“Ah.” Taken aback by the sudden question, I nod. “Yes, I’m that Midnight.”

“O-oh! Sorry, I just wanted to know…”

“Mm, it’s okay, I just didn’t expect you to suddenly ask is all.” Giving Aerith a small smile, I turn to Winter and we start discussing the next steps. Leaving Aerith with Winter, I get up and just wander around for a while, lost in my own thoughts.

Just like this, three days quickly passed. Sheep had worked his magic with Ghost and to a degree Lemon. Ghost had returned to reality fairly quickly, it seems that the Nexus event had made him fearful of what could happen afterwards, making him filled with anxiety. I worked with Ghost to ensure that the small farm he is making wouldn’t be easily trampled.

Aerith met the boys when we had our usual meeting, creating a slight problem for all of us. We learned that Aerith had been a rather huge fan of all of us in our last world, and as she recovered she became more and more starstruck. I honestly had no idea how to resolve this, so instead I decided to just treat her like one of us, hoping that she’ll get used to the idea that we’re not the glorified team that management marketed.

Thankfully it seemed to work, after two days she calmed down a lot and apologised for being so awkward, which wasn’t exactly true but I told her it’s fine, explaining that at this moment we were basically similar in that there are no teams or pros here. We decided to select her Job once the Nexus event had finished and our safety ensured.

After asking Sheep for a favour on the second last day, he gathered Ghost, Lemon and Aerith and had them go to the warehouse with the excuse of sorting it out and securing it for the Nexus event, leaving Winter and I alone to…destress ourselves. After that, I had found it a bit easier to think as my mind had started to be clouded with anxiety and stress.

Currently it’s the evening of the third day. The counter now showed three hours remaining, everyone’s nerves were shot and as a form of distraction we were going around ensuring that there are absolutely no problems with our fortifications. Ghost had used his shovel to make several pits outside of the building, with a final one before the door, and we filled these with wooden spikes at the bottom. This idea had been from Aerith, and we immediately set out to work on it.

The pits wouldn’t stop the horde, but it would at least stop the flow for a while, which is all we needed. Aerith had also suggested napalm as a solution to the horde, but we didn’t have the materials on hand to make it. We couldn’t easily make fire either, but I found myself surprised at the ideas Aerith had. It’s rather refreshing having one who thought differently to us.

With two hours left, we erected the last spiked wall, closing us into the base completely. After checking the mechanical doors, one that led to the room where we’d reenact 400 and the two to the basement, we stood on standby, our nerves increasing as the timer counted down and the sun started to set.

We had separated into two teams. Winter and I were responsible for one of the passageways with Lemon and Sheep responsible for the other one. Ghost would act as a floater, switching between each passageway and ensuring that a breach doesn’t occur in another location. As for Aerith, she is currently in the basement. She can’t fight and had found that out the hard way. Without the boost from getting a Class and her weakened body, she couldn’t even draw the string back on a wooden bow and though she had been upset, realised that she would only get in our way if she tried to fight alongside us.

As the counter hit thirty minutes left, I felt Winter embrace me from behind as I leaned into her. We didn’t talk, both of us were high strung. We were far more nervous than we had been when we played in the finals for an RPG game back in the day, which is a given considering our circumstances. We had sworn to each other earlier that if one of us died, the other would take their own life. Grim, we know, but we also knew we couldn’t live in this desolate horrifying world knowing the other would never be there. Rebecca had told me after our love making two days ago that if I wasn’t here, she would’ve likely committed suicide; a thought I had had as well about her.

Fifteen minutes left. The world had never been so silent before, I could only hear Rebecca’s heartbeat, slightly fast because of her nerves, but I found it calming. Gripping her hands a bit more, I ran through the plans we as a team had discussed. Looking at the grenades nearby, along with the deagle on my waist and bow leaning against the wall with my arrows, I settled my own nerves as much as I could. We had prepared for this moment as much as we could.

