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{Mission Completed}

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I saw the alert after greeting everybody. I figured that it only completed now because I was technically a part of this group, and I had only now just returned.

Although everyone seemed wary of me, Elijah was there to assuage their worries. He explained to them how I had actually beaten the zombie virus. He also decided to explain the Archive and awakening, something only a few people heard rumors about and even fewer knew.

While he was explaining, I was standing to the side, checking out the alert.

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{Form the Militia - Completed}

Mission: Move your people and ensure their lives as they migrate to your new hideout.

Final Survival Rate: 83/103

Performance: Good

{Generating Rewards...}

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I got excited as the Archive evaluated my performance. Rewards were always welcome, and if it could lead to more people awakening and getting abilities, then that would be fantastic.

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{Rewards Generated}

Rewards (Choose 3 of 4):

1. Type 1 Ability Tome: [Basic Ice Manipulation]

2. Type 1 Ability Tome: [Basic Power Archery]

3. Type 1 Stage 4 Item: [Model 29]

4. Type 1 Stage 4 Item: [Scale Armor]

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My eyes bulged a bit upon reading the reward list.

Two abilities! If we had those, then we'd be able to awaken two more people! Our core combat power would double!

Since I could choose three items, I immediately decided I would choose the two abilities. Other than that, I had to decide between the two items.

I knew what the Model 29 was. It was a revolver, though I forget what caliber. I tried to imagine its details, and when I did, another screen appeared.

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{Model 29}

Type 1

Stage 4

Damage: 65 - 85

Durability: 400/400

A 44. Magnum revolver with a six chamber cylinder. Produces 1 bullet every five hours, filling an empty chamber.

Remarks: Embrace your inner cowboy.

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"A gun that produces its own bullets..."

I didn't know what to say, other than this was something I absolutely needed.

As for the Scale Armor, who cared?! This was a magic gun!

My three rewards were decided. However, I didn't immediately retrieve them. I was still standing beside Elijah, who was finishing his little speech to the group. It would be weird if a few items suddenly appeared in my arms.

When he was done, everyone had odd faces. Nobody would easily believe something so fantastical, but not only had many seen my skeleton, but they had seen Elijah's weapon ability and superhuman strength.

Nothing could explain such things other than a supernatural Archive that granted abilities like a game.

He could only let them digest everything. At the very least, I was glad that I was in the clear.

Suddenly, I grabbed both Elijah and Kait. I pulled them along to the inside of the grocery store and to a corner that was out of sight. They just followed me, my excitement obvious.

When we stopped, I selected my rewards.

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{Type 1 Ability Tome: [Basic Ice Manipulation] acquired.}

{Type 1 Ability Tome: [Basic Power Archery] acquired.}

{[Model 29] acquired.}

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With those alerts, the three items in question appeared in my arms.

The two ability tomes were as I remembered. Both were leather books with titles that seemed to be branded on the cover.

The Model 29 actually appeared with a holster. I smiled at the thoughtfulness.

Slinging the holster strap over my shoulder, I found that it was a shoulder holster that positioned the gun under my left arm. Like that, I could reach and grab it if needed.

And if it wasn't obvious, I absolutely planned on taking the revolver for myself.

Not only because it was a cool magic gun, but because I knew how to shoot well and I was giving the other rewards away.

Elijah and Kait were a bit stupefied by the revolver, but when I shoved the Tomes in their hands, their eyes lit up.

Elijah gawked. "No way! Two abilities!"

"Quiet!" I shushed him. "There's only two, so we need to determine their allocation carefully. I don't need us announcing this and people freaking out over it. However..."

I looked at Kait, who seemed to enjoy staring at the Ice Manipulation Tome. "Kait, go ahead and choose which one you want."

She raised her head, looking at me carefully. "Really? I don't know how you got them, but these are yours. If you want them..."

"I don't." I shook my head quickly. "Right now, we need to awaken and strengthen as many people as possible. I gave Elijah his ability because I know that I can't do everything alone. Now, it's time for you to receive what you deserve. I wish I could've given you an ability earlier, but better late than never. Pick one, and we'll find another person who can take the other."

