Jack watched as the lead minotaur slowly sniffed the cabinet where he was hiding, his gore ridden hands covering his face desperately to hide his breathing. The mythical monster sniffed deeply, before reaching up and pulling the broken corpse from the metal with a sickening retch.

Its prize in hand, the minotaur bellowed and left the room, its brethren carrying all the corpses with them out the door.

Jack didn't move for a few minutes, listening carefully for the distant footfalls of the beasts. When he was sure they were gone, he pushed open the door with a careful hand.

The room was utterly destroyed; covered in human remains and destroyed equipment.

"Safe, I need to find somewhere safe." Jack murmured as he crawled along the floor. He flinched as he rounded a table and came face to face with a head, its tongue sticking out. Holding in the retch again, Jack scurried over to the door and slowly poked his head out. The hallway was clear, and the doors leading to outside seemed to be clear.

As he got up to leave, Jack glanced over to the side of the door.

"It's called life-saving for a reason." He muttered as he picked up the fire blanket and extinguisher that had been knocked to the floor. He also reached down and grabbed the lab lighters used to heat the bunsen burners along with a broken piece of metal that had come from a stool.

Feeling slightly safer as he stuffed his goodies away into a random backpack, Jack rolled into the hallway and held the metal rod out threateningly.

However, seeing no one there made him feel silly, so he ran over to the door and burst out into the open world.

Surprisingly, there wasn't that much of a difference except for a few smoking buildings in the distance. As Jack stared around, he heard a roar coming from the upper floors of the bio building.

"Shit, time to go." Jack tuned toward Graves Hall and ran for his life, leaving the sounds of angry cattle behind him.

--------------

Along the way, Jack did not see anyone else. The grounds were silent, lacking even the chittering of squirrels to chase him home.

He sighed in relief as the brick hall came into view. Once he closed the glass doors behind him, he bent over and let out a long breath, before throwing up everything in his stomach onto the floor.

"Uheh, ugh, (cough cough)" He sputtered as he wiped away at the edge of his mouth, "What the hell was that?"

A sound in front of him alerted him to the receptionist desk. He looked up to see someone in the chair eating, though his or her back was turned to him.

"Hey, did anything weird happen here?" Jack asked as he approached the table.

The chair slowly turned and revealed a boy Jack had never seen before. He had red eyes and whitish skin, and he didn't seem to be responding to Jack's words.

"You okay here bud?" Jack asked, concerned, "You look like you haven't seen the sun lately. You an albino?"

The boy moaned and all of a sudden shot forward against the table, startling Jack onto his butt.

"Jesus man, don't scar me like that." Jack yelled angrily as he got up and brushed himself off.

The boy moaned again before crawling over the desk toward Jack.

Jack shook as he pointed the metal rod at him, "Hey, stay back man. I've seen some messed ups hit today and I'm not in the mode."

The albino moaned and slowly got up, hands stretched toward Jack as he stumbled forward.

Jack cursed, "Dammit, get back or I'll hit you!"

"Raw!" The boy suddenly snarled and lunged forward at Jack.

Jack shrieked and fell backwards onto his butt again, thrusting out the pole involuntarily as it hit the ground and bounced.

With a sickening crack, the boy's head fell smack dab into the poll, his head pierced by the sharp end. The boy gasped and slackened, falling limp onto Jack's legs.

"AAAAHHHHHH!" Jack screamed as he scrambled backwards, kicking the dead body away from him as he scooted backwards.

Level UpCatch up on notifications in a safe place

Jack freaked again, his head whipping back and forth to try to escape the words in front of him. No matter where he turned, however, the screen kept itself right in front of his face.

"I killed him, oh my god I killed him." Jack began to cry as he slowly approached the dead boy. He felt for a pulse, but the boy was actually quite cold to the touch and it was impossible to discern.

"Hold on," Jack stared, "Why isn't he bleeding?"

Surprisingly, the dead boy had very little blood coming from his head, almost as if the blood was as cool as the body. At this discovery, Jack began to calm down as curiosity took over his thoughts.

"Was he already dead?" Jack wondered, "Maybe . . ."

Jack reached down and grabbed the metal rod. Taking a steeling breath, he yanked the rod out of the corpse's head.

The corpse fell back down, and no blood dripped from the large head wound.

