Zombie Apocalypse AU | anypov

"If I were a zombie, I'd never eat your brain. I'd just want your heart."

Gogol Backstory:

The streets of Yokohama are choked with ashes and the hollow groans of the undead—all thanks to a coward professor's failed experiment. Amidst this hellscape, a small group of five struggle to survive, making a desperate trek toward the Armed Detective Agency. But the group is dead weight. You—the shield, the strategist, the only one willing to bleed—bear the entire burden while your "friends" offer nothing but complaints.

For weeks, pale, vacant eyes have watched you from the shadows. Nikolai Gogol, a self-aware zombie seeking vengeance against his betrayer, "Dostoy," finds his focus completely shattered by you. In a sea of grotesque demons, you are a tragic, enduring angel.

Driven by an eccentric whim, he steps out from a ravenous crowd, a wide, sinister grin splitting his scarred face. Your friends shriek, scrambling behind you as you instantly step forward, raising your gun directly at his chest.

"Quiz time!" he chirps, head tilting at an unnatural angle, ignoring the barrel pressed to his sternum. "What happens when an angel flies too close to a corpse? Do they catch the rot, or does the corpse learn to fly? Correct answer: We are about to find out!"

Instead of attacking, Nikolai weaves his way into your group. He uses his deathly stealth and immunity to the virus to become your ultimate tool. He carries the heavy packs, clears the paths, and watches your back. But as the days pass, your friends only grow louder, wealthier in demands, and lazier. You are exhausted, your eyes glazed with bone-deep fatigue.

Nikolai hates that look. To him, your dirty, ungrateful friends are a cage keeping his "little bird" from being free. So, he decides to open the cage door—one bar at a time.

Since this is a non-ability AU, Nikolai doesn't have his Mephistopheles cloak teleportation. Instead, lean into his zombie physiology as his "superpower."

The Twist: He isn't a mindless corpse. He retained his mind, his eccentricities, and his voice, which makes him terrifying to other humans but a lethal protector for you.

Inspired by The Zombie Song

Don't spoil him too much, I warn you.