Five minutes left. As planned, we lit the candles around us with the last of our matches, planning to use the flashlights later if required. I heard footsteps behind me, expecting Ghost, I turned and saw Aerith. Before I could get angry or tell her to leave, she hands me a bracelet that is a bit basic, just cloth cut into a circle but had a few colourful pieces of cloth tied to it. She also handed Winter one, before muttering “A g-good luck charm…” before dashing away back to the basement.

Looking at the bracelet, I reminded myself that Aerith is only a fourteen year old girl, not some experienced gamer or fighter. I felt slightly touched at the sight of the bracelet, it hadn’t escaped my notice that she too wore one. Looking at Winter who had a stunned expression on, we both shared a smile before putting the bracelet on. Two minutes left.

Steeling myself, I watch as Winter approaches the gap in the wall while I prepare an arrow. Behind us are the whirling blades I had made, to be turned on the moment we retreat past them, buying us time. One minute left.

A silence rang out, as if the world held its breath. The minute counted down, feeling like an eternity as that timer slowly reached thirty seconds. Twenty seconds. Ten seconds. I focused my eyes, monitoring my team’s health and my own. Five. I heard Winter breath in. Four. I steadied my arms. Three. I heard the boy’s footsteps shuffling. Two. I breathed out, focusing my mind. One. My grip on the bow tightened.

The countdown finished. At first, there was nothing. Outside of the doorway was darkness, as if no light shone from the sky. Then, a loud roar could be heard, then another, followed by another, and so one. Within seconds, hundreds of gurgling, dreadful roars could be heard, causing a cold shiver to run down my spine. The roars continued as I felt the ground tremble, footsteps loudly ringing out as if running towards a location…towards us.

The sound of bodies falling and being impaled soon rang out, the pits that Aerith had suggested doing work, but I knew from the sounds it wouldn’t be near enough. It wasn’t just a few dozen Husks, this sounded like hundreds, thousands. Had we prepared enough? Can we even beat this?

Nexus Event One: Time Remaining: 11:59:45

Ignoring the quest, I saw a sight that caused my stomach to drop. One Husk stormed in, running right at us, their eyes no longer blank, but their flesh and body had decayed more. Without hesitating, I pulled back on my bow and fired an arrow. It tore through the Husks head, continuing behind it, where it pierced through another Husks head that had just entered. This single arrow became the start as the roars pierced the night as Husks started to flood into the room.

Arrow after arrow is sent out as Winter kills anything that gets close. The boys started assisting from the right, but the Husks seemed to only want to come directly at our wall. I kept firing arrows as quickly as I could, the first room very quickly filled with Husks. Corpses littered the ground, building up a wall of Husks, but they kept coming, climbing over those that had been killed.

An hour passed, my fingers were bleeding. I had ten carbon arrows left, Winter slowly running out of ammo herself. We would have to switch to wooden weapons soon. The smell of rot slowly became overwhelming, yet I knew that we still had an advantage, even if we had to switch the Husks weren’t strong enough to get through our barrage of arrows and gunshots.

That surge of confidence I had disappeared very quickly. A loud roar resounded out, unlike the others this one is clear, bloodthirsty. Heavy footsteps could be heard as a large monster crashed through the door, destroying the doorway. It’s as Ghost had reported, this Husk is huge, filled with muscles that easily swept everything aside and caused the ground to shake. It stood at three metres and it stared us down.

The big Husk easily swept the walls of the doorway away, crushing Husks that surrounded it, crushing them underfoot.

“Shrapnel!” Hearing Sheep’s voice, I picked up a Shrapnel Grenade next to me and pulled the pin with my teeth. I flung it through the gap, right under the monster. Running to Winter, I pulled her down and we hunkered below the steel plating we had set up. The grenade goes off with a large bang, with hundreds of piercing sounds coming out as the Shrapnel Grenade shreds everything around it. After a few seconds, I roll back with Winter as I notch another arrow and aim out of the gap.

