I woke up refreshed. Then the reality of my condition hit me and I cried a little. Then I remembered where I was and what was around me, and I shut my trap and swallowed my tears. Monsters on a side, undead on the other. Who knew how many meters to the surface. Scarce food. Contaminated water. In order of most to least worrisome problems.

The mine should connect to the surface. There was wood in the tunnels and as far as I knew, not even here it grew underground. There was the undead situation though. While that entire horde apparently burned, I had no idea how many undead there were in there. But I couldn't just dig upward indefinitely. I'd run out of food before I broke through. And releasing all that oxygen wasn't a very smart idea. While I knew my silicon was super strong because it had little faults.

Let's explore the undead-infested mine.

Yay! Not.

Orz.

I recovered my iron and went downstairs. Look at me, I had a cave duplex residence. With a swimming briny pool full of monsters, and neighbors that didn't complain about the noise. I reached the lower level and went to check on the spikes. I Decomposed the ceiling along a path so I could reach the water without having to crawl. The smell of smoke was faint now. The blue trolls didn't come to harass me but did they test the spikes? Did they break the spikes?

No.

I screamed when my flashlight hit the scene. They had rammed themselves against the spikes. I found two dead trolls impaled. They were already drained of blood, making the briny pool murkier. I bent the spikes to access the bodies and stored them in another plastic bag. My limit was three bodies per bag. There was something in the back of my mind telling me I'd end up eating them but I fought back both the thought and my stomach. I didn't eat because I had to ration my food.

I moved the spikes back and created another feature in the brine pool area. I opened a side-channel too narrow for even the smallest troll to go through and another pool on my side. This way the water would drain there and I could use it for myself without having to cross or mess with my spikes. I really hoped that after losing seven of their numbers, they were scared enough to avoid this area.

I returned to my room, used the privy and cranked the flashlight. I adjusted my titanium helmet. It was bullet-shaped, with a disk around the top, and had a nose guard it would be harder for the trolls to chew through this one now. I checked my water. I still had two liters. That would be enough for a day of exploration. I summoned my phone to track time.

The midnight hour was close at hand.

At least on the phone's clock. It changed to 23:57 to 23:58. I slid it into my pocket and opened a path upward. No more crawling for me. I looked through the hole but all I saw was burnt bones. The entire tunnel was singed with soot on both sides. Had I stayed behind, I'd have been burnt by the flames. I Decomposed part of the wall for me to slide to the other side and closed it behind me. That was a good policy. Let's make sure nothing was coming from behind me.

I tiptoed across the charred bones and walked down the tunnel carefully. I was running my hand on the left side, leaving a trail of silicon along the wall. There might be traps, both natural and artificial. The tunnel went straight for about a hundred meters, with rotten timbers along the way. The state of the timbers was better as I went by, proof that the moisture came from the leaching tunnel. The tunnel went on and then split in two. I could go ahead or turn to the right. Checking for the air current and quality would lead me back to where I came from. The air was stale but breathable.

And no, I didn't remember to track the undead horde. Big mistake, I know.

I Decomposed an alcove to the left and used the silicon to shut the side passage. I even made a bench on the alcove to sit and rest. I didn't need to rest yet so I went onward, following the left-hand rule. This tunnel went on for another couple hundred meters or so and then it opened into an abandoned mining area.

Rusted pickaxes, wooden minecarts, dust, ore. Ladders, shovels. This place was large, it went one meter up from the tunnel roof and five meters down. I could clearly see a fault line going around and the walls were painted several colors, denoting the richness of its veins. I could see the hematite, magnetite, quartz, and a green patch that must be copper. Also the coppery red of the lead ore. The ground was impossible to see, being entirely covered with what seemed like a fine and dry silt. They hit a vein, probably a very rich vein, and dug what they could. The state of the tools showed that it was abandoned in a hurry.

Or never at all.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Maybe the undead I killed was the reanimated remains of the miners. I carefully walked down the slope and reached the silt. It was very soft and my feet sunk in it. Then hell broke out. The miners that died didn't leave this place. They stayed lying down with their clothes and tools waiting for the living to disturb their rest. And that living one was me. A dozen very dead, very desiccated, and very thirsty for flesh and brains undead miners rose. They were slow but they could take all their time.

I wasn't moving.

My blood left my limbs. My brain went on vacation. The silt billowed around, cascading out from their semi-buried bodies. I could just watch and clutch my flashlight. Yeah, if that light went out, I was doomed.

They crawled in search of blood. My blood.

Then they stood up. I mewled a faint scream.

Maybe I didn't have the soul for getting down.

