Ch. 1 It Begins

"Junior, put that bug down." Richard got up out of his chair and ran over to his son. Junior was his nickname, he was named after his father. A 4 year old boy who loved to play outside, and with bugs. He had short brown hair and a slim build, but always seemed to be covered in dirt. He lived with his mom and dad, his mom was 54, short at about 5'6" tall and had blonde hair. His dad was his step-dad but he had no problem calling him dad. He was 56 and as tall as Richard at 5'8" with a belly like Richard had. Short hair and a mustache. His wife and kids lived with them too. His wife was 2 years older than Richard at 36, she had an hourglass figure on the plus size and a head of short thinning hair that was black in color. His kids were Matthew, Junior, Penelope and Mya. Matthew was his stepson at 15, at 6 feet tall, like his mom he had black hair, but it was buzz cut unlike hers which was to the bottom of her jawline. He had a muscular build, from working out when he wasn't trapped behind his computer. Penelope was 2 going on 3, blue eyes and light brown hair. Mya was the baby, almost a year old.

The house was a big house, big enough for everyone and on a nice sized property, at least an acre big. They had it fenced in, with chicken wire for the most part, but it was theirs. Richard worked as a barista, had a long dark brown beard he had to keep in a hair net when he worked and long hair he kept in a ponytail at all times.

He was currently outside, doing what he normally did and playing on his phone, reading random books. He sat back down after stopping his son from messing with yet another beetle. The kid loved bugs. "I love you bud, but you're killing me." He said aloud to his son. Sitting back down he sighed, then pulled his phone out again, continuing the book where he left off. 'Michael you're an idiot sometimes.' he said in his head, as he continued reading. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it, taking a drag then puffing it out. A conversation with his wife came to mind "You need to quit smoking for one year, or the state won't cover your medical. It will cost a bit to buy you insurance." he sighed, knowing she was right.

He continued reading for a bit, then sat back and noticed the sky was turning red. He looked over at the sun, it wasn't red because of the sun, it was orange in the sky, but the clouds were covering most of it. "Well that's interesting." He didn't know alot about weather, but thought it was odd, then again maybe it wasn't. It did look cool though. He sat back down and noticed more red clouds rolling in, covering the sun completely. "Damn it, it's going to rain. Alright Junior let's go inside." he stood up and was about to go in when he felt the first raindrop, he wiped it away and glanced at his hand, the drop of rain was red. "Okay that's not normal." then he felt another drop and grabbed his son, rushing inside.

He shook his head as his wife turned to him "Don't wanna stay outside anymore?" she asked, he chuckled "It's starting to rain, plus I gotta get ready for work soon." he forgot the rain was red when he looked at the time and saw it was almost time to take a shower. He took a quick one like he always did, scrubbing his armpits and between his legs, where he usually sweat the most, then getting his hair and beard. He was getting his pants on when his wife screamed. He ran from the bedroom, "What's wrong?" he asked and she pointed out a window. She was in the kitchen, pointing out the window to the gate that blocked part of their front yard from the driveway. There were three people out there, all naked. He sighed and was about to yell when he looked closer, they weren't normal. Their bodies were covered in black, brown and purple skin, but it was their arms and legs that caught his attention. There were long gashes all throughout them, none of which were bleeding. He watched them for a moment as they pushed at the gate that had a simple clip lock holding it closed. They weren't even trying to figure out how to get through it, just pushing on it.

His mind went through a couple of scenarios. He mostly read apocalypse books and in some it was nuclear, some aliens with a system that came into place to guide the humans fighting back and some were zombie apocalypses, one of his favorite genres. He shook the thoughts from his head as he heard them moan and groan, 'Zombies' he thought to himself. It was still raining the red rain outside, but they were definitely pushing at the gate hard, going to break it soon. "Stay inside, keep the babies safe." he said to his wife, then turned and knocked hard on his parent's door, "Mom, Pops, I don't know how, but zombies are here." Then he ran outside and looked around for a weapon.

He had an aluminum bat he had wrapped in duct tape because the handle had melted from being in the sun too long. He would joke with his wife and mom it was his official Zombie apocalypse bat, they would all enjoy the joke. He found it lying on the ground near the stairs to the porch. Grabbing it he eyed the gate, it was still holding, they had done a pretty good job setting it up, but he could hear it creaking. Not once did he think to hide, he had mentally prepared for this since he was 14 and watched Zombie apocalypse movies and began getting into the genre. His thoughts only turned to making sure his family was safe. He heard more moaning and looked off to the right, outside of the property gate, not their play yard gate, there were more Zombies coming.

