The Changing
Fred fell backwards sitting down out of breath from the short battle as everyone ran over Fred turned to them "what the fuck was that guy on?"
——————————————————————————-
The group stood over the zombie speechless for a moment before Jackson leaned down, stabbing the zombie in his forearm, then his bicep, the group watched confused before Jackson explained.
"His muscles didn't deteriorate? maybe depending on how much they eat it slows the rotting process?" He asked himself as he ripped the shirt off the body with one arm exposing the torso only having a single bite mark on his shoulder that looked almost healed.
"Has anyone heard of a dead body able to heal a wound?" Jackson asked looking up at everyone who looked terrified. "Don't panic this could be a abnormal event, or they might be mutating some how, regardless we need to get back. Now." Jackson demanded In cold tone.
Everyone immediately pulled out their weapons taking a deep breath to calm themselves. "Clementine we're running back, you can pick would you like to ride on my shoulders or back?" Jackson asked kneeling down to her making her nervous,"shoulders?" She muttered out, Jackson picked her up spinning her around putting her on his shoulders.
"Fred,Lori your in front try not to tire yourself out we need to get back as quick as possible." Jackson ordered, nobody skipped a beat, running back the way they came. "Clementine keep a look out let me know if you see anything unusual." Jackson added making Clementine put her hands above her eyes blocking the sun for a better view of her surroundings.
Fred was the only one that didn't have good cardio out of the group. Lori was no track star like Jasmine but she was on the track team, unlike Fred who only ran a few blocks to school.
The run back didn't take long only having to go 3 long blocks to get back to the Walmart, only taking about 15 minutes of Fred running as fast as he could.
Approaching the gate Fred was breathing heavily, the guards didn't hesitate to run out. "Is there something wrong sir?" One of the soldier asked approaching Jackson.
Jackson put Clementine down raising a hand to the soldiers, "there's no reason to panic, but yes I have something to say but I need all the soldiers inside for that, try not to make any noise we don't need visitors." The soldiers stiffened up saluting "Sir" they said in unison, one running inside while the other stood by the gate, closing it behind the group.
"Anything happen while we were gone?" Jackson asked making the soldier stiffen up again "no sir it's been quiet… a loud kinda of quiet."
Everyone looked at the soldier "are you ok?" Lori asked making the soldier shake his head back and forth before straightening back up " i'm used to the noise the old would once had, so now the quiet is…terrifying."
Jackson nodded "I can see where your coming from. I was so comfortable in the noise i used it as a shadow, now the silence is my shadow and I intend to embrace it." He said walking toward the Walmart leaving everyone with a shiver going down their spine, that didn't stop everyone from following close behind him.
Entering the Walmart, the group seen everyone walking about casually looking for something todo, the group walked past everyone with them staring as they pasted. David ran up to him in a rush not keeping Jackson waiting,"what's wrong master?" He said in a low tone trying not to draw attention.
"Get some people to guard the main door, bring every soldier we have to the back room also bring Tanya I would like her input." Jackson ordered getting a nod before David walked toward the group of people watching.
Jackson's group kept walking entering the back tent, the two soldiers immediately straighten up "Sir!" They said in unison making Jackson sigh "open it" the soldiers opened the door faster then the group thought was possible, letting everyone walk through.
Entering the back room Rick, and his brother with three other soldiers were waiting. Two of the soldiers saluted seeing Jackson walk into the room. "At ease, all three of you state your names. I know names but not faces." He ordered making the soldiers stop saluting.
A female soldier with dark blue hair C cup, standing at 5'6 stepped forward with her hands behind her back "I'm Stella, I'm 25 and I'm a pretty good shot with a sniper." Right beside her was a male soldier with black hair standing at 6ft "I'm John, Im 28 and I'm skilled with any firearm." He said with a bit of laughter.(John is one of the guards at the front gate with Gary)
The soldier that walked in with Jackson standing at 5'7 with brown hair spoke up,"I'm Gary I'm 27 and I like cleaning guns" The last soldier was a short and stocky guy standing at 5'4 with orange hair he stepped forward giving a half assed salute "the name is Adam I'm 32 and I specialize in killing anything in my way." He finished with a sinister smile giving a couple people a chill down their spine.
