Zombies beat on the washroom door. They threw their rotting bodies at it, groaning and hissing, desperate for a taste of me. Thank you, backwoods convenience store owner, for installing a deadbolt. I wasn’t done yet and I have a shy bladder.
“Hold on, sweeties!” I shouted as I zipped up. “I’ll be just a moment.”
I washed my hands and face. Might as well, even if I was likely to get covered in blood and brains. The water pressure still gurgled, which was a rare wonder these days.
It’d been three weeks since the power went out across Canada. At least that’s what the assholes at the army on the radio said. Thanks guys, we know. We were there when the System came too.
They were also so very kind to inform us that Toronto was up for a firebombing with gasoline. In nice formal broadcasts on tons of stations. Any humans were to immediately evacuate in three days. Too many infected. There was no other option.
They were two weeks behind what actually mattered. Zombies were everywhere, yeah. A massive fucking rift had opened downtown, spitting them out in waves to make more of their ilk, but honestly, zombies were soft compared to the goblins. Now those little shits were a real problem, and their rifts spawned deep underground. What was fire going to do about them? Can’t forget about the lake monsters, either, and don’t get me started on the ratkings.
That’s why I’d booked it up north to my cottage. Well, that was always the plan, but still.
My parents passed in the initial zombie rift surge and System fallout. Their whole street was ashes when I’d finally made it across the city after the first week. The city was chaos, and I barely survived. I didn’t find their bodies. A horde came after me and I had to run.
I’d taken my time leaving downtown. As far as I was concerned, the System wasn’t going anywhere, and there was plenty of good scavenging to be had. It was easy to get in and out of my apartment building once I cleared all the brain eaters. Most of my neighbours had died early or left in a hurry. Like that prick from floor three that tried to break into my place despite my warnings. He got clapped with a cast iron and tossed over my balcony for his bad manners.
Sure, the bad kind of anarchy sprouted amongst the survivors, especially with some gaining strong core attunements and nasty skills early. But I knew the city well and can be pretty damn sneaky when I want to be.
Besides, without wifi or cell service, I just had to trust that my best friend, Aaron, remembered the promise we’d made during our many drunk debates.
You know the ones, and if you don’t, get cooler friends. What’s the biggest animal you could feasibly fight to the death naked in a one-on-one? Exactly how much would it cost for you to cut off your pinky?
Or more relevant ones like, where would you go in an apocalypse? Costco? Nope, wrong answer. Definitely not Costco. Turned out everyone had that idea, and now most of them were little fiefdoms of cold hotdogs and human cruelty.
Our answer was my cottage. If shit really hit the fan, we’d meet there. It was safe to assume that rifts of horrifying monsters appearing, magic and levels granted by a System becoming reality, and the end of civil society as we knew it constituted a massive dookie hitting the proverbial fan.
He had to be alive still. And he had to remember our agreement to meet there. We’d talked about it plenty of times. It was a hope I clung to. Only that and Bug kept me going.
One of the zombies started pounding something hard on the other side of the door. Most probably it’s skull.
“Hey idiot, smashing your head in was my job, didn’t you hear?” I said as I grabbed my bat from the corner and rolled my shoulders. It wasn’t covered in barbwire and wasn’t a System item. It was just a metal bat I had pre-System. Obviously, I’d prefer a gun, but Canada, remember? We stand on guard for thee! with no bullets.
I’m not really political, which I know is a copout, but let’s just say my opinion on guns had changed since the System came and the world ended. And the zombie rift opened smack dab in the middle of downtown. And big tentacles started snagging people from the lake. Don’t forget the goblins. God, I hate goblins.
Gun beat most weapons. Gun definitely beat bat. I’d seen what attunement skills and guns could do. I really, really wanted one, but they were practically impossible to get, so I mostly used my crossbow or bat, and absolutely sucked with a machete.
By my estimation, it sounded like there were three zombies waiting for me. I landed on that number because there were three distinct moans and groans. A genius summation, really, and they should be easy pickings. I needed to get a move on too, or more zombies were sure to come and check out what all the commotion was about. One or five zombies, no problem, but it was never that few. Zombies always ended up in big hungry hordes.
Bug, my dog, waited in my truck, and I couldn’t have her freaking out. Don’t worry, I’d left the AC on and the window cracked. Also, don’t believe her whining. Bug can be seriously dramatic.
The zombie pounded his face on the door again.
Taking a deep breath, I reached for that new part of me granted by the System, that invisible unattuned core in my brain, and grinned like a mad devil as strength and focus suffused my body. Ouf. It felt…awesome.
