[Player Log Start!]
[Player: Asadullah Khan]
[! Log Translated From Urdu !]
[Level: 0]
It took three hours for the first disaster to happen.
They were walking through the barren wasteland, the ground rocky and unforgiving under their feet. A growl echoed through the air, and Asadullah whipped his head around to follow the sound. There was a fire, somewhere in the distance. It flared on the horizon like a blooming crimson flower.
Given the heat and the red and the general hellishness of the environment, he was willing to simply pass it off as just another of its little quirks. Except everyone else froze in place to stare at the ever-expanding plume of flame.
“Zanny’s house is over there.” Michael noted.
Jared swore, reaching for a telescope just like the one Verity was holding up.
“We need to go over there.” He stammered out, left eye shoved as close to the lens as possible, “There’s still time to-”
“Don’t bother.” Verity cut in bluntly, “It’s already gone. Fire twister.”
Of course. Fire twisters. Because this world didn’t have enough horrors already. Asadullah was beginning to feel remarkably unfazed by anything that happened here.
Jared sagged, nearly devastated.
“I thought that was over.” He whispered, “That we were past it already.”
A dark look settled in Verity’s eyes as she glanced back at the horizon. He thinks that she may have seen something there, other than the horizon, but she didn’t point it out. Instead, she turned to Jared, glaring.
“This will never be over.” She told him, voice as cutting as her knives, “And it’s going to keep getting worse the longer we stay here. The only hope we have is to go out there and beat the Game.”
“Is it? Or will we simply be leaving them behind to follow an impossible chance?” Jared challenged, vehement for all of three seconds before he was curling up in grief. Verity hesitated, no longer itching for a fight. Asadullah was the one to step forward and try to ease the conversation.
“We’re going to solve this.” He offered to Jared, “I’m sure we can do it. Doubting us isn’t going to do anything, you know? Who’s to say that staying will help you do good, anyway?” Jared softened and nodded, reaching for Asadullah’s hand.
“Uh, guys?” Michael called, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he continued to stare over the horizon, “I think the fire twister is coming this way.”
Their heads snapped towards the column of fire standing stark in the air, which was standing perfectly stationary some distance away. Apparently it was moving, though, as Verity was suddenly making a grab for the laptop and darting away, leading the charge away from the blasted thing.
Asadullah huffed and followed after, easily keeping pace on his four cheetah legs.
“That’s so freakishly annoying.” Michael panted out when Asadullah passed him.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it all before.” Asadullah agreed, grinning wildly, “Where are we headed, though?”
“Spawn point Co-ordinates.” Verity reminded him, holding the laptop open on one arm as she sprinted. He was pretty sure that the thing was incredibly fragile and clearly not meant to be held like that, but the ease at which she did it was breathtaking.
“Any idea when we’ll get there?” He probed.
“Just following the compass until something happens.” Michael replied, which was clearly meant to be a refusal. Verity froze in front of him so abruptly that Michael collided into her bushy ponytail.
“It’s too close for a break, don’t you think?” He complained, casting a glance at the fiery death pillar looming over them.
“Someone’s close.” Verity cut in, her voice serious and urgent as she stared at a pile of debris. His ears turned and expanded into tiger’s ears, and his hearing range expanded with it. A large of group of people were approaching, accompanied by the sound of purring motors and squealing tires and- he sniffed the air. Was that oil smoke?
“Vera, you got the laptop on you?” Jared asked, tensing slightly as he looked over the outcropping of rocks. Verity nodded, and Jared didn’t even dignify it with a response as he turned to face the interlopers.
They were all buff, burly people, with stringy beards and long hair, all riding up on bicycles with motors attached to them. How interesting, he’d never seen any before. He should look into Bhayyapur’s engineering school to see if something like this had been done before. If Bhayyapur still existed by the time he got back.
One man stomped forward, immediately pointing himself out as a leader. He had a bushy moustache and hair slicked back with pomade, looking remarkably put together for the frazzled state everyone else was in. Even his army fatigues were carefully tended to and patched up. Jared clearly recognized him by the way he looked at the guy and squared his shoulders.
“Burks.” He noted.
The beanpole man smirked, stroking his pointed goatee, “Hello, Jared. Funny circumstances we should meet in again, huh?”
“You know this guy?” Verity hissed.
