Boredom - Revised
In most stories, the zombie apocalypse is really sudden and causes a lot of chaos and destruction. Adrian never thought about how he would react to it, because it's in stories—why would he think it would become reality one day? So when he was driving home after a long day of college classes, he didn't exactly know what to do when the sky went red and corpses started crawling their way out of the ground. His first thought was to swerve and avoid the zombie in front of his car, but that was also the thought of everyone else around him.
It all happened too quickly really. One second he was shocked at the sky turning red and mildly stunned at the zombie easily breaking out of pavement, the next his car was rear-ended, he had swerved into the car next to him, and his chest felt like it was caving in from the force of the airbag. His chest was burning as he gasped for air, he could smell something burning and really hoped it wasn't his car, his ears were ringing like someone had set off his alarm at full volume right next to his head, and somehow to top it all off, the zombie was definitely real and had finished breaking its way out of the ground.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello Adrian Henderson!
Your planet has joined thousands of others in this selection of survival. To make it a fair playing field, we provide the same information to everyone at the same time.
Everything that has ever died on your planet has been revived and is actively hostile towards you. Your goal is to survive—whether this be hiding away or fighting your way out.
Due to the differences in technology across multiple planets, we have restricted everyone to cold weapons. That means no firearms, bombs, nuclear weapons, or even space fighters for those who have the technology to build one. As reconciliation, you all get to pick a starting weapon, but do know that it doesn't come with instructions on how to use it.
Weapon Choices:
- Sword - A steel sword that cuts
- Bow - A simple bow with a draw strength of 45 kilograms (roughly 100 pounds)
- Battle Axe - A steel axe that can cut things
- Mace - A simple mace that can crush things
- Spear - 6-foot long spear with a steel tip
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adrian's vision was still fuzzy so he couldn't really read, but his vision was returning slowly. The bright blue screen in front of him was also absurdly hard to ignore even with the chaos going on around him. It was a quick read, didn't make the situation any less horrible, but at least it clarified some things. He could take all the clarification he could get right now.
With the little mental clarity he had, he first considered what weapon to pick. Well, he actually first thought about how cool and horrible it was to be put in this situation, then decided it wasn't worth the effort to think about that now. He had far bigger fish to fry—namely, the actual corpses breaking out of the ground right now and beelining for his body.
The bow was the first to go. He was a city kid; he had no clue how to even hold a bow correctly, let alone try shooting an arrow with one. The mace was second—swinging around a ball of steel sounded very dangerous to anyone around him and likely himself. The battle axe went soon after; those sounded heavy and he wasn't frail, but that didn't mean he had the strength to use one reliably. The sword and spear were the only options left, both beginner-friendly from what he remembered reading in novels. Not exactly the best reference for his knowledge, but he had to work with what he had, and he didn't have much.
He chose the sword, not because the spear was worse or he knew how to wield the sword. He picked it because it not only was the first one on the panel, it was also the coolest from all the cover pages he'd seen. This wasn't the situation to be thinking about how cool a weapon made him look, but he also didn't exactly have the time to continue weighing the benefits of a spear versus a sword. The first zombie had already reached his door and he didn't want to be anywhere near it for much longer.
With hasty fingers, still slightly dazed, he pressed the sword option and the panel vanished. Then a sword dropped onto his lap. It was longer than he thought it would be, and he was immediately happy about not choosing the spear—it definitely wouldn't fit in his car.
The zombie was really close by now though, close enough that he could smell the rot coming off of it. He grabbed his sword by the hilt and opened his car door to stab it. He had no clue where the confidence for that came from, but he was already running on pure adrenaline, could barely think, and was getting assaulted by the smell of fire, bodies rotting, and melting rubber. He stabbed forward and was sort of disgusted by how easily the sword cut through the zombie—it was like a knife through butter, cutting straight through where the heart would be.
Then the zombie continued walking forward and he panicked, pushing the sword downwards. Cutting into the heart was relatively easy, but cutting through decaying ribs took more strength than his grip would allow, so it didn't cut down very far.
He pulled the sword out and stumbled backwards, hitting his car seat and falling back onto it. The zombie continued getting closer though, unfazed by the hole where its heart should be, its decaying face seemingly mocking Adrian's fear and clumsiness. Adrian held the sword with both hands this time, and in a last bid to stay alive, pushed upwards with his legs and raised the sword above his head before bringing it down. He closed his eyes and hoped for the best, really prayed that he wasn't dead, even if continuing to live would likely not be much better.