Jackson smiled at the group "it's nice to meet everyone, all the soldiers will be introducing themselves today." As he finished his sentence the door behind him opened, with a group of soldiers walking in, all of them in a straight line with Tanya, Tom, David, Dug and Alex walking at the back of the line.
David walked over to Jackson "Everything you asked for is done. Why did you want to call everyone here?" Jackson raised a palm to David "I'll tell everyone that eventually. But right now since everyone's in a line, everyone can introduce themselves.
David raised a eyebrow but said nothing, the soldiers began introducing themselves one by one.
—————————————————————————-
(Sorry to do this to you again but it's so much faster and less typing to do it this way. Hope you enjoy the rest of the chapter)
Female soldiers
Doris has red and blue hair having strains of black throughout it, her hight is 5'7 age 27 she's C cup having the stamina of a olympic sprinter being a track stare in high school she very proud of her cardio.
Jean has brown hair, her hight 5'8 age 27 she's B cup and she specializes in hand to hand combat knowing multiple fighting styles.
Grace has light green hair, her hight 5'6 age 26 she's A cup good with a gun but her specialty is with blades.
Anna has dark pink hair, her hight 5'5 age 24 she's D Cup specializes in any ranged combat since a child.
Sara has black hair shaved into a buzz cut, her hight 5'8 age 24 she's B cup specializes in wrestling and judo.
Judy has black hair, her hight 5'6 age 22 she's B cup, her and her sister twin sister Julia being new soldier only being in the military for a year.
Julia has black hair, her hight 5'6 age 22 she's B cup. (New recruit)
Amber has light blue hair, her hight 5'5 age 22 she's C cup (New recruit)
Rose has light red hair almost looking orange In the right light, her hight is 5'6 age 22 C cup (New recruit)
Kayla dark purple hair, her hight 5'8 age 21 C cup (new recruit)
Male soldiers
Ralph has bright orange hair, his hight 6'1 age 28 looking like a body builder.
Randy being Ralph's brother and rival he had orange hair, his hight is 6ft age 27 also looking like a body builder.
Russell has black hair, his hight 5'7 age 26 he's muscular but he's more focused on how good his aim is, have one of the best.
Roy has gray hair, his hight 5'7 age 26 he is the mechanic he can fix anything with a engine and the right tools.
Philip has purple hair, his hight 5'8 age 25 has medical training but prefers the battle field over a hospital.
Bobby has blonde hair, his hight 5'6 age 24 only being in the military for a couple years yet doesn't know what he wants to specialize in.
Vincent has hair looks like solid gold, his hight 5'6 age 22 (New recruit)
Kevin has black hair his hight 5'7 age 22 (New recruit)
Brian has brown hair his high 5'5 age 22 (New recruit)
Kenneth has orange hair his hight 5'6 age 22 (New recruit)
(All 30 soldiers have been named, 11 females 19 males, theirs also 12 more civilians not named but that'll be later. The total number of people is 74)
—————————————————————————
After the long introductions Jackson sighed in relief "I have a couple questions David." David walked forward "what's up?"
"Why are you the captain? when theirs soldiers that are older then you and your lieutenants?" David shrugged off Jackson's question "their not really lieutenants it was a temporary status just incase the general didn't come back, he took most of the strongest with him including some new recruits, also most don't attempt to clime the ranks because they don't want to be stuck in the military for longer then they have to."
Jackson nodded understanding "it doesn't really matter it was just confusing is all. Now that we have that out the way, let's get down to why everyone is here." Everyone gathered closer around Jackson making a tight group where everyone could listen closely.
"While we were out there, it was quiet only running into a couple groups of the undead. Until the end of our journey where we found a muscular zombie feasting on another." The group stayed quiet for a moment before Tanya stepped forward.
"Is that a bad thing?" She asked, curious about the subject. "I thought the same till my friend started walking toward it, when the zombie noticed him he threw his meal 10ft toward him and before Fred could kill it the zombie grabbed him while he was falling." Jackson's words had weight to them making everyone silent once more.
"Yah that bastard had a grip like a vice it still kinda herts." Fred added rubbing his wrist, having a red out line of a hand on it. Tanya walked over to Fred grabbing his arm making him flinch.
"It's sprained. So their getting stronger? Maybe that's why they have to eat? to think they would resort to eating the dead." She said mumbling the last sentence making Jackson smile a little.
