Ray
They ran to the front door of the station, flinging it open with no regard for the amount of noise they were making. As it crashed open, Ray looked behind him only to see the first slow-moving bodies shuffle out of the side streets as the sun dipped below the horizon. As the world plunged into darkness, Ray heard a raspy, primal scream sound out across the desolate world.
The chorus that followed it was inhuman, drowning out everything that could have possibly contested it. As if the world itself had given birth to a death dry and then embodied it within creatures who wanted nothing more than to destroy.
First one voice … then thousands … then tens of thousands … then so numerous it drowned out his very thoughts.
The two staggered into the electro station even as the pounding of feet behind them came nearer. Slamming the door shut and activating the shade link, Josephine sprang backward as a slavering maw slammed into the glass, smashing through it and denting the shade link behind it. Right, where her head had been.
Panicking, she fell backward, tripping over Ray who was shaking the pain and fuzziness out of his mind after such a marrow-chilling experience. Looking up, he had just enough time to see a tidal wave of the dead slam into the building. Smashing through windows by the hundreds they cracked the shade link in dozens of places as the mindless undead threw themselves against the building in an attempt to get to the sweat meat treats inside.
Looking around quickly for a solution, Ray saw that the corner of a ceiling tile had been dislodged above the counter. Thinking quickly, he grabbed Josephine by the hand, he dragged the surprised woman to the counter.
“Climb up inside! Now!” he yelled, before dashing up and down the aisles of the store. Finding a jug of bleach, he ran back to the counter. The woman had just finished climbing up into the ceiling crawlspace as the shade link behind him made an ominous creaking sound under the immense press of the bodies.
Tossing the jug up to her, Ray leaped upwards and caught the edge of the crawlspace. Hauling himself up into it rapidly, he grabbed the jug and dumped it all over the counter beneath them. He hoped and prayed to whatever god would listen that it would mask their scent. His eyes went wide as a notification came up in front of him:
YOUR PRAYERS HAVE BEEN NOTED
Startled he fumbled and dropped the jug onto the counter beneath them. Cursing he slammed the hatch shut, plunging them into darkness. The groaning of the shad link turned into a tearing sound that shook the building as it gave way in multiple points beneath them. The slavering jaws of the undead tore the building beneath them to pieces in search of the flesh of their prey.
Slamming into one another, they tore through the shelving units, counter, and walls. Then the shade link barrier gave way altogether. Unable to withstand the press of so many bodies, the barrier was ripped away from the foundation, crumpling in like a ball of tin foil. Amazingly, this is what saved the two living beings huddled in the crawlspace above the horde of flesh-crazed undead.
The shade link barrier took up nearly a quarter of the store's interior, smashed up as it was. It had been pushed right up against the counter and jammed into the corner of the store, preventing entry into the section where the crawlspace hatch was located.
For hours the thrashing of bodies, growling, and animalistic roars tore through the neighborhood. Ray now had an excellent idea of why no humans had survived. He huddled there with a shaking and trembling Josephine, holding her tightly as she relived whatever psychological trauma had caused her to be so withdrawn.
Ray blinked his red, watery eyes. The dust in the crawlspace having saturated him to such a degree that he felt like he was one with the wood. Coming back to his senses, he realized that the loudest noise he could hear was now the ringing in his ears. There was not a single tremble, footstep, growl, or groan.
Looking down at Josephine, she sat on the ground with his arms wrapped around her. Wide-eyed, with rapid small breaths barely audible. He recognized this from some of his combat friends who had served in several of the independence wars. She was suffering a psychotic break.
Shaking her gently, she looked at up at him, “Hey,” he said quietly, “They are mostly gone now. There may be a couple down there, but I don’t know if it's still night. I’m gonna crack the lid and check ok?”
With a small nod, he let go of her and turned to the crawlspace hatch. He hadn’t moved more than a foot when her arm shot out and grabbed his shirt. Turning back to her, she handed him her multi-tool. He had lost his in their mad scramble up into their hiding spot. He took the tool and nodded in thanks.
Turning back, he cracked the hatch just barely, only to let the sunlight stream in from outside.
