The Plan

Not long after did they reach the Saint Gold High School. It used to be a private school for the rich upper-class, but after zombies took over the city, it became a shelter for survivors.

The tall steel fences outlining the school was a natural barricade for zombies while the buildings within easily accommodated thousands of people. For most people, this was enough.

When they reached the entrance, there were two guards stationed to prevent zombies from entering. Both of them had M14s, assault rifles which could mow down hundreds of zombies without pause.

Without even a glance, the guards let them pass. Alex had an uneasy feeling. The guards didn't even check them for bites, allowing them to enter. It almost seemed like they had bigger problems to deal with.

The enclosed gymnasium was turned into a mall for survivors. Everywhere they looked was filled with people selling and bartering for goods. These goods included guns, food, and even people. Anything goes in an Anarchy.

"Ivy! Ivy! Is that you?" A frail woman, covered in bruises and marks, wobbled swifty towards Ivy. If she had had not said anything, Alex would have assumed she was a zombie.

"Who are you?" Alex pushed Ivy behind him, blocking the stranger.

"Mommy?" Even though her mother appeared messier than before, Ivy could still recognize the woman who had borne her.

"Ivy, oh Ivy!" She ran past Alex, hugging her daughter without a care in the world. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't want to leave you. I'm sorry."

"Mommy... I miss you." Both of them cried in each other's arms.

"I have a few questions for you." While Alex didn't want to ruin their reunion, he needed to find out why Ivy's mom left her.

"I… I know I haven't been a good mother, but you can leave Ivy with me now." She continued hugging Ivy.

"Ivy, are you okay staying with your mother?" While Alex knew the bruises on Ivy's mom wasn't caused by zombies, he wouldn't force someone to stay with him.

Ivy nodded gently. As Peter walked away, Ivy pulled the edge of his shirt. "Thank you."

…

Alex felt lonely again. He didn't expect their journey together to be so short-lived. Only now did he realize that he had nothing, no food, no shelter, and no weapons except a pathetic plank the size of his arm.

Even the sellers could tell he was broke. Not only did all of them ignore him, some even laughed at his poverty. Alex couldn't even vent his anger as these sellers had guns to defend themselves. Even though Alex was stronger, a gun was still a gun.

He soon found a solution. By doing dangerous work such as killing zombies, he could gain rations of food which he could trade for other goods. To Alex, this was a win-win, not only could he level up, he could receive food.

To other survivors, this was dangerous. Even though they could get stronger by killing zombies, not all of them could kill a zombie. Up against just one zombie, most survivors could not fend it off like Alex could.

The choices on the quest board were quite limited. Most consisted of eliminating Tier-two zombies near the shelter while only a few require clean-up of only Tier-one zombies. For Alex, Tier-two zombies were still a stretch, so he chose a quest to clear a horde of Tier-one zombies. The reward was 5 cans of beef.

"Are you sure you want to take this one?" The attendant was skeptical about Alex's choice. While there weren't any Tier-two zombies, Tier-one zombies numbered in the thousands. For only 5 cans of beef, most people aren't willing to spend weeks, killing an endless amount of zombies.

"Yes, it's fine." Alex couldn't care less. More zombies in an area, usually meant less survivors which in turn meant more food. And he needed to level up as fast as possible if he wanted to survive the wave.

"Ok. Please take this token. You have three weeks to complete the task or we will renew the task for other people.

…

Thousands of zombies formed an ocean-like mass drifting through the buildings. Each one more gnarly than the next. Together as a group, they were more than enough to decimate the entire Saint Gold Shelter. It would be almost impossible for Tier-one humans to kill all of the zombies much less a normal human like Alex.

Alex wasn't discouraged by the zombies though because to him, the more zombies meant more experience to gain. Even if he couldn't kill all of them, he would still try to kill as many as possible.

He found an empty gas station with some food rations. Not much, but it was enough for Alex. He could always search for more. With his legs crossed over each other, he rested on top of the gas station. The only way to the roof was by a ladder, so Alex wasn't too worried about the zombies.

As he dazed off, Alex thought about Ivy. Even though they had just separated, he was already starting to miss her. While she was in many ways a burden to Alex, in his heart, he never once thought of her as such.

…

The next day, Alex rose with a fresh mind. There were many ways he had come up with to kill as many zombies as possible. Now he needed to question the feasibility of each, else he would be devoured without knowing what had happened.

First plan: drive a car through the zombies. This could potentially kill tons of zombies, but it was too dangerous. First because the car will slow down from the impact of the zombies, causing it to be overrun. Second the roads were filled with other cars which blocked the way.

'I guess plan two it is'

Second Plan: fight zombies with fire. If the zombies were flammable, he could burn all of them alive like a fire in a dry forest. To do this, he needs two things, something to light fires, and something that could be lit on fire.

Fortunately he had both those things. Since he was at a gas station, he had a large amount of gasoline, and he could use the cars on the road to start an explosion. For most people when the zombies arrived, they left their cars with their keys still inside to try to escape the traffic.

Step one: prepare the car. Alex found a pickup truck with a large open back. He lined the back of the pick-up with a wide tarp. After filling it with gasoline, Alex was almost tempted to take a dip. He then drove slowly and quietly to an open area only a few blocks away from the swarm of zombies.

Step two: prepare the trap. Using a long rope which he had doused in the gasoline, Alex led the rope a block away to a safe area. After setting off the car alarm, he would wait until the zombies surrounded the car before lighting it ablaze.

If this plan succeeded, he would instantly gain thousands of experience.

Alex was ready.