"When I examined the body his muscles didn't deteriorate at all since his death and he also had a bite mark on his chest that looked like it wanted to heal." Jackson add getting even more of Tanyas attention.
"That's amazing you would actually go so far? A dead body cant heal without producing new blood cells… That means the virus isn't taking over a dead body, it's killing the brain then restarting it with a endless hunger. This is all a hunch but if that's not the case the dead are evolving." Tanya stated making everyone in the room stare at her in disbelief.
"If the dead are evolving, we just have to evolve with them." Jackson said in a cold tone making everyone turn to him. "Is everyone just going to keep taking like their crazy!?" Lori asked with anger in her voices.
Jackson couldn't help but smile "the world is changing a lot faster then I thought it would. If the dead keep evolving it will become a unstoppable beast, do we just watch and hide? Or should we just die?"
His worlds left everyone speechless making Lori look down. "everyone has a choice, live through hell and become strong or live strictly to the shadows, scared of every sound you hear in fear the dead will come for you." The soldiers didn't hesitate to respond "TO BE STRONG" making Jackson smile.
"I would hope so, because those fences won't hold against more then a couple of the evolved zombies. That's why we need to reinforce the Walmart just incase the fences fall. Let's get to work." Jackson's worlds made the soldiers spring into action everyone moving doing what Jackson said.
Inside the room was Tanya, David and a couple people from Jackson's group. Tanya stepped forward gathering everyone's attention "I would like to dwell deeper in the topic of the dead evolving."
Jackson was hoping for her opinion on the matter but didn't want to bore everyone "sounds good to me, from what I seen the zombie had no signs of decaying." Tanya begin to think for a moment before replying back.
"Even if the dead were running around their body wouldn't deteriorate faster or slower unless they were in the sun. Unless the flesh they consume slows the process or maybe even heals them?" She began rambling but Jackson paid attention to every word.
"That what I was thinking. but your idea before, the dead might not be just the dead anymore, they might be getting stronger with every meal." Jackson stated with his chin on his fist while leaning against his back against one of the trucks.
Tanya eyes lit up taking a step closer to Jackson "that could be exactly it! Their could be thousands of different mutations happening as we speak! The possibility's are endless until we have solid facts." She said the last sentence composing herself taking a step back.
"Next time we'll try and bring a sample or something to compare to a regular zombie." Jackson said making Tanya smile "I could do a lot with a simple blood sample. But this feels like the limit to the conversation for now, I look forward to talking about it some more." She said leaving the room.
David turned to Jackson "I felt useless that whole conversation." He said with a sigh with everyone else in the room agreeing with him. "Don't worry about it, it's not like she can commit to most conversations anyways." Jackson said getting everyone to nod agreeing with him, everyone tried to talk to her In the past but only able to get a few sentences before she walks away.
"What would you like to do next?" Fred asked standing stretching his legs. "We should bunker down for the night, we need to make sure nothing can get in." Everyone walked out the room going to help the other while Jackson and a couple people from his group helped him get dinner ready.
After a hour or so later Jackson already pasted out the second serving to everyone sitting casually with Jasmine leaning against him.
Suddenly they heard people grunting in pain, Jackson stood up looking around. Jasmine stood up with him looking around at people kneeling or holding onto their heads.
"Are you feeling ok Jasmine?" Jackson asked in a worried voice making Jasmine smile "of cou.." she was cut off by a sudden migraine making her sit down grabbing her head. Jackson put his hand on her forehead to see if she had a fever, but she was fine.
Jackson looked back to everyone, now suffering from nosebleeds, some even passing out. As Jackson was about to move, his head felt like someone hit him with a sledgehammer making him stiffen up, taking the pain standing as he kept looking around keeping a eye everyone, one by one everyone was falling asleep.
He turned back to Jasmine who had her hand out toward him, he instantly grab her hand making Jasmine smiled through the pain as her eyes rolled in the back of her head passing out making Jackson catch her before she fell to the floor.
Jackson didn't know what to do his mind was being clouded by the pain he was feeling and the pain was only getting worse. Jackson bit into his hand making sure he didn't pass out, the pain from his had was distracting him from his growing migraine.
