I carefully closed the iron door and, sitting down, looked around: on our right side we are favorably covered by an overturned truck and a few broken cars. Majority of the monsters had long since arrived on the crossroads, but some of the them, cripples, who had their arms and legs broken during the chase, were still hobbling towards the noisy carnage around the corner.
«We have to make a little detour»
“Come after me,” I whispered softly to Katya and we moved in single file, hiding under the lush bushes and young trees.
Surprisingly, with every minute spent in this new world, it became easier for me to think. Now my hands were trembling only cause of fatigue. We made short runs between buildings, lurked in the shadows, and crawled on our belly through the mud. A couple of times I had to take up a spear and quickly eliminate lone altered ones.
After some time, we were already at a sufficient distance from the crossroads, although we still had not crossed the main road. We crept into a Mercedes parked on the side of the road - the choice fell on this shelter because of the tightly tinted windows. The interior, however, was "slightly" painted with the previous driver's innards, and one could complain about the smell, however, as it turned out, we are no longer particularly choosy.
On the way to the epic battle over there, many creatures from various factions from all over the area were moving. I counted seven - we met with red, yellow and green earlier. I have not yet had to fight the last one, but I could already feel how strong Mr. Octopus was. The other four factions were of the following colors: purple, orange, blue and black.
Almost all of the low-level creatures looked the same: pale skin, huge toothy mouth, bestial habits without any hint of intelligence. It's good that the goddess of fortune was on our side and we didn't meet any sub-elites along the way.
Being a couple of meters from the constantly treading back and forth monsters, and doing nothing was damn stressful, but the right moment soon turned up - an explosion rumbled a hundred meters away, followed by a series of shots.
“Here's our chance! It looks like there are some survivors... So, we need to go to these courtyards,” I pointed the overall direction with my hand.
Girl trembled all over, but I noticed newly-acquired determination in her childish gaze. With her, as with me, it was as if a transformation had taken place, although unnoticeable to an eye.
Monsters nearby stopped feasting and at the same time, like robots, rushed towards the outburst.
I waited another twenty seconds and opened the door. Letting Katya move a little ahead, I followed behind, constantly looking around. In the windows of the apartments, the silhouettes of the altered ones, locked inside, occasionally appeared. They fought against the plastic windows, wanting to escape from their concrete prisons.
After getting to the opposite side of the street we ran into the yards and hid in the garbage yard. It's good that our local workers do such a "wonderful" job. They seemed to have foreseen such an outcome of events for more than a dozen years - garbage containers and all the free space nearby were covered with a mountain of stinking rubbish.
Alas, we did not go unnoticed: a very obese creature hurried towards us with all its might, during its lifetime the person obviously weighed over two hundred kilograms. A leash was wrapped around his right arm, and a small woolen carcass dragged along the asphalt.
Altered (*).
Level 1.
Green faction.
I got out from our little shelter and made a quick lunge. Spear blade passed between the ribs with ease, on the hungry creature's left side of the chest.
“Yeah, I’m completely tired... Was aiming at the neck,” I went to the side, getting some distance with a monster and made a couple more strikes. My spear entered too easily each time, as if it wasn't meat, but some sort of a jelly. I ended up moving onto the pavement, and the wounded creature followed me, stumbling over the curb, fell prone. The next second, as I pierced the top of his head, I saw a message:
You eliminated level 1 Altered, gained 2 experience.
«Why does it give me so little experience? And no loot! Shitty game! »
The rest of the way to my house we passed almost without incident. Apparently, the noise from the carnage attracted the attention of creatures from all nearby areas. On the way, we came across only mutilated bodies: they attracted birds and stray dogs; swarms of fat flies circled endlessly around the red puddles.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
We did not meet other survivors - most likely they hid at home or were able to leave the city. Getting closer to my home, we spotted several zombies near the playground, but we decided to avoid them.
My keys were at the ready: intercom beeped, opening the door, and, at last, we're here. I made a noisy exhalation: once in my territory, I felt immeasurably lighter, as if I had thrown a heavy backpack off my back.
«It's so quiet and cool inside»
Usual stench of the first floor spoiled the moment: a mixture of something sour, unwashed human odour and cat urine. I grimaced and, trying not to take deep breaths, quickly made my way to the elevator. After pressing the coal-black call button several times old mechanisms creaked, and the cabin doors slowly opened.
I instantly reacted - jumped back and moved my spear in front of me. However, no one jumped out at me. Inside the booth there was only a nauseating view - four familiar to me people. They lived right above me; apparently the transformation caught their whole family right there. Three of them converted, and the fourth, the smallest of them, remained a human.
“It looks like everyone was divided into different factions! What a stupid joke"
Katya silently came closer, and I, blocking the view, turned her towards the stairs.
