Chapter 24

The Mandatory Rest Period is Over

Welcome to Floor 5 SafeZone

Time until SafeZone Collapse: 23:59

Floor 5 objectives:

Solve Floor Puzzle

Or

Defeat Floor Boss

Or

Defeat 1000 Zombies

Or

Find floor Stairwell

Completion of any of these objectives will automatically teleport all party members to the next floor

Good Luck!

The system prompts flared as soon as the mandatory rest period ended, but everyone was already putting away their bedding and getting ready for whatever came next. They read the prompt, then calmly finished getting ready for combat.

“Zombies, huh?” Peter said. “Do you think that we’ll get zombified if we get bitten?”

“I don’t think so, but better not to find out, yeah?” his sister said. “I doubt that Walking Dead rules apply, but even so...um, yeah, let’s keep an eye on anyone who does get bitten.”

Eli reluctantly agreed. “We keep an eye on them, but we don’t do anything about it unless they start to change,” he said. “Let’s not have any mistakes on something like this. There’s plenty of mythos where zombies are risen by arcane energy and the magic isn’t contagious. So that’s probably what we’re facing, not some sort of virus.”

The party finished their preparations and checked the door to the SafeZone, which was finally unlocked. They moved with purpose, quietly moving through the hallway in a group. With Gabri’s assurance that their gear would be safe in the SafeZone even without anyone watching over it, the group decided that it would be best to move quickly.

Elaine and Sophie both left in different directions to scout while the rest of the group slowly explored the familiar territory of the middle school. Despite the promise of one thousand or more zombies, the hallways were clear. In fact, the school looked perfectly normal, as though it were merely empty for the weekend or a holiday.

Luke was the first to spot it. In one of the intersections they passes was a bulletin board protected by glass, so that only a teacher with the keys to access it could actually change what was featured. Normally these were fliers for school events and other such matters of importance to the students.

Featured in this case was a newspaper. Not the student paper, but the one from the city. The headline was “Zombies Rise from the Grave!”

After a short discussion, Erik smashed the glass protecting the paper and pulled the newspaper out. He read the front page, then handed it off to Eli. They split the newspaper up, everyone reading a different page, then summarized what they had learned.

According to the reporters, the zombification wasn’t contagious in the sense that a living person wouldn’t become a zombie unless they died. The ‘unless they died’ was a key qualifier; falling in battle meant that the zombies would have one more among their member. Survivors were recommended to decapitate fallen companions who died of their wounds after their deaths to prevent them from rising again, but more drastic measures weren’t recommended.

Which was somewhat reassuring to the group, but also not really, since they’d still have to slay one thousand of the zombies in order to advance.

The paper also explained why the school was empty; the city had been evacuated. The last update before the paper had been printed was that the zombies were gathering near downtown and in the industrial zone of the city. The graveyard was said to be empty.

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Eli frowned at that, but they discussed the situation calmly as Elaine and Sophie rejoined them. While the school was empty, the pair reported that they had checked outside and seen zombies in the streets in small groups.

“So, if we want to get credit for killing zombies we have to leave the safety of the school,” Junior said.

“I think all of the options to clear the dungeon require us to leave the school,” Eli said. “Which complicates things. Did anyone get any clue from their piece of the paper where the exit is?”

“The paper said those who were looking to evacuate the city should take the freeway north,” John Sr. said. “Maybe that’s the hint we’re looking for?”

“Maybe,” Mattie said, “But to get there we’ll have to pass through the most heavily infested zones. According to the paper, at least. Maybe things have changed since it was printed?”

The discussion went on, and eventually the decision was made to go and check the parking lot to see if they could find any cars that would start. They found six zombies milling about in the area.

The zombies were not a problem. Although the decaying humans turned and, upon seeing the party, began running towards them, they were swiftly put down. Elaine refrained from using her gun to avoid alerting nearby groups to their location. That was wise, since just as the newspaper had warned the only way to stop the zombies was to destroy their brain or decapitate them.

A crossbow bolt to the face seemed to work, Junior discovered, but the head was a much more difficult target to hit than center mass. The melee members, including Erik who danced among the zombies using his elusive method, quickly put down the rest.

When the combat was over, the party split up to search for any car with keys in the ignition. It was hoping for a bit much, however, and it proved to be a fruitless search.

John Sr. and Junior, however, realized at some point that their class was giving them mental directions on carjacking, and in a few minutes they had three vehicles running. A gray minivan, a red sedan, and a motorbike.

With the vehicles running, the party collected once more to discuss what to do. While they had quickly overcome the small party of zombies they’d found, the idea of overcoming an army of them was unappealing. That left the exit, and the floor puzzle.

“I think we should split up again,” Eli said. “We have three vehicles. That means we can split up into three groups. One should head for the freeway and see if we can find the exit there. The other two groups should look for the puzzle. Or hints of what the puzzle is. We should engage in combat only if we’re trapped.”

The others agreed with him, and the party split up. In the minivan, Lucy volunteered to drive, since she said she wasn’t good for very much else. Both the Santos family and the Waters family filled the seats, putting the minivan at capacity. It was a little awkward when the weapons were accounted for, but everyone fit.

The Campos family took the sedan, plus Erik Estabon. Once more the car was cramped, but the team made it work.

That left the Mathews family on the motorbike. It surprised Eli to learn that his mother knew how to drive one, but she confidently took her seat and waited for him to get behind her. As agreed, they took point, and his mother skillfully kicked the vehicle into gear.

As they left the parking lot, the signs of a zombie apocalypse became more apparent around them. The party’s little convoy stuck close together, and they were able to quickly outdistance the zombies that they disturbed along their way downtown.

Eli held on tightly as his mother navigated the streets. He was looking off to the side when he saw a bit of graffiti, and something that had been bothering him since he’d read the newspaper clicked into place.

Why was the graveyard said to be empty? Shouldn’t the concentration of zombies be highest there?

“Mom, change of plans,” he said, shouting to be heard. “Take us to the graveyard.”

“What?” she asked.

“I figured out the puzzle,” he said. “or at least, I know where we’ll find it. Trust me, take us to the graveyard.”

His mother didn’t ask for further explanation and simply signaled to the drivers behind her that she was turning left. It took ten minutes to arrive at the largest graveyard in town. The graves were all churned up and empty as the dead had crawled out of it, and the area stank of something . Not death or rotting flesh, as Eli might have expected.

No. Something arcane. Like burnt paper and ozone and sulfur had a baby. The closer they got to the exposed graves, the stronger the scent became.

And the more Eli’s convictions grew that he was right.

The party arrived at the cemetery gates and got out. Some of the teens complained of the smell, and Eli had to explain the change of plans.

“We’ve already figured out that these are arcane zombies not plague zombies,” he said. “So it makes sense that there would be ‘magic’ animating them, right? So if we disable the magic source, it should disable the zombies themselves. I’m pretty sure that they’re all being controlled by their summoner, who brought them downtown, but it makes sense, to me at least, that the animation ritual would remain in place in the graveyard.”

The rest of the party simply took his word for it, except for Erik who looked a bit skeptical but didn’t call him out on his leap of logic. The scent in the air was strong evidence that some sort of magic shenanigans were going on. So the party fanned out and began looking for the magical ritual.

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