“Yes, only SHE has a soul.” The reaper smiled.
“Can we not remind me of that concept?” Vinn asked. “I sorta was under the impression that souls didn’t exist, so if they do, I kinda want one. I’m not okay with this.”
“Nicole…” Jack asked. “What kind of fucked up games do you play?”
“Supernatural, zombie apocalypse, demon possession, occult, forbidden magic…basically he scariest shit I can get. Hey, it makes me happy, okay? I don’t know why but it’s just games. It’s fiction. Don’t over-think this.”
“You Stay-Pufft Marshmallow man’d this.” Gizzy sighed. “You were supposed to be the least demented one of the group, but no. you gotta have one damn hobby that digs deep, DEEP into the weird side of the pool and that’s what we get stuck with. Of course.”
“You have a tattoo of Mario, we couldn’t end up in Mario world?” Vinn griped.
“Probably too specific and copyrighted to mess with. This could be like any of 15 identical ripoffs of ripoff horror games."
They nervously walked onward, heading into the woods. They walked down a dirt path to nowhere before noticing that behind the wall of fog was a cabin. Gizzy, knife in hand, jiggled the door knob, giving it a power kick with her mechanical leg and unlocking it. She was immediately lunged at by a shrieking person, who fell to her right hook and went silent for a moment, starting to get back up.
“Kill her!” yelled Nicole. Gizzy stuck her knife in the back of her skull.
“Zombie games. Do none of you play zombie games? I don’t know if you get bitten and infected or not but I know a zombie when I see one. You hesitate, you die.” She said, taking lead as Gizzy watched in curiosity. “These cabins always have loot. Look for boxes, crates, cabinets, secret doors, hatches in the floor or ladders.” She said. They piled inside and Jack shut the door behind them, wedging it shut with a chair.
“See?” Nicole said, hopping up to reach and missing. “Hunting rifle over the fireplace, there’s gotta be shells in the same area." She said, giving up as Vinn grabbed the rifle, noticing it looked loaded. She approached the lit candle still burning on the table and the map rolled out on the wooden table, held in place by a box of .556 rounds.
“Well… that seems self explanatory.” Gizzy said while eyeing the map. "That’s a city, and that looks like a military base. That’s where you find a cannon.”
“And probably a lot of zombies.” Nicole said. "We need guns before we go near that." She started looking around and pulled back a rug to reveal a hatch in the cabin floor. She clicked on her flashlight, peering down at the little bunker room. “This should get us started," she nodded, moving the light along the rack of supplies and guns.
...
Vicki laid back in the cryo tube, a halo on her head with a ring of large needles pointed inward. Her neck collared and wired up, she carefully supported her neck with a piece of chair padding so as not to drive the spikes into her head too early. Zhoren closed the lid and turned it back on to cool.
“Is there any way to make your comfortable? You must be miserable in there.”
“I’m cold as hell, but that’s the idea.”
“Just standing in a coffin tube shivering and wired up to die. They do that to prisoners as punishment for bad behavior. I hate to see someone innocent go through it.
“I’m hardly innocent, and it’s necessary.” She assured as he wheeled her to the cargo bay.
...
Dee let out a scream of pain and rage as she slid her hand free of the restraints, dreading to even look at what she assumed to be a disturbing sight. She was right. She held her hand up, her human skin ripped from the thumb joint and the opposing side, exposing mechanical bones covered in a thin washing of blood. The reminder that she was just a machine bringing tears to her eyes, as the words Zhoren said haunted her. She stepped to the door and realized she gained nothing anyway. She pounded on the barred glass and smeared a bit of blood across it, slightly orange and Delmarian in color. Nothing about her was human, except her face in the reflection, someone else’s face.
...
Gizzy and Jack finished counting the stash and stepped back.
“Well, we have a hunting rifle with 5 rounds in it, a lever action 22 rifle, a 22 pistol with 44 rounds of ammo total between them, a glock 9mm with 36 rounds, an axe, and a double barrel shotgun with 20 shells. Lastly, there are 300 bucks in the gun safe. So not great.” Gizzy listed.
“Not great? You don’t play survivals games much, this is great starting loot. Firstly that 9mm are gonna have tons of ammo everywhere for it, and it'll be cheap. Secondly, starting with a shotgun is basically cheating, and thirdly, there’s 4 of us and we got 5 guns.”
“Yeah… about that.” Vinn squinted. “So my fingers aren’t gonna fit in any of these triggerguards. Did we also find a hacksaw by chance?”
