2026-08-02 01:41:23The soot-covered hand clamps around Bastian's wrist with a crushing grip that immediately forces a sharp gasp of pain from his aching lungs.
Bastian tries to yank his arm back toward his chest, but the intruder holds on with an unnatural strength that defies his starving and frail appearance.
The stranger vaults over the front counter with jerky and uncoordinated movements, his torn clothes reeking of old smoke and fresh blood.
Marcus raises his heavy pipe with a shouted warning, but the intruder ignores him and focuses solely on the glowing plate of food resting on the prep table.
Bastian gets a clear look at the man's face, and his stomach drops when he sees pitch-black eyes devoid of any human reason or sanity.
Thick strings of dark saliva drip from the stranger's snarling lips, splattering against the clean white porcelain holding the freshly cooked boar steak.
"Get your filthy hands off my dinner!" Bastian yells as he twists his wrist hard to break the corrupted survivor's iron grip.
The man responds with a guttural and animalistic hiss before lunging forward with his teeth bared in a rabid display of mindless hunger.
Bastian barely manages to raise his free forearm in time to block the incoming bite, and the man's teeth clamp down on his thick uniform sleeve instead of flesh.
"Help me get this crazy bastard off him!" Marcus shouts, charging forward across the slippery tiles and swinging his pipe at the attacker's shoulder.
The heavy impact barely makes the corrupted man flinch, and he simply backhands Marcus so hard that the older survivor goes flying into the dish pit.
Marcus crashes into a stack of dirty pots with a loud clatter, groaning in pain as he struggles to untangle himself from the dangerous mess.
Leo screams in terror and scrambles backward toward the flour sacks, abandoning any thought of helping as he watches his friend take the brutal hit.
"Just stay down and stay out of his way!" Bastian grunts through clenched teeth as he wrestles with the rabid intruder near the stoves.
The dark-eyed man snarls and shoves Bastian backward, slamming his spine against the edge of the prep counter with a sickening thud.
Pain flares through Bastian's back, but he refuses to let go of the man's torn collar because he knows the food is the only thing keeping him alive right now.
"I am not going to let you steal the only meal I have," Bastian mutters, twisting his hips to throw the corrupted man off balance.
The intruder claws wildly at Bastian's face in response, leaving deep and bleeding scratches across his cheek as they crash into the portable camp stove.
The stove clatters to the floor alongside a shower of unwashed utensils, but thankfully the magical plate of food remains secure on the far edge of the counter.
"He is not human anymore, so do not try to reason with him!" Marcus groans from the floor as he struggles to push away a heavy pile of broken ceramics.
"I was not planning on inviting him to a dinner party," Bastian bites back while dodging another wild swing from the corrupted survivor.
"Then grab a knife and stab him before he bites a chunk out of your neck!" Leo yells unhelpfully from the safety of the back hallway.
"My knife is on the floor, and I am a little busy trying not to die!" Bastian replies, parrying a clumsy strike aimed at his throat.
He tries to kick the intruder's knee to buckle his legs, but striking the man feels like kicking a solid brick wall.
The rabid man lunges for the food again, stretching his dirty fingers toward the glowing boar steak with desperate and starving intent.
Bastian tackles him around the waist to stop him, and both men crash onto the slippery kitchen tiles in a tangled mess of thrashing limbs.
They roll through the puddle of dead boar blood from earlier, ruining Bastian's white apron and making it nearly impossible to gain any solid traction.
The intruder punches Bastian hard in the jaw, sending a blinding flash of light across his vision and leaving the foul taste of copper in his mouth.
Bastian tries to throw a counterpunch, but his exhausted muscles fail him and the corrupted man easily pins his broad shoulders to the floor.
The dark-eyed survivor ignores Bastian for a split second to stare at the glowing steak resting just a few feet above them on the counter.
The man scrambles upward to claim his prize, leaving Bastian gasping for air on the ground while fresh blood drips from his scratched face.
"Do not let him eat that, because we do not know what it will do to him!" Leo shrieks, finally taking a tentative step away from the back door.
Bastian knows he cannot win a prolonged fight in his current state, so he forces his battered body off the floor in a desperate bid to save his meal.
He reaches over the rabid man's shoulder and grabs the scalding hot meat with his bare hand just as the intruder opens his mouth to bite it.
The intense heat blisters Bastian's palm instantly, but he ignores the burning pain and violently shoves the heavy steak into his own mouth instead.
The corrupted survivor lets out a furious screech and tackles Bastian against the wall, wrapping his dirty hands around Bastian's throat to choke him.
Bastian gags as the fingers squeeze his windpipe, but he forces himself to chew and swallow the tough meat while fighting off the strangulation.
