First encounter with the Undead

Clank!

The sound of metal hitting the floor interrupted the tranquillity of the surroundings, and this causes one's nerves to be on the edge. Within the dimly lit hall where the only thing that illuminates the surroundings is the light coming from underneath each closed door, a shadow can be seen slowly and sluggishly advancing forward.

The creature with a distorted figure, decaying flesh, and a foul nauseating stench looking like a demon from hell, slowly walks closer. This scene is giving the young man, covered in thick clothes, a spell of doom.

Marc Lee was dazed and unable to move. His body stiffens as fear has gotten hold of his mind. He wanted to run but his body won't obey his commands. Terror has gotten a firm grip on his heart making his mind and soul feel like being trapped in a quagmire of despair.

"Awwrrr.."

The creature's low growl made his heart almost jump out of his chest as he feels too much pressure. The sense of impending doom has slowly crept throughout his body as his frame began to shake.

He trembles and buckets of sweat pouring down his forehead. His sweaty hands would not even move or be able to lift the make-shift spear as he felt no power in them.

"No, no, I'm going to die! I'm going to die! Please don't come near me!" He began shouting deep into his thought.

He could not even utter any words.

All of a sudden the zombie creature lifted its bloodshot eyes. When it saw the figure of Marc Lee, it suddenly dashed towards him at a speed that is not supposed to be coming from a corpse.

Marc Lee's eyes went wide in disbelief. His head and hands began shaking agitatedly. Though he has trained his body and become fit. His senses would not react because he is clouded in fear. He had never experienced this kind of situation before and no matter how much he prepares his mind, he is after all just a normal person who is really scared of death.

But sometimes humans have an instinct to defend themselves when a matter of life and death happens. And so his hand subconsciously moved along with the long handle of the make-shift weapon.

As the zombie creature opened its mouth to take a bite at him, the ling handle blocked the foul rotting mouth of the zombie.

Luckily for him, the zombie's mouth bit on the handle and was stopped by it.

But, Marc Lee suddenly felt a stinging pain in his shoulder. And that's when he noticed the zombie's hands grabbing his shoulders and warm liquid trickling down towards his chest under the thick clothing.

"Roar!!!"

The zombie now began to gnaw at the handle of the make-shift spear.

When he saw this, his heart began to beat a lot faster and his mind was suddenly clouded in horror. A slight flashback appears in his mind as he recalled that beautiful but sinister face of the woman, along with those sharp teeth he saw that day.

"No! I will not die here!" Marc Lee suddenly gained his voice and shouted.

He ignored the pain on his shoulders that the zombie is grabbing.

Lifting one of his feet he decided to throw a kick toward the zombie's stomach. But once he lifted his foot, he found himself falling on his back as the zombie's strength became unimpeded. But still, he was still able to deliver a strong kick despite the situation and hit the zombie's crouch instead.

This threw off the zombie's balance as it tumbles backward. But it didn't stay down long as it flips itself up as quickly as it fell down. It came rushing back up to Marc Lee who is still lying on the ground. He is unable to stand up because of the stiffness and thickness of the clothes he was wearing.

"Damn it! Arrggghh." Marc Lee cursed as he can now feel the pain from his shoulder and the helplessness as his back in on the ground.

"Shit it's back. I need to…" Marc Lee suddenly lifted his spear and pointed it toward the incoming zombie.

The zombie didn't bother to dodge as it lets the knife enters its body without a care. Then it crazily started to use its sharp claws and swung it randomly at the human before it. The thick clothing on his body wasn't even able to protect him as they were torn like papers.

Now on his chest, multiple wounds began to appear as his own blood dyed him red. The scent of his blood also made the zombie go berserk as it tried to claw at Marc Lee crazily.

Unable to handle it anymore, Marc Lee once again kicks with all his might and hit the zombie's stomach. With that kick, although the zombie wasn't pushed back further, it however gives a few the distances between the zombie and himself.

Although right now Marc Lee is suffering from pain in his chest. But because of the adrenaline now rushing through his body, he could push the zombie at least back.

