Prime Ascendant

The world ended on a day like any other.

Marcus sprinted down the once familiar streets, now in the grip of chaos. Abandoned cars cluttered the road, their horns blaring uselessly into the dusty afternoon air. People ran in all directions, some screaming for help, others attacking each other in frenzied panic. The sky was tinged with an eerie red hue, a reminder of the catastrophe sweeping across the country. Just a few hours ago, everything had been normal. He had been normal.

Then the news broke.

It started like any other viral headline: "Breaking News! : Unexplained Violent Outbreaks Across the Country."

At first, it was just contained random acts of aggression, riots erupting without cause in major cities. Marcus had seen the videos circulating online, each one more horrifying than the last: people attacking others with mindless rage, their eyes glazed over, faces twisted with unnatural hunger. Experts on TV scrambled for explanations ranging from terrorism, a new virus, or even mass hysteria.

But then came the terrifying footage of people eating each other.

The infected with rapidly decaying bodies, moving with jerky, unnatural motions, biting and tearing at flesh. The reality of it hit Marcus like a truck. This wasn’t some elaborate hoax. It was real. It was happening.

And now, it had reached his city.

The only thought in Marcus's mind was to get home. Sarah. He needed to make sure she was safe. Everything around him was descending into madness, but as long as they were together, they could figure this out. They had to.

He reached his apartment building, out of breath, his mind racing. The streets were empty...too empty, and the air was thick with tension. Something was wrong. The faint sounds of shouts and crashes echoed in the distance, but here, it was too quiet.

As Marcus pushed open the door to his apartment, his heart sank. The door wasn’t fully closed which was unlike Sarah as she would never leave their door open. No. His pulse quickened. Those things couldn’t have gotten here already, could they?

He tiptoed toward the bedroom, his breath caught in his throat. Voices. He could hear muffled voices. At first, he thought maybe Sarah had barricaded herself in, but as he reached the door, the laughter that drifted out stopped him cold. It wasn’t the terrified sound of someone hiding, it was... intimate.

Marcus's hand trembled as he pushed the door open. His heart pounded in his chest, fear and confusion twisting together. But what he saw was worse than any nightmare.

Sarah was in bed, tangled in sheets, her body pressed against Eric’s, Marcus’s best friend.

The betrayal slammed into him like a physical blow, knocking the wind out of his lungs. His vision blurred with disbelief. How? How could this be happening now, of all times? His chest burned, not from the chaos outside, but from the betrayal inside this room. 

"Marcus..." Sarah’s voice was cold, almost indifferent. She didn’t even bother to cover herself. Eric smirked, sliding out of the bed as if nothing were wrong. 

“You picked a hell of a time to come home, buddy,” Eric said, his voice laced with smug arrogance. "But hey, survival of the fittest, right?"

Marcus’s fists clenched, his emotions spiraling between betrayal and rage. “What the hell is this?”

Before Sarah could answer, a loud crash echoed through the apartment. All three of them whipped their heads toward the living room as the sound of splintering wood and guttural growls grew closer.

Eric's face paled as realization dawned. Was one of those things actually here?

“Oh, God,” Sarah whispered, fear creeping into her voice. She clutched the bedsheets, eyes wide.

Eric didn’t hesitate. His survival instinct kicked in, and without warning, he shoved Marcus hard in the chest. “Deal with it!” he yelled, using the momentum to push Marcus out of the bedroom and toward the oncoming threat.

Marcus stumbled back, his body colliding with a chair in the living room just as the door burst open completely. A figure lurched through the doorway, an infected, its skin hanging loose, eyes vacant and hungry. It let out a chilling growl, charging straight toward Marcus.

Eric grabbed Sarah’s wrist and dragged her toward the back of the apartment, leaving Marcus between them and the undead.

“Eric! Sarah!” Marcus shouted, but they didn’t stop. They ran, abandoning him without a second thought.

As the zombie lunged at him, Marcus barely had time to react. His hands shot up instinctively, but the force of the zombie’s weight knocked him to the ground. They tumbled together, rolling across the floor, Marcus’s heart pounding as he fought to keep the creature’s snapping jaws away from his face.

I’m going to die.

The zombie’s decayed teeth gnashed inches from his throat. Marcus struggled to push it off, adrenaline flooding his system. His hand brushed against something solid, the leg of a nearby chair. Desperately, he grabbed it, swinging with all his might.

The chair connected with the zombie’s head, but it wasn’t enough. The creature kept coming, its rotting hands clawing at his arms. Marcus hit it again, harder this time, but the force of its bite was too fast. Its teeth sank into his forearm, pain flaring through him.

Marcus screamed, he suddenly felt as if someone lit his veins on fire and his blood had become lava. He shoved the zombie back, his mind clouded with the terror of what was happening to him. With a final, desperate effort, he swung the chair once more, smashing its edge into the zombie’s skull. The creature finally fell, its body going limp as it collapsed to the floor.

Marcus collapsed against the wall, cradling his bleeding arm. His breath came in ragged gasps. The room spun as the reality of the situation set in.

Is this where I die?

His thoughts became foggy, the edges of his vision darkening. He could feel the virus coursing through his veins, his body growing weaker by the second. 

His eyes fluttered shut as exhaustion overwhelmed him, and just before everything went black, a single thought crossed his mind: Am I going to become one of them?

Marcus awoke to a strange, cold sensation running through his body, and then something else, something mechanical, but not a voice. A presence. It felt like his consciousness had tapped into something new, something... powerful.

-Congratulations. You have successfully survived the infection and evolved!

The words seemed to materialize in his mind, strange yet oddly reassuring. Evolved? His thoughts were fuzzy, his body heavy, but he felt like he could run around all day and not get tired. For someone who has just been at this point of death this wasn't normal but the energetic feeling he was experiencing right now didn't feel like an illusion. The infection hadn’t killed him. It had... changed him.

-Reward: 100 XP for slaying one zombie. You have received: 1 Gene Crystal (Spatial).

Level up!

Marcus’s head spun as the system, or whatever this presence was, continued. A translucent crystal appeared in his mind's eye, shimmering with a strange energy.

-Would you like to begin assimilation of the Spatial Gene?

He blinked, still half-convinced he was dreaming. What is this? But after everything, after the betrayal, after fighting off a zombie with his bare hands...well not exactly his bare hands but a chair wasn't much of a weapon. Either way, he was willing to accept anything at this point. 

With a thought, he accepted.

The moment he did, his body was wracked with a new sensation. His muscles tensed as a surge of power coursed through him. He could feel his cells changing, adapting, growing stronger.

Then it came.

A head splitting migraine that made him instantly collapse to the floor as he shook like a seizure prone patient.

The pain was overwhelming, but beneath it, there was something else, a cleansing. The rest of the infection was burning away, replaced by something new, something more powerful.

Sweat poured down his face as his skin tingled, and he felt a strange heat building under the surface. Then, the dirt, dark, greasy filth began seeping out of his pores, as if his body was purging itself of impurities.

When the sensation finally subsided, Marcus gasped for air, feeling lighter and even stronger than a few moments ago. His muscles were taut, his senses sharper than before. He flexed his hands, feeling the power coursing through them.

-Assimilation complete.

The presence returned, this time offering more than just strength.

-You have received your first ability: Spatial Blades.

Marcus stared at his hands, and with a thought, thin, razor-sharp blades shimmered into existence around him, each one crafted from the very air itself. They hovered for a moment before disappearing with a flicker of his will.

The ability seemed to come to him on an instinctual level. How that works, Marcus had no idea but it was clear that the world was changing.

The world might have ended, but Marcus’s new beginning had just started.