Then something hit his face, and soon after he felt a weight pushing his waist downwards. It was cold, freezing cold actually. He opened his eyes and saw his sword wedged in the zombie's skull. Its brain matter was what had hit his face, its body falling limp over his waist and weighing him down. His hands trembled as he continued holding onto the sword, whether from the adrenaline or pure excitement that he was still alive, he didn't actually know. He took a breath of relief, thankful he wasn't dead.
That relief didn't last very long though. More zombies were coming towards him, most of them had finished breaking out of the ground while he was dealing with his singular one. He took a second to look around while getting out of his car again.
The street was a wreck to say the least—a multi-car pileup that would never be cleared with the current situation. The red sky made it look like the end of the world as he knew it. It likely was. Cars on fire, people screaming. Zombies eating the limbs of people that were alive just moments ago. The sounds of the world had all rushed back to him at once: the screaming, fire sizzling, growl of zombies as they lumbered forward, his own heart beating rapidly in his chest.
"Holy shit," was the first thing he said, then was cut short before he could say anything else by a zombie swiping at him with its dirt-ridden claws. This one was easier to fight—he panicked less and already knew to go straight for the head. He knew he was wielding the sword wrong when he raised it above his head and struck down onto the zombie's skull, but he didn't care. Don't fix what's not broken, they said, and his technique wasn't broken. The zombie died just like the first one, its brain matter splashing him, dirtying his already soiled clothes and making him even colder.
His brain turned off at that point. He raised his sword again and plunged it into the head of the next zombie.
Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. The thought kept looping in his head. All this was real. He had brain matter all over him, was killing reanimated corpses while the world ended around him. He could feel his body temperature going down as more of the freezing cold brain matter splattered all over him. He couldn't stop though. He didn't want to die. He didn't want to be like the man he had just seen moments ago getting eaten by a zombie. It wasn't his time to die, not yet, not now. He had so much to accomplish. College to finish, a job to start, maybe find his partner in life. The world couldn't end right now, not before he got his turn to live life.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Congratulations on being one of the first 100 people on your planet to kill 10 creatures.
You've gained the right to upgrade your weapon. Choose wisely:
- Katana - It's a faster sword that is single-edged instead of double-edged
- Dagger x2 - A set of daggers that are short but allow for faster movement
- Gauntlets - Metal gloves that allow your fists to deal massive damage
- Scythe - A large blade that can sweep across multiple targets
- Crossbow - A bow that is much easier to shoot for the average person
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adrian finally stopped slashing down maniacally and looked at the panel in front of him. He had killed 10 of them already? He looked down at his sword and realized it was covered in brain matter. Zombie corpses surrounded him, his hands were freezing from the amount on them. He could barely feel his fingers anymore. His vision was cloudy as well—not from being dazed still, but because there was brain matter all over his face, making it hard to see through. He could even taste some on his lips. It was disgusting, tasted like dirt and rotting food. The fires and screaming were still going on. He had somehow muted them during his rampage, but they were coming back.
He took a second to look around again. There were more people dead. A few of them had figured out how to kill the zombies as well and were fighting back. He took a deep breath to steady his heartbeat before looking back at the panel. A weapon upgrade for being one of the first to kill 10 creatures. Interesting that it said creatures and not hostile entities or zombies, but he had other things to focus on.
A katana was nice. He didn't know how to wield one, but he could probably guess how based on all the anime he'd watched. Daggers would be easier to learn since they were smaller, but he didn't want to get that close to anything to have to kill it, which also ruled out gauntlets. The crossbow was next—just because it was easier to use than a bow didn't mean he knew how to use either of them. A scythe was pretty cool too. It had a wide area of reach and was always wielded by cool characters, but it was also impractical. It was massive, and with his inexperience, posed a danger to himself and anyone around.
So he clicked the katana and his sword vanished from his hands along with the panel, to be replaced with a katana in its sheath.
Adrian pulled it out slowly and looked at its shine, then at his reflection in the metal. He looked like a mess—brain matter all over his face, his eyes red from the irritation, a rat's nest for hair. He looked insane, but the world was ending. Who cared what he looked like?