Hey guys, so I'm taking a break from my other stories. I'm still can update the monthly, but due to my ADHD I need to write other things in between. This is a story that I've had for a while now. I thought it was about time I posted it. Enjoy!

– DN

Disclaimer: I do not own Zombieland or any of the characters. I'm just a super obsessed fan with a computer and a lot of free time.

Chapter 1: Please Don't Shoot

Columbus stared at the TV absentmindedly. There is nothing on. There hadn't been for a while. You see, there had to be people to put out a TV broadcast. About a month ago, Patient X ate a burger contaminated with the virus that caused the plague of 21st century. It spread too fast for a cure to be discovered. For all Columbus knew, he was the last human alive. Well, sort of human.

Columbus' mom was 3/4 neko and his father was a half neko. Nekos are cat-like humans with ears and occasionally tails. His parents were an odd case though. Nekos are very skittish and dependent creatures. They need to have someone to look after and take care of them. Because of this, almost all nekos mated themselves with strong human men regardless of their gender. Because his dad was only a halfa, he ended up taking not only a female mate, but a neko one at that. This had only happened one other time in history.

Thankfully, Columbus was a half neko like his father. If he was a skittish as his mother, he would have never been able to go to the college where he resided now. He had managed to get ears like his parents, but unlike his parents, his tail was retractable. It only came out when he wished for it to. Being a neko wasn't easy in the normal world, let alone in Zombieland. He never took off his beanies or his hoods around strangers. Now that the world had gone to hell, he was trapped. He tried to leave, he would surely be killed the moment he left the apartment. That's why he was sitting on the couch in his dorm now.

The sound of his stomach growling broke the silence of the empty room. Columbus sighed and got up from his place on the couch in favor of raiding the cabinets and pantry. His ears drooped in despair. His search had turned up nothing. He had absolutely no food. Not even a crumb. He would've cried out in frustration, but a loud sound from outside made his ears twitch beneath his beanie and his body stiffen. From what he could tell, the sound had come from the ground floor. His heightened senses combined with the silence allowed him to hear a lot farther and better than most humans. There were cries that could only be the undead coming from the same floor. A pack of them must've gotten in! If they got into his dorm, he'd have no way to defend himself. He was so screwed.

Columbus ran to his safe place without the slightest hesitation. He ran to the bathroom, locked the door, then got into the linen closet and closed the door tight. A hand clutched itself onto the front of the hoodie he wore in an attempt to calm his racing heart. Columbus peered through the small slits in the wooden door's shutters. The noises had slowly quieted to nothing. The neko let out a shaky breath and curled into the little nest of blankets that had been made by him so he'd have a place to hide when he was overwhelmed or scared. It had been used often even before the plague. He nuzzled into the comfy blankets and let his eyes shut slowly. The noise may be gone, but he wasn't ready to leave his little safe haven just yet. He was so worn from a small scare that the sound of rustling from the second floor didn't awaken him from his deep sleep.

Columbus was retched from his dreams by the sound of his front door's handle jiggling. Something was trying to get in. His face paled as he heard the telltale crack of the door being broken in. Columbus was beyond terrified by the sound of something going through his dorm. He tried to crawl further into his nest, but accidentally bumped the shelf above him. A box of toiletries fell from the shelf and clattered to the floor of the small closet.

The rustling in the other room stopped. Columbus was shaking horribly. Why did this always happen him? He didn't have a rule to get him out alive this time. All he could do was hide and pray he wasn't found. Apparently whatever gods(if any still existed) weren't listening to his prayers because two seconds later the door knob to the bathroom began to jiggle just as the front door had. The door met the same fate as the last as the lock was broken and the door was smashed inward. The wood's impact shook the walls of the dorm's bathroom. Columbus held a hand over his mouth to silence his breathing and wrapped the other arm around himself in a halfhearted attempt to quell his frantic shaking.

Figure could be seen moving around the room just barely through the slits of the closet door. He could see enough to know that whatever it was had a gun. It having a gun didn't relieve the boy's fears at all. Nowadays, zombies weren't the only cannibals. People were killing each other over a handful of shotgun shells and a bag of goldfish. Who's to say that the thing, if it was even human, wouldn't just shoot him and be done with it. The poor neko went into a fit of silent sobs as the figure began to walk over to his closet. Rule # 22 mocked him in his misery. "When in doubt, know your way out." Well, there was no way out. He now had a new rule to add to the list. Rule #29: If you're able to see them, then there able to see you. The handle twisted and the door flung open. The neko shielded himself with his arms in his curled and prone position as a gun had been immediately aimed at him upon the closet being opened. Columbus couldn't find the courage to look as he shook. A small whimper of a plea managed to be uttered from his trembling lips. "Please… d… don't...s..shoot me."