He steeled himself, then walked over to the gate, holding the bat in a two handed grip. The Zombies became more aggressive, trying harder to get to him when they noticed him. Swinging the bat as hard as he could he brought it down on the head of one of them, it smashed down and created a large dent, pushing the skull down to meet it's nose. He pulled back on the bat and the Zombie fell backwards. He swung from the side this time, using all his strength, taking the head off another Zombie, it too fell backwards as it's head hit the refillable water tank they used to fill their reservoir on their property. The last Zombie was even more desperate, the gate creaking ominously. He steeled himself, then brought the bat around again, the Zombie's head flew off it's body and hit the shed out back as it's body fell onto the gate. The gate wouldn't hold it's body long.

He reached out with his bat and tried pushing it, it didn't work, so he shook his head, put the bat down and held his breath as he grabbed the zombie a lifted slightly, tossing it back. As soon as he did he noticed the other Zombies outside of their property trying to get to the open gate. He cringed, then unlatched the yard gate and ran to the driveway gate, pulling it closed quickly, locking it in place with it's gate mounts in the dirt and the chain and latch lock. Just as he finished the first of the 20 or so Zombies outside of the gate made it to him. He backed up and watched. Slowly all of them began to get to the gate, but it was holding strong. He nodded and sighed running back to the yard and grabbing his bat. He heard screaming from up the road, one of his neighbors houses, but had no thoughts for them as he ran around the property, checking the rest of the fences. There weren't Zombies near any of those fences, just on the road. He heard a few gunshots off to his left, one of his other neighbors.

Once he was done checking the property he ran back to the house. Running inside he grabbed his steel toe boots, socks and a shirt. Then saw everyone in the front room. They all stared at him and he nodded "So Zombies are a thing." he said. His mom laughed "I fucking knew it, I told you that new vaccine would make zombies." He shook his head "No, it has to do with the red rain. I don't know what is going on, but that rain isn't normal." he sighed and took a second before Pops spoke up "Well looks like we need to reinforce the fence." Richard nodded "Yeah and we need to make sure we're set with weapons. Mom how many bullets you got?" he asked, she thought for a moment "about 100, give or take." he nodded and chuckled "Definitely not enough. Alright melee it is. Pops, you and Matthew are gonna have to reinforce the gate, mom you're going to be on sniper detail. Babe, you and the kids are gonna stay inside, try and keep em quiet if possible. I'll be trying to clear the area of Zombies before they bust down our chicken wire."

Everyone stared at him for a moment before he chuckled "Come on guys, we've been talking about this kind of thing for years. Let's get moving." and to accentuate his point he walked out the door. His nerves were frazzled, he knew he had to be strong, it was just hard with actual fucking Zombies. He shook the thoughts from his head and walked out to the property fence and walked to the gate, seeing almost 20 Zombies pushing on the gate. He sighed, "Well Richard, your Zombie apocalypse is here. What will you do now?"

About 5 minutes later he was standing there, his bat covered in Zombie blood, black and coagulated. He too was covered in blood, the splatter from the Zombies covering him. He looked around and couldn't see any more coming his way so he opened the fence and grabbed one of the corpses, as he did he felt something. It was like static electricity, but it was inside of him. "What the hell?" his body began to buzz and he felt energy flow into him, that was when it happened. A blue screen appeared in front of him, it was see through and had words on it.

*Would you like to harvest 21 Zombie Essence?

Yes/No*

His mind was reeling. It was an actual system message, he had read books about this, all just fantasy, this doesn't happen in real life. Yet there it was, right in front of him. He tentatively clicked yes with his hand and instantly the corpses of the Zombies vanished, all in a red smoke that flew into the air and directly into him. He felt their energy fill him, it was like drinking an espresso shot and instantly feeling the effects. Then another window popped up.

*You have harvested enough essence to unlock system access, all extra essence will be stored for use. Welcome to the Multiverse Richard.*

He was stunned for a minute, then a slew of other screens popped up in front of him. He felt drowziness hit him as he tried to understand them. Instantly he shut and locked the gate, then ran back to the play yard fence and went inside, sitting on the chair as the drowziness made him feel like passing out. The moment he sat down he was out like a light.

He found himself in a dark room, this room had three screens in front of each other. He walked up to the first screen and there was a timer on it. It had a countdown from 1 hour that was ticking away.

*Countdown to full integration, 59 minutes and 33 seconds*

The second screen had a longer message.

