Zombies Doomsday

Shoot him in the leg, Drop the bait.

The words cut through the Grey Grid like a knife but the real pain came a moment later. A loud crack filled the air as a rifle went off. Idris Cole felt a hot iron spike drive into his left thigh.

Idris screamed, the sound tearing at his throat as his leg gave way beneath him. He hit the ground hard his hands scraping against glass and rusty metal. The impact knocked the breath out of him leaving him gasping and choking on the air.

He grabbed his leg his fingers getting bloody. Through the haze of pain, he looked up.

Thirty yards away Vance stood on top of an armored truck. Vance, the man who taught Idris how to fight. Vance, the leader who shared his food with Idris when they were starving. Vance the man Idris trusted with his life.

Now Vance looked down at him with a face. He held a rifle in one hand. A small bag in the other. The bag had food and water all they had found that week. It was not enough to feed everyone.

Why Idris asked, his voice barely heard over the wind.

Vance did not flinch. He put the rifle on his back. Tied the bag to his belt. Nothing personal, Cole Vance yelled back his voice flat. We do not have food. You are the slowest. You are the weakest. I need a distraction.

Idris felt cold like the rain that started to fall. He looked past Vance seeing the tunnels beneath the plaza.

They were coming.

The sound came first like feet dragging and people moaning. The infected, the people who smelled Idris' blood.

Vance turned his back. The others left Idris alone. Thank you Cole, Vance said, not looking. Die quietly.

Idris watched his friends leave. Then the infected came. They were like dreams with white eyes and dark skin. They moved fast jaws. Were closing in on Idris.

This was the end. Idris wanted to close his eyes and let it happen. He had been fighting for a year starving and freezing.. What did he get? A bullet in the leg over a piece of bread. The world was broken.

The infected were getting closer. Twenty yards. Fifteen yards.

Idris closed his eyes waiting for the pain.

Then a voice spoke in his head. Sovereign alignment matrix initiated.

The world stopped moving. The rain hung in the air. The infected froze. A blue screen appeared in front of Idris with words scrolling down.

Host signs critical the voice said. You will die in four minutes.

Idris stared at the screen trying to understand. He tried to speak. His body would not move.

The system spoke again. Commencing emergency initialization protocol. The universe is a system of exchange. The old rules are dead. To survive you must exploit the laws of value.

The screen showed Idris some rules.

You have been selected for the 100x Critical Rebate System.

The rules are simple. When you give resources to allies or targets the system calculates the value. Returns something better.

Idris read the words his pain forgotten for a moment. A system he thought. He had heard stories. They were just stories.

The screen flashed red warning Idris that he was dying. Initializing emergency baseline test.

The world started moving. The rain. The infected lunged forward.

Idris rolled to his right ignoring the pain in his leg. He grabbed a pipe and swung it hitting an infected. He needed a place.

He saw a store and dove inside scrambling under a metal shutter. He kicked back at the infected buying himself a minute.

Idris dragged himself deeper into the store hiding behind a counter. The infected hit the shutter moaning loudly.

He reached into his pocket. Found a small vial of bad medicine. The system rules said to give resources to allies. Idris was alone.

Then he heard footsteps like someone was coming from the back of the store.

Idris froze, looking through the shadows.

Three men stood in the doorway wearing armor and holding guns. Reavers, the worst of the worst.

The leader stepped forward with a shotgun, on his shoulder. Well well he said, seeing Idris' blood. Looks like the Coalition threw out their trash. It came to our place.

Idris tightened his grip on the pipe. He was trapped. The horde was at the door and three armed men were at the back.

The leader walked slowly toward the counter. Do not try anything he said. You are bleeding out. I will make you a deal. Hand over the coat the boots and whatever you have hidden in your pockets and I will put a bullet in your head before the walkers get through that shutter.

Idris looked at the man. He looked at the shotgun.. Then he looked at the small vial of medicine in his hand.

The system parameters flashed in his mind. The target did not have to be a friend. The system said viable targets. These men were hostile. They were human. They were a target for a transaction.

Idris forced himself to sit up keeping his hand resting on the pipe out of sight while he slowly raised his left hand holding the small vial up.

I do not want to die Idris said, trying to sound scared.

The leader paused, his eyes locking onto the vial. In the Grey Grid medicine was more valuable than ammunition.

What is that the leader asked, lowering the shotgun slightly.

It is a serum Idris said, looking at the leader's face. It is a grade military stimulant. It speeds up healing. It is worth more than the coat and the boots. Take it. Just take it. Let me walk out the back door.

The leader laughed. Are you listening to this man? He is bleeding to death surrounded by walkers. He wants to negotiate.

The leader stepped up to the counter. He reached out with his hand and snatched the small vial from Idriss' fingers.

I will take the medicine the leader sneered.. I will take the coat.. I will still put a bullet in your head.

The moment the leader's fingers closed around the vial the system chime sounded in Idris's mind.

Ding.

The system chime was loud. Time seemed to slow down.

The system said Idris had initiated a transaction.

Item gifted: Contaminated Medical Stimulant.

Target analyzed: human.

Warning: Target does not meet the requirements for a rebate.

The system was rejecting the transaction. The leader was raising the shotgun his finger tightening on the trigger.

The system continued to talk, faster and faster overriding its own parameters.

Anomaly detected. Idriss's vital signs have dropped below the threshold. The system requires a living host.

Overriding standard parameters. Engaging Emergency Protocol.

Triggering Critical Rebate Mechanic.

Applying an anomaly-adjusted multiplier to baseline value.