“Yeah, to get an in!” Jared rolled his eyes, “How was I supposed to know we would cross paths here?”
“I dunno, Burks is irrational. Maybe he was struck by a sudden blight of jealousy.” Michael offered.
“I’ve never heard of this Burks before.” Asadullah decided to drop his own two cents.
Burks whipped his head around, watching them all converse amongst each other with rage that made his moustache bristle up. It was Asadullah’s comment which broke him.
“Not heard of me, eh?” He asked, hand holding a gun so tightly that his entire arm shook, “Bet that makes you feel right uppity, boy, not recognizing the greatest man in this side of the Epicenter.”
Wow, what a douche. Asadullah’s ears flattened as the tension mounted. They were barreling straight towards a fight, and he was going to be damned if he was going to be caught off-guard.
It was Verity who broke first, hefting up her gun and firing at one of the muscly guys in the background. There was yelling, and fire being returned, and everyone scattered for cover. Verity stood her ground, shooting until the magazine was empty. Only then did she let Asadullah grab her and yank her behind a pile of rocks.
Gunshots echoed in his ear as he cowered, hands clasped over the tufts of fur.
“You’ve pushed your luck for the last time, kids!” The words danced in front of his eyes, probably from Burks, judging by the voice that was roaring from the other side of the rocks.
“Jared, what do we do?” He snapped, turning to look at the boy. He wasn’t there. Only Michael and Verity were sitting there. Michael shrugged helplessly at him, while Verity struggled to reload her shotgun.
“Where did he go?” He asked, blood pounding in his ears. Were they always going to be like this? They better improve their teamwork because he didn’t think he could stand this.
“Went behind lines.” Verity replied, cocking the gun, “I’m going back out there.”
“Sit down.” Asadullah growled, “I’m going to get him back. You guys figure out an escape plan and where the Spawn Point is supposed to be.”
Verity rolled her eyes, but clicked her mouth shut as a bullet when whizzing from the corner of the rock wall.
Asadullah shrunk down into a simple desert cat and weaved through the havoc to the back of the crowd where it was… surprisingly quiet? Everything was still, eyes fixed on Jared, who seemed to be in a standoff with Burks.
He had no weapon in his hand, yet Burks looked terrified.
“Let us leave, and there’s not going to be any trouble.” He demanded, calm and measured, “Don’t bother us, and we make sure that we don’t mess with you.”
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Burks’ face twitched for a second, before his eyes went glassy.
“You can’t do this.” He argued weakly, “That was mine-”
“And now I’ve taken it.” Jared interrupted, his voice only cold steel, “So what’s it gonna be?”
Burks sagged against his will, fire burning in his eyes.
“Let them run.” He sneered at the others, backing away from Jared.
There was a moment of silence, before the gang finally lowered their guns one by one. The boy smirked, strutting past with his nose held high.
Asadullah followed him uncertainly, still in the form of a tiny cat.
“How’d you do that?” He asked, morphing into human the second they were out of sight.
“Oh, fuck.” Jared yelped, losing all composure, “Where did you come from?”
“I came to help you.” He replied, crossing his arms.
“And failed miserably, by the looks of it.” Verity snorted.
“Doesn’t matter, we need to get out of here.” Jared brushed off, “Before he recovers and decides to come after us anyway.”
They made a run for it, while Burks’ men dithered about. This time, they fell into a fixed formation. Michael led the way, holding the laptop and acting as navigator. Jared went after, with Asadullah looming over his shoulder to act as a guard. Verity rounded up the end, shotgun at the ready in case of an attack from the back.
They managed to cross over the wasteland faster, leaving Burks and his cronies far away. Still, the fiery twister of death stood starkly on the skyline, only becoming more and more noticeable as the sun went down and the sky became a rusty maroon.
Still, the march continued, even as his legs pulsed, and weakness gripped him. Geography seemed to swim in front of him, his thoughts narrowed down to the simple task of putting one foot in front of the other.
Michael finally broke the pattern by turning around sharply, making everyone bump into each other.
“What the hell, man?” Jared groaned, rubbing his eyes.
“The compass just turned completely. I think we passed by the Spawn Point.” He explained. Asadullah frowned, looking around. For once, they were in a completely flat landscape. There was no significant monument or formation anywhere nearby.
“Must just be floating in the air somewhere.” Asadullah groaned. Now they would end up groping through the plateau blindly.