She looked back down at the Tomes. After barely stifling a smile, she handed the Archery Tome back to me, holding the other close to her chest.

"Thank you, Jack." She finally couldn't hold back her smile, causing me to beam as well.

"Just open the Tome and you'll get the ability. You'll also be awakened. Go ahead and do it now." I gave her simple directions, to which she nodded and opened the Tome.

Like before, the cover glowed while the pages were scribbled with unknown text. She gasped in surprise, and stared off into space.

Like with Elijah, she spent a minute or so processing everything, during which time the Tome disappeared. I knew that it formed some kind of runic symbol on her body, but I couldn't see where, the location covered by her clothes.

After a while, she finally took a deep breath. Seeing was believing, and she was now one of us. I was excited for her. She could finally go out and get rewarded for killing zombies, using Ectoplasm to increase her stats and become a force of nature like Elijah.

"Jack." Elijah suddenly called, tearing his eyes away from Kait. "If you don't mind me asking, where did these things come from? You even got a revolver."

"I got a Mission." I answered directly. "It's like a quest in a game, and it was given to me when you announced our plan back at the stadium."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"I see..." He seemed deep in thought before smiling a bit. "Was it perhaps called 'Form the Militia'?"

"You got it too?!" I couldn't conceal my surprise. I thought I had been the only one to get this mission.

Elijah smiled. "I did. It completed when we returned, though I haven't checked it out yet. My mission was to carve a way forward for everyone. My rewards depended on the amount of enemies I killed."

"No way! Well get your rewards then!" I hurried him, hoping we could get more ability Tomes.

"Alright, alright. And here's your Tome. You can go find someone else to use it. Maybe your friend Kevin would be a good choice."

"Mm. I'll go talk to him then."

With that, I left Elijah to his devices. I didn't know what kind of choices he would receive, so I could only trust him to make the right choice. And I did trust him. Kait as well. They were becoming close friends.

I wandered around. Although I wanted to find Kevin, when I walked past some thawed meat...

Well, let's just say I cashed in on a well-deserved meal.

Thankfully there were some gas stoves in the deli section of the store, so I was able to cook up several pounds of steak, burgers, and even some fish. While it was all crudely cooked, I at least had tons of seasoning up for grabs.

Plus, I wasn't picky in the slightest. I was hungry, and could eat damn near anything. This crudely cooked meat was looking like a five star meal to me.

And after almost an hour of cooking, I went to town. I wasn't any better than a hyena, gobbling down every scrap of meat and fat there was. My stomach was filled and emptied a few times over, constantly pumping nutrients into my rapidly healing body.

I could feel my limbs burn, my muscles feeling like I had worked them out. My body heated up pleasantly as if praising me for bringing in good food.

Savory juices spilled down my chin as I chomped down on a large three pound steak. I was pretty sure some of it was still raw, but I didn't care.

I could fight off the zombie infection. Nothing short of that could faze me anymore!

But damn did I look like a savage. People walked by occasionally, and they would all give me weird stares. Some even watched for a bit and were shocked when I manage to choke down pounds of meat at a time.

Finally, another hour passed, and I had eaten everything I prepared. My stomach was full, but even now I could feel everything being digested at warp speed, all those precious nutrients diffusing into my body.

Granted, I was a bit worried about clogging my arteries with so much fat and cholesterol being ingested so quickly, but the damage had already been done.

I didn't plan to stop there either. Though I wanted to eat more, I could feel myself get sleepy, my body telling me to rest and recover. Before I could do that though, I needed to hand Kevin the Tome.

I began wandering a bit more. Occasionally I would snatch a bag off the shelves I passed and eat whatever was inside. I probably lingered around the candy section a bit more than I should have. But eventually I managed to spot Kevin in the warehouse of the store.

"Kevin!"

"Jack! What's going on, dude? You had me worried for a while."

Kevin and I smacked our hands together, patting the other on the back.

I smiled. "Eh, I said I wouldn't die now. And I'm a man of my word."