It wasn’t all shit. There were some perks to this whole System business.
I flipped the deadbolt and ripped the door open. As the zombies stumbled in for a meal, I swung with all my might.
My bat cracked the head pounder right where he clearly wanted it. In his forehead. I twisted out of the way as he fell dead permanently and quickly leapt past the reaching claws of the other two. A moment later, that tasty System energy flowed into my body, spilling over my level 4 and igniting my veins.
Yeah, yeah. Go ahead and make fun of me. I believed the rumors about choosing your first core attunement before going into level 5. That you should hold off as long as possible for more choices. Rarer attunements had to be better and give stronger skills. Duh. That just made sense, and I wanted something real special for my base core attunement.
The bathroom attendants moaned as I spun and flexed that new part of my brain to get a read on them.
Basic Zombie – Level 1
Basic Zombie – Level 1
Nothing I couldn’t handle. One was a leathery lady, scrawny and looking like she hadn’t fed in weeks. She’d probably been turned early. The other was a short fat guy. He’d last a while without human flesh, but he’d interrupted me, so too bad for him. Clearly, there wasn’t many people passing through to eat, because level 1 was a joke this late in the game. The pair shuffled over slowly, clacking their teeth in hunger.
Bug barked from the truck. See what I mean? What a complainer. No, pup, sorry, this one was all me.
I pulled on the energy within me as I swung overhead at fatty. It was hard to tell how much stronger than normal I was with my progression up to level 4 and spilling against 5, but it felt close to double.
Metal met bone, and metal won. His head dented, his brain mushed, and he dropped right away. Not wanting to be rude to my other friend, I stepped into my next at bat as the old lady missed her swipe at me, hitting the base of her skull. She collapsed in a heap, and suddenly, the store was dead silent.
The energy from the monster kills itched as it hit me. My whole body felt like currents of electricity flowed around but couldn’t find a way out. I wasn’t being an idiot and holding off my level and attunement choice. That itching had to be good news, right?
Bug barked again from the truck, this time in a different tone, and I turned to look at her.
“Alright! I heard you, gosh. No more bathroom breaks alone.” I yelled back. “How was I supposed to know?”
I heard her whine through the crack in the window and saw her tail wagging.
“Yeah, maybe there’s some jerky somewhere. Let me check. Looks like this place has been cleaned out already.”
Time to see what I could scrounge up. From memory, I knew this was the last convenience store before the cottage. I just had a straight shot down a winding forest road. Take the fork right, then left at the stop sign, and keep going till you get there. Can’t miss it, really. It’s the last cottage on the road.
I didn’t bother checking the zombie’s pockets. Cash was useless now, and unfortunately, zombies rarely dropped System loot.
“Oh perfect, my favourite.” I groaned when I found two cans dusty cans of chicken under a shelf. I pocketed them and kept searching all the nooks and crannies.
In the city, every bit of food had been scavenged, and it looked like the same thing happened here. The sodas were gone too, even the diet variety, but there was always something to find. I had plenty of canned food in my truck already. Enough to last a while, but no one wanted to trade for canned chicken, and I hate the stuff. I mean, I’d still eat it, but that’s not the point. Canned chicken sucks.
Bug barked again, and she was right. We really should get going. But my spidey senses were tingling, so I ignored her. Something was hiding in this empty store.
Then I saw the other door. Maybe an extra storage room.
I pushed it open ready to swing, and my eyebrows shot up when I saw inside.
“Oh, jesus fuck.”
There was a dead man in the chair, and fresh too. My mood soured. He looked strong and healthy. Just not healthy enough for the bullet wound at his temple.
I clenched my jaw and searched the office. Peeling the pistol out of his hand sucked. Like I said, I don’t know much about guns, but it was small and black. Maybe a glock. I knew enough to get the magazine off. No bullet in the chamber or in the mag, but beggars can’t be choosers. Poor bastard had saved the last one for himself.
I also got a half-pack of smokes (those were like gold now), and a lighter. I ignored the computer and uncapped the whiskey bottle sitting on the desk, taking a swig as I closed his eyes.
This was the shit part about the System. Lots and lots of people died, and many of those that survived couldn’t handle the new version of reality. The economy collapsed instantly when it came, and governments quickly followed. No internet or power. The army, both up in Canada and our neighbours down south, tried to organize, but it just didn’t work. Rifts had opened everywhere, small and large, and didn’t seem like they had any plans on slowing down. For some reason, anything above pistols, rifles, and good old-fashioned gasoline didn’t work, so big booms and nukes were out of the picture. What a blessing.
