PART I — THE BITE
The night hadn't finished breathing yet.
Smoke still clung to the ruins like a second skin. Emergency lights flickered weakly, casting long, broken shadows over the fallen BSAA soldiers. No one spoke. Everyone was still catching up to the fact that they were alive.
Shizuka stepped forward.
"…There's someone moving."
Her voice was soft, hopeful.
Near the edge of the barricade, a BSAA soldier—one who had been lying face-down moments ago—shifted. His fingers twitched against the concrete. Slowly, painfully, he pushed himself upright.
"Hey!" Shizuka said, taking a step closer. "You're alive—"
"N-No, wait—!" Leon started.
Too late.
The soldier's head lifted.
His eyes were clouded. His jaw hung loose. A low, wet growl escaped his throat.
"Nobita—!" Doraemon shouted.
The soldier lunged.
Shizuka barely had time to gasp before teeth sank into her injured shoulder. Blood sprayed. She screamed—a sharp, broken sound that froze everyone in place.
"SHIZUKA!" Nobita shouted.
The zombie tore away, snarling, blood dripping from its mouth.
Nobita didn't think.
He raised the Lightning Hawk.
The shot rang out.
The zombie's head snapped back and exploded in a flash of blue-white light. The body collapsed instantly, lifeless for good this time.
Silence slammed down.
Shizuka's legs gave out.
"N...nobita—" she whispered.
He caught her before she hit the ground.
"No—no no no no—" Nobita dropped to his knees, cradling her against his chest. Blood soaked his hands. "Don't leave me. Please. Please don't leave me."
His voice cracked completely.
He hugged her tighter, shaking. "I'm here. I'm here. You can't—please—"
"Nobita, move away from her!" Helena shouted, rushing forward. "We don't know—!"
Doraemon froze, eyes wide. "Shizuka…"
Gian's fists clenched so hard his nails dug into his palms. "No… no way…"
Suneo covered his mouth, trembling. "This isn't happening…"
Dekisugi stood rooted
Shizuka's eyes fluttered.
Nobita squeezed them shut, bracing himself—waiting for the bite, the turn, the moment he'd seen too many times already.
Instead—
"…Nobita."
Her voice was weak.
He froze.
Slowly, he opened his eyes.
Shizuka was looking at him.
Still human.
Still herself.
She lifted her trembling hand and wrapped it around his shirt.
"…You're… crushing me," she whispered faintly.
Nobita let out a broken laugh that turned into a sob. "Y-You're awake… You're really awake…"
She hugged him back.
Tightly.
"I'm here," she said softly. "I'm not going anywhere."
Around them, everyone exhaled at once.
Gian wiped his eyes angrily. "T-That's not funny, okay?!"
Suneo sniffed. "I almost died of fear before the zombies even got me!"
Doraemon knelt beside them, hands shaking as he scanned Shizuka. "…We need medical support. Now."
Chris was already on the radio. "Medical camp. Full quarantine protocol. We have a bite victim—still conscious."
Leon looked down at Nobita, his voice quiet. "…You did good. But we can't risk it."
Nobita nodded slowly, still holding Shizuka like she might vanish if he let go.
PART II — THE CLOCK
The medical tent smelled like antiseptic and fear.
Shizuka lay on a cot, hooked to monitors. Nobita stood beside her, refusing to sit. Doraemon stayed close, watching every flicker of the screen.
A doctor entered, gloves already stained.
"We'll need a blood sample," he said gravely.
Chris crossed his arms. "How bad?"
The doctor didn't answer yet.
He drew blood and moved to a microscope station. Everyone waited. The silence stretched until it hurt.
Finally—
"…This doesn't make sense."
All eyes turned to him.
"The C-virus spread is already at ninety percent," the doctor said slowly. "It's aggressive. Extremely."
Helena's face drained of color. "Ninety…?"
Chris whispered, "…That should be fatal."
The doctor nodded. "Yes. She should have turned within minutes."
Shizuka shifted weakly. "I… feel tired…"
Nobita grabbed her hand. "Rest. Please."
The doctor adjusted his glasses. "The only explanation is her immune response. Her body is producing an unusually strong antibiotic reaction—strong enough to suppress the virus temporarily."
Leon frowned. "Temporarily?"
The doctor swallowed. "…At this rate… she has about thirty minutes."
The words hit like gunfire.
"Thirty… minutes?" Gian repeated blankly.
Suneo shook his head. "That's… that's not enough time…"
Dekisugi whispered, "…The missile…"
Everyone turned to Nobita.
He stepped outside the tent slowly, like his body weighed a thousand tons.
The night air felt colder.
A translucent interface appeared before his eyes.
[TIME REMAINING — 00:29:47]
Two timers.
Two disasters.
His gaze dropped to another blinking icon.
[UNREAD NOTIFICATION — 1]
He opened it.