"Really, thank god. I don't know how you did it, but I'm glad." He nodded in relief.

I took out the Tome, handing it to him. "Here, take this. If you're fine with the ability, then it's yours."

"Ability? You can't mean..." He grabbed the Tome, reading its title.

I smiled in excitement. "It's an actual ability. Open that book, and you'll be awakened. You'll get the ability, and from now on, you'll be rewarded for your kills. It'll allow you to grow, just as Elijah explained earlier."

"No way... Although I've never actually done archery, this is an ability! Are you sure I can have this?" He looked at me with hesitation.

"If I wanted it, I would've taken it. We need everyone to get stronger. There are too many zombies out there, and I need people who can help me in this apocalypse. I want you to be able to get stronger, Kevin. I can't do everything alone, after all."

He smiled at my words, holding out his hand. I responded with a firm handshake, an acknowledgment between men.

"Thank you. I'll do my best, and since it's archery, then I'll become the best damn archer there is."

"I looked forward to it. Go ahead and open it now."

He nodded and split open the Tome.

I watched as he awakened. I saw a runic symbol appear on the back of his right hand, and he was in a trance for a couple minutes.

Once he was done, I pat his shoulder. "Congratulations. You're one of us now. Welcome to the true Apocalypse."

"This is amazing." He muttered in awe. "Only... I'm starting to see a problem."

"Problem?"

"I need a bow." He scratched his head. "This ability allows me to use Energy to conjure arrows, but I still need a physical bow. Which... I don't think a grocery store has."

"Interesting." I nodded, appreciating how convenient that ability was. The lack of necessity for arrows would be extremely valuable.

But now we needed to find the bow.

"We can find a sporting goods store. Those usually have things like compound bows, even arrows. I remember that there was one nearby, but I'm not sure of the exact location."

Kevin's face lit up. "Good idea. I'll ask around, see if anybody can't give us directions. I'll come find you when I have a lead."

"Mm." I hummed, my eyelids drooping down. "You do that. I'm gonna get some sleep. I'm still not totally recovered from being weakened so much."

"Yea, I noticed you were a lot skinnier than before. That infection really took its toll, huh?" Elijah sighed. I definitely beat the infection, but it wasn't without cost.

I shrugged. "My body is recovering. I should be good given a couple days. Oh, see if we can't preserve the meat over in the deli section for longer. I heard salt is good at preserving stuff. See if someone can't do something about that."

I left with those words, setting out to find a bed. Kevin smiled before turning and heading into the warehouse.

While it was still relatively early in the day, I didn't care as I gathered spare clothing and sheets of all kinds. I made myself a nice bed, cuddling with a pillow and letting sleep take me away.

............

.......

For the time being, we didn't carry out any missions.

We allowed all the athletes to settle in and make themselves a home within the grocery store. However, food consumption drastically increased with our presence, and Albert, the original leader of the people in the store, got worried.

Perhaps I was a significant factor contributing to that problem. Over the next three days after arriving, I did nothing but eat and sleep. My body was constantly recovering, and I seemed to be eternally hungry.

I went through every ounce of meat we had, then deciding to move on to other protein-rich foods around the store.

I cleaned out entire shelves by myself, and the bathroom didn't have an easy time either. At some point, I was banished and forced to nuke the bathrooms of adjacent buildings, sparing those in the store. I agreed, as it also acted as a good opportunity to farm some Ectoplasm.

In the end, when the fourth day came, I had fully recovered.

My health returned to its max, as did my energy. And although my muscles weren't as big as before, I had regained all my strength.

One thing was different from before though. Perhaps because my muscles grew so fast, but they were far more defined. Thankfully I didn't get stretch marks, but my skin seemed almost abnormally thin. You could even see the muscle fibers of my biceps.

Regardless, I looked damn good again.

Elijah knew I had been recovering too. And when I finally stopped eating dozens of pounds of food, he was happy.

And we finally got down to business.

We couldn't idle within the store forever. Resources were limited, and since the second night of the apocalypse, we hadn't heard any sign of the military. No gunshots, no explosions, nothing.

