Jacob checks his remaining shells as Ryan places his sword in his scabbard. There are no living zombies at the gates, so they'll be safe for at least a few minutes. After counting six shells, Jacob looks at Ryan and his gun.

"Where'd you get a gun?" He asks, slightly cautious.

"I uh... traded a guy some food for it," Ryan replies, quickly thinking of cover stories for whatever else he might be asked.

"You have many bullets for it?" Jacob asks.

"Just two more magazines," Ryan replies.

Outside the first gate, the one Ryan entered through, one of the huge zombies comes barreling into the iron bars. The bars sway but Jacob reacts quickly and places a well-aimed shell into the head of the zombie. As the zombie's head explodes and its body falls back, the gate returns to normal. However, more zombies approach the gate.

"This is how it usually is," Jacob says, taking another shot at the crowd. "One of the brutes will charge the gate, then the smaller ones will follow it.

At the second gate, Ryan turns to see several two-foot-long rodents tearing zombie corpses to shreds and dragging the remains away.

"What are those things?" Ryan asks and shoots one. The bullet hits the rodent on its side, and the rodent abandons its haul to scurry away.

"Some kind of scavenger. They don't seem hostile, so I'd conserve your ammo," Jacob suggest, and fires another shell into the wall of zombies at the first gate.

"If we want to conserve ammo," Ryan says, holding out his spear. "Let's fight with these."

"Yeah, good idea," Jacob says, and takes the spear from Ryan.

The iron bars of the gate are far enough apart to fit an arm through, so a sword or spear has no problem. Jacob has no problem stabbing the zombies at a slight range, but Ryan's sword is blocked from full swings by the top horizontal bar on the gate. Instead, Ryan uses small slashes and cuts the arms off zombies reaching in.

"I've noticed the zombie's bones are much more brittle than a regular human's," Jacob comments. "Something like this," He stabs a zombie through the skull, "Would have gotten much more resistance from a living human's skull."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"I guess I haven't been thinking about it," Ryan says and easily cuts a radius and ulna pair.

After a few minutes, the zombies at the gate have all been killed. Severed arms lay across the ground inside the gate, and a thick layer of blood coats everywhere else. Behind the gate, the pile of zombies reaches waist height. Luckily, the gate the surrounding brick wall are all over ten feet tall.

After placing his sword in his scabbard, Ryan purchases two glasses of water for 20 credits and hands one to Jacob, who trades it with the spear.

'Pretty intense,' Ryan thinks, and silently returns to the back of the lot. There is an office chair behind a table in the corner, but Ryan chooses to lean against the brick wall.

Spoiler: Status Screen

>Name: Ryan Stone

>Class: Tycoon

>Credits: 23578 ₵

>Str: 16

>Dex: 14

>Vit: 12

>Int: 11

>Wis: 10

>Luc: 11

>Skills: Ice Picks 1, Spears 5, Swords 1, Shooting 10, Sneaking 5, Sleep Resistance 1, Hunger Resistance 1, Thirst Resistance 1, Sharp Hearing 1, Night Vision 2, Climbing 1, Running 10, Sprinting 2, Bullet Resistance 4, Fire Resistance 1

>Current Equipment: Ice Pick, Hammer, Flashlight, Sword, Spear, Pistol, Belt Scabbard, Safety Helmet, Heavy Work Gloves, Textile Motorcycle Jacket, Electronic Earplugs, Extra .22 Magazines *2

>Current Injuries: Bullet stuck in back, bruised back

>Weapons

>>Iron Dagger, 100 ₵

>>Steel Sword, 300 ₵

>>Steel Ice Pick, 100 ₵

>>Steel Spear, 300 ₵

>>9mm Semi-Auto Pistol, 14000 ₵

>>Pistol Ammo: .22 LR, 1 ₵

>>Molotov Cocktail, 200 ₵

>Armor

>>Heavy Work Gloves, 150 ₵

>>Textile Motorcycle Jacket, 2000 ₵

>>Ballistic Helmet, 2400 ₵

>>Electronic Earplug, 3200 ₵

>Skills

>>Ice Picks 1, 300 ₵

>>Spears 1, 300 ₵

>>Swords 1, 300 ₵

>>Shooting 1, 300 ₵

>>Sneaking 1, 300 ₵

>>Sleep Resistance 1, 500 ₵

>>Hunger Resistance 1, 500 ₵

>>Thirst Resistance 1, 500 ₵

>>Bullet Resistance 1, 500 ₵

>>Fire Resistance 1, 500 ₵

>>Sharp Hearing 1, 500 ₵

>>Night Vision 1, 500 ₵

>>Climbing 1, 300 ₵

>>Running 1, 300 ₵

>>Sprinting 1, 300 ₵

>Items

>>Plastic Bag, 1 ₵

>>Concrete Block, 15 ₵

>>High End-Table, 400 ₵

>>Roll of Toilet Paper, 10 ₵

>>Steel Dinner Fork, 20 ₵

>>Steel Dinner Knife, 25 ₵

>>Porcelain Dinner Plate, 30 ₵

>>Glass of Water, 10 ₵

>>Cheap Cheeseburger, 10 ₵

>>Cheeseburger, 50 ₵

>>Box of Wheat Flakes, 35 ₵

>>Box of Corn Wheels, 35 ₵

>>Filet Mignon, 140 ₵

>>Belt Scabbard, 120 ₵

>>Pillow, 400 ₵

>>Lighter, 50 ₵

>>Magazine: .22, 400 ₵

>>Battery: Size 10, 40 ₵