[SYSTEM ABILITY UNLOCKED]
REWRITE FATE
Type: Absolute
Usage: One Time Only
Effect: Alter a single predetermined outcome
Nobita's breath caught.
One choice.
One use.
He clenched his fists. If I use this on Shizuka…
The missile still launches.
Millions die. The world collapses.
If I stop the missile…
Shizuka dies.
His knees nearly buckled.
"…Why now," he whispered.
He closed the interface.
For now.
PART III — THE DEAD WHO WALK
Leon stepped out of the tent. "We need answers. Those soldiers—why did they reanimate?"
The doctor joined them, holding a scanner. "Residual virus gas. It's in the air, thin but present. Only dead tissue reacts to it and it mutates fully."
Chris's jaw tightened. "Meaning anyone who dies here—comes back."
"…As a zombie," the doctor finished.
Doraemon looked around at the fallen BSAA soldiers. "…We can't leave them like this."
Chris nodded grimly. "We'll bury them. Deep. Somewhere isolated. No chances."
Gian looked away. "They were protecting people…"
Suneo whispered, "They deserve peace."
Nobita stared at the ground.
Thirty minutes.
Two fates.
One choice waiting.
He looked back at the tent where Shizuka lay.
"…I won't choose yet," he said quietly.
Leon placed a hand on his shoulder. "…Whatever you decide—you won't be alone."
The wind carried distant sirens.
The clock kept ticking.
And somewhere in the dark—
Simmons was still alive.
The ground was soft.
Too soft.
It had rained earlier, and the soil near the edge of the ruined district still held moisture, dark and heavy as it swallowed the first shovel of dirt. The sound was dull. Final.
No one spoke.
BSAA soldiers worked in silence, digging long, narrow graves beneath broken streetlights and temporary floodlamps. Each body was wrapped carefully. Each tag checked twice. Weapons laid aside. Helmets cleaned of blood before being placed on the chests.
They weren't just soldiers anymore.
They were names.
Leon stood with his head bowed, one hand resting on his knee. His jaw was tight—not angry, not yet—but strained, like something inside him was being forced down.
Helena clasped her hands together, eyes closed. She whispered something under her breath—maybe a prayer, maybe an apology.
Chris stood apart.
Arms crossed.
Not moving.
He stared at the graves like he was memorizing them.
Doraemon and the others stood together behind the line, closer to the civilians but not among them. Gian was unusually quiet, hands shoved deep into his pockets. Suneo didn't say a word, his usual chatter completely gone. Dekisugi adjusted his glasses repeatedly, even though they weren't slipping.
Shizuka wasn't here.
She was still in the medical tent.
Nobita stood at the front.
The wind brushed past him, carrying the smell of earth and smoke. His clothes were still stained with blood—some his, some not. Void-Fang rested at his side, wrapped now, silent, as if it understood the moment.
A BSAA officer stepped forward.
"Sixteen confirmed casualties," he said hoarsely. "They held the perimeter during evacuation. Without them… civilians wouldn't have made it out."
No applause.
No response.
Just the sound of shovels.
One by one, the bodies were lowered.
Dirt followed.
Leon finally spoke, his voice rough.
"…They did their job."
Chris didn't look at him.
"They did more than that," Chris said. "They believed they could stop it."
His fists tightened.
"And they paid for someone else's god complex."
The last grave was filled.
A moment passed.
Then Nobita stepped forward.
Everyone turned—not because he demanded attention, but because something in his posture had changed. He wasn't shaking. He wasn't crying.
He was steady.
"They didn't know us," Nobita said quietly.
"They didn't know Doraemon… or Shizuka… or me."
He looked at the graves.
"But they still stood there."
His voice hardened.
"They died because Simmons chose to run. Again."
Chris turned slightly, surprised.
Nobita clenched his fists.
"We stopped him once.
We almost stopped him twice."
He looked up, eyes burning—not with rage, but certainty.
"And we let him leave."
Leon met his gaze. "…You're right."
Nobita took a breath.
"I don't care if he mutates again.
I don't care how many forms he has."
He turned to the soldiers. To the civilians. To Doraemon and his friends.
"For them," he said, gesturing to the graves.
"For Shizuka.
For everyone who doesn't get to run anymore—"
His voice didn't shake.
"We will not let Simmons live and leave again."
The words settled like stone.
Gian nodded hard. "Yeah. No more running."
Suneo swallowed. "…No more."
Dekisugi spoke softly. "This time, we end it."
Doraemon looked at Nobita—really looked at him—and understood something new.
This wasn't just survival anymore.
This was responsibility.
Chris stepped forward and placed a hand over his heart.
"…Then we finish it."
Leon chambered a round. "Together."
Helena nodded. "No mistakes."
The wind passed over the graves.
The lights flickered.
And somewhere far away—
A monster was breathing.
Not for long.
END OF CHAPTER