CHAPTER 4
The students watched in horror as Michael and Eric killed the students and teacher who turned into zombies. When Mr. Gray dispersed into light, all was silent, save for the banging on the gym door. George grew alarmed when he saw a female student clutching her arm. He pointed at her and shouted, “Hey, will she turn into a zombie too?!”
Everybody looked at the injured student. The students next to her fell back, giving her a wide berth. Everybody knew that if you were bitten or scratched by a zombie, you’d turn into one of them. But that was just in the movies, right? The injured girl chuckled nervously, “W-what are you talking about? I’m fine! It’s just a scratch!”
Michael thought for a moment before saying, “What does your information screen say?”
The girl quickly brought up her screen. Michael walked up to her and took a quick look.
Name: Melissa
Title: None
Age: 16
Kill Points: 0
Health: 16/20
Health Regeneration: .10/m
Stamina: 18/20
Stamina Regeneration: .10/m
Mana: 10/10
Mana Regeneration: .05/m
Level: 1
Experience Required to Level: 10
Stat Points: 0
Skill Points: 0
Strength: 9
Vitality: 10
Agility: 11
Endurance: 10
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 5
Her health dropped by 4 points, but that was it. Michael didn’t know if the information screen would tell you if you were infected or not, so it was best to be safer than sorry. He smiled gently, “You’ll be fine, but just in case, we’ll have to keep our distance from you for a bit, alright?”
“I-I understand,” Melissa gave a nod after seeing her friends look at her in fear.
Michael turned around and saw Eric still kneeling on the ground. He mused to himself, “He must be wallowing in despair. I can’t let that continue.”
Michael clapped his hands to gather everybody's attention, “Everyone! The school is gathering in the cafeteria. How about we join them?”
“Yes!”
“That sounds good.”
The students quickly gave their approval. It would be safer next to more people. There was comfort in numbers. Michael walked into the storage room to gather the rest of the equipment that could be used as weapons. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much. Most of the equipment were balls or soft materials. The bats were the only thing that could be used effectively, and there were only five in total. He handed them over to George with a firm voice, “Carry these, would you?”
“Uhh, right, okay, no problem,” George was relieved that he could carry out a task that wasn’t dangerous. He was ashamed that he couldn’t move before.
Michael walked over to Eric and clasped his shoulder. Eric shook with a start. He stood up, “I’m fine. Let’s go.”
Michael and Eric led the students to the cafeteria. The cafeteria was located in the middle of the school, just next to the main entrance. There, Michael and Eric saw something that caused them to grow solemn. Through the windows of the doors, they saw over a hundred zombies pounding on the main entrance. Thankfully though, the school had thick, bulky metal doors instead of wooden ones. Michael thought they would probably last for years. That was until a screen appeared.
Metal Door
Durability: 471/500
Michael frowned when he realized the rules of the world were different than before. Such doors would normally be unbreachable just by the banging of human limbs. But now, it looked like it would last three hours at most. His confidence in thinking he understood what was going on plummeted. This caused him great discomfort. After understanding the situation here, Michael and Eric finally entered the cafeteria. The security guard of the school was standing at the entrance. The injured girl, Melissa, sat next to him. Her wound was now bandaged properly. The security guard eyed them cautiously as they walked in.
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Michael and Eric looked around. The cafeteria was packed full of students. It was clearly over its recommended capacity. If a zombie appeared now, it would cause a massive panic. There wouldn’t only be a single incident of trampling if that happened. The duo stood at the edge of the group. A few students gave Eric a strange glance because he wasn’t wearing a shirt, but he didn’t mind.
Michael took this moment of respite to look at his information screen.
Name: Michael
Title: None
Age: 18
Kill Points: 1
Health: 22/22
Health Regeneration: .11/m
Stamina: 19/20
Stamina Regeneration: .10/m
Mana: 10/10
Mana Regeneration: .05/m
Level: 2
Experience Required to Level: 20
Stat Points: 1
Skill Points: 0
Strength: 10
Vitality: 11
Agility: 10
Endurance: 10
Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 5
As he compared his current screen from the one a while ago, he found a few changes. His kill points went from 0 to 1. This probably referred to how many zombies you killed. His level changed from 1 to 2. He recalled the screen when he killed a zombie. It gave 10 XP. XP must be shorthand for experience. Not only that, his experience required to level went from 10 to 20. From this he gathered that more XP was required the higher level you were.