“Or we walked close by it, because the compass turned 180 degrees.” Verity reasoned, tucking her gun away to walk backwards with her hands outreached as far as they would go. A couple meters back, her fingers brushed onto something that sent up a shower of purple sparks.
It felt underwhelming for the problem to be fixed so easily. Like it should have been harder. The fire twister on the horizon reminded him that he should take the victories when he could. They all rushed over to the spot Verity had found.
The second the Console Laptop touched the spot, there was a cheerful ding, and another bright panel appeared in front of them all.
[Spawn Point Reached!]
[Entering Level One…]
Once more, green pixels took over his vision, and his body lost all feeling and form.
This time, he was more prepared, and when the ground came up under him, he was ready to bend his knees down and absorb the force easily. Everyone else ended up sprawled on the ground in an inelegant pile, except for Verity, who landed in a crouch, palms outstretched to balance herself.
“Ugh…” Michael groaned, squinting as he looked around, “Where are we now?”
[You have Entered Level One!]
[Realm: L-31 | ZombieWorld]
Jared flopped onto his back, blinking blearily.
“Woah.” He breathed, “Why’re we upside down? And where did all this grass come from?”
“It’s not grass.” Asadullah replied, head craned backwards to look at the sky, which was now painted a magnificent viridian, swirling with cottony clouds and with stars winking out from behind it, frozen in the twilight hour.
“Trippy.” Verity noted, relaxing out of her tense crouch to take in the view. A short breeze blew through the area, ruffling their clothes, and making all three of his new friends shiver. The place they had landed wasn’t that cold, but it was much cooler than the constant heat that dogged them in every direction back at Wayside.
He took a deep breath, reveling in the dewy freshness this entire world seemed to be saturated with. They were surrounded by a carpet of velvety grass and broad oak trees, all healthy and glistening. Birdsong was filtering through the wilderness, and bugs skittered about near their feet, as if they were in a fairytale painting.
“This place is… pretty idyllic.” Jared noted, relaxed in the presence of the forest, “You think it really is plagued by anything? Doesn’t seem very end-of-the-world-y.”
“Maybe we’re here to stop this world’s Apocalypse before it happens?” Asadullah asked, “To set the scene or something?”
“Maybe. I’d expect it to be the boss battle at the end, but whatever. I haven’t played a video game in five years. Wasn’t allowed to play much before that, too.” He decided, tapping his chin consideringly.
Verity cracked her knuckles and dragged herself up the nearest tree to scout ahead with her telescope.
“There’s a town ahead.” She reported, “Real urban jungle stuff. Should we head down there to find a person willing to cough up exposition?”
Grass crackled underfoot and immediately made Asadullah’s ears flick towards the source of the noise, the rest of his body following a second later. There was a person leaning on the side of a nearby tree. Not the one Verity had climbed, but close to it.
Asadullah grinned and reached forward, “Hey, sir. Ma’am. Could you help us? We’re a little lost, you could say.” They didn’t respond, simply standing there with the hood pulled over their face. Asadullah frowned, unsure if his words were being processed, “Can you understand me?” He asked, “Do you not speak Urdu?”
No response.
He reached forward to wave a hand in front of the person’s face. Their arm was snagged in a wedge of the tree trunk, and Asadullah was starting to think that they might be stuck there.
“Hey, are you stuck? I can get you out, don’t worry.” He slowly pulled the limb free, and moved backward, “Can you speak, by the way, because you haven’t been- WOAH.”
Once free, the person lunged forward, the hood slipping off to reveal a rotting, moldy creature with sunken eyes and snapping jaws. It nearly took a chunk out of his neck, but Asadullah’s instincts kicked in last minute and managed to push the creature away before the fatal bite could happen. He thought he heard Verity screech in the background, but all his focus was on the monster, which was coming back for another bite.
Forearms went up, swelled with unnatural muscle that broke the thing’s arm like a matchstick. Any normal creature would have turned into a screeching ball of agony, but it kept going, as if it didn’t even feel anything. It heaved itself up effortlessly, broken arm swinging like a toy, and charging towards them.
Asadullah growled, expanding into full tiger size, trying to at least shield the others from the approaching monster. Someone screamed beside him, and a gun banged loud enough to nearly shatter his eardrums. A bullet went straight through the thing’s brain. Followed immediately by three more, each hitting the mark perfectly.