Critical success achieved.

The air behind Idris tore open in a flash of light.

A spatial anomaly appeared directly behind the counter.

The system said Idris had received a briefcase.

The briefcase was resting on the floor beside Idris' bleeding leg.

The leader was still laughing. Now hold still he growled, racking the pump of the shotgun.

Idris moved.

He dropped the pipe. He twisted his body. Reached behind him. His fingers found the handle of the briefcase. He flipped the latches.

The briefcase popped open.

Inside were ten syringes filled with a glowing liquid.

Item description: Gene Enhancement Serum. Injection will immediately heal all ailments.

The shotgun barrel cleared the edge of the counter aiming down at his chest.

Idris grabbed the syringe. He slammed the needle directly into his chest. Pressed the plunger down forcing the glowing blue liquid into his heart.

The effect was an explosion of biological power.

The pain in his leg was instantly gone, replaced by a burning heat. He could feel his bones healing. He felt a surge of energy vibrating in his body.

He wasn't just healed. He was changed.

The system chime sounded again soft and victorious.

Idriss's biological reconstruction was complete. All his stats were maximized.

The leader stared down over the counter the smile vanishing from his face. Idriss's eyes were completely changed. The fear, the desperation, the pain. All of it was gone. Replaced by an endless confidence.

What did you just take the leader whispered.

Idris didn't answer. He simply stood up.

The leader pulled the trigger.

The shotgun roared, unleashing a cloud of buckshot aimed directly at Idris's center of mass.

Idris wasn't there.

Before the buckshot even cleared the barrel of the gun Idris had shifted his weight pivoting his body to the right with speed.

Idris materialized on the side of the counter closing the distance between himself and the leader.

He didn't draw a weapon. He raised his hand keeping his fingers extended, rigid and hard as steel.

He drove his hand forward in a strike aimed at the leader's throat.

The leader flew backward his body crashing into the shelving unit. He was dead before he hit the ground.

The system said the hostile entity was neutralized.

The two remaining men froze in terror.

One of them. Bolted for the back door his boots slipping on the floor in his desperate bid to escape.

The other man backed away slowly. Please he stammered. We did not know. Just let me go.

Idris looked at the trembling man. His expression remained neutral.

Mercy was a luxury he could no longer afford.

Idris stepped forward. The distance between them vanished instantly.

He grabbed the man by the wrist. He squeezed his fingers. The man screamed, dropping his blade.

Idris maintained his grip pulling the screaming man forward and simultaneously drove his knee upward with force into the center of the man's chest.

The impact caved in the man's ribcage. Idris released his grip and the body crumpled to the floor.

The system said the hostile entity was neutralized.

Idris turned his head slowly looking toward the back door. The third man was already out in the alleyway sprinting desperately toward the ruins.

Idris knelt behind the counter. Picked up the heavy pipe.

He walked slowly toward the door stepping over the corpses.

He stepped out into the alleyway. He looked down the alley. The fleeing man was forty yards away.

Idris lowered his stance bending his knees slightly. He exploded forward.

The asphalt cracked beneath his boots as he launched himself down the alley.

He covered the forty yards in a matter of seconds moving faster than a sprinter.

The man looked over his shoulder his eyes wide with terror. He stumbled, falling hard onto the ground.

Idris loomed over him. The system rewarded transactions. It rewarded the act of giving.

Look at me Idris commanded, his voice cold and dripping, with authority.

The man stopped scrambling his fearful eyes locking onto Idris's face.

Idris raised his hand extending the heavy metal rod directly toward the terrified man.

Take it Idris ordered.

The man didn't understand,. His trembling hand reached out wrapping around the cold metal of the pipe.

Idris said to the Reaver I am giving you this pipe as a gift. Consider it something to remember me by.

The moment the Reaver's fingers closed around the pipe everything around them changed.

Ding.

The system started talking.

Idris Cole made something happen.

He gave the Reaver a Tier 0 Rusted Iron Pipe.

The system said, be careful the Reaver is not a friend.

Idris did something smart. He used the system to his advantage.

The system said, well done you get a reward.

A bright red light filled the alley. The bad air moved away.

A hole in the air appeared.

The system said, you got a thing. It is called the Titan-Grade Nano-Carbon Monomolecular Longsword.

A sword started to come out of the hole.

Idris took the sword. It felt right in his hand.

He pulled it out. The hole closed.

Idris looked at the sword. It was straight and black.

There was a line on the sword that was very hot.

The air around the sword was moving.

The system said, this sword is very good. It is the best.

It can cut anything. It will not break.

Idris moved the sword. It felt like it was not there.

The Reaver looked at the sword. He was very scared.

He said, what are you.

Idris said, I am someone who is going to change things.. You are not needed anymore.

Idris moved his hand. The sword cut the Reaver's neck.

It was like cutting air. The sword did not stop.

It cut the wall behind the Reaver.

The Reaver's head fell off.

The system said, the bad guy is gone. You got better at fighting.

Idris stood there. He felt strong.

He had the system and the sword.

He was not a victim anymore.

He looked around.

The infected were coming.

Idris was not afraid.

He thought about his friend Vance.

He thought about the Coalition camp.

He wanted to hurt them.

First, he needed to find Rhea Knox.

She was a fighter.

If the system gave him a sword, for giving a gift to a bad guy what would it give him for helping a good person?

Idris said to himself let them come.

Then a loud noise came from away.

It was a roar.

The ground was shaking.

A big monster was coming.

Idris looked up.

He smiled.

The game was getting interesting.

Idris was ready to play.