They had made it to daylight.
“Josephine,” he said turning towards the woman … and he froze. Standing over the woman’s corpse inside the tight crawlspace was his one-eyed foe. The skinless creature had grown a tail and speared it through the back of Josephine’s skull, killing her instantly. Her vacant eyes stared at him as blood pooled beneath her from the center of her forehead where the tails still protruded.
He hadn’t even heard her die.
Screaming in rage, he pulled the handgun from his inventory. Pointing it at the creature, whose remaining eye went wide in recognition, he pulled the trigger.
The noise in the crawlspace was deafening.
He pulled the trigger again and again in fury and desperation, the bullets striking the creature, Josephine’s body, or missing entirely. The skinless one-eyed horror screeched in agony as the bullets struck it, tearing its tail free of Josephine’s body, it roared at him and attempted to move towards him. The crawlspace was too limited, however, and it didn’t move any further forward than a couple of feet.
Roaring at Ray it lept up vertically from its position on all fours, tearing a hole in the roof. The skinless monster scrambled out into the sunlight, screeching the entire time. Ray scrambled after it, having half a mind to pull the magazine and check it for remaining rounds before reinserting it into the handgun.
Tentatively he popped his head out of the hole in the roof, only to duck back in as the monster's tail whipped through the air where it had occupied. He had nearly died like Josephine with his stupid choice.
Watching the tail retract, he shot it in the center of the tip of the appendage, causing the creature to hiss from above him on the roof. Putting just the gun out, he pulled the trigger a few times in that direction. The recoil nearly broke his wrist from the odd angle, but he had immediate satisfaction as he heard the rounds strike flesh. The creature roared in fury again, but unlike last time the sounds of it walking moved further away.
The steady scrambling across the roof turned into a pounding sprint. Popping up from the hole quickly, Ray’s upper torso and head were visible from the crawl space. If it had been another trap, he would have very much been dead. Thankfully, however, the creature was streaking across the sun-covered street, trailing smoke behind it. The scent of charred flesh filled what remained of the store.
Now he knew what sunlight did to those freakish fucks. And he liked it.
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Sitting back into the hole, he slowly reloaded the handgun. Of the nineteen rounds in the gun initially, he had one left. He needed to work on his aim. As he examined the gun a blue, see-through notification popped up in the corner of his vision:
EVENT: SKIN WALKER AMBUSH SURVIVED
NEX CALCULATING – DEPLOY NODE FOR NEX ACCRUAL
Shaking his head, he finished loading and put the gun back into his inventory. Stupid fucking boxes. They had no empathy. Whoever, or whatever created this stupid system must have been an unfeeling monster.
With an extreme feeling of sadness and no small amount of loss, he crawled over to Josephine. “Sorry, I really thought we were safe here,” he whispered, as he closed her open, vacantly staring eyes. “I promise I will kill that thing for this. I promise if it’s the last thing I do,” he swore. The moment the words left his mouth, a blue screen popped up in front of him:
EVENT: FIRST OATH SWORN
EVENT: FIRST QUEST ISSUED
-KILL YOUR NEMESIS-
AN UNDEAD SKINWALKER HAS TAKEN A LIKING TO YOU, AND TO EVERY SCRAP OF MEAT ATTACHED TO YOUR BONES. IT HAS TAKEN FROM YOU TWICE NOW AND IT IS TIME FOR VENGEANCE. KILL YOUR UNDEAD NEMESIS AND CLAIM THE REWARD FOR DOING SO.
This last box caused him to lose his cool, “Fuck you!” he yelled loudly. “Fucking … whatever you are you fucked up System! Lives are not something to be played with!” he yelled angrily. Taking a deep breath he sighed. This was shit. Utter and complete shit. But he had to move now and he had to move quickly. Taking one last look at Josephine’s body, and realizing he had to leave her here, he turned away.
Then he climbed out through the hole and walked across the roof to the ladder. It was mangled and dented, but intact enough for him to get to the ground. Looking to the side, he noticed that the ice chest had been cracked open and whatever had been inside having been torn to pieces. “Fucking undead freaks,” he muttered.