We were alone, and we needed to expand. We had to seek out the resources necessary to feed all our people. After a little consensus, Albert had counted 158 people altogether.

158 people required a lot of food and water. There were also basic necessities. Never has running water, toilets, and showers been so valuable. Everyone was dirty from days of not showering, and the bathrooms were starting to become uninhabitable...

We needed to act.

At some point in time, Albert had used his phone to draw out a rough map of our surroundings. He said it was only the surrounding 5 miles, and there were hardly any buildings marked, but the general streets and layout of the land were there. He had spent the rest of his phone battery to do all this.

The map was sprawled on a table, composed of many separate pieces of paper. Elijah and I, Kait, Kevin, a few of our coaches, and Albert all stood around this table.

I held another piece of paper, on it a small list. My face was serious.

"We have a few main priorities."

I set down the paper, pointing to the first item on the list.

"First is resources. We need food and water. Everything else is secondary to basic sustenance. Thankfully, there's a seriously large amount of food and water in this grocery store. We'll be fine for a while, but one thing needs to change."

My finger moved down.

"We need to begin rationing. We need to gather everything, take inventory, and then plan out a basic meal plan for everyone. The details can be discussed later, but I'm thinking two meals a day and just enough to get everyone through. Nobody besides our athletes are active, so not much food is necessary to sustain them. Anybody who is active, as we will be soon, gets more food.

"Beyond that, we only have two other primary objectives. First is to begin clearing out the zombies around the store. This will not only create a zone of safety, but it will allow us to begin collecting Ectoplasm. For those of us who have abilities, getting stronger is absolutely crucial. We've already encountered a Screamer and a Grabber, two mutated zombies that definitely aren't the last. There will be more of those, and ones that are even more powerful. We aren't the only ones evolving, and if we fall behind, we'll become nothing more than food for evolution."

Everyone was silent as they took in my words. All the athletes had seen the Grabber, and everyone at the store had heard or seen the Screamer. These were two extremely deadly zombie variants, ones that had evolved from basic zombies.

It let me know that, like us, zombies could grow stronger too. I planned to stay ahead of the curve, ensuring that we could kill anything that came our way.

Not only that, but this emphasized the importance of top end strength. Only those of us who had abilities could fight those monsters safely. If we fell, then everyone else would fall as well. We were the first, strongest, and only line of defense against those variants.

The others seemed to understand this too. But that made them think about how valuable abilities were.

Previously, they had only thought of awakening as something cool. It would be nice to have an ability, to be able to conjure supernatural powers. But now, we were demonstrating how crucial abilities were for survival.

Elijah had been able to cut down dozens, even hundreds by himself. His strength was superhuman. I had been able to beat the zombie infection, a single scratch's worth being able to kill any ordinary human.

Power was taking on new meaning, and we were pioneering this path.

I continued.

"Our other primary objective is to run raids on surrounding resource centers. Warehouses, shipping depots, other stores. Going to these places will get us not just food and water, but myriads of other supplies. Radios, clothes, tools, batteries, weapons, books. These things will all help us survive and thrive. Radios especially. I've marked that down as our most important tool to look for. Perhaps with that, we can get in contact with the military."

"That's true!"

Everyone's eyes lit up. Calling and texting no longer worked, but radios did. Even if they were short range ones, they would be extremely valuable. Communicating across distances was a powerful tool, and with radios, we could search for other people.

Leaning back, I let out a long breath.

"Now, we have our primary objective. Clear out zombies, find resources, run raids. Since we have lots of food and water, we don't need to immediately find more of said resources. That being said, there is one mission we need to carry out, preferably now."

I turned to Kevin. "Have you gotten a location?"

"Oh, yes!" He brought out a folded sheet of paper. "These should be directions to a store with a bow. I asked several people, and after a bit, I was able to center in on this one."

I nodded. "Good. That'll be our first mission then. We need to get you a bow so you can use your ability. After that, we'll return and focus on clearing out the zombies nearby the store."

"Now." I raised my head and looked at everyone. "Does anyone have any questions or objections?"