The monster froze in place. Stiff as a storefront mannequin. For a moment, Asadullah was afraid it wouldn’t fall. The relief that went through him when it crumpled was immeasurable.
[Verity Monroe has Killed the Zombie (Lv. 3)!]
[She has been Rewarded 20 Exp!]
[You have been Rewarded 10 Exp for Supporting Damage!]
[Zombie (Lv. 3) will Revive in 3 hrs]
[2:59]
“It’s still not dead?” Michael asked in disbelief. Verity lifted the shotgun and fired another round into the supposed zombie’s head. The force of the shot sent up a spray of congealed, algae-stained blood.
[Attacks after Death have no Effect!]
[Zombie (Lv. 3) will Revive in 3 hrs]
[2:57]
Verity swore up a storm, kicking her feet vindictively.
“It’s not worth it, Vera.” Jared sighed, brushing himself off, “Let’s just get out of here before it wakes up.”
“Or if more show up.” Asadullah added.
Michael shuddered, “Don’t joke about that stuff, man.”
“Oh, that’s not a joke. It’s a promise.” The translation popped up, but the voice that accompanied it was different from all the ones he’d gotten used to.
Verity didn’t even give the interloper a chance to get into their heads. She hefted her shotgun up instantly and aimed at the figure standing some way away from them. They barely managed to duck away from the bullet at the last second, or else it would’ve pierced them right in the head.
Or at least, it would have, if the gas mask they were wearing couldn’t block the bullet. They were dressed in beige and green rags, as though trying to camouflage into the mossy surroundings, and every inch of skin was covered with fabric or metal of some kind. The possibility of them being another zombie under there was painfully high. And after his last brush with dead, Asadullah wasn’t willing to take the chance.
The figure in the gas mask didn’t seem to want a fight, though, as they hurriedly put their hands into the air.
“I don’t want any fight with ya, kids!” They promised, “I’m no rotter, I swear!”
“How can we tell?” Jared asked, refusing to let up.
The person spluttered, at a loss for words.
“What ya mean, how can you tell? I’m talking. And making hand gestures. And showing a lot of high-level thinking that the braindead louts don’t have!”
They all exchanged glances.
Information on these ‘zombies’ would be available on the Console for sure, but right now they didn’t have to privilege of cracking the thing open and trying to figure it out. They needed to make an educated guess based on the one interaction they had had with a zombie to decide how much trust they wanted to put in this person.
Asadullah was… hesitant, but he could see that they meant well, and had come out to help them. Jared seemed to be fighting to keep a smirk off his face, so clearly he had all sorts of plans to rope this person in. Michael, he couldn’t read well enough, but it was Verity who would be the one to make the final call.
Verity, who was cold and solitary and hated civilization itself. Verity who seemed to still be considering whether or not to shoot this person.
Despite it all, she still surprised him, slowly lowering the shotgun and giving a stiff nod, “I guess you’re right. But we don’t exactly know what these zombie things can do anyways so… what do we know?”
The person in the gas mask snorted disbelievingly, “How haven’t you run into… whatcha call them? Zombies? I think of them as rotters, personally. They’re everywhere, kid. You gotta know what they are.”
“How about you tell us your name, and we show you why.” Jared bargained. The person stilled, but then nodded. They came closer, though Verity gripped her holster tighter when they did, and knelt forward. Slowly, hands came up and pulled off the gas mask to reveal a woman with grimy white skin and blond hair.
“I’m Ben.” She revealed, blue eyes flickering to meet each one of them, “What’s your story, kids? You might want to get a move on, because rotters will be heading here any minute now.”
“Well, Ben.” Jared cleared his throat, stepping forward to thrust the Console in her face, “Do you want to join the Game?”
The woman opened the laptop, looking politely confused. Her face fell slack in the next second.
[Benedict Carrey has Entered the Game!]
“What- What is this?” She asked, looking up at Jared.
Shuffling footsteps and rustles of bushes broke up the conversation.
“Fill you in later.” Michael promised, taking the Console from her, “I think those zombies you mentioned are coming now. We need to run.”
Asadullah patted her on the arm encouragingly, “For what it’s worth, glad to have you in the Game.” He tried to encourage her. It didn’t seem to work much.
[Player Log End!]