*Welcome Richard, to the Multiverse. You are the first Human from the Milky Way Galaxy 'Native Inhabitant Designation' to have gained enough essence to integrate into the Multiverse System. Congratulations! While in your Interdimensional Personal Space, IPS (The space you are currently in), you will have access to using essence to enhance yourself and your abilities. All changes will require your body to rest for a specific set of time depending on these changes. You can request specific changes and abilities. If you have enough essence stored, these abilities and or changes can be gained here and will be integrated into your body. For being the first Human in the Milky Way Galaxy to access the system, we of the Multiverse Council of Elders have decided to give you one ability for free, within reason. We have prepared a list of these abilities and their uses on the next page under your characteristics.*

He flipped to the next screen and saw what looked like a character sheet.

*Richard Hundai

Essence Level 1

Essence Available 11

Attribute Points Available 0

Strength 12

Agility 9 (10)

Constitution 9 (11)

Intelligence 12

Wisdom 11

Aura 14

Abilities*

*We of the Elders have prepared a list of abilities based on popular media from your world. Please select one ability.*

Enhanced Strength (1)

Enhanced Agility (1)

Enhanced Constitution (1)

The list went on and on, it seemed as if every superpower imaginable was listed as he read through them. He noticed he still had 30 minutes left on the timer so he took his time to read through the abilities. Some were simple like the Enhancement boosts to attributes. Some not so much, but then he came across one he grinned at. The single most useful Ability in the world.

Telekinesis (1)

When he clicked on it the description showed.

Telekinesis - The ability to move and control objects, inanimate or animate, with your mind. At 1st level allows you to control (Intelligence × 1) pounds objects. Each subsequent level allows the control of 1 more multiplied by Intelligence. Prolonged use of this Ability causes strain on ones essence.

He was curious what Essence was so he clicked on it as well.

Essence - The embodiment of ones being. It is the true measure of power within and without a being, governs the universe around the being and allows them to exert their own control over it.

Then he clicked on each attribute to get what they all meant as well.

Strength - Is the attribute that is a basis of the physical power that an individual has at their disposal. It accounts for not only an individuals muscle mass, but also the physical senses of an individual.

Agility - Is the attribute that is a basis of the physical dexterity that an individual has at their disposal. It accounts for not only the reflexes of an individual, but their flexibility and their bodies' ability to put forth into actions the commands their mind gives it.

Constitution - Is the attribute that governs how hale and hearty an individual is. It accounts for the bodies' ability to deal with infections and diseases, as well as the toughness of the bodies' more fragile internal systems.

Intelligence - Is the attribute that governs how learned an individual is. Not only that but it also is the attribute that governs just how much information an individual can retain, whether they be from the senses or from outside sources.

Wisdom - Is the attribute that governs how well an individual can put the pieces of what that individual has taken in and use it. It governs risk as well as how well an individual can make use of what they have learned.

Aura - Is the attribute that governs an individuals strength of personality, how others perceive an individual and how well they are listened to and paid attention to. It governs the influence an individual has on the world around them.

Well that was a heck of a thing. Richard sighed and rubbed his eyes, his head was starting to hurt, so he went back to abilities and chose Telekinesis, then was given another prompt.

*You have 11 remaining Essence, would you like to use 2 Essence to level up?

Yes/No*

He shrugged and clicked yes, then he felt somehow slightly heavier there in that darkness. His available attribute points became 1.

*You have 9 remaining essence, would you like to use 3 Essence to level up?

Yes/No*

He clicked yes again and grinned as he gained another level. He leveled up one more time using 4 Essence, leaving him with 2. Now he had 3 Attribute points and smiled to himself as he put all of them into Intelligence. Then he read the next page and groaned.

*Abilities

Telekinesis - Cost to improve (5 Essence)*

He groaned inwardly, his own stupidity not letting him finish looking through the sheets. It was alright though, he had a new ability and 15 Intelligence, he would be able to work from there. Then he noticed his timer had gone up from 30 to 40 minutes 'That's right, any change to attributes takes time to integrate. Now what am I gonna do?'

Then he looked at his character screen again and clicked on the odd numbers in parenthesis.

*Agility has a -1 modifier for 'Richard' being overweight. We recommend diet and exercise to reduce negative modifiers.*

*Constitution has a -2 modifier for 'Richard' having 'Smokers Lungs'. We recommend quitting smoking and exercising to reduce negative modifiers.*

He shook his head and laughed to himself 'Never showing this to my wife, EVER'. He glanced at the clock and it showed 30 minutes left. So he spent the next 30 minutes reading and trying to memorize what every Ability cost and what they could do, then he woke up.