Reincarnating after the apocalypse

Hi, I'm Mark Stevensson, although I only go by Mark nowadays. I am a slightly above average survivor of the apocalypse as I managed to form my energy core relatively early to manifest my power. Ah, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself aren't I? My bad.

Well, long story short: A zombie apocalypse happened. Humans, animals and zombies alike grew stronger by devouring the energy core in the opposing parties' brains. In the early stages we got pushed back due to their overwhelming numbers. The fact that our guns stopped being effective past the second month didn't help either. By the end of the year they lost their usefullness completely but by that point we already had the upper hand.

A year later we overcame the crisis with barely any zombies left in existance. We had won. At that point humanity's population was only 100 million. This was without a doubt the most tragic event in the entire history of mankind. But we were not finished yet. In each major survivor stronghold a rift appeared. This rift had a countdown of seven days. The major powerhouses of humanity gathered and sent scouting teams into the rifts. They never returned. In response the top brass chose to keep the powerhouses united on earth to battle this unknown foe.

It's currently 5 hours until the countdown reaches zero. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. As mentioned previously I am only above average. If a serious threat were to emerge I doubt I'd be anything but cannonfodder.

I take a sip of whiskey, a perk of regaining control over the surface, as I ponder about my life.

When the apocalypse broke out I was studying for an upcoming math test. Like many others I was totally unprepared when the disaster struck. I still break out a cold sweat thinking about how close I was to dying multiple times during these couple of years. Luckily I happened upon a ragged looking man who, as payment for the food I gave him, told me about the energy cores. But by that point I was already too far behind the true powerhouses of mankind and I would have to risk my life an uncountable amount of times in order to come out on top. Because of this I made the decision to survive rather than live.

Don't get me wrong I know that I only have myself to blame for my pathetic situation as only those willing to risk it all are the ones with the right to gain true power. Even when I made my decision I knew that this would likely be the outcome. I will accept the fate I set for myself with open arms.

Oops, look at the time. Only 2 mintues left until the potential end of the world. Guess I'll go watch from my window

1 minute left

30 seconds left

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

Ehh...

Where am I?