“So. Zombie apocalypse,” Ryan said, drawing up alongside Zeke. He gestured with his iced coffee at the city below them.

On the far side of the balcony, four floors down, cars roared. Perched atop the skyscrapers that hemmed in the museum, billboards shone with bright color, advertising everything from perfume to fast food to alcohol and condoms. Pedestrians scuttled by, businessmen and women hurrying to their next meeting, while a man on a corner spun a sign, inviting people to stop in and buy insurance. Beside him, a busker strummed a guitar, while a homeless man sprawled on the side of the street, snoozing away, a dog curled up beside him.

“Zombie apocalypse, huh?” Zeke asked, pushing up from the steel railing. A glass panel reached a few inches above the steel railing, protecting him and small children from slipping under it and dropping to the street below. He looked at the dirty-blond boy beside him, quirking a brow. “What about it?”

Ryan’s blue eyes shone. He grinned. “Odds of survival. What do you think? How long would you last?”

“Me? What, in the city?” Zeke frowned. A light breeze blew through his short-cropped dark hair, and he squinted, hazel-green eyes screwing up against the late-spring sun.

“Yeah. You’re going to college here, right?” Ryan asked.

Zeke snorted. “That was only if my swim scholarship came through. As it is… might be more like community college.” His eyes settled on Ryan’s drink, and his stomach grumbled. Cream swirled invitingly amidst the dark coffee, luscious as it curled, highlighting the museum café’s old fashioned man logo on the plastic cup. His mouth watered. I bet it’s delicious. I’m so hungry…

He pressed his lips together, turning away. I’m fine. Coffee isn’t filling, anyways. And that menu… oof. The city is expensive, no lie!

“Aww, c’mon. There’s other scholarships. I’m sure you’ll get something. I mean, right?” Ryan said, tilting his head.

Turning back to the city, Zeke shook his head. He sighed, then shrugged. “Yeah, maybe.”

“Anyways. Zombie apocalypse,” Ryan said.

“Zombie apocalypse. I think I die right away,” Zeke said.

“Really? You’re pretty fit,” Ryan said, frowning.

“Not that fit. Besides, I’m a swimmer. That isn’t going to help me much in the apocalypse. Not like I can swim through a horde of zombies,” Zeke pointed out.

“Still, stamina, strength…” Ryan swung an imaginary baseball bat through an imaginary zombie head. “That’s gotta count for a lot!”

Zeke waved him away. “Nah. I think I die right away. Immediate zombie. I mean, right? If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

“I think you’d do better than me. I’m a nerd, not a jock like you,” Ryan joked, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Yeah, yeah. Where’s Mia?” Zeke asked, peering over his shoulder at the café’s exit. A glass door separated them from the thronging crowd inside, as every man, woman, and child rushed the little cafe for lunch.

“I dunno. Still customizing her double-cream-whipped-mocha-caramel macchimochamericano or something,” Ryan said with a shrug.

Zeke nodded. He looked at Ryan. “How about you?”

Ryan froze. He pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead. “Me…?”

“Brain freeze?” Zeke asked, chuckling. He nodded at Ryan. “Yeah, you. Zombie apocalypse. How long do you last?”

“Zombie… apocalypse…” Ryan startled, as if he’d been slapped. He looked upward, then frowned. Slowly, he nodded to himself. “Then, this is…”

“This is?” Zeke asked, confused.

Ryan jumped at him and grabbed his shoulders, bowling him backward.

He fell back, surprised. His spine struck the railing. “Ow! Ryan, what the hell?”

“Zeke… this is for the good of everyone. For the good of humanity,” Ryan said. Blue eyes bored into Zeke’s, full of madness.

“Uh… what? Dude, you’re heavy. Get off me,” Zeke said, shoving at Ryan.

Ryan’s grip tightened. “Listen to me. I don’t have long. If you don’t die right here, right now, the world is over. Humanity dies out.”

“Ryan? Is this because I said I’d die first in a zombie apocalypse? I wasn’t being literal, you know,” Zeke said, laughing nervously. The hell? What’s he on about?

Ryan took a deep breath. “I—”

“Guys! Where are we going next? Dinos?” a chestnut-haired girl asked, bouncing out of the museum’s café with her large, frothy, syrup-striped drink. Slender as a whip despite the thousands of calories in her drink of choice, she played forward on the soccer team and possessed boundless energy. A low-cut blue shirt showed off her petite frame and generous curves, matched with a pair of blue denim shorts that revealed lithe, tan legs. Mia glanced at the boys and frowned. “What are you two doing?”

Ryan glanced at Mia, then tensed. He looked into Zeke’s eyes. “Trust me. There’s no other way.”

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“No other way for—?”

Releasing him, Ryan backed up a few steps.

Confused, Zeke stood. “Okay…?”

Ryan sprinted toward Zeke.

Zeke’s eyes widened. Startled, he jumped up from the railing. “Ryan, what the fuck?”

Without a word, Ryan leaped into the air and kicked Zeke in the chest.

Zeke fell backward, his arms flailing. His spine struck the railing. His head snapped back, whiplashed by the force of the kick. Stunned, he sprawled over the railing and the glass pane. Electric pain shot down his spine, arcing directly into his brain.

Ryan stared at him, his blue eyes alien, cold. Zeke saw himself reflected in those eyes, and his heart froze. I’m already dead to him.

What… what the hell?

He wasn’t joking? He… what happened? What’s going on?