He then quickly swung the spear sideways while carrying the zombie's body along with it.

The zombie was once again thrown to the ground.

This time Marc Lee grabs this opportunity to roll over and stand up. But the zombie, like a wild animal, scrambled to get up and it manages to stand on its feet and once again dashed towards its prey.

But this time Marc Lee is prepared and immediately, with both hands, thrusts the spear with all his might.

It entered through the body and pushes the zombie towards the wall. Then Marc Lee pushes harder making the knife pass through its body. The zombie is now skewered to the wall.

The zombie suddenly stopped moving and squirming as if it suddenly died.

This made Marc Lee heave a sigh of relief as he felt that he finally won against his first zombie.

But then before he can celebrate, the zombie suddenly lifts its head and uses its arms to push its body forward letting the make-shift spear pass through its body.

This took Marc Lee by surprise and was again dazed.

Without any weapons on hand, his heart is now in a panic. He did not know what to do and his mind went blank. Before he knew it, the zombie's foul mouth is already near him. He did not have a choice but to lift his hand to block the zombie's mouth.

Chump!

Taking a chunk of flesh from his forearm the zombie felt greedy as it seems to be energized. Then its hands grabbed Marc Lee's shoulders and hugged him towards itself.

The zombie's strength made Marc Lee flabbergasted and helpless as all he can do is to lift his hand to block the zombie's mouth. But then the zombie's grip tightens digging its claws under his skin.

"Arrggghh!!!" Marc Lee shouted in pain as he tried to find a way to separate his body from the zombie.

Right now, he is experiencing the most painful sensation he had in his life? When she was bitten by the woman, he passed out by then almost immediately. But this time, it felt like time has stopped and it was taking him forever in feeling this pain.

The excruciating pain, while someone is biting through his arms, is something that one could not imagine. The only thing that keeps his consciousness right now is the adrenaline crazily pumping through his blood.

He didn't even know why his body can produce this crazy amount of adrenaline that makes him alert but also feel the pain.

Then his eyes went around the room and saw the window.

Despite the excruciating pain, an idea came to his mind.

He can throw the zombie outside through the window!

Seeing that there is a way out of this, he immediately gathers all his strength and grits his teeth through the pain as the zombie is now gnawing on his very bone.

He suddenly lifted the zombie and immediately ran towards the window.

Crash!!!

The force of the impact broke the window apart and pushed the zombie outside.

As the zombie fell out, one of its hands with its claws dug deep into Marc Lee's shoulder taking a large chunk of his flesh making him cry in so much pain.

Marc Lee looks at the falling zombie and showed a vicious expression.

But the pain in both arms and the blood loss is now making his vision turn a bit blurry. He tried his will to overcome it, but he could feel weakness overcoming his mind. The pain all over his body finally made his mind shut down and then he lost consciousness almost immediately.

His body slumped right at the side of the window as his blood spreads like a pool of water dyeing the floor crimson red.

…

The next day…

The morning sun's golden rays slowly lit up the room full of specks of flying dust. Inside the dust-filled room lays a figure drowned in his own pool of coagulated blood.

"Ugh…"

Marc Lee slowly opens his eyes and found himself lying on the ground covered in dried blood.

"What… What happened to me? I'm… I'm still alive?" Marc Lee said in a weak tone.

He then looks at his arms but was shocked to discover that it was perfectly fine.

His mind was immediately awake upon discovering such a scene. He suddenly remembers that he passed out due to the extreme pain he has just suffered. But now that pain is gone.

His eyes went to his chest and saw that it was fine and no scratch marks are left. It is like what happened to him is nothing but a dream. And yet his torn clothes and the bloody floor are evidence that what he suffered and what had happened are all real.

He pulls himself up and curiously looks down through the window. There he found on the ground a bunch of unmoving corpses. With great horror, Marc Lee didn't want to look anymore and just stepped away from the window.

The blood on the floor almost made him fall down, and in panic, he quickly ran towards his room.

He didn't even take the make-shift spear on the wall and just left.

