After a while, I wake up, to find us in the same exact position that we were at, only that the cars had stopped. I look over to Connor to see if he was okay.
–was that just me?
–C: no, it happened to me too.
I quickly get out of the car to check on the others.
–hey, are you guys alright?
They look very confused, but they nod. I sit on the ground, leaning against the SUV, and then suddenly a sound starts playing. It's like the American national anthem, but different. A person starts talking over the music.
–Announcer: Hello and welcome to the 37th outbreak contest! All of you who can hear this, are chosen to participate in the contest. The main objective is, to find a cure for the zombie virus, or survive long enough for someone to find one. You all may now choose and item or skill, and it doesn't have to be on the list.
Suddenly, a game-like window opens up un front of me, and it contains a list of skills or items, and a search bar. I type in pack-a-punch, and another window saying "you may not choose this item yet" shows up, so I type in Exo-Suit, and another window saying "requested item is available, are you sure you want to choose this item?" and I press yes. I look up from the window, and look at the others, seeing Marcus, Ayden, Connor and Dex all looking confused like me, and the others are just looking at us in confusion. After about 10 minutes, the announcer goes on.
–A: now that all of you have chosen, let me announce something. If the challenge is beaten, the world will return to its former state, as if nothing happened. Only those who can hear this announcement can remember what happened, and the others will be completely erased from existence and memories if they die. All of you who either finish the challenge or survive it, may bring everything you got here, be it memories, items, skills and etc. to your former lives. Also, if two chosen individuals fight to the death, the other may take their items, if they have any, but skills will die with the person. This match is also watched by sponsors, whom may choose to either help you on your journey, or block your path, so try to please them for your benefit. You can also level up, which means defeating enemies will make you stronger too. We all wish to see an entertaining contest, Happy Surviving!
We all stand in shock, trying to digest what just happened. Connor slowly comes out of the car, and approaches me, and the others follow as well.
–A: you all got that too?
–D: yeah, that was weird.
–C: so what did you guys all get?
–M: I got a skill that will let me erase my presence in the shadows, in the future.
–in the future? What does it do now?
–M: It increases my stealth.
–okay, what did you get Ayden?
–A: I tried to get insta-kill, but it gave me hyper damage.
–D: which means…
-A: It lets me and my groupmates deal double the damage for 30 seconds.
–okay…Dex?
–D: I'm immune to STDs, and if I fuck anyone or anything, I get 1% of their stats, for now.
–you… you could've chosen a better skill, why that one? Why did you choose the most disgusting skill there could be? He smiles.
–D: I'm fucking Dexter; I'll do whatever I want. We all laugh a bit.
–M: and you? I look at my window, and see the Exo-Suit. I select it and press equip, and it appears on my body.
–C: what's this?
–It’s an Exo-Suit.
–A: What does it do?
–I actually don’t know yet. I look at the window again, and press details, and this chart shows up.
Item Name: Exo-Suit (MK.1/?)
Abilities: Double Jump, Mid-Air Boost, Double Unarmed Damage, Double Stamina, Exo-Upgrade Slots
I read the details out load for the crowd.
–A: wait, isn’t this, way more OP than our skills?
–M: well it can't be upgraded like ours.
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–Yeah, about that…
-M: it can?
–Yeah, it's written right here, " Exo-Suit (MK. 1/?)".
–A: seriously? I wish I picked an item too.
–let's just leave this aside for now, we got important things to do. Let's get to Marcus' land, so we can be safe.
–D: you're right, and I don't see why you guys are making a fuss out of this. I mean, if he's stronger, we're stronger, aren’t we?
–My point exactly. Now get in the cars, I don’t want an accident before we get ourselves a solid and stable base of operations.
-M: hey, since when did our place become our base? I turn to him, furious, and get close to him.
–I know you don’t get this, but I feel like every single life I can’t save, is the one I take, and with a base, I can save a lot more people, even if it means putting my life at risk.
–M: why? Why would you do that?
– because just earlier today, I had to kill a full school bus of elementary schoolers, and look one in the eyes as it turned into a monster, so unless you have an experience of the same caliber, you can kiss my ass.
He looks at me, as if his opinion of me had changed, and then backs away and gets in the car.
–M: let's go. We all get back into our cars, and follow Marcus to their place. After a 2-hour drive, we get there, but we can't get in.
–M: great, we don’t have the key. Ayden inspects the wall's height.
–A: we can probably jump that.
–C: no we can’t, besides, there's barbed wire up there. I also inspect the height, and suddenly realize something.
–Guys, I can jump it.
–M: yeah right, just shut up till we figure something out.
–D: no, he's actually right, he's got the suit, so he has a double jump, so he can jump higher than us.
–My point exactly, now back away. I equip the suit, and back away to rev up and jump.
-wait, how do I even use this thing?
-A: You’re asking us? You’re the one that got it!
-yeah yeah, now shush.
I run towards the wall and jump, to see my jump height significantly increased, enough to easily jump over the wall.
