Chapter 3: Zombies Really Aren't fun.
*Erika’s POV*
Not even eight minutes later, I came across a man just outside the shopping center. He was in a really bad way, to say the least. Actually, I think he’s dead. I mean, he was missing both his legs and both of his arms.
What was left of him was covered in deep scratches and bite marks. I looked at him more closely and I could tell that he was still breathing. I thought that I might as well use my inspect skill on him.
Erika: “Inspect.” I say quietly.
*Ding!*
:General:
Name: Daniel Grant.
Race: Human
Sex: Male
Age: 32
HP: 3/5800
MP: 1/500
Occupation: Savior.
Erika: “So, he is Savior.” I say with one of my hands on my chin.
Daniel: “Y-you! S-save me please!” Daniel said with much difficulty and spat up a lot of blood in the process, not hearing my previous comment.
Erika: “Even if I wanted to, you aren’t really savable in that state.” I say with my arms crossed.
Daniel: “L-look… I can’t explain with my body in this condition… J-just help me drink a potion.” He said with more blood coming out of his mouth.
Erika: “Potion? What are you even saying?” I say with pretend confusion.
He didn’t explain and just took a potion out of his inventory. It landed on his chest. I guess he really thought that I would help him. To his shock, I just took the potion from his chest and put it in my own inventory.
Does everyone have an inventory or something? Anyway, I picked him up and took him back to the women's clothing store. It wasn’t much of a walk but he kept yelling which was extremely annoying.
I considered cutting his tongue off but, instead, I just gagged his mouth with that red tank top. I took it not to use as clothing but, to use as my dedicated cleaning cloth.
With the torso Savior in tow, I took him into the store. The horror in his eyes as he realized what I was going to do was something I have seen a few times before so, it didn’t phase me at all.
I sat the man on the torso zombie and let it eat him. I needed to complete a task after all. I at least want to complete one before I end up dying. How could I just not complete it after being given the ability to do so? Even though it was cruel, a job is a job.
It was five minutes of suffering for the Savior until his worthless struggle and muffled screams came to an end. I decided to let the torso zombie live yet again in respect of his help in completing one of my tasks. I left the store and once again heard that annoying sound.
*Ding!*
Enemy killed!
The Savior, Daniel Grant, was a high ranking Savior. To not cause suspicion of the host, all rewards from killing him will not be granted. Instead, a D+ Grade Monster Core made from his soul will be given.
Side Task, Get an Undead to kill a Savior, completed.
Rewards: 3 E+ Grade Monster Cores.
Damn! He was a high rank Savior, but I can’t get any benefits from killing him. What does the system mean by suspicion? I guess that I’ll have to just ask Victoria when I get back. At least I got a monster core and a completed task out of this. As such, I took the three E+ Grade Monster Cores out of my inventory and used them.
*Ding!*
3 E+ Grade Monster Cores consumed.
You got 153 Stat Points from them.
Erika: “What? Isn’t that a lot?” I say with a confused expression on my face.
So an E+ Monster Core gives me 51 Stat Points… Either that’s a lot or the number of points needed to increase your Stat Ranks shoot up drastically…
I honestly need to think hard about how to use these points so, I put using them off for a later time. First I need to get out of this city. I don’t want to stay in this nightly death trap any longer.
*Three Hours later.*
The sun was still up by the time that I had made it out of the city. Luckily, I wasn’t in the center of it but on the edge. It only took 1 hour and 30 minutes to make it out. I have no idea what that Saviors goal was in that deathtrap of a city. When I find any other Savior, I could try and ask them.
Was this really California? I am now in a huge forest. With trees as big if not bigger than the skyscrapers in that city. Isn’t California a desert? This certainly isn’t natural…
I wasn’t about to just camp out in the middle of a huge forest so, I walked for a few more hours. Once out of the forest, I saw a settlement. It was heavily fortified with tall walls. I had some hope that there were people in it so, I went ahead towards it. But my hope was quickly dashed.
There were gaping holes all over the walls. Now that I think about it, it wouldn’t be odd for the zombies to be able to make it this far and head right back to safety in the city before the sun came up.
Climbing up and into one of the holes in the wall, I made it into the makeshift city. All that remained was just bones everywhere.
It’s a shame but, at least I have a place to stay for the night. The sun is about to set as well, I just need to find a more secure location to sleep at.
I walked around the place for 20 minutes before finding a bunker. They must have made a safe haven in this bunker due to it being very secure.
The hatch was still sealed shut but, after trying for a few minutes I was able to turn it and open the bunker up.
Inside I found the skeletal remains of three people. All three of them had a hole in their skull. I’m guessing that they must have gotten trapped in here and instead of waiting for the zombies to leave, the three decided to use a gun to end it. Not the worst way to go out, I suppose. I would rather fight than kill myself, though.
