2. Apocalypse

August's eyes widened. His breathing became hard. He just killed the zombie woman that suddenly woke up. 

“W-What is happening? Am I crazy?!” he exclaimed. He was confused. Just earlier, he was wasted. And now, there were zombies and a voice inside his head!

“Shit!” 

August blinked, and suddenly, words appeared in front of him. 

Location: Rizal Park

Supplies: Food. Water. 

Zombies: 100+

Level: 1

Then the map of the park came out. The supplies and zombies' location were pinned. August gasped when he saw a zombie just near him. He sat down on the ground and hid in the dark. 

“Warning! Danger  ahead!”

“Shut up! Who are you? What is going on?!” he whispered. He was sweating already. 

“Gather your weapon and go to a safe place.”

“I won’t be going on anymore until it’s morning!” he exclaimed. 

Because of his voice, the zombie near him heard him. It snarled and looked in his direction. 

“Why are there zombies? Where does this come from?” he asked again. But the voice inside his head was not answering. “When did this happen? Where should–” 

August screamed when he saw a zombie was already approaching him. Like the first one, there were stats for level 1 zombies. He immediately stood up. 

“W-What should I do?!” The voice did not answer him. “Hey, woman! Whoever are you?”

“Grr!”

August screamed again. One blinked and the words appeared in front of him. He was waving his hand when the word item was accidentally clicked. Then the knife and pistol came out again. He immediately grabbed the knife and pointed at the zombie. 

“The fuck?” August laughed. 

The zombie was already near him. Suddenly, his adrenaline rush kicked in. He waved his hand and slashed the throat of the zombie. 

“The brain should be damaged.”

August frowned. Then he saw that the zombie was still standing. It growled again and reached for him. August took a deep breath and then tightened his grip on the knife. Then he pierced it on the zombie's head. August gasped and walked away from the zombie. 

“Whoa!” 

And just like that, the zombie fell down without moving anymore. August was amazed and scared at the same time. He tried to fix his breathing as he tried to understand what was happening. He blinked and his profile showed up. Then the line beside his name appeared. 

“What? What is this?”

“Added points. One. 99 more kills to go to level up.”

“What happens if I level up?”

“Host will get more weapons and the map's radius will be added.”

August sighed. He shook his head as he tried to understand what was happening. 

“T-This zombie. Where did this come from? How is this possible?”

No answer. August grunted.

“Who are you?”

“I am your guide.”

“Where did you come from? Why am I hearing you?”

No answer. 

“Why are you not answering?!” he shouted desperately. But because of what he did, the other zombies heard him. 

“Danger! Danger! More zombies are ahead! Gather your weapon and find safety!”

August groaned. He prepared himself and looked around. He slowly kills the zombies one by one. Until he heard that the park was cleared. 

“Zombie kills, forty. An establishment nearby is safe.”

August looked at the auditorium in front. His breathing was labored already. He blinked and saw the line beside his name added. It was almost in half. August felt his legs were hard already. But he forced himself to get onto the auditorium. Luckily, there were no zombies inside. 

Location: Auditorium

Supply: Food. Water.

Zombies: 0

August sighed. He went inside and locked the door. He made sure that no creature could enter the building. Then he looked for the food inside and water. He decided to stay in one of the rooms and find a place to sleep. He was dead tired because of what he did. 

When August felt his energy was a bit okay when he was done eating and drinking. He blinked and thought about the system. He smiled seeing the words in front of him. 

“I don't know where this came from but I need to learn this shit.”

He saw at the side there was information about him. Even his age was written. Under it was about his status. He was at level 2 already. He clicked the information about it. 

“Kill 100 zombies to level up. Level 3 list of supplies to get–”

August's eyes widened when he saw different kinds of weapons that he had never seen in real life. There were names on it. He could also get some medical supplies.

“Cool!”

The next one he opened was the item. There he saw his weapons again. Then he opened the map. He clicked on the building and there he saw a 3D blueprint of the building where he was residing. When August was satisfied checking the system, he lay down. He thought that it was really identical to the games that he used to play when he was in high school. That might be the reason why it was not answering when he was asking normal questions.

“Zombies… But why are there zombies here? Who did this?” he asked. He sat down again when he realized what was going on. He was homeless, yes. Because he chose to. But he still has parents and siblings. “Fuck! I should know what is happening!”

August stood up and looked around. He saw a radio on the table. He took it to his bed and turned it on. Everything was static. There was no music like the FM radio usually had. He kept on changing the channels until he found one that was actually working. 

“There were ongoing riots in different parts of the city. A group of people is attacking each other and it's not an ordinary attack. The authorities are advising citizens not to get out of their houses and look for safety. We still don't know where this came from. Please take care.”

He changed the channel again. He went to a channel where the DJ was opening a line and accepted a call from a listener.

“They are saying that this was caused by flu or some sort of virus. Everyone who has this will turn into a monster.”

Someone laughed. “What monster?”

“Well, they said they were eating human flesh or animals. Anything that is a living. One bite and you will turn like them. But the authorities are not telling anyone. Each country is now suffering!”

“Okay. Okay. Let's say, you are telling the truth. What do we call them? And what are the symptoms?”

“I don't know. But I know they are zombies.”

“Zombies? Seriously?”

“You don't believe me, right? Why don't you look around?”

“No. It's just– zombies? Seriously? Come on!”

“I don't care what you think, but you must warn everyone! I am calling now to warn everyone!”

“Okay! Okay! Calm down or we will cut your call.”

“No! You don't believe me! We are now in an apocalypse! Zombies are growing and killing our loved ones and–”

“Okay! So we are back to our–”

August turned off the radio. He shook his head and sighed. He decided to stand up. If this system was a blessing. Then he will make good use of it.