.

It had been a long night.
Nobody actually slept.
They simply waited.

SAKURA (softly):
“Do you think they’re gone?”

MASARU:
“No. Just quiet. For now.”

Kaito peeked through a narrow gap in the metal shutter, hand trembling.

KAITO:
“I don’t see anything…”

Masaru leaned back against a dusty counter, wiping dried sweat from his brow.

And that’s when something clicked in his mind.

A memory.

Yuki’s voice on the phone, just yesterday—

“I’ll swing by the old man’s shop tonight. 
I’ll be drinking tonight. All night. With the old man."

Masaru’s eyes narrowed.

MASARU (to himself):
“…The old shop.”

Sakura looked at him.
“What?”

MASARU:
“Yuki said he’d stop by his dad’s old shop last night. It’s here—somewhere in this district.”

He stood slowly, pacing.

MASARU (muttering):
“But there’s no way… that place must’ve been right in the middle of the chaos.”

He looked out the window again.
Everything was smashed.
Glass. Wood. Lives.

Could he still be out there?
Was Yuki hiding like them… or—

Masaru couldn’t finish the thought.

He turned to the others.

MASARU (firm):
“I need to check that shop.”

J-IN (groggy):
“You mean… go back out there?”

Masaru didn’t respond immediately.
He just stared through the cracks in the shutter.

Somewhere out there—maybe—Yuki was alive.

And if there was even the slightest chance…
He had to know.

The narrow alley led them to a cracked sign hanging loosely above a faded storefront:
"7-Seven"

The shutters were halfway up. The glass door was smeared, the inside too dim to see clearly.

MASARU (quietly):
“This is it…”

SAKURA:
“Doesn’t look touched.”

J-IN (nervously):
“Which is exactly why it freaks me out.”

They approached slowly. The streets were still quiet—too quiet.
Masaru stepped close to the window, shielding the glare with his hand to peer inside.

Shelves. Dust. A tipped stool.
And… a faint glow from somewhere in the back.

Kaito whispered:
“Maybe he’s not here anymore.”

Masaru didn’t answer. He was frozen in place, scanning for any sign of movement.

Then—

CRASH!

The glass door suddenly swung open, and a figure stumbled out—tripping over the doorstep and collapsing to the ground in front of them with a sloppy grunt.

YAMADA YUKI.

His clothes were wrinkled. A bottle rolled out of his hand. His hair was a mess, and his eyes were bloodshot.

YUKI (slurring):
“…Shit, who put the floor here…”

He looked up—squinting in the morning light.

And blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Yuki’s eyes widened.
“…Masaru?” he whispered.

…Sakura?
The name echoed in his mind like a forgotten dream.