July 30, 2072
John enters the house; it was already late at night when he arrived. He smells a stench, something like mold and rot. He walks to the kitchen, switches on his flashlight, and sees a body on the floor. Suddenly, something hits the back of his head, knocking him unconscious.
John wakes up tied to a chair. His vision is blinded by an LED bulb, the only light in the place. Gradually, his sight begins to clear. He sees a man in a white hoodie with hair so long it covers his eyes. He is wearing blue pants and dirty white shoes. John begins to squirm in the chair.
"Awake? You're a light sleeper, huh, man?" said the man in the white hoodie.
"What do you want?!" John asked in a harsh tone.
"Take it easy, take it easy. I was just looking for food, and I ended up finding plenty."
John notices his mouth—it was covered in blood. His clothes were also stained with blood. John looks at the floor and sees a pile of devoured corpses, all disfigured. They are full of holes, bite marks, and missing body parts.
"While you were out, I had a HUGE banquet. It was delicious! I've never felt so satisfied with food in my entire life. You know, until two years ago, I ignored the hunger for human flesh," he puts a hand to his head. "But I slowly started to succumb, and then I devoured a dead woman. I ate the arms, the legs, and then, as if that weren't enough... I FUCKED HER CORPSE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Who knew I could eat a girl like that! And let's be honest, she had a body too good to waste."
"You're sick!"
"Now, now, now, now, now... why the insults?"
The man in the hoodie clenches his fist and punches John in the face, turning his skin bright red. He continues to beat his face and stomach. After the sequence, John spits out a significant amount of blood.
John's eye turns purple, and his nose is broken. The man's hands are filthier than before, now coated in John's blood. He licks them, grinning from ear to ear, and kicks John in the face, stomach, and chest. The force knocks the chair over, sending him to the floor.
"I just realized. How did you turn the light on?"
"Isn't it obvious? I used the generator. What little fuel it had left, of course."
Suddenly, the lights go out. John feels the ropes loosen; from the intensity of the beating, the cords had frayed and snapped at some point.
He quickly stands up and lands a punch on the man in the hoodie, knocking him down. John knows this house like the back of his hand. He ducks into Lisa's room and hides.
Crawling under her bed, he hears a flashlight clicking on. He sees a beam of light coming from the kitchen, slowly approaching Lisa's room.
The man in the hoodie enters and scans the girl's room. The walls were seafoam green, and plastered on one of them was a huge poster that read: "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure!" Above the text were muscular men alongside humanoid creatures in cool colors.
"The person who lived here liked this anime? Damn, this thing is ancient."
Illuminating more of the room, he notices a rack full of A4 sheets and a laptop. He looks at the papers; they were covered in drawings of women in very extravagant outfits.
The drawings were remarkably well-done. John takes advantage of the distraction and slowly slides out from under the bed. He creeps up behind the man and delivers a blow to his temple, sending him crashing to the floor. The man's ear begins to bleed.
He starts convulsing on the floor. John seizes the opportunity, grabs the flashlight, and leaves the room. He heads for the back door, but it is locked with a padlock.
John starts checking his pockets to see if he left the key somewhere—nothing. He moves to a nearby table and starts feeling for anything useful. He feels something shaped like a flashlight, grabs it, and tries to turn it on. The light flickers for a moment but eventually stays steady.
Scanning the room with the light, he sees the corpses devoured by that man. Ignoring the gore, he searches the table and finds the man's ID:
Name: Jack
Surname: Reedus
Date of Birth: 10/31/2043
Father's Name: Matt Foster
Mother's Name: Jane Reedus
"Quite a record you've got here."
After that, John walks to his own bedroom, which was surprisingly clean. He begins searching the drawers, under the mattress, and in the closet for the key. Suddenly, he hears something hit the floor near him. He turns around, and Jack is standing right in front of him.
"Voy a matar."
Jack lunges at John, aiming for his face.
John deflects the punch and counters, but Jack dodges and lands a left hook. The blow hits John's left ear, making it bleed.
Jack prepares his next move, aiming for the stomach. John crosses his arms over his midsection to defend himself, but it's a feint—the punch goes high, striking John's jaw.
John drops to his knees near the bed. As Jack prepares to throw a kick, John catches his leg with his hands and trips him. Jack loses his balance and hits his head on the floor, dazed. John seizes his chance, climbs on top of him, and begins punching Jack's face repeatedly.
4 YEARS AGO:
John and Lisa are sitting in the living room watching TV. A boxing match is on—a women's national championship. Lisa seems ecstatic, throwing punches at the air as she watches the fighter gain the upper hand.
"Yes! Finish her!" Lisa shouted in a state of pure hype.
"You're definitely not a normal girl, hehe!" John teased.
"Sorry if I don't play with dolls or watch those stupid Asian boy bands."
"Easy there, kiddo, I was just joking... besides, I don't know how that BTS stuff still exists."
"Sorry... but that band really is horrible. I tried listening to one song and just got angry."
"I don't think it's that bad. In my time, that crap was huge. I even liked a group for a little while."
"Which one? I'm gonna love knowing just so I can roast them on Insta later."
"Don't you dare. How many times have I told you that making fun of other people's work is wrong? But fine, I'll tell you. It was a group called 'Red Velvet'."
"Never heard of them."
"Probably because they had already retired for two or three years by the time I started listening. Nowadays they're just old ladies, all free from that life. You have no idea how much of a hell a K-pop idol's routine is."
"Whoa!"
On the television, the fighter Lisa was rooting for won the match and was being draped with the championship belt.
Lisa jumps onto the sofa, hopping with joy. Back then, she had brown hair and wore a black shirt that said UFC 2068 and baggy blue denim shorts. John sees Lisa jumping on the furniture and gets annoyed.
"Stop jumping, girl! My god!"
Lisa stops jumping and points a finger at John.
"Daddy, you'll see! I'm going to become a great fighter, and I'm going to win every championship! I'll bring home so much money!"
"You never give up, do you?"
"Sorry. It's just that Mom was a powerhouse too. Remember when she carried a gas cylinder all by herself?"