The wall had been torn apart, leaving only the bottom half partly intact. The big Husk still stood, riddled with holes. Quickly notching an arrow, I fired at its head, piercing it and seeing it still stand, I fired another. Another two arrows before it finally fell.

You have killed an Empowered Husk: Heavy!

+5 Class Points.

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This is your first kill on an enemy of this type!

+10 Class Points.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I quickly looked at the situation at the entrance. The walls had been torn away, our defences were no more and piles of bodies lay scattered. The roars of Husks could be heard, but we seemingly had a reprieve for a few seconds, the Heavy supposedly bringing us time by crushing everything in its path.

“Fall back. We can’t stay here.” Hearing Sheeps command, I look at Winter who nods. We didn’t anticipate having downtime, but we knew it would be short lived. Quickly collecting the grenades, arrows and flashlights, we made our way down the corridors, turning on the generators for the whirling blades along the way and as we arrived in the second defence room I could hear Husks storming the building once more.

With the help of Sheep, I closed the mechanical door as the sounds of bodies being cut could be heard, meaning the Husks were making their way down the hall. Placing the flashlights so they shone on the door, I took up my position at the back, overlooking Lemon, Ghost and Winter as Sheep stood at my side. After thirty minutes, banging rang out from the door, telling us that the Husks had arrived. Breathing in, I readied myself, knowing that if we failed here, we wouldn’t be able to continue. Thankfully the defences here meant we could use the remaining Shrapnel Grenades without much worry.

We remained silent as our eyes watched the door, lit by the flashlights that we had placed down. The door wasn’t taking damage, but the frame around it was slowly crumbling away as the Husks continued to hit it. It’s like they knew exactly where we were, and were eager to get to us. Looking at everyone, even though I could only see their backs, I knew they were all like me, scared out of their minds but determined.

We had seen at this point that the Husks were relatively easy to deal with, the problem is the overwhelming numbers. We had the advantage because of our weapons, but now we were running low on ammo. I only had six carbon arrows left, the others were low, keeping a wooden bow next to them. The timer kept trickling down, and when ten hours remained, the door frame finally gave out, as the mechanical door dropped with a heavy thud.

All of us duck behind the barricades as Sheep throws a Shrapnel Grenade through the doorway, and with a loud explosion, the sounds of shrapnel shredding through everything in its path resound throughout the room. Once it stops, I notch an arrow and stand, looking at the doorway, the walls now filled with tiny holes.

Once again, nothing stood alive. We could hear the sounds of Husks, but they weren’t coming towards us. We waited with baited breath, time moving slowly. Any minute now they’d charge towards us, right? Ten minutes passed, the sounds gradually disappeared, causing me to frown. An hour gradually passes as nothing appears before us.

At first, I had thought they would come in waves. Looking at everyone, they shared a similar confused look. Surely we hadn’t defeated all of the Husks, right? How many were around us in the first place? No, we clearly heard them leaving, did they actually retreat?

Hours passed as we remained on high alert. We wouldn’t relax, the possibility of a sudden attack is very possible, but this had been far too easy…had it? The tension in the room stayed high as our eyes stayed glued to the doorway, the only movements were checking the timers on our HUD. The time slowly ticked away, and soon only an hour remained. I felt the tiredness of mind and body, fatigue deep within my bones from remaining on high alert for so long, but as the timer hit one hour, the roars of Husks could be heard once more, but far away from us.

“The fuck?” I heard Sheep whisper out as I frowned.

“Why aren’t they attacking?” I whisper back, our voices barely escaping our lips.

“Fear? Perhaps the big guy had been their boss?” Sheep whispers back, our heads against each other, trying to keep the noise to a minimum.

“A mindless zombie feeling fear?”

“Maybe instinct to know they can’t get us?”

