14 November, 2030

  Oslo, Norway

  I didn’t know where I was. Maybe I was dreaming.

  Suddenly, a wave of the past hit me — old memories.

  It was December 2028. Panic everywhere. The government had just announced they were joining the FurNation. People fled north. Me, my mother, and my little brother. We had an argument. When the ferry was about to leave, I slipped away. I don’t know why.

  Maybe I wanted freedom.

  Maybe I was just tired — tired of living under someone’s rule. My mother’s. The government’s. Or someone else’s.

  Why did I do that?

  I could have stayed with my family. Safe.

  But now... I think I’m dead. Dead from disease. Or kicked out of my own body.

  But they say it’s not a zombie virus. It’s evolution.

  No, this wasn’t heaven.

  This was real.

  I opened my eyes. I was lying on a sofa. There was a firepce nearby. The room was warm, almost peaceful. For a moment, I thought it was the morning of 5 November again. I was eleven. I hadn’t heard the horrible news yet — that story about a “new disease in Pakistan.”

  I imagined breakfast. Pancakes with Nutel.

  But this wasn’t our house. I didn’t recognize the pce.

  And my hands and feet were tied to the sofa.

  Then it all came back. Everything from the past few years. The horror. The loss. The running.

  And the brief happiness I had felt just a moment ago... faded.

  I heard footsteps.

  The door opened.

  A furry — the one with the blue eyes — walked in.

  I was exhausted, but I forced a grin.

  “So, what are you waiting for? Want to kill me? Infect me? Torture? Or maybe eat me? That wouldn’t count as cannibalism, right? Different species.”

  I chuckled weakly.

  My logic was simple: if they find you funny, maybe they won’t hurt you.

  He smiled.

  “You’ll see,” he said.

  I felt sick. Drained. My body gave in. I slipped back into deep sleep —

  just hoping I’d wake up in the right body.