Examining the bodies, one was an adult male, the other two were both female with the only difference being that one was an adult and the other was a child. A family maybe?
Though it didn’t look like a group suicide since the skeletons weren’t close together… On a brighter note, I found a handgun in the hand of the male skeleton.
It’s a M1911, more specifically the modern M1911A1 variant. There were four bullets still in the mag with one round in the chamber so, I had five rounds total left in this handgun.
I didn’t see any extra boxes of ammo anywhere. But to be fair to myself, there is no light in this bunker at all. With my plan of smuggling a firearm into a fantasy world already set to be a roaring success, I put the handgun into my inventory.
This place looks like the best place to sleep for now. Since I made the decision to camp here, I went back to the door and shut and locked it. I also made sure there weren't any other ways to get in then. I set up my sleeping bag and was going to sleep before I remembered about my Stat Points.
Though, before I could even say “Status” my stomach made an interesting and embarrassing noise. It’s not that I’ve forgotten to eat, it’s just that in my past life I could easily go a week without needing to eat.
This body isn’t up to my own standards it seems… I opened up my inventory and took the emergency supplies out of it. There were a few meals worth of food in this kit. I won't have to look for food for at least a while.
I took a pack of beef jerky and a few candy bars out before putting the rest of the supplies back in my inventory. Once again, it was only counted as one item.
I can only guess that if it's part of a set, the inventory will only count it as one item. What is the reason as to why it does that, I have no idea, but it works out well for me so, I won't complain.
Even as a soldier, I was always a slow eater so, it took me fifteen minutes to eat the beef jerky and the candy bars and, by the time I was done, the sun had set. There was a small hole in the roof of this bunker that I could see the sky from, which was why I was able to tell the time of the day. Finally, I could distribute my Stat Points.
Erika: “Status.” I again say to no one.
*Ding!*
:General:
Name: Erika Ardent.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Race: Human
Sex: Female
Age: 18
:Stats:
Available Stat points: 153.
HP: 25/25 (0/5)
MP: 5/5 (0/5)
INT: F (0/18)
STR: F+ (0/15)
AGI: F+ (0/20)
END: F+ (0/10)
DEF: F+ (0/10)
LUCK: F (0/50)
:Skill list:
Knife Mastery: Level 1.
One-Handed Sword Mastery: Level 1.
Inspect: Level 1.
:Titles:
Dark Savior: S.
I put 18 Stat Points into INT. I got a notification of its Rank increasing. My fears were once again correct. It now took 35 stat points to increase my INT’s rank. I was a bit afraid that I couldn’t return to my standard of intelligence just yet so, I took out that core I got from killing Daniel out of my inventory, and used it.
*Ding!*
A D+ Grade Monster Core was consumed.
You got 153 Stat Points from it.
Huh? 153 again? A D+ Grade Monster Core gives just three times the amount that an E+ Graded Monster Core gives it seems… I thought that I had an idea of how this system worked but, looks like I was wrong.
To know for a fact, I have to consume more Monster Cores of various Grades. Instead of worrying about that, I checked my status once again.
*Ding!*
:General:
Name: Erika Ardent.
Race: Human
Sex: Female
Age: 18
:Stats:
Available Stat points: 288.
HP: 25/25 (0/5)
MP: 5/5 (0/5)
INT: F+ (0/35)
STR: F+ (0/15)
AGI: F+ (0/20)
END: F+ (0/10)
DEF: F+ (0/10)
LUCK: F (0/50)
:Skill list:
Knife Mastery: Level 1.
One-Handed Sword Mastery: Level 1.
Inspect: Level 1.
:Titles:
Dark Savior: S.
I got my INT to A Rank with most of my Stat Points. Although it isn’t S rank, I can still feel that I’ve regained a decent portion of my intelligence. After I was done with my INT, I had 50 Stat Points left… Do I do the wise thing and chose to evenly distribute the remaining Stat Points or, do I put the rest into Luck?
I was never a gambling woman but with luck costing so much more than other Stats even at F rank, surely it should be worth increasing it, right? I bit the bullet and put the rest of the points into my Luck Stat. My Status now looks like this.
*Ding!*
:General:
Name: Erika Ardent.
Race: Human
Sex: Female
Age: 18
:Stats:
Available Stat points: 0.
HP: 25/25 (0/5)
MP: 5/5 (0/5)
INT: A (0/125)
STR: F+ (0/15)
AGI: F+ (0/20)
END: F+ (0/10)
DEF: F+ (0/10)
LUCK: F+ (0/180)
:Skill list:
Knife Mastery: Level 1.
