The After Party

Marcus dashed forward to meet his enemies first. He threw the hatchet into the first one's head before yanking it out to spin around and cave in another's skull. Using an inverse grip, his knife tore through intestines but an extra hit to the head was required to stop it advancing altogether.

Dancing to a familiar song in his head, more bodies hit the ground again and again. Eventually, Marcus had to back off though to avoid being surrounded.

Now he took them up the mountainside to the main cave. Finding the rubble just outside the entrance, Marcus pushed as much debris down the hill to take out as many assailants as possible.

Setting off again, the second part of the plan was to lure them to the mountain goats. As he ran through the herd, they ran at him in a frenzy but Marcus was ready. He spun out of their reach like a bull fighter and when the male charged him, he wall ran up the side just out of reach before landing behind the beast.

The zombies tried to run past but their reactions were slow so nearly every single one of them had their brains dashed out at the bottom of the cliff. Only a dozen made it through. The path spiralled now to a higher ledge where Marcus turned to face his pursuers.

"How dare you ruin our birthday! Today is a day of celebration don't you know?" They just gargled back at him. Expressionless. Marcus ground his teeth before rushing toward them once more. They were already so slow but his impressive agility made every movement feel even slower.

As one reached out to claw his face, Marcus simply batter away the crooked limb and struck them with the hatchet, splitting their skull in half. Two more died before they could raise a hand and the others were practically lining up for their deaths at this point.

Five left. Four. Three. Two. The last one made a desperate grab. Almost grazing him with a claw. It would only take a scratch to end his life so even against such weak enemies, he needed to be careful. Leaping back, Marcus brought his hatchet up in an uppercut to destroy the zombie's jaw.

Still, it continued on. Coughing and spluttering. Reaching out for a morsel of flesh to quiet the voices in its head begging to eat. Marcus slashed diagonally with his knife, tearing their neck open.

It clutched its throat showing the first sign of awareness until it collapsed. Marcus dispatched it before more harm could be done.

Slowly jogging down the mountain, not one corpse moved. Most were already half rotten. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long for them to disappear as though they'd never infected this land in the first place.

He knocked twice on the hatch which immediately swung open. James had never left the ladder. "Bro! I thought you'd never come!" Recalling Marya's last words, he wondered if this was what it would have been like if his real brother was still alive. One day he'd go back to the place he awoke from and pay his respects. Maybe when his memories of him returned.

James climbed out and gripped him in a bear hug. Soon the girls reached the top and hugged Marcus too. He only blushed and they let go before he got the chance to put an arm around them in return.

"Are they all gone?" Asked Lana. Her expression was so cute Marcus could only reassure her every last one was gone. Sam let out a sigh of relief before punching him in the arm.

It didn't hurt but Marcus stumbled back a step. "Hey! I just saved you guys," he chuckled. Sam giggled and gave nothing but a shrug in response. Together they went down into the bunker to hear about Marcus' battle and take a break for the day.

Everyone took it upon themselves to read some of the books in the library and discuss ideas for how they could improve their way of life. James suggested that making weapons should be top of the priority list so they wouldn't be so useless when monsters showed up.

Sam agreed almost immediately so Lana said she'd help too. First, Marcus taught everyone how to make their own hatchet like him. They needed something more practical though and hatchets were tools, not weapons. A spear would have more range so it would be perfect for zombies who you generally didn't want too close to you.

They first sharpened long sticks to be throwing spears which wasn't too hard. However, making flint headed spears was much harder. Following the steps in a survival book helped but that didn't make it any easier. They had to carve a shelf into the top of their stick but if you cut too much the tip would break or be too weak.

Sam and Marcus with the highest dexterity in the group managed to carve out the perfect shelves first. All they had to do afterwards was wrap para chord from the parachutes around a sharp piece of flint. It was difficult to knap the correct shape but it worked out in the end.

They could have just done what Marya had done during the attack but without the shelf the flint/knife wouldn't stay firm for as long and would need repairing more often.

Lana and James used bone for their spear heads instead and the result was deadly. James' had three jagged pieces of bone sticking out while Lana's was a perfectly shaped blade of bone. Marcus couldn't decide which would deal more damage.

To train, they used unsharpened sticks like before as a quarterstaff and by now everyone's skills were improving a lot. If it weren't for Marcus' high level of agility, James would match him for skill.

Ranged weapons were just as important though so they all looked through their survival handbooks and the bunker library until Lana discovered a guide on crafting a basic hunter's bow. It even explained which wood was best and how to identify the right tree.

Willow was the easiest so that's what they went looking for. Coming accross a willow tree, the leaves hung down like green ropes. Pushing them back like curtains, Marcus gazed up at the trunk. The others pushed back the leaves to join him.

Everything felt so peaceful under the lampshade like tree. Light seeped through small partings in the branches and illuminated spots on the trunk. A house martin spiralled up to its nest and called out a greeting to their family.

After giving enough time to appreciate the marvels of nature, Marcus found a particularly flexible but sturdy branch to make his bow with. The others did too but they were all different lengths. James had more of a longbow and the others would need to cut theirs to a length suggested by the book.

Leaving the tree behind, James shook his hair of leaves. Stringing up the bows wasn't too difficult. In fact, only James needed a little help from the others. The para chord had the perfect elasticity as well. Arrows were not too hard to make.

It was only knapping the flint into arrow heads that was tricky as getting the size right was important. Too heavy and the arrows would practically nose dive.

A sharp point was all they required. Finding the right sticks was also hard so instead they had to cut young, healthy, thin branches from trees that grew straight. The result was exceptional.

So to practice, they stood in a line set distances from whatever looked like a good target and drew. Eventually, they even painted targets onto trees with charcoal and elderberries which left the most prominent red stain.

This also helped them practice spear throwing and it turned out Marcus and Sam were the best spear throwers. Lana and Marcus however had the most accuracy when it came to archery. Marcus wasn't bad at spear throwing but it seemed he wasn't fully used to his new strength acquired from using the system.

Adding the practice to their training regime, everyone felt like it was time to clock it in for the day as they all decided to head back to the bunker. The comfy beds were so much better than the dens or the cave.

Marcus still remembered the chilly dampness and the bruises he gained. This was therefore luxury in comparison so he could close his eyes and be at peace.