Or the bravery to face a ghoulish horde out in the open. I doubt anything could thrill me more than these undead were already doing.

I could swear my heart stopped. But I didn't want to face the hounds of hell or rot like a corpse along with these shells.

I shoved the scream back down my throat and ordered my body to move. I ran to the slope. Then I slipped on the fine silt and fell on my face. Or would if I hadn't the helmet protecting my nose. It tilted my head and I slammed my forehead down. I tried to climb back on my feet but it was too late.

One of the undead grabbed my ankle.

Grisly undead from this underground tomb were closing in to seal my doom. I clawed for purchase and kicked the dried hand holding my leg. I was trembling with fear. My body was shivering even though it wasn't cold.

I could swear I heard a whisper about something happening to me tonight.

I couldn't resist their evil. Another hand grasped my other leg. Panicked, I looked behind me. The ghoul was about to bite me. Bones and teeth made of calcium. Reinforced by whatever necromantic energies animated that dead matter. I wish they would crumble back into the dust where they belonged.

"Get off me, rotten bones!" I roared.

I could feel a great power leave me. And the calcium moved according to my will. I Decomposed the bones holding me and the teeth about to bite me. My breath was ragged and I was inhaling silt dust. No good. But the hands were softer now and I kicked them. Felt like rubber and they crumbled. I released the flashlight, crawled up the slope and walked on all fours before I got enough speed to stand up and dash.

I thanked myself for the bench. It was all that spared me from lying down on the floor because I had to stop and follow the grove I left on my way in, now on my right.

That was some thrill for a night. An eternal night.

I tapped around until I found and sat on the bench. I turned on the lantern and tried to breathe. Because I Decomposed more stone to allow me to lean back, I had oxygen. My mind was swimming over the facts, trying to make sense of what happened. I was able to use Decompose on the undead. They weren't living matter, right? But whatever power animated them resisted me. I drained myself to destroy one maybe two undead. There were ten to go.

I was no mere mortal.

I drank a quarter of my canteen. I could feel my strength returning. I could hear the undead coming my way. Enough running away. Enough fearing. Enough running away.

I intended to fight and stand my ground. I had to. They were taking their time to reach me. I took my metals. A cylinder of lead. A handle of aluminum. A coating of titanium. A heart carved into the titanium because why not?

A baseball bat to lay rest to the dead. Totally non-standard. I thought about putting spikes but they would be a liability. The undead felt no pain.

I stood up and took a few training swings. I adjusted the handle, made a pommel with a lead ball inside. A grip for my fingers once I found the right balance. No more R&D. My practice targets have arrived.

I shouted a stupid anime warcry and charged. If I had time, I should've donned my sailor uniform but then I'd have to use a spear. The first rule of fighting the undead. Go for the head. Always. The leader of the pack, the one with the Decomposed hand had its skull crushed with a satisfying crunch. Maybe I'd already lost enough SAN to be immune to their effects. I wasn't scared. Booya! You are not scary when I can crush you!

The next one came lurching. I swept at its legs and tripped it on another undead. Next swing I broke the arm of another zombie. They were slow so I named them zombies. I kept breaking undead when an opportunity presented itself. I left the lantern on the bench so I couldn't go too far away.

Another zombie approached, I timed and gave him a Benção kick, shoving it backward and making it fall on its back. I jumped after it and smashed its chest with a two-handed swing. Splinters of bone flew around and even nicked my face. I barely registered the scratch. The zombie tried to raise its hands but the cohesion of its chest was gone. And moments later its skull too. The arms fell limp.

Skull it is.

I bashed and crushed. With my agility, it was child's play to dance around them. On the last zombie of the dozen, I waited for it to lunge and bite the air before I grabbed its scalp and Decomposed its skull. I shoved my power in a violent way and felt the resistance of its necromantic energies. I was stronger. I shouted and pushed. The skull caved in and without the calcium to give bone its hardness, it was really like rubber. But the dry collagen crumbled. There was no brain inside.

I took the LED headband to go back and retrieve my flashlight. I also took a couple pickaxes. Steel. Then I went back to retrieve the lantern. I shut down my extra lights and stored them. Then I heard the slow clapping of hands. I turned around and before the weakest light could shine on the source, I saw to red pins of light at head level. Then I illuminated a skeleton draped in fine robes. Gold-thread, real gold.

"Magnificent," It spoke. It wasn't modern Akkadian. "Magnificent."

I said intelligent undead were way scarier, right?

Then it unhinged its jaw wide open and laughed.

"AHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAA! AHAHAHHAHAHA! HAAHAHAH! AHAHAHA!"

Thrilling. Not.