One-Handed Sword Mastery: Level 1.
Inspect: Level 1.
:Titles:
Dark Savior: S.
I felt that I might have screwed myself over since, unlike with my INT Stat I didn’t feel any luckier… To show how much of a mistake I had just made, I heard a roar, and suddenly my bunker was swarmed with the sounds of banging and moaning…
Either the zombies came from the city or there was an underground area where the Undead could sleep during the day.
Unlike my previous shelter, I was very confident that this one would hold up and I only needed to wait until morning to leave. It was almost pitch black in this bunker with the only light being from the moon. Which begs the question, why can the zombies survive in the moonlight but not the sunlight? The moon's light is just a reflection of the sun after all… It must be the UV rays that they can’t stand. I should be on the lookout for a UV flashlight.
Speaking of a flashlight, I got the emergency supplies out of my inventory once again. It just so happened to not only have a flashlight but, also one with a UV function. To test my theory, I shined the UV light at one of the holes in the bunker that a zombie was blocking. The zombie yelped and then quickly got out of the UV lights path. I was right.
It would be hard to sleep with all of the banging and moaning going on but, I could get used to it eventually. For that purpose, I decided to look around the bunker with my flashlight. I forgot to do so during the day but luckily with my flashlight, it won’t be another regret of mine.
After looking around for 30 minutes, all I found was a box of ammo, fortunately, it was the same caliber as my “new” handgun, that being 45ACP. I took my gun out and reloaded the mag to 8 rounds, then I put the leftover ammo in my inventory.
I now have 8 rounds in my mag and one extra round in the chamber of my handgun. Taking a look at my inventory, it says that I have 55 bullets left in the ammo box but, it’s only counting it as one item.
The only other thing that I found was a tattered note that I couldn’t read at all. I felt quite annoyed that the note was unreadable but with some of my intelligence returned, I figure that I could try putting it in my inventory and trying to read it from there. As such, that’s exactly what I did.
Erika: “Inventory.” I say with a slightly excited tone that I’ve never used before.
*Ding*
*Current Inventory*
Steel Dagger: F
A basic steel Dagger.
One Handed Steel Sword: F
A basic steel sword.
A basic female outfit: Null x 6.
Regal Nightgown: S
A high quality nightgown made by Victoria.
M199A1: A
A simple handgun with a design dating back a hundred years.
Ammo box 45ACP: Null x 55
Emergency Supplies: Null
Flashlight: Null
Health Potion: F
Tattered note: Null
A note containing the last words of a man named Lut.
*Remaining Inventory Slots: 0.*
I surely didn’t expect that my theory was correct but, looks like even if I can’t read it, the System still can. This is great! If only I had something like this, I wouldn’t have had to learn so many different languages in my previous life… I should check out the note further, I might learn something interesting… Or not but, it’s better than doing nothing while listening to a bunch of Undead annoy me all night.
Erika: “Inspect Tattered note.” I say after getting into my sleeping bag and lying down.
A new screen appeared before me. It had all of the words written from the note on it. Being right feels nice, and having such an amazing feature is even nicer!
The note was actually pretty interesting. So interesting that I am willing to tell you exactly what it says. It’s not because I’m trying to distract myself from the zombies. No, not at all… Anyway, here’s what the note said.
Tattered Note:
My name is Lut, my last name is unimportant. I was the leader of this camp. This place used to be a sanctuary for the still living but, that all changed yesterday. We were aware of the warnings that survivors from this city tell people.
They said that if you try to stay in that place, either you would be killed by zombies or by a man who inhabited it. I figured that we would be fine if we set up camp further away from the city, we even found this still almost perfectly intact bunker but, I was wrong.
There is a subway station not far away from this place. It’s well known to never go near such places since they are resting places for the zombies. Instead of listening to those warnings, we just blocked it off. Even after a few days, no zombies managed to break through the barricades that we set up.
Our relative safety lasted for three entire years until a man visited us. We had forgotten the rumors about the man living in the city so we just let him in. He said that his name was Daniel. We figured that he might want to live here but instead, he told us to leave immediately or we would all die.
We laughed at him and tried to throw him out of the camp. We couldn’t even make him budge. He said, “I tried to reason with you so, don’t blame me for this.” Before launching what could only be explained as magic at the walls of our camp.
We never named this place, it’s a habit we got from always having to be on the move. The walls that we built were high and to see them be torn to shreds easily. was extremely disheartening.
Daniel then left. Rather than heed his warning, we started to repair the walls for our safety but we should have run away when we had the chance. We didn’t know about it but, he must have destroyed our barricades at the subway and probably even left some bait for the zombies since, come nightfall, we were swarmed by zombies.