“Nope.” Gizzy sighed. “You may be rockin the axe.”
“Oh, what the hell? So everyone is doubling up on guns and I get the grampa log splitter? This is rigged as shit."
“Okay.” Nicole said “I get the Glock, since I’m pretty familiar with it. Jack should have the 22’s since it makes sense to keep the ammo together and he’s the only one making headshots consistently, plus the rifle is the only one with sights. Vinn, you take the hunting rifle, because you won’t notice the weight and you can toss it to whoever runs out of ammo first. And Gizzy, since you’re basically a tank and your eyes aren’t great, you get the shotgun. There’s enough spare mags to hold all the ammo, probably because in these games you never have to manually load the magazines, they’re just always full.”
“How do you suddenly know guns?” Gizzy questioned.
“I know video game guns. This is quite literally my world.”
“Do you get any decent melee weapons in these, like a damn katana or something?” Gizzy asked.
“H-yea… if you’re lucky and get a high tier locker find or something.” Nicole chuckled. “Frigging katana in the first cabin?… please. Now the first place we need to hit is this… that looks like a bullet on the map which means gun store. Remember to loot the dead, they may have ammo or guns or cash. If we’re lucky they’ll drop ingredients for healing potions so if they have a bag of dried leaves, grab it. Grab everything."
...
The sound of rustling leaves got their attention when they opened the door. Gizzy took lead, Shotgun out and pistol in her left hand. She aimed into the darkness at the sound. From the right leapt a growling rotten humanoid, twisting sharply as the pistol fired a flash through the open mouth and out the back of the head.
“Run,” she smirked. Everyone moved, Nicole taking a few shots and missing as the recoil took her by surprise. Gizzy took a few moving shots, seeming to land about every other round in the head and wishing she had a bigger clip. When the browning ran dry, she dropped the magazine and one hand loaded it, racing the slide with her teeth as another undead bolted for her directly in line with the shotgun and was obliterated by the blast. Gizzy finally reloaded her handgun.
Jack lingered back, Wick-style quick targeting with mechanically precise movements as each shot followed with a synchronized lever rack and a body dropping, like a choreographed dance of death. This mostly drew attention off Nicole, who was just getting her feel for the Glock and starting to target center mass to avoid missing. Gizzy turned back towards Jack, aiming past him and unloading buckshot over his shoulder to get the straggler sneaking up on him.
“I had him next.” Jack informed.
“Good, now guard my ass.” She said, kicking shotgun shells over her head and trying to ram two back in at once and fumbling a little. She jerked the gun shut and mag reloaded the pistol with her teeth again. Jack swung the rifle beside her ear, resting the foregrip on her as she finished loading, and the rifle went off, illuminating her teeth. Nicole jumped, noticing the approaching zombie take a dive from Jack’s cover fire as she tried to reload. Vinn stepped in front of her, hacking awkwardly down with the axe like he was chopping weeds, but angrier.
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“That’s my wife.” He said kicking one aside. “Really wish I had like a gun or something.” He barked, batting them away in front. Gizzy noticed a slow moving one strutting down the path with Nicole in his line of sight. She put 3 9mm rounds in the chest and it slowed down and staggered but remained upright until Gizzy took the head with the gauge.
“Nicole, lay back, aim for the head, and take your time with your shots, or double tap.” Gizzy ordered.
“I know how to double tap.”
“You don’t seem to be implementing it.” She said. Something grabbed her back and Jack fired two quick shots, both ankles, to drop it away from Gizzy’s back, finishing it off with a 22 to the back of the head. Gizzy noticed another slow mover and fired, pausing and firing again, finally just dumping 3 quick rounds into the face.
“How did I miss you?” she asked, taking down 2 more further back and pocketing the pistol. “I’m out of handgun shells.” She hollered.
“I got one mag.” Nicole announced. Gizzy drew her knife with her left hand, holding it blade forward palm down and using her wrist as a gun rest for the shot. She took two down in quick succession, ejecting and tucking the stock to reload, dropping a round and loading another in the same second.
“Damnit.” She said, kicking it forward as she dug another one, hoping to pick it up when it was less congested and watching Jack’s overfire take out the two closest to her. She kicked the double barrels shut and set one off, sidestepping the pink cloud that was left.