Suddenly the pain was gone making Jackson feel weightless like he could do anything before the pain from his hand returned with a voice in his head sounding like his master.
[Welcome to the system Jackson Bruce, the system is a AI here to save the human race from extinction]
Jackson looked around to see everyone still knocked out the voice continued with a red screen in front of him subtitling every word as it read them.
[The virus that take's over a human body is mutating into something more then what humans can handle. The system will NOT reward the lazy and weak minded, fight to live a better life, fight to have more then what you have now and the system will now reward you]
[The system will not count kills before the system was in place besides these bonuses]
[Reward: killing over 50 ghouls 500 experience]
[Reward: killing over 150 ghouls 1,000 experience]
[Reward: Killing over 500 ghouls 3,000 experience]
[He who makes a battle field his home, dinning on the feeling of blood on your hands like a fine whine, like a god of DEATH]
[Title earned god of DEATH]
[A title is only given to someone who has concord a great feet yours being [killing over 300 ghouls under 3 hours] bonus reward Telekinesis [Telekinesis is a powerful skill. WARNING can harm the user misused]
[Example telekinesis at a low level can only be used on small items, any bigger will harm your body. Good luck. Death]
Jackson couldn't help but smile at the words from the system and seeing his experience bar max out multiple times added to the satisfaction, but as the system finished speaking Jackson's body felt like there was a fire running throughout his body trying to consume him.
Jackson stood tall, taking the pain, embracing it like a old friend. The pain was nothing like Jackson has ever felt before, this pain would make most fall to their knees but Jackson stood tall even ready to fight even in this condition. After about 5 minutes the pain subsided making him sigh with a red status widow popping up showing his stats.
——————————————————————————
Jackson Bruce
Title: God of Death
Level: 15
Weight: 250 pounds
[15 points available]
[Quests: travel the world and kill stronger foes]
Skills
Telekinesis: limit 60 pounds
Strength:23 (maximum speed and physical power)
Endurance:21 (Increases regeneration of stamina, health, and their totals)
Constitution:21 (Increases the hardness, density, and weight of your body)
Dexterity:22 (Increases ease of movement, flexibility, and reflexes)
Perception: 24 (Increases comprehension, the five senses, and awareness)
Intelligence:23 (Increases memory and critical thinking)
Charisma:21 (Increases likeability and persuasion)
——————————————————————————
After reading his stats he looked around once more but with the system the world felt new, like he was looking through someone else's eyes.
Everything became easier to see like he was half blind his entire life, now everything was bright and clear as day. looking down he noticed his hand was healed
His eyes weren't the only thing that improve his hearing was better, able to hear someone's breathing from the other side of the room. He stretched his fingers noticing that they could bend back a lot further then before. he did the same with the rest of his body, soaking in his new flexibility.
Jackson took a deep breath able to pick up different smells throughout the room also able to taste how stale the air was making him sigh looking down at Jasmine who slept leaning against the table.
[Would you like to inspect this human? Yes or No]
The system asked, Jackson mentally clicked the yes button.
Jasmine Conner
Level 7
title: Deaths lover
(This has multiple meanings but I'll get into that later)
Jackson couldn't tell what her title meant, so he sat back down waiting for everyone to wake up. Fortunately it wasn't long before Jasmine woke up rubbing her eyes trying to wave away the system message.
"Are you feeling ok?" Jackson asked putting a hand on her back making her turn to him with a smile. "Of course I am, do you have these…messages?" She asked pointing at the invisible status screen in front of her.
Jackson chuckled a little "yes but I can't see your screens" Jasmine took the time to hear the system out before looking above Jackson at his title.
Jasmine begin smiling before she jumped at Jackson making him catch her falling back to the floor in the process."I like our titles, they fit well together." She said leaning toward him but before Jasmine could do anything else, Jackson grabbed her putting her back on the ground switching their positions.
"I thought the same thing" he said kissing her before they heard everyone waking up, one after another making him stand up.
Jasmine sat up with a frown before standing up standing beside him. "What are we going to do now?" She said leaning against him, Jackson put his arm around her smiling . "We have to see what this system is and how we can abuse its power"
(I was procrastinating on uploading this so I hope you enjoyed) TIP if it's in ( it's the authors words.
if its in [ it's the system thank you for reading)