Walking around the side of the building he was glad to see that the car was mostly undamaged. It had been pushed to the side by the tight press of the bodies, and the charger tore out of it but seemed operable. Even if he was fairly certain he wouldn’t be able to charge it a second time. Climbing inside he pressed the button and was immensely relieved when the engine started.
Sitting there, feeling the electricity of the vehicle hum under him, he sniffled a second. Then he cried. This was all a bit much for him. Watching his only companion so far get killed in front of him and hit him hard. However, as stressful and terrifying as life was right now he had things to do.
Taking a couple of deep breaths to steady himself, he wiped the tears away. Huffed out his frustration, and put the car into drive.
The plan, as it stood in his mind at least, was to travel over to the old State Route 78 crossing Newark Bay. From there he would head to the major port at Cape Liberty. Overall it was a trip of just a few miles. But between undead, traps, this thing that was stalking him, and any potential hazards he couldn’t think of off the top of his head, it may as well be on the moon.
Caution would be required.
Shifting the small two-door car into drive, it cracked and crawled over the broken-up pavement of the electro station. The main bridge across the channel was a bit over two miles away. Not a huge distance pre-apocalypse by any means. But it was now.
As he drove, Ray cautiously moved around stalled-out cars, piles of debris and bodies, and the occasional charred skeleton. Those last ones must have been undead caught in the sun. For whatever reason, they burned easily. This could be a great weapon to use against them, but only if he could find some high-powered grow lighting or something that could mimic the sun.
Driving past the airport was nerve-wracking. Ray could see massive shapes moving through the dirty, tinted terminal windows. Planes were strewn all over the landing way and he could see the remains of a recent fire at the far end near a hanger. That could have been where the gunfire originated from the previous night. Finally, after nearly an hour, he was through it. The more distance he put between himself and that terrifying place the better.
The first leg of the journey ended quietly with Ray arriving at the beginning of the bridge nearly two hours after he left the electro station. At least according to the clock in the car. It was also where his current plans ended and he would need to re-think what he was trying to accomplish.
The old state route bridge had been demolished like someone had dropped a bomb on it from above. It was shorn clean in two in the center, the two uneven sides dangling from what was left of the supports holding them aloft from above. It was, no holds barred, the worst-case scenario. He couldn’t go around, nor could he move forward through the mess on the major highway. He had to find a place to cross, and quickly before it became night.
He got out of the car and climbed up onto the roof to see if he could locate another way across. And find a way he did.
Running nearly parallel to the remains of the bridge was a second bridge that just poked out from behind it. Ray would have never seen it if he hadn’t gotten up onto the roof. It's not like he had a GPS or anything to search with.
The smaller bridge looked intact from end to end, and it seemed like he would be able to make it across. If he could figure out where it started that was. Looking around, he saw that it terminated on his side near some trees by the offramp. There was a large industrial complex in the way, but he could clearly see a road stretching between the buildings to the far side.
That had to access the second bridge.
Getting back in the car, he maneuvered his way down the road and onto the off-ramp. There were remarkably fewer cars here … and he quickly learned why. The off-ramp led directly into the bowels of an underpass.
Ray could clearly see the underpass wasn’t obstructed by any debris or vehicles. However, he could also see that it was absolutely packed to the brim with the undead.
Swallowing to moisten his now dry mouth, he decided he really only had one of two choices. Drive through slowly and hope to whatever god was out there they decided not to tear this shitty little car apart … or step on the accelerator and also hope to whatever god was out there he made it through. He didn’t have the time available to him to try and find another way around. If there ever was one.
Blinking rapidly, and gripping the steering wheel tightly, he made his decision.
His foot slammed down onto the accelerator.
***
RAYMOND ‘RAY’ FINNEGAN
RACE
HUMAN
CLASS
NONE
NEX
CALCULATING
LEVEL
1
PHYSICAL STATE
HEALTHY
MENTAL STATE
GIVES NO SHITS
ATTRIBUTE
BASE
CURRENT
NEX TO INCREASE
STRENGTH
5
6
50
AGILITY
3
3
30
POWER
0
0
100
WISDOM
4
5
40
LUCK
2
2
400