Filled with questions, I just stared at the entranceway. I’m exhausted, as everyone else is, yet this hadn’t been as dangerous as we thought it would be. Sure, the big Husk had been a little problematic but we had anticipated they would show up and had planned to nade it from the get go.

An hour of staring at the doorway on guard later, the timer reached the end, signalling that the Nexus event is over and with it the danger of being swarmed.

Nexus Event: One, Complete

As you have survived the Nexus Event, you will receive the following rewards:

Clan Unity: 500 Prime Coins each member. Ten Clan Points.

Midnight: 1x Solar Panel Blueprint, 200x Carbon Arrows, 50 Class Points.

As you have unlocked your Class before the Nexus event the System considers you ‘Worthy’. As a reward, you have received the quests:

Survival Basics: Final

A Sharpshooter’s Speciality

Survival Basics: Final

Survive Nexus Event, One: Done.

Obtain a form of motorised transport: Incomplete.

0/10 Tasks Completed.

A Sharpshooter’s Speciality

Deliver a fatal blow to your enemies with a headshot using a long ranged weapon.

Kill Count: 0/200

Opening the Clan interface, I saw we had three thousand Prime Coins and ten Class Points. Opening my Status, I didn’t see anything noting that I had become ‘Worthy’, is it only a title to give me those two quests? Looking over everyone else, they seemed to be slightly confused themselves. Considering our exhaustion, I decided to tell everyone not to worry about it for now.

“Let’s get some rest, I believe the Nexus event is done.” Seeing everyone agree, I could tell we were all exhausted. Heading towards the basement, we closed a mechanical door and saw Aerith sitting there worried.

“It’s over. We’re going to get some rest, wake us up if anything happens, okay?”

“Y-yes!”

Taking one of the cells with Winter, we quickly fell asleep.

Waking up naturally, I slowly open my eyes as they adjust to the little light that came from the few remaining candles we had. Slowly sitting up while stifling a yawn, I saw Winter who had fallen asleep next to me and after brushing her hair gently while smiling at her, I got up and walked out of the cell to see Sheep, Lemon and Aerith sitting around a candle, as if it’s a campfire.

Joining them, we sat in silence for a while before Ghost woke up and shortly after Winter, who sat next to me and held my hand. She’d been more open to being affectionate in front of everyone here, likely because there isn’t a chance a fan would randomly take creepy shots of us.

“So, what happened?”

Silence followed Ghost’s question as we all tried to think of why the Husks had left last night. Nothing came to my mind, there isn’t enough information to think of an answer.

“System Call: Shop.”

I bring up the shop and purchase cans of food. Repeating the action, I bought a second set of canned food. As I opened the shop again, I saw that it had now greyed out, meaning that there is indeed a cap on how much I could buy. Telling the others, they checked and found that they could not buy any either.

“So it is capped after all.” Sheep sighs as the mood in the room soured. We had overcome what we had originally thought would be a night filled with danger, yet our situation remained the same. Except we now had more problems on top of that.

“We can’t remain here.” Winter said it, the thought that had been on all of our minds. Outside of those mechanical doors is a building filled with corpses of Husks, an entrance way that had been demolished and now it’s likely the enemies were going to get stronger.

“What should we do then? Leave the town?”

“We still have no idea about the situation outside of the town, but if it gets more dangerous we’re going to be in hot water.” Sheep answers Lemon’s question while in thought.

“Walking isn’t viable. Who knows how far we’d need to travel to find anywhere safe, and we’ll soon run out of supplies in this town.” With a sigh, I look up at the roof. The big Husk had shown us that we were very vulnerable here, this building wouldn’t last and after the Shrapnel Grenades last night two points of the building had been damaged. How much damage remained to be seen, and with that in mind I stood up.

“Let’s look at what we have left. Everything useful is already down here. Once we’ve seen the state of the building, we’ll make a decision.”

With us all standing up, we opened the mechanical door, stepping out to check over the base and decide on what to do.