"The stick is almost clean.," Jack muttered as he checked the rod, "So he was dead; how was he moving?"

A soft moan made Jack jump to his feet and move his weapon around erratically. Hearing the moan again, Jack slowly made his way to the counter and looked over the counter.

Milly lay sprawled on the ground, tears falling as she clutched a massively bleeding arm.

"Jack hon, Jack is that you?" She wept as Jack came into view.

"Milly!" Jack rushed to her aid as he cradled her, "What happened?"

Milly shook her head, "It was after them earthquakers, that boy came down from the elevator and attacked me after I greeted him. He was eating me when you walked in."

Jack shook his head, "My class got busted up by some minotaur things; everyone else died. Let's get you to my room."

Milly shook her head, "I don't want to go upstairs; there could be more of them. On my desk here, grab the keys to the downstairs office. No windows there and it has a first aid kit."

"On it." Jack reached up and snagged the keys, then helped Milly to her feet. Together, they limped over to the door and opened it.

After depositing Milly on the couch, Jack locked the door.

As the lock clicked, the blue screen returned again.

You are in a safe roomMake rest point?YesNo(Current rest point: none)

"Jack, do you see this too?" He heard Milly ask behind him.

"Yeah; let's go ahead and hit yes." Jack clicked the button and the screen changed.

Unread Notifications1. Welcome to the New World

Due to recent events, the world you know has changed. This is your interface, the key to surviving in this new world. After eliminating an enemy who will receive points based on the experience you went through. These "EXP Points" will then be added together until an experience threshold is reached. The result is a "Level Up", so quick growth in ability. When you level up, a profile of your current abilities expressed in monetary numbers will appear. Upon leveling up, you will receive a number of "Attribute Points" to add to any physical attribute. For instance, increasing strength will allow you to pick up heavy things more easily and also carry more. To put things into perspective, a "Ten" would be the peak of human development prior to the change. Stay alive by leveling up and increasing your power.

2. You have successfully hidden from a race with high sensing abilities. ImpressiveSkill acquired: Stealth

3. You have defeated a zombieSkill acquired: Stab

EXP has been gained

4. You have leveled up4 attribute points acquired for killing within the first hour

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"A zombie." Jack paled, "Oh no."

He turned to see a pale faced Milly reading from her screen, invisible to his eye. She turned and gave him a weak smile.

"Hon, it says I got the zombie virus. I got a count-down too, about 5 minutes left." She sniffled and shook her head, "I don't wanna change into one; you gotta help me Jacky."

Jack nodded, "Right, maybe there is a cure or something . . ."

Milly shook her head and smiled sadly, "Naw, you no better Jacky. Ain't a cure for being bitten in all those ole zombie movies right? I need ya to make sure I don't become one." She pointed to his stick, "I need ya to put me out of my misery."

Jack's eyes widened as her words began to process, "Milly . . .no . . .I can't kill you like this."

Milly sighed, "I need you to though hun. I don't wanna be some undead sonavabuch that'll try to kill ya, so help me like I was a calf with rabies. I need to be put down."

"NO!" Jack yelled at her, "There has to be some other way, some way in this new world. Yeah, I bet with all the changes they’ll be a treasure chest or something with a cure."

"Maybe," She agreed, "But can ya find in . . .4 minutes and 30 seconds?"

"I can try." Jack turned and unlocked the door. Ignoring Milly's protests, Jack raced for the stairwell.

When he slammed the door open, however, 3 zombies poured out with moans and grasping hands. Jack barely dodged them as they lunged into a heap on the floor.

"BASTARDS!" Jack yelled in fright as he backed up. In his retreat, he gave the zombies enough time to recover and get off the floor.

The first one moaned and charged him, the red eyes bleeding.

"Stab!" Jack cried out reflexively. To his shock, his body followed the command through and stabbed the zombie in the head.

(critical hit) Jack heard a monotonous voice in his eyes as the zombie pitched over. Jack stared at his arms before turning back to face the zombies.

"Stab, Stab!" He cried out, and his arm shot forward in the direction he was pointing. Both zombies fell over from the headshots, leaving Jack in a kind of bewildered bemusement.

"Uh, that was easy?" He wondered.

As he stared ahead in thought, he watched as the three zombies melted away into little pouches. Curious, Jack bent down and touched one.