“Fall back!" she hollered to Nicole, who was worried that she would run out of ammo any second. She reluctantly let Vinn hack his way clear as she moved to the middle of the group. The population seemed to thin suddenly as the light of a small village grew closer. Jack grabbed the pistol off of Gizzy and began reloading as she took lead, now with plenty of reload time between incoming bastards.
She reached for a reload and felt 1 last shell, loading it and dry firing to cycle the top barrel in. She was rushed from the back left while Jack was reloading and swinging the shotgun around. A zombie's teeth met the foregrip, the gun firing but missing wildly as she stuck the knife through the chin and into the brain, shaking to get the knife loose but letting it drop since it wasn’t coming out.
“I got nothing.” She hollered, tossing the shotgun around and catching the barrel like a bludgeoning bat. Jack handed her the pistol.
“Last mag.” He warned.
“We’re basically at cover anyway.” Nicole said, checking her clip and estimating maybe 3-4 rounds left. Jack grabbed the rifle off Vinn and rolled his eyes noticing the bolt action has no sights of any kind.
“Who keeps a gun with no sights, this is ridiculous.” He said, shouldering and panning the perimeter. He took down 2 zombies in quick session as Gizzy fiddled with the padlock and chain on the gate. One of the villagers rushed out holding his own 22 pistol.
“You are bringing them in with the noise, cease firing!” he hollered.
“Right, let me just die then.” Gizzy said pointing her empty gun at him. “Open the gate.”
“I don’t have the key.” He scoffed.
“Do you have any more locks?” she asked.
“I believe so… why?”
“Go get one. Jack, use your key.” She instructed. He cycled the bolt and blasted the chain free as they all went in and Gizzy tied the chain in a knot, keeping it shut while Jack loaded the last round in the rifle, waiting for the right time to use it. The villager arrived with his padlock, reconnecting the chain as Gizzy stepped back, still pretending the shotgun was loaded.
“Anyone get any loot?” Vinn asked, as Nicole and him compared similar items and both Gizzy and Jack sighed, forgetting to check entirely.
“You cannot be here!” barked the villager.
“Why?” Nicole asked. “You don’t let people seek refuge when being attacked?”
“She is infected.” He growled, pointing at Gizzy.
“Aww. Damnit,” she sighed noticing the bite she didn’t feel on her arm. “So there is a bite and get infected thing, great. What happens if I get bit?”
“The virus moves through the blood to the brain in a matter of hours, where it slowly take-”
“Oh, I’m good then. My brain doesn’t have blood vessels. Guys, we’re fine.” She said as he put a 22 round into her head and watched her hunker in annoyance and look back slowly snarling.
“It’s too late, she’s one of the climbers. God forgive me.” He said wildly firing another 2 rounds as Jack fired his last rifle shot, dropping the villager and slowly looting his pockets.
“Shit, shot through the gun, but on the upside, he’s got a hundred bucks on him and an extra mag.” He said, swapping out the one with his pistol, now reloaded with about 6 rounds.
“We gotta take cover before this becomes a problem.” Gizzy said, dragging the body behind a random metal barrel and rubbing her head.
“There.” Nicole pointed. "According to the map, that’s the gun store.”
“Are you good?” Nicole asked, noticing her bite and the green lines under her skin, as well as the blood running down her scalp.
“Yeah. It’s fine. Zombie shit infects the brain, mine’s a computer so what, I get a blood infection and it kills me in 3 days after I’m back on the ship with a fresh clone? I’m dandy.” She shrugged. “Itches though.” She said strutting up towards the gun store.
...
The doors opened and a portly old bearded man with a smile and dead eyes welcomed them with open arms and deathly pale skin.
“Welcome strangers. Haven’t seen customers in a long time.”
“Are you…” Gizzy squinted “A zombie store owner?”
“He’s an android. I think he’s just old and dried out.” Nicole noted. “Oh, I get it, he’s an android so it makes sense that he would have multiple shops with the same gear and it’s always the same guy no matter where we find the store.”
“So what can I sell you today?” he asked robotically.
“Anything big enough for me to shoot would be swell.” Vinn muttered.
“What you need is a gunsmith and a resize.” He said predictably.
“Seriously… you just resize the guns?” Vinn asked.
“Any gun you want, 150 additional cost, and it’ll fit ya.”
“Oh thank god, I can ditch the stupid axe.”
“We also need ammo.” Nicole shrugged “Exactly what you expect. It says on the sign you buy guns too?”
