The jarring shrill of his alarm, a sound so utterly familiar yet so terrifyingly out of place, clawed Budi Santoso from the depths of an unsettling sleep. His eyes snapped open, not to the sterile white of a hospital room, which was the last thing he vaguely recalled, but to the chipped, water-stained ceiling of his old bachelor apartment. Dust motes danced in the thin shafts of sunlight piercing the grimy window. Disorientation warred with a sudden, nauseating wave of déjà vu. The cheap floral wallpaper, the worn armchair with its perpetually sagging spring, the lingering scent of stale coffee and regret, it all slammed into him with the force of a physical blow.“What the…?” he muttered, his voice raspy, unused. He sat up, his body protesting with a stiffness that felt ancient, yet profoundly recent. Then, the memories. Not faded echoes, but vivid, agonizingly sharp flashes. The betrayal. The poison in his lukewarm tea. The burning sensation spreading through his veins. The cold, in

"Ageng, shut up and hold your breath," Budi snapped, his hand gripping the cold steel grip of his newly acquired SS2-V1 rifle.The darkness in the penthouse was thick, smelling of wet concrete, dust, and ozone."Is it a blackout? The whole city went dark, Budi! My phone has no signal!" Ageng’s voice was high-pitched, vibrating with panic."Of course the signal's gone. The cell towers are the first to get overwhelmed when everyone starts calling their moms to say goodbye."A heavy, mechanical thrum vibrated through the floorboards. The emergency LED strips along the baseboards flickered, casting a sterile blue glow over the unfinished penthouse."See? Phoenix Logistics always has backup power," Budi said, checking the rifle's chamber. "Now, where is your family?""They were coming up the service lift! Oh god, if the power cut while they were in there—"The service elevator chimed, its heavy steel doors sliding open.A sharp, loud voice cut through the hum of the generator. "Ageng! What

The rhythmic, metallic thudding against the reinforced shutters vibrated through the floor, a grim reminder that the city of Jakarta was currently being turned into a giant, flesh-eating meat grinder. Budi looked at the silver drive, then at Maya, whose face remained as cool and detached as a mannequin in a department store."Seventy-two hours, huh?" Budi said, his voice low. "That’s a hell of a deadline, Princess."Maya shrugged, her eyes tracking the movement of a shadow outside the reinforced glass. "I don’t make the rules, Budi. I just live in the body that’s trying to kill me.""You guys keep talking about killing and living," Ageng interrupted, sweating profusely while holding his G2 pistol like it was a live grenade. "Can we talk about how that thing outside just tried to use a piece of rebar to pry open our window?""It’s not trying to pry it open, Ageng," Budi said, checking his tactical tablet. "It’s testing the structural integrity. They’re getting smarter.""Smarter? They’

The floorboards shrieked as the reinforced steel beam groaned under the pressure of the gargantuan, glowing limb beneath them. Budi didn’t wait for the penthouse to become a pancake."Everyone! Service elevator! Now!" Budi bellowed, hauling Tuti by her jacket as she clutched her Tupperware of rendang like a holy relic."My pan! I left my good Korean pan on the counter!" Tuti shrieked, skidding across the tilting concrete."Forget the pan, woman! Unless you want to sauté yourself with the zombies!" Ageng roared, shoving his son Wawan toward the lift."Dad, I’m lagging! The elevator isn't registering my input!" Wawan complained, desperately tapping his Switch.Budi slammed his fist onto the manual override button. The heavy doors shuddered, groaned, and slid open just as a massive, vein-pulsing tentacle smashed through the spot where Wawan had been standing seconds before."In! Get in! All of you!" Budi shoved them into the narrow lift, turning back to see the penthouse floor buckling.

The violet light receded from Budi’s veins, leaving him breathless and shivering on the cold, concrete floor of the vault. The penthouse shuddered a deep, tectonic groan that suggested the very foundation of the building was being chewed by something colossal.“Budi? Hey, Budi, look at me!” Maya grabbed his shoulders, her grip surprisingly strong. “Did it… did it just download a whole Wikipedia page into your brain, or are you still the same cynical jerk?”Budi blinked, shaking his head. “I think I just had a seizure, a vision, and an identity crisis all in under thirty seconds. And no, I’m still the guy who wants to shoot your father.”“Well, you can do that later,” Ageng yelled, bursting through the vault door, his face streaked with soot. “Because the ceiling is currently raining zombies! And they aren't using the stairs!”“Zombies don't use stairs, Ageng! They use the elevator like civilized monsters!” Wawan shouted, following him closely, his handheld console glowing in the dark.