His eyes flashed as he saw that his stat points went from 0 to 1. Did this really mean what he thought it meant? That if he put a point into strength, he would grow stronger? Such an unbelievable thing was now reality? When he thought about the zombies, he could believe it. He tried to figure out how to use his stat point. He tried pushing it, but nothing happened. When he thought about putting his stat point into agility, it worked. His stat points went to 0, and his agility rose to 11.
He looked around to see if there were any visible changes, but he couldn’t tell. The definition of agility was to move quickly and easily, so perhaps he would be able to tell the next time he encountered a zombie. He glanced over at his friend. Eric was looking down, his eyes unfocused. Michael distracted him by beginning to explain everything he learned about the system.
Eric shared Michael’s initial disbelief. He willed his 2 stat points into strength and immediately felt something different. He felt lighter, like the gravity on his body had been reduced. The metal bat in his hand now felt weightless. Michael noticed Eric’s reaction and asked, “Notice anything?”
“Yeah… I feel… powerful,” Eric said while clenching his hand.
Michael let loose a grin as he thought, “This is interesting… so interesting!”
Time continued to pass as the students conversed with each other. The cafeteria grew hot and sweaty. Everybody was on edge and anxious. A group of faculty entered the cafeteria. They stood right next to Michael and Eric and began to talk in hushed tones. Michael recognized the principal among them.
“Is everything locked?” The principal asked.
“Yes, we doubled checked. The school has been successfully locked down, no zombies have made their way inside,” A teacher responded.
“Good,” The principal let out a sigh of relief.
Another teacher spoke up, “What about the police?”
The principal hesitated for a moment before saying quietly, “I called a friend of mine who works for the department. He said the entire city is crawling with zombies from who knows where. Not only that, the police department is under heavy assault. There are thousands of zombies there. I’m afraid we’re on our own for now.”
“Shit,” A teacher cursed.
Only Michael and Eric overheard the conversation between the faculty. They were the last to enter the cafeteria and stood on the edge of the group. When they heard the situation in the city, they looked at each other, their faces grim.
The principal heaved a sigh, “We need to wait it out. To make sure no zombies make their way inside, let’s set up some patrols. Teams of two.”
“If I may interject,” Michael walked over to the faculty with Eric behind him.
The principal frowned when she saw two student walk over, but her displeasure disappeared when she saw it was the student president. Michael looked at each of the faculty before explaining, “I don’t think waiting it out is a good idea.”
“Why not?” The principal asked. The principal and Michael were in frequent contact, and she admired his intelligence and calm demeanor in handling things. If not for that, she wouldn’t give him the time of day.
“Follow me, I’ll explain,” Michael led them to the main entrance. He pointed at the door, “Focus on this door. A screen will appear.”
Metal Door
Durability: 268/500
The expressions of the faculty fell when they understood what this meant. The principal frowned, “What will happen when it reaches 0? It can’t possibly mean that it will just break down, right?”
Michael pointed at Eric, “When he killed a zombie, the zombie dissipated into motes of light. For safety’s sake, let’s assume the door will do the same.”
“Preposterous!” A teacher named Mr. Drew exclaimed.
The principal fell silent as the faculty began to argue amongst themselves. The principal noticed Michael still had something he wanted to say, so she motioned for him to speak. Michael took a deep breath before he said, “Honestly, we have a tremendous advantage.”
“Hah, what advantage could we possible have? We’re surrounded by fucking zombies!” Mr. Drew hissed. All sense of formality flew out the window now that Mr. Drew’s life was on the line.
“Quiet!” The principal snapped while giving Mr. Drew a firm glare. Mr. Drew mumbled something to himself before falling silent.
“Like I said,” Michael continued, “we have a tremendous advantage. We can choose when and where to let the zombies in. Isn’t that great?”
“How the fuck is that great, you brat?” Mr. Drew couldn’t help but snap.
Michael only smiled calmly. Eric, however, took a step towards Mr. Drew. He glared at him while resting the bat against his shoulder. His toned upper chest was for all to see. Mr. Drew stepped backwards in fear, “You dare?!”
“ENOUGH!” The principal roared.
Mr. Drew smiled in satisfaction, only for his face to fall when he realized the principal was referring to himself. He looked around and found the rest of his peers giving him looks of disapproval. He walked away and spat, “Fine! I get it! I’m not wanted, right?”
The principal turned back to Michael and asked calmly, “What do you have in mind, Michael?”
Michael smiled as he began to explain, “Here’s what I have in mind…”