“Sure, what you got in mind girly?” he asked. Gizzy stepped forward and placed down the bolt action rifle.
“The trail hunter is 500, and we’re out of ammo for it anyway. Damn thing has no sights and holds dick for capacity. That’s the thing to get rid of. We’ll sell the axe and this trail hunter.” Gizzy said confidently.
“Good thing. 275 cash.” He said.
“The sign says 500 for the gun alone.” She argued.
“This is a used gun, that’s half price. Everything I have is new, so new prices," he said while placing the old trail hunter on the rack of identical trail hunters, marked as new. The old scratched disappeared with the wipe of a cloth, as he grinned at Nicole.
“Yeah, I see that. Guys, we got almost 700 bucks now. What are we doing?” Nicole asked.
“Well, I need a gun, and badly. Doesn’t have to be fancy, but it has to shoot. What’s the cheapest shotgun you have?” Vinn asked.
“The one I already have, save your money.” Gizzy said “I hate this thing. It’s too long to maneuver and too slow to reload. How much does it cost to fit it to an 8 foot jackelope?”
“150 for sizing," the owner stated.
“Vinn, it’s yours, make it whatever size you want.” She said. “I’m getting the GSG and 500 rounds of ammo.”
“Don’t blow all of our money.” Nicole muttered.
“It’s 325 for a semi-auto carbine that holds 23 in the mag, and has a silencer and 500 rounds.” She scoffed “That’s a damn deal.”
“Fake silencer.” Corrected the store owner as she looked closer.
“Well, whatever, 22s are quiet already. It’s still a great deal.” She shrugged.
“Why is everyone getting 22s?” Nicole asked as Jack smirked, buying ammo for his 22 lever gun and pistol he seems intent on keeping.
“Because we’re taking headshots and a 22 to the head can take down a man damn near every time, the ammo is cheap, the guns are cheap, and it’s the most common ammunition on the market, so we’ll pick up plenty. It’s quiet so it won’t alert everything within a mile, and both the guns and ammo are lighter. Assassins code 101: Never underestimate the effectiveness of a 22 in the right hands.” He said. Nicole looked worried.
“Headshots aren’t a guaranteed kill here, they just do 3x damage. That’s fine for a standard naked zombie. What if they have helmets?” Nicole asked.
“Why would zombies be wearing armor?” Gizzy asked, loading her new toy with a smile, pretending it might turn into an MP5 when it’s all grown up.
“You guys realize this isn’t normal life, it’s a world based on my concept of death, which is based in video games. 3 specifically as it appears with very similar mechanics. Nobody beats these games with a 22. We’re gonna face shit that gets worse, armored, higher health, and probably a boss.” She said. Gizzy looked at Jack and looked back at Nicole.
“…Fuck. Why can’t games be more realistic?”
“Because they’d be less fun.” She reminded.
“Oh SNAP!” Vinn chuckled as the owner handed him his fun new black and gold custom double barrel. “Custom upgrades come in gold! Shittyes!”
“Yeah, well, you still have to reload every 2 shots, and your ammo costs almost 10 times as much as mine.” Gizzy argued, sticking her tongue out.
“Which means very little if it takes ten shots to kill something!” Nicole reminded. “And literally none of us have a gun that will go through armor…because you sold the 556 rifle. That was light armor-piercing. Oh, hey, can you put a silencer on my Glock? Thanks, and whatever ammo this gets me.” She said while handing over her share. “And that’s it. We’re out of money, we got lots of ammo for everyone’s bb-guns, and Vinn’s shotgun is bigger and gold. So if we get buffed up or armored zombies next, I guess me and Vinn will stun them while you two go hunt squirrels or something.”
“Okay, so what could we get if we sold everything right now?” asked Gizzy.
“$1,050. All ammo sales are final.” The owner said as Nicole pointed to the menu up top with the “half price back resale” in yellow letters.
“So like just over 250 each, and the cheapest guns up there are 300. Next time we find this shop, I do the buying for everyone… IF we live long enough to get to the next shop.” Nicole huffed. Gizzy picked her teeth with her tongue awkwardly, looking over at Jack.
“Did we dick this up?” she muttered discreetly.
“We might have dicked it.”
“Why didn’t you stop me?” she aggressively whispered.
“I don’t play shooter games, I shoot people for a living. I go home and drink and play online chess. A 22 to the head should kill damn near anyone. I would know. It’s always worked for me.”
“RIGHT!?” Gizzy exclaimed at low volume.