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9 - BREACH
Bastian ran to the opposite wall and grabbed the last intact wooden booth, pushing it forward as fast as his burning muscles would allow.The magical energy in his blood was incredible, but he could feel a deep and underlying exhaustion threatening to break through his adrenaline rush."They are crossing the street!" Leo shrieked while pointing a trembling finger at the dark mass of bodies swarming over the abandoned cars outside.The rats looked even more horrifying up close, their jagged yellow teeth snapping at the air as they followed the delicious scent of the cooked meat.Bastian shoved the final booth into place, trapping the refrigerator between the heavy wooden structures and effectively sealing the front of the restaurant."Stack anything you can find behind the booths to reinforce the weight," Bastian ordered while grabbing a broken table leg to use as a makeshift club.Marcus threw the heavy cash register onto the pile of chairs, and Leo tossed several thick bags of garbag
8 - BARRICADE
The digital warning faded into the dim air just as Bastian sprinted out of the kitchen and rushed toward the shattered front windows of the diner.He ignored the bloody hellhound carcass resting on the tiles and leaned over the broken counter to get a clear view of the ruined street outside.The late afternoon shadows stretched long across the cracked asphalt, but the eerie silence that usually followed a monster attack was already gone.A low and sickening scratching noise echoed from the far end of the block, accompanied by a chorus of high-pitched squeaks that made his skin crawl."What are you looking at out there?" Marcus asked as he limped into the dining room while keeping his heavy iron pipe raised.Bastian did not answer right away because he was too busy watching a massive wave of dark shapes pour out from a nearby subway entrance.Dozens of feral rats the size of large stray cats spilled onto the street, their mutated bodies covered in patchy gray fur and thick bleeding sor
7 - EARNING THE BUFF
The savory flavors explode across his tongue, sending a sudden rush of warmth down his throat even as his vision begins to grow dark around the edges.Bastian swallows the large bite of food, and a sudden jolt of electricity courses through his veins like a runaway freight train.[STAMINA BUFF ACQUIRED,] the system text flashes brightly across his vision while the rabid man continues to thrash blindly against him.The heavy exhaustion that had been weighing him down vanishes instantly, replaced by a massive surge of raw energy that makes his muscles feel incredibly dense.The sharp pain in his battered ribs fades away into a dull ache, and his vision clears up with a vibrant focus that he has never experienced before.He looks at the corrupted survivor pinning him to the wall, and the man's previously overwhelming strength suddenly feels like the weak grip of a small child.Bastian reaches up and easily peels the man's filthy fingers away from his throat, taking a deep breath of air n
6 - DESPERATE BRAWL
The soot-covered hand clamps around Bastian's wrist with a crushing grip that immediately forces a sharp gasp of pain from his aching lungs.Bastian tries to yank his arm back toward his chest, but the intruder holds on with an unnatural strength that defies his starving and frail appearance.The stranger vaults over the front counter with jerky and uncoordinated movements, his torn clothes reeking of old smoke and fresh blood.Marcus raises his heavy pipe with a shouted warning, but the intruder ignores him and focuses solely on the glowing plate of food resting on the prep table.Bastian gets a clear look at the man's face, and his stomach drops when he sees pitch-black eyes devoid of any human reason or sanity.Thick strings of dark saliva drip from the stranger's snarling lips, splattering against the clean white porcelain holding the freshly cooked boar steak."Get your filthy hands off my dinner!" Bastian yells as he twists his wrist hard to break the corrupted survivor's iron g
5 - SEAR
"It smells like a sewer exploded inside a toxic chemical plant," Marcus agrees while wiping sweat from his forehead with a dirty sleeve."Just mind your own business and keep working on that barricade before something else finds us," Bastian snaps as he focuses his attention back on the raw cut of boar.He reaches into his spice rack and grabs some basic sea salt and cracked black pepper, hoping the familiar ingredients will help mask the awful taste of the monster.He turns the dial on the portable stove until a small ring of normal orange flames springs to life under the iron burner.He closes his eyes and focuses on the strange warmth resting inside his palms, hoping the magical system interface did not lie to him about the new fire skill.[PURIFICATION FIRE ACTIVATED,] the blue text announces in his mind as a sudden rush of energy travels from his chest down to his fingertips.He holds his hands over the portable stove, and the normal orange flames instantly shift into a bright an
4 - GOLDEN
Bastian ignores the ridiculous question and launches himself across the slippery floor as the exposed electrical wire swings back toward the massive gas leak."Close the damn door and stay back!" Bastian roars while sliding on his knees toward the red shutoff valve near the damaged baseboards.He grabs the round handle with both hands and twists it hard to the right just as another bright blue spark jumps from the swinging copper wire.The loud hissing sound cuts off instantly, and the spark fizzles out against the damp tiles instead of turning the restaurant into a massive crater.Bastian collapses onto his back and stares up at the cracked ceiling while his chest heaves from the sudden rush of pure adrenaline.His chef uniform is soaked in a mixture of his own sweat and the dark blood of the monsters he just killed, and his arms tremble from extreme exhaustion."What the hell is going on in here?" the gruff man asks as he steps cautiously back into the kitchen with his heavy pipe ra
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