Do you wish to acquire all items?YesNo

Jack clicked "Yes"

Acquired Items:Rotten Bone x 1

Rotten Flesh x 5

"Just like a game." Jack murmured as he picked up the other loot bags. They held the same, but it made Jack look over to his first kill. A loot pouch lay on the hallway floor, waiting for him.

This pouch, however, was blue instead of white.

Curious, Jack walked over and picked it up.

You have found a recipeDo you wish to learn?YesNo

"Definitely 'Yes'" Jack declared as he hit the button

You have learned the recipe: Zombie PreserventIngredients:

Rotten Bone x 2

Rotten Flesh x 12This item allows one to become of the zombie race instead of the zombie monster, allowing for possible co-existence. A rare recipe, extremists go to far lengths to keep this hidden from the world so as to keep it "pure".

Skill acquiredBrewYou can use recipes to create items. Requires a health kit or potion kit

In a flash, Jack ran back into the room and closed the door. Milly, greyer now, looked over and smiled, "Are you here to finish me off then?"

Jack snorted, "No greener pastures for you yet country girl. Hold up while I try to whip this item up."

Grabbing the health kit off the wall, Jack looked around and found a small blue button out of the corner of his eye. Pressing it, a small portrait of his face appeared with other information.

"Ignore that . . .now where is . . .skill button, here we go." He said triumphantly, clicking the button. The screen changed to one with his two skills, and he clicked on brew.

Do you want to Brew a Zombie Preserver?Warning: using Brew with a health kit instead of a potion kit will destroy the kit

Warning: This can item can only be given to a living being infected with the Z virusYesNo

"Yes, yes, yes already!" Jack yelled as he hit "Yes".

The health kit fell apart in his hands, and Jack found himself holding a potion in a flask.

Not questioning the laws of physics, matter conservation, or energy conservation, Jack ran over to Milly.

"Hurry, drink this!" He ordered her. But Milly was fading away too quickly to hear him.

Jack growled and dumped the flash into her mouth, pinching her nose. Milly gasped and coughed as the potion went down her throat, and her eyes rolled back into her head. A moment later, she went limp.

Jack stared down at her cooling boy, then slowly backed up and grabbed his pole from the floor. As he took a stance, Milly shuddered and arced forward, her eyes a bright red as she gasped.

"You still here Milly?" Jack asked carefully.

Milly slowly turned her head toward Jack and smiled at him. Jack sighed in relief and lowered his weapon.

"Oh good; I was really worried about you. How you feeling?"

Milly kept smiling at him, "Hungry." She got up and began to walk toward him.

Jack frowned and backed up a bit, "Milly, I need you to sit down for a moment so we can talk about what changed."

Milly cocked her head and paused, her smile starting to fade, "Hungry? I . . .hhuungry Jack."

"I can get you some food if you wait." Jack told her, "I think there are some snacks in the desk."

Milly shook her head as the smile returned, "Feed me? You feed me?"

Jack nodded in relief as he sighed, "Yes Milly, I will feed you. Just . . ."

"FOOD!" Milly roared as she charged him. She was a lot faster than the other zombies he had faced, and Jack barely dodged her arms as he hit the floor.

Growling, Milly turned and eyed Jack's body with a lick of her lips, "Need food Jack, you food."

"Why didn't it work?" Jack cried out as he rolled out of the way and tripped her charge, "Dammit, the thing said the potion could make it so you could live."

Milly's eyes turned redder as her words began to slur, "Foooadd, Jaaackky, raaa."

Jack turned, only to find himself in the corner. His whipped to stare at Milly's slow approach.

"Milly, don't do this." He begged, "Please, be strong."

"Fooooddddd." Milly whispered as she slowly walked toward him.

"No." Jack whispered as he closed his eyes. As Milly reached out with her arms around him, the pole came up under her chin.

"Stab."

Jack heard the body crumble to the ground. He kept his eyes closed though, hot tears spilling forth down his cheek. As his sorrow reached the bottom of his heart, anger sprung up to replace it. His hands rolling into fists, Jack let out a howl of anguish and despair.

"DAMNIT, DAMNIT ALL!" He roared out, "WHY DID THIS HAPPEN? WHY DID ANY OF THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN!" With no one to answer him, he fell to his knees as he pulled Milly's body to his chest. He bent over her body, and wept.