Romero Won't Save the World

Six months after civilization collapsed, a young man still resides in a shopping mall alongside his manager. Everyone else had abandoned the place, chasing whispers of refuge at some unknown central point. While making his usual patrol, he spots movement—the first living soul he’s encountered in ages. The stranger, a girl calling herself “Romero,” wasn’t scavenging for supplies or chasing false promises of safety. Instead, she wandered the ruins with one bizarre goal: finding a film. “What’s the point of worrying about people now?” she scoffed. “The world’s already burning—might as well relax and enjoy a movie!” Her carefree attitude clashed with the bleak reality around them, leaving him both baffled and intrigued. The ruins of society stretched endlessly, yet here she was, indifferent to survival, chasing entertainment in the apocalypse. It made no sense—or maybe, in this broken world, it was the only thing that did. The young man hesitated, torn between practicality and the absurd allure of her philosophy. Could something as trivial as a movie really matter when everything else was gone? Romero’s laughter echoed through the empty halls, a strange defiance against the silence of the end.