"Huff… Huff… I'm alive… I'm still alive! That's great… this is great!" Marc Lee shouted in his brain as the feeling of being able to survive the deadly struggle made him feel complicated emotions rushing to his brain.

He was stunned for a while, then after regaining his wits before him, he quickly cleaned himself up with some bottled water and quickly prepares his meal.

For half a day, he was dazed after that…

"I am not a zombie… I've been bitten, right? Then that means I am immune. Plus, I can also heal faster… Is this my power?" he muttered.

"No… I can't just rely on this… I think I must continue becoming stronger… I need to build my muscles more… That is the only way for me to overcome this…" he muttered to himself.

Then as per his routine, he began to do some exercises. This time, he found something strange… his strength seems to have increased a little.

"This is… I think because of the battle yesterday my potential was pushed to its limits and made my body become stronger… Hmmm… Does this mean that… besides exercising I can try and fight some zombies in order to make my body stronger?" Marc Lee tried to analyse.

"I guess that could also be an option… But the most dangerous one…" Marc Lee muttered to himself.

But then his skull turns numb upon remembering his struggle and the pain from yesterday.

"Is there no other way?" he thought for a while.

He then grits his teeth as deep in his heart he knew already the answer. He could only go so far with his muscle training. The best way to increase his strength and survive is to fight.

"I need a better weapon then..." his eyes turn towards the door his weapon is still in that room.

Then he once again steeled himself as he quickly walks towards the door. This time, it seems that fear is unable to hold him back. He breathes deeply and slowly turns the knob as the door creaked and then he carefully peeked outside extending all of his senses.

Seeing that not a shadow is there, he immediately runs towards the other flat and grabs the spear on the wall. Then he quickly turns and runs out to the hallway. He then faced the elevator's direction.

"Ahhh! I guess no zombie is in here." Marc Lee heaves a sigh of relief.

Wearing just his workout clothes, he began to look around. Although his heart is thumping fast like before, he now gained courage coupled because of his experience yesterday. And because of that, his confidence was boosted.

At the end of the hall near the elevator, he found the emergency exit, and the door is wide open.

"This… why didn't I see this before." Marc Lee muttered as he slowly approached the wide-open door.

He tried to listen for any suspicious sounds but found nothing. So, he carefully peeked through the staircase.

The sunlight coming from the roof made it easier for Marc Lee to see almost the whole staircase. And from the sound of it, there seems to be no movement inside. But of course, he is not sure if there are some on other floors.

He then carefully closes the door.

Hearing the low click, he heaves a sigh of relief. Now that the floor he is on is almost secured, he could now breathe a little.

He noticed that on the ground is a metal object. This seems to be what the zombie hit yesterday.

"Now it's time for me to check the rooms. Hopefully, no zombie is in there." He thought as he carefully approached the first room.

Turning the doorknob a low click sounded and Marc Lee was able to smoothly push the door open. But then his nose was assaulted with a nasty smell of rotten flesh. This causes him to be alarmed and immediately retreated back a couple of steps away from the door.

He immediately noticed a half-naked woman walking sluggishly towards the door. Her upper clothes seem to have been stripped and torn by sharp claws just like what happened to him. He can also see a large hole in her stomach where almost all of her inner organs are missing. Her rib cage is open as one of her breasts is missing revealing the black heart in her chest beating rapidly.

What surprised Marc Lee is that her stomach is still present but from the looks of it, the stomach was torn before and was patched with a black fleshy substance with the same color as her heart.

Marc Lee didn't have a chance to observe more as the woman suddenly turns her eyes towards him and opened her mouth full of sharp teeth. He also noticed that on her forehead is a black stone-like object protruding like a horn.

The zombie woman didn't have any consideration when she saw Marc Lee. She immediately rushed towards him like crazy. Learning from his first experience, Marc Lee set the spear toward the zombie's head.

Although his heart is beating really fast, that it almost jumps out of his chest, he still composed himself and gritted his teeth.

The zombie rushes closer and closer and his heart beat faster and faster.

With the zombie creature only a few steps away from him… Marc Lee could feel the pressure and stench of death once again pinning him on the spot.