“Let's go on foot, we have to get to the seventh floor,” I spoke through clenched teeth.
We climbed slowly, listening to any sounds and rustles. I approached the unnumbered black metal door with growing fear and a hint of hope.
«Please let her be alive and well. Please! » I kept repeating the same thing in my head. The key scratched against the metal door and beat a peculiar rhythm. Probably only on the fifth try did I finally hit the keyhole. One turn, two, and the door swung open.
I completely forgot about everything at that moment. And when the toothy creature knocked me down, pressing me to the floor, I survived only by a miracle - shaft of the bone spear protected me, getting stuck in the bared mouth and preventing the monster from tearing my throat.
I was brought to my senses by the elongated claws of the creature, or rather the cuts on my face that this impudent creature left on me. Squeezing the shaft harder, I made a short strike at the teeth of the creature and, pushing the light-weight body away, rolled to the side. Barely breaking the contact, I glanced at the system notification:
Altered (*).
Level 1.
Red faction.
God, it wasn't just some random Altered being, it was Liza in front of me. MY LIZA.
“I do not believe in this! She's so unlucky!”
She didn't have any clothes on her. Transformation must have caught her in the shower. The only thing that somehow covered her bare chest was the streaks of already dried blood. Around the mouth and a little lower, red cat hair was stuck - poor Oreshek. Apathy befell on me, making me almost dropping the spear from my hands.
«Liza», meanwhile, was recovering from the fight and, growling, rushed at me in a frenzy. I defended myself sluggishly: mostly backing away and shielding myself with a spear. There were only a bunch of questions in my head right now:
“Can I save her? Is there a cure?"
All my previous skillfulness and fighting spirit evaporated right there. Under the «Liza» momentum, I could only step back, swinging the spear from side to side, at least not giving her chances to get closer to me. At that moment, while I was stepping backwards, my humble follower got under my feet. I fell back on the old unpainted boards, reflexively putting my hand clutching the bone spear in front of me.
My weapon trembled – «Liza» impaled her open mouth on a razor-sharp spear blade that appeared in front of her. Droplets of blood splattered on my face. A second later, and life had already left her hideous body.
You eliminated a modified level 1, gained 2 experience
“NO-O-Ooooo!” It seemed that the whole universe shook from my cry.
I pulled out the spear that had pierced the girl's head and threw it aside. Tears streamed down my face. I snuggled up to her body, inhaling the sweet scent of the shampoo.
“What sick bastard made this a reality…”
In those moments, I cursed everything in the world: the system, myself and even Katya. I don’t know how long I sat like that, but I woke up from a soft touch on my shoulder.
“Uncle Sasha, please, forgive me,” I barely made out the girl's quiet words.
Not speaking once, I covered Lisa's body with a jacket and lifted her up. Out of the corner of my consciousness I noticed a barely noticeable shine and a dull thud on the floor. My head barely working, everything around me was spinning and whirling. I don't know how I managed to get inside the apartment. Katya still quietly followed me; she was dragging my heavy spear in her little hands.
I almost fell on the room's threshold, stumbling over some polished shoes. For a good minute I stared blankly at a pair of completely unfamiliar boots. Then I slowly shifted my gaze to the corridor floor. On the way to our bedroom, clothes, both men's and women's, were scattered everywhere. First, the top: shirt, trousers, T-shirt, and then underwear. I couldn’t even think anymore, absentmindedly following path made by these clues into the back room.
I pushed open closed door with my foot. Levels, zombies, skill books - all of these didn't shock me as much as what I saw there: a male body was lying on our wide bed. The once white sheets were now soaked thoroughly with blood.
I dropped Liza's body on the floor and slowly walked over there. Most of the meat from the man was already eaten, face gnawed. It is impossible to find out who once was that bastard. Although it is clear from the teeth that it was a human.
So, while I was at work... And the transformation caught them in the process. She turned into a zombie, but he was "lucky" enough to remain human.
“BITCH!” longing, guilt - everything burned inside in a furious flame.
I opened balcony door to let some fresh air into the fetid room. A bloody droplet trickled from the bitten lip. With emotions overwhelming me, I overturned the table, smashed the TV, made a couple of holes in the drywall. But it didn't help me at all! I grabbed Liza's body off the floor and went to the balcony.
Lifting the corpse over my head, I threw it forward with a furious cry. Body dived straight down and in a second crashed into a birch. Branches crackled, and a flock of crows croaked up, scattering. Liza's body never fell to the ground, stuck between the branches.
I grabbed a pack of cigarettes from the window ledge and, exhausted, sank to the dirty floor. I smoked three one after the other, and only then the wide range of emotions tearing me apart faded a little.