-M: oh yeah Norman, watch out for the dog. As I land, I look around, to see a big German shepherd, growling at me.
-you know you could’ve told me this sooner right?
-M: yeah, I forgot. Don’t hurt him if you can.
-okay, but no promises. I slowly approach the gate, and open it.
-I really hope this dude comes in handy, ‘cause he’s scary.
-M: yeah he’s a good boy. You Just... WATCH OUT! Suddenly a zombie grabs me from behind. The others rush to help me, but I grab it, and smash it to the ground, and crush his skull with my foot.
- Jesus Christ this suit feels good! The dog slowly approaches me, shaking it’s tail.
-M: I think he likes you! It happily starts bouncing around me, waiting for me to pet him.
-okay, okay. Jeez, what’s his name?
-M: we call him Cesar.
-could you think of an even more generic name? Marcus chuckles, and I continue on petting Cesar. Ayden stands by and watches us for a bit, and then rushes out to bring in the others. I slowly walk into the place, and see a moderately big house, with a large garden area surrounding it.
-*whistle* you guys have it good!
Marcus smiles, and goes inside the house to look if there’s anything there. I walk towards the gate, to see what’s taking the others so long, and suddenly hear Ayden: “HELP! THERE ARE ZOMBIES HERE!”
I let go of Cesar, and run towards the source of the sound. When I get there, I see about 15 zombies, surrounding the cars and bashing on the windows, and Ayden standing on the roof of the car, and shoving the zombies away.
-Fucking use your skill!
-A: I don’t know how to!
-Just imagine being stronger, and hit them! As I say this, I run towards the zombies and start punching them in the head, and making as much sound I can so they turn away from the car, but they don’t notice me, and continue to bash on the glass. Suddenly, those surrounding the car, start falling to the ground.
-A: Ha-ha! I did it! I killed them!
-focus! There’s still more! I continue on hitting their heads in, and I catch a glance of Jacob’s (Marcus’ older brother) face, and I immediately realize that he is terrified, and probably scarred for life. It takes a while till we take them all out, and we bring in the cars. I look over to Ayden, to see him drenched in sweat, and breathing heavily. I go over to him and put my hand on his shoulder.
-It gets easier.
-A:*shaking* yeah?, well what if it doesn’t?
-do you think we have any other option? He sits down on the ground, to catch his breath.
-A: the sounds they were making, they sounded like they were in pain.
-they… they are in pain, at least I think so. How would you feel if you started eating people, and all you could do was watch? He gently nods, and gets up.
-A: you’re right. If everyone from our own world is here, they won’t have any chance if they aren’t chosen by those people.
-yeah, that’s why we’re gonna save anyone and everyone we can. Now cheer up, we don’t have time to be down. We push the cars towards the house, and see Marcus coming outside.
-Anything?
-M: good news, this place has solar panels, so even if power is out everywhere else, we’ll be fine on that front.
-I feel a but coming.
-M: yeah, the bad news is, the power conduit is bust, and we don’t know how to fix it.
Connor suddenly appears out of nowhere.
-C: actually… I think I can.
-um, why?
-C: I kind of got a skill that lets me repair, upgrade and make things.
-M: then what are you waiting for? Follow me!
Marcus grabs Connor’s hand, and rushes behind the house. I look around to see if anyone needs me, and then start experimenting with the suit. I start jumping around, I use the midair boost, thrust around and slide, just to get more used to the feeling of having an Exo-Suit. After a while, I jump on the roof to rest a bit, and I open my status window to see how I was doing.
-STR D huh? I guess that’s normal. I look at my EXP bar too, to see that I only have 15, out of 100, and I’m still Lv. 1.
-Jeez, is this dark souls or something? I continue to see if I can figure out anything else, and when I’m done, night had fallen.
-M: Oi! Get down from there! I chuckle and jump down from the roof.
-M: May I ask what the fuck were you doing on the roof?
– I was catching my breath. Okay… let’s go inside, and see what the fuck are we gonna do.
Name: Norman Decker - Lv: 1 - EXP: 15/100
HP: E - STR: D - AGI: F - STA: F
Items: Exo-Suit (Mk. 1/54) - Skills: None
Titles: Overweight (120/90)
Name: Connor Decker - Lv: 1 - EXP: 0/100
HP: E - STR: E - AGI: E - STA: E
Items: None - Skills: Tinkerer (1/10)
Titles: None
Name: Ayden Price - Lv: 1 - EXP: 11/100
HP: E - STR: F - AGI: E - STA: E
Items: None - Skills: Hyper-Damage (1/10)
Titles: None
Name: Marcus Weiss - Lv: 1 - EXP: 0/100
HP: E - STR: F - AGI: D - STA: F
Items: None - Skills: Sneak (1/10)
Titles: None
Name: Dexter Grace - Lv: 1 - EXP: 0/100
HP: E - STR: E - AGI: E - STA: E
Items: None - Skills: Sexual Predator (1/10)
Titles: None