Right. It does make sense the game ends if she dies. It would be so much work to make a whole other game story for if she was dead.You're probably talking about a passage where Shani was in the Zone in an older version of the game. I think the change was made later. If I'm not mistaken, there was a confrontation with some enemies in the building where Shani ends up hiding when she arrives in the Zone. What you said about the POV switch to Zaton was probably just a temporary thing, like an update ending with Shani’s death. If that option still exists when she goes off to explore the Zone, I don’t think it’s possible to keep playing without her in the game now.
There seems to be a small handful of places she can die now I think about it. On her mission with MC to those mummy zombies, in the apartment on her special mission, trapped inside that dream sequence with the lady inside a house on her special mission.. she can also die at the end of her mission to those 3 guys ambushing her? Dangerous world lol