I managed to lead my wife and daughter into my bunker before closing it off. Hearing the sounds of my own people screaming from being bitten and ripped apart would have haunted me forever, if my wife didn’t do something unspeakable. She took my handgun out of my holster and shot our daughter with it. I tried to quickly question her but she then quickly took her own life with it.
Staring at the bodies of my own wife, whom I had known since I was a child, and my daughter, I resisted the urge to immediately kill myself and wrote this note instead.
Could we have survived if we just waited for the zombies to leave in the morning? Maybe, but my wife took the easiest way out. I wasn’t one to keep supplies in this bunker so it’s not like we could have just survived in here forever.
Regardless of her reasoning, if there is an afterlife, I guess that I could ask her there. There is no meaning in me going on living without my wife and daughter so, once I am done writing this note, I will follow my family and will take my own life.
There is just one thing that I would like whoever finds this note to know. That man, Daniel, he came back to the camp when the sun came up. It took me a long time to write this note and by the time I got to this point, the sun was up.
I could hear him yelling about not being able to find something. I remembered that when we tried to throw him out of the camp, one of the members of our group had stolen an emblem of some kind from him.
Maybe that emblem had something to do with his powers, that I don’t know. All that I know is that he left cursing about it. Once he was gone, I exited the bunker for the last time.
When a horde of zombies occurs, there are usually a few of their own that get damaged in the chaos. As such, there were a few zombies littered around in pieces but still moving.
I saw an interesting sight. One of the people in my group had taken his own life with a handgun. The surprising thing was that there were no zombies around him. His body was left untouched by the zombies. I realized who he was, his name was Jack. He was the one who had lifted that emblem from Daniel.
Since I had nothing to lose, I tested the emblem out on the remaining zombies. Each one acted as if the emblem had some kind of holy power to it. Even with their broken bodies, they tried their best to get away from me and the emblem. This must be how he could live in the city for so long…
I have no idea how it works but, since I had no use for it now I figured that I should just bury it. Whoever finds this note, it’s yours now. I would much appreciate it if you could kill that bastard but, it’s not like I’ll live to see you do it. It's his fault that his camp was destroyed but, I also bear some of the blame for letting my wife kill herself and our daughter, and not heeding the warnings.
Enough rambling, it’s buried under the huge tree in the center of this camp. I planted that tree with my wife and daughter three years ago when we settled down here. It only took three years to get so big. We surely didn’t think planting it through fully. After a few more years, it would have outgrown its patch and destroyed this camp.
Actually thinking about it, I moved the location of the emblem to behind the bunker. I buried it right under a Humvee. If I left it under the tree, it would be swallowed by it given time. Oh look at me, I said to stop rambling but I already extended my life for so many hours. Am I a coward? Is writing this note just me putting off killing myself?
Maybe it was but, I won’t hesitate any longer. This is my final farewell. Goodbye, I hope the emblem helps you out, if only a little.
Erika: “That… that was pretty heavy.” I say with a sad tone.
So Daniel was in such a poor state because he didn’t have that emblem anymore. He probably was fine and made sure not to run into any hordes but, my staying there had made a horde show up and ruin his most likely carefully planned route. Hopefully, that emblem is still there. But for now, I can’t get to it with all of these zombies around.
Though I am glad that Daniel, the man I had fed to a zombie was actually a terrible person. It’s nice that even though I’m technically on the evil side, I haven’t done anything wrong to someone who is innocent. I just hope that I keep this up even in this new life of mine…
Ah, I forgot to mention, with my INT Stat at rank A, I now have a total of 55 inventory slots to be used as I see fit. Counting my current inventory, I have 40 inventory slots remaining. I’m glad that it doesn’t take into account the weight of an item. I should do some looting before leaving this place tomorrow...
As I lay down and try to sleep, I think about what I should do next. Should I go back to the city once I get that emblem? Daniel might not have been the only Savior there. My main goal is to get rid of the zombies and the Saviors. The main goal of the Saviors is probably to find a cure and then get rid of the zombies, just like me.
Now that I think about it, unlike in a normal zombie apocalypse, the cars on the road were cleared and just pushed off to the side. Maybe Saviors use that city as a base camp and that is where I will find them…
It couldn’t hurt to try, though, only assuming that emblem works as Lut said it did but, that is for tomorrow's me to figure out. Now I just need to try to sleep with all of these noises around me. I slept through active war zones before so, I have a pretty high chance of being able to sleep even with all of those zombies making lots of noise.
After trying for fifteen minutes, I finally felt tired enough to sleep. In truth, I was already tired, it just took me that long to get used to the noise. Although not a proper sleep, it’ll at least be better than the last time I slept. Tomorrow will be another busy day, though…