1.01

Waking up in his studio apartment Eric blinked in annoyance at the ray of sunlight flashing straight into his eyes. The light flashed blue, angered, Eric automatically swiped it away and rubbed his blurry eyes. He lay back in bed.

He was soon forced to get up. The aftertaste of the beer he drank last night ensured it. Standing up he moved to the en-suite and threw back some mouth wash. After spitting it out, Eric contemplated brushing his teeth but he decided to have a breakfast/lunch/dinner first. What time is it anyway? Looking around the room he soon located his phone. I mean who uses clocks/watches nowadays anyway. Damn needs to be charged. The phone was plugged into a wall socket. Not charging? Don’t tell me the powers out… Okay laptop! That will have battery. What the hell! Why wont it turn on.

Double checking, Eric flicked the light switch on and off. With confirmation that the power is out he walked, annoyed, through into the lounge and collapsed onto a sofa. With a grumbling stomach, he procrastinated getting food. He would have to find something to eat in a moment but without an oven or gas he wasn’t particularly enthused about eating. Perhaps a roll and some cheese. Decision made he walked over and started to eat. After finishing the two rolls he made, he grabbed a can of coke from the fridge. Popping it open, he walked over to look out over the bay. (Through a window, obviously)

The first sign that something odd was going on was the shattered remnants of the iconic Seattle ferry floating in the middle of the bay. The second thing he noticed was the lack of cars driving about on the roads. Eric scratched his head. Am I still drunk? He took another gulp of coke. Perhaps the city was hit by an EMP. That might explain why all my electronics are fried. Maybe everyone has been evacuated.

Moving away from the window, Eric wandered around the apartment. He pondered on whether to go outside or not. I mean if everyone’s been evacuated that’s just asking for all the assholes to start running around looting. Screw getting stabbed by some random asshole. If everything still seems weird tomorrow, I’ll go outside and investigate. Decided he grabbed a novel and sat on the sofa. Prepared for a long boring night with no television he got comfy. “Well this is shite.”, he spoke to himself.

At some point around 2am after 2 or 3 beers Eric fell asleep. He woke in the afternoon… again. Grabbed another roll chucked some ham on it. He figured he should use up as much of the perishables as possible. The rolls were already getting stale. He was in the middle of his third ham and cheese roll when he heard muffled scratching against his door. At first he thought he was hearing things… but when it started getting louder it freaked him the fuck out. It sounded like something out of a horror film. Walking quietly towards the door he quickly realized that yes. Somebody was indeed hitting his door with a knife. I mean who does that? Whoever was on the other side must have heard him. (somehow) It started striking the door harder. Eric decided to wait it out. His door was sturdy and unless the guy had an axe the solid oak door was unlikely to budge. First he grabbed his largest kitchen knife and a spatula. Why a spatula you ask? Because it had the furthest reach. He figured it could deflect the knife so he could strike. It was approached logically Eric wasn’t going to pretend that he knew how knife fight. Well anyway Eric was ready. He placed his stool opposite (and 5 meters away from) the door and sat down to wait. And wait. And wait. And wait. Will this guy fuck off! What kind of psychopath stabs a door with a knife for 3 hours straight? Even worse the door was starting show signs of the knife penetrating. The guy wasn’t getting through anytime soon but… He just might. And if that happens everyone will be free to walk into his humble abode. Not just the knife wielding maniac. All the fucking knife wielding maniacs.

While he may not admit it, Eric was fucking scared. The sun was starting to go down. He would either have to spend a sleepless night with the threat of a knife wielding asshat or open the door and…. Damn the second option is the only logical one but..

Okay, best plan this properly. Spatula in my left hand, knife in my right. Armor? Hmmm perhaps get a thick sweater on and his puffa jacket. All set. Now what… Perhaps some baked beans in case I need to retreat. He got 4 tins and placed one in his puffa jacket pocket and the rest on the breakfast table counter. He was ready. Maybe a bathroom break first?

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Okay back from the loo (it seemed the flush still worked. Small mercies). Eric quietly approached the door and unlocked it. He pulled back the bolt and prepared himself. What the fuck. Although he on purposefully made a loud noise pulling back the bolt and unlocking the door this moron. Still hadn’t opened the door. He just kept striking the door mechanically. He had gotten into a rhythm over the last few hours. Now what…

Eric reached for the door handle with his spatula hand.

Swinging the door open. Eric hurriedly took several steps away from the door. He had a tin can at the ready. Looking at his would be opponent. Eric could only stare. What the fuck is wrong with this guy. The guy was still attempting to stab the door. That knife must be blunt by now. (not that he was complaining) Suddenly the man looked at him. Eric shivered. The man’s eyes were bloodshot and appeared glazed over. What is wrong with him. Eric took an involuntary step back.

“Fuck off!”, Eric yelled in fear and anger.

The man took a stumbling step forward. Man, that’s freaky. Beans away! His can of beans was an absolute failure. It whizzed past the man’s head to strike the hallway behind him. Well Eric never pretended to be an athlete. The man was suddenly upon him! A wild swing swung at him and ripped through his jacket. Thankfully it missed flesh. Eric took the opportunity to counter with his own wild slash. His connected for all the good it did. The man didn’t even notice. This is some horror movie shit. Eric took another hurried step back. The man was once again upright. He took a while to recover from the swing (if you didn’t notice). Eric was ready once again. The man thrust forward, aiming at Eric’s thigh. Panicking Eric deflected it to the side with the spatula. The man was suddenly extremely close and out of reflex Eric thrust his knife into his heart. Freaking out at the feel of knife on flesh Eric stumbled backwards until he was leaning against the breakfast table. (leaving his knife in the body.) The man collapsed without a sound. Eric stared at him, trying not to throw up. He may be American but he wasn’t the shoot your home invader kind. Right now, he wished he was… Suddenly there was a ‘thunk!’ at the doorway. Another one! This one had tripped over his can of beans. When it was standing upright once again he realized that this one was… bigger. And he had left his knife…  Hesitating for a second, Eric grabbed a tin of beans. He threw it. It struck the man’s chest making him stumble backwards. His third to last tin hit the intruders right arm. The third missed. Freaking out Eric threw the last tin from point blank range. (about 2 meters) And strike! The can made a sickening sound as it struck the man’s forehead. An ugly crack. The man fell onto his back and stayed down. Eric retrieved his knife trying not to vomit as it came out the corpses chest. Hesitating for a moment, swallowing something vile Eric stabbed the knife into the heart of the other. Then Eric made an executive decision and shut the door of the apartment, before anymore weirdos showed up. Locked and bolted. Not to be opened for a while. Eric walked away from the bodies and into his bedroom. He removed the now bloody clothes. Got dressed into new ones. Cleaned his knife. And sat down on the sofa. Eric released a deep breath. One he never realized he had been holding.

Ding!

Victory!

You have slain (x2) Vampire Thrall level 2!

 Experience Received: 50 (x2)

 Loot Received:

        (x2) human bodies, battered baseball bat, dirty ripped human               clothing    and a blunt knife

The fuck is this!

Ding!

Congratulations!

You have reached level 1!

 You now have 5 unallocated status points available.

Eric sat staring in horror at the blue screens in front of him. He had read a few novels in his time. He knew exactly what was going on! Unfortunately Eric didn't seem particularly pleased about it. Of course, while Eric still received a small thrill from participating in what seemed to be a blue screen apocalypse. He was equally pissed off. This isn’t as awesome as he thought it would be…