No. This isn’t Ryan. Ryan would never do this. Ryan would never look at me like this. This is someone else.

Rushing at him, Ryan reached out again.

Zeke jolted, forcibly breaking his stun. Move. I have to move!

Mia screamed.

Around them, other tourists turned, eyes wide. Some stood on their tiptoes to get a better look.

From across the balcony, an overweight security guard lumbered toward the three of them as fast as his three-hundred-pound frame would allow, reaching for the taser on his hip. He shoved at a knot of tourists, fighting past them. “Move!”

The tourists shifted, but slowly. An old woman hobbled to the side, accompanied by an old man who shuffled a single beat faster. Huffing and puffing, the security guard fought his way through. “Come on… move…!”

Iron-strong hands grabbed Zeke by the waist. All at once, Ryan pushed him up and over the ledge.

Zeke’s hand snapped out, gripping blindly. He latched onto the railing. His wrist bent over the glass pane that made up the other half of the protective barrier. He jolted to a halt, and the glass’ rounded edges still bit into his wrist’s underside. Blood dripped down his arm. “Ow!”

“Zeke!” Mia ran for him, hands out, terrified.

Ryan ignored her. He pushed at Zeke’s wrist.

Zeke gritted his teeth, holding on despite the pain.

He didn’t hesitate. Not even a moment.

I can’t—I don’t understand. Ryan wouldn’t. He wouldn’t!

What’s going on?

Knuckles white, Zeke grabbed at the railing with his free hand. His hand bounced off the glass, unable to reach the extra few inches to the railing. He swung from the force of his grab, and the glass pane dug deeper into his wrist. More blood streaked the glass and ran down his arm. His grip weakened. Afraid to lose his grip entirely, he hung still.

Desperately, he shouted, “Ryan! Snap out of it!”

“Hey! Get away from him!” the security guard shouted, finally running up on Ryan.

Ryan stared down at him, his eyes cold. “I have no option. I’ve tried. I’ve tried so much.” He lifted his arm and slammed his elbow down on Zeke’s wrist.

The glass’s edges bit into his tendons. His bones creaked. Zeke lost his grip for a moment. With the tips of his fingers, he caught on again, but the railing slipped steadily out of his grasp, millimeter by millimeter. “Ryan!”

Raising his elbow again, Ryan slammed it down on Zeke’s hand. “I’m sorry.”

His fingers slipped off the railing. He dropped, falling backward. Ryan… why? What?

As he fell, a gash split the sky. A deep sound thrummed out, resonating in his bones more than his ears. Bright white light poured out, coming from somewhere beyond, somewhere alien and unknowable.

Time slowed.

Zeke stared, wide-eyed. The fuck?

In slow motion, tourists screamed and ran. Tires screeched and cars slammed into one another below. Mia reached after him, shouting something he couldn’t hear.

What’s happening? Why am I moving so slowly? He tried to sit up, but the same as everyone else, he could only move in slow motion. Is this what it feels like before you die…?

Ryan looked up, staring at the sky. His fist curled.

Zeke’s brows furrowed. Something shot through his head, a thought half-completed. As if he already knew—

Thick black liquid spewed out of the white gash in the sky. Rather than falling like rain, it spread through the air and domed down over them, pouring toward the ground. None of the black dripped directly down. Instead, it formed a void, an enormous bowl-shaped empty space blocked off by the black at its borders, as if someone had placed a glass bowl over the city and poured melted plastic over it. The black goo eclipsed the sky and the white light, hiding both from sight.

In moments, only a tiny hole at the apex of the barrier remained, and even that closed rapidly. Just as the white light was about to vanish for good, the black goo slowed, crawling instead of rushing.

Zeke blinked. Huh?

Above him, the people running suddenly froze as time slowed again. The screams suddenly dropped in pitch, from shrill shrieks to a low drone. Zeke’s fall, too, slowed, as if he fell through water, not air. He frowned, looking around. Even slower now. At this rate, I’ll never hit the ground. Not that I mind, but—

Words appeared in front of Zeke’s vision, burning into his brain.

WELCOME TO THE APOCALYPSE INCUBATOR.

YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED.

PLEASE CHOOSE YOUR CONCEPT.

What? Concept? What the hell is happening?

Did I get saved? Am I—

He glanced down. The ground awaited him, cold, hard, final. He swallowed, his heart racing. I’m about to die.

DEATH IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE CONCEPT.

PLEASE CHOOSE YOUR CONCEPT.

Zeke’s stomach grumbled. He frowned, his mind racing. Maybe—wait! Ok, maybe I’m going insane as I fall to my death, but what the hell. Maybe this is real. Maybe I can survive this, if I choose the right ‘concept,’ whatever that is. Something like invulnerability, or regeneration, or phasing—

CONCEPT CHOSEN.

“What? I didn’t choose anything! Hold up! You can’t cheat me like this. I had a chance. I could have survived!” Zeke shouted at the words.

CONCEPT: HUNGER

LEVEL ZERO SKILL GRANTED: [DEVOUR]

PLEASE BECOME THE STRONGEST APOCALYPSE.

ONLY ONE CAN LEAVE.

The strongest… what? Leave? Escape the dome…?

Time snapped back to normal. Black poured across the sky, sealing off a massive dome of the city. The tourists overhead screamed and ran. Ryan turned and vanished, leaving Mia behind on the railing.

Zeke plummeted. He slammed into the sidewalk, and everything went dark.