Bug was growling when I closed the office door behind me, immediately making me forget my bad mood.
I sprinted back to my truck, gun and whiskey bottle in hand. Guess there’d be no opportunity to siphon some gas. Bug only growled when real trouble was coming.
“Where, girl? It’s not one of those big raccoon monsters again, is it? You hate those things.” I asked as I buckled myself in.
She didn’t sass me back, only growled louder and starred straight ahead. Despite my whining, Bug was the best. No idea what breed she was, and the place I’d adopted her from when she was a puppy said pug. Pugs don’t grow up to be a seventy pounds of muscle. Or have the massive thick skull of a pitbull.
I didn’t think she wasn’t full pitty, and her tail did curl like a pug’s did. My guess was mutt, extra dash of big eyeballs that stuck out, like a bug. Hence her name. She was smart and sweet, a real softie despite her appearance. And she could kick some serious monster ass when it came down to party. Best $75 ever spent.
When I spotted what freaked her out, I nearly crapped myself.
A little girl in a yellow sundress waved sweetly from the edge of the woods. Only, little girl’s smiles don’t go full to their ears, their eyes aren’t pits of nothing, and their hands don’t extend into ten-inch claws.
Scanning with the System to see what the hell she was returned a fizzle in my brain. That was bad. If the rumors were true, that only happened when you scanned something more than triple your level.
I slammed my truck into drive and screeched out for the side road to the cottage. Hell no, I wasn’t dealing with that. I had enough gas to get to there, plus two cans in the bed. Sneaky is all fine and well, but fast beat stealth right then.
Looking in my rearview mirror, I finally let out the breath I’d been holding when I confirmed the monster didn’t chase us. She did walk onto the road to rock back and forth on her feet as she waved goodbye, though. Freaky kid.
I sped away in my truck, which was old and beat up. I’d fitted it with a makeshift cowcatcher on the front. Lucky for me, it’d been parked underground my apartment, so packing it to the brim and reinforcing it had been relatively safe over the past couple weeks. Old also meant it was made fully of steel. Great for slamming mobs.
It was a 4x4, and that had proved very necessary when getting up north. The roads and highways were a wasteland. It was a bit rusty and dented, a bit covered in blood and monster bits, but it always ran, was easy to fix, and it had gotten Bug and I this far, so you better believe I loved my old Ford ranger. Plus, it was apparently too fast for the scary kid thing to catch.
I laughed from the adrenaline pumping through me and pulled Bug into me for a squish as I tore right at the fork.
After three weeks of surviving in the city, of killing monsters that shouldn’t exist, of avoiding psychos who’d given up their humanity, of scavenging and sharing what little food I had with those who needed it more, of surviving what everyone was calling the System apocalypse, we were actually close to the cottage.
Bug made a whine as she licked my face.
“No, you were scared. I wasn’t scared at all. You’re the scaredy cat.” I scratched her big noggin’ as she tilted her head and panted. She hated when I called her that. What a suck.
“Fine. I promise I won’t tell Aaron. You know he wouldn’t make fun of you even if you were.”
She pulled away, still wagging her tail, and settled in for the final stretch. Bug was good that way. Always letting things roll off her back.
We settled into comfortable silence and chugged along deeper into the woods. There was no point in turning on the radio. No good stations left. I took the left, and now it was just a straight shot till the end, so I put on the gas. Property lines flicked by, the other cottages on my lake hidden behind the early spring blooming of trees. My fingers drummed the wheel, and I couldn’t sit still.
I was so excited to get there and see Aaron.
There was no doubt in my mind he’d made it up. My best friend was nuts in the good way. He’d probably settled in real good, and better have scrounged up some decent eats, because I was sick of my famous canned chicken and beans with a side of chicken water. So was Bug. You don’t even want to know the going rate for spices these days.
A massive knot began to unknit in my neck as I got closer. The lake twinkled through the trees. I barely paid attention to the passing woods, and I didn’t scan for any monsters. Not that I would stop. Nothing could stop me now. Not when I was this close to making it.
I drove so fast around the final left bend I almost skidded out.
It was Bug that spotted him first. She started barking, and I started feeling something well up inside me as I slammed on the breaks.
I’d made it to the cottage and my best friend had kept his drunk promise.
He screamed my name at the top of his lungs and ran up to us with a beer can in hand.
“Lewis!”
I practically fell out of the truck, Bug bounding after me to zoom around in circles as I cried and snotted everywhere like a baby in his arms.