Safe haven

Some place in New York City, a man in military attire could be seen on the roof of an abandoned building doing nothing but staring into the horizon. Most parts of the world were a terrible place to be doing such a thing, however that wasn't the case for this location.

Around this area was a gathering of people intent of saving themselves from the horrors that now roamed the Earth. This place could easily be described as a safe haven to any that came across it. The reason being that it gave food, shelter and most importantly, protection to all those who managed to get there.

This safe haven was an abandoned military base that was being run by an ex-military personnel named Reeves Stone. When the Earth had changed, instead of panicking like most, he gathered resources for his survival. Being a former soldier, he had access to weapons which he used to defend himself from Abstracts that he encountered.

Reeves quickly discovered that the weapons Earth currently had were only effective on few monsters, and were useless against most. Being one of the first to kill an Abstract, he discovered about systems and how they were a huge advantage in battle. They were literally capable of changing the tide of battle with these creatures.

During the massacre caused by the Abstracts, he had saved the life of a man and his family. This led from one thing to another, till he eventually had a team for gathering resources, accompanied by a large number of survivors.

Standing on top of the building, Reeves looked into the distance brooding as he saw the destruction that had fallen upon the once beautiful city. From behind was a red haired man in his twenties, walking up to him with news.

"Sir, we have found two more survivors in the area. Should we let them in?"

As expected, Reeves was the one who made the rules and decisions around these parts. His words were the law in this new apocalyptic waste land to many.

"Tell me about them."

"An elderly man with a child less than 10 years," the young man replied.

To this he nodded giving his permission. He knew he would have to drive survivors eventually as resources were limited, however he had a soft spot for people like this. This was mainly due to the fact that his own child was missing with no one to protect her. Sure he had hope that his daughter was alive because of the training he gave her, however the question was, for how long?

The red haired man walked off, leaving Reeves with his thoughts once again. This time his attention came back to something he had noticed some days ago. The beam of light that had appeared the moment the Earth was altered was gone for some strange reason. This made him particularly curious as it had stayed on the planet for only some hours.

Another person got on the building, walking up to the soldier as he turned over. This was a lady with long black burnette hair and brown colored eyes. The dirt from the environment had stained her clothes and skin but that did not stop her from looking breath taking.

Upon getting to the ex soldier, she closed the gap as she locked her lips on his. This person was none other than his girlfriend. Breaking out of the kiss, she proceeded to speak.

"You know you can't keep on doing this, right?"

"Lacey, I know. I was just thinking about it."

"There is a difference between thinking and acting on something Reeves, you need to realize that. The more you let survivors in, the more you force yourself to go out there to gather resources. If it keeps on going that way, it would only be a matter of time before you would encounter something you couldn't handle.."

Reeves understanding that her cause for concern was valid, put his finger under her chin and rose it slightly higher in order to lock eyes with hers.

"I understand... I will put this to an end soon enough, then we can be together always," he followed up with a kiss.

Soon enough the two were interrupted by the red haired man who brought news to share.

"Sir, I was just told on comms that we have we have a problem!"

"Henry, what is it?"

"The base has been infiltrated by an Abstract!" He said with panick in his voice.

Upon hearing this, the lover birds were left astonished, but not for long.

"Take me there!"

Reeves leaped off the building to the ground, unfazed as he proceeded to carry his favorite gun, the shotgun. Henry knowing there was no way in hell he was going to keep up with the ex soldier's speed, told him to head to the cafeteria.

With his great speed, Reeves covered distances in the base rather quickly as he sprinted to the area. People who had no idea what was going on could not help but panick as they saw him sprinting at such a pace to who knows where.

Upon reaching the area, there was a difference in the atmosphere as the stench of rotten flesh and blood filled the air. People could be seen running for their lives as they tried to escape whatever was in the cafeteria building.

Dut! Dut!

Dut!

Rapid gun fire filled the building as the fighters tried their best to contain the Abstract. Entering the building, Reeves could see two Bacterial surging undead fighting the soldiers. Those who had become soldiers not more than a few days ago were quickly cut off from the group and infected. The experienced one's however managed to hold their ground.

"What the fuck is up with these things!? They won't just die..!?" A rookie from the soldiers shouted out.

This was to be expected as this was the first time they were forced to kill a Bacterial surging undead.

"That's because you are doing it all wrong!" Reeves swiftly cut in.

Relief rushed through the body of each soldier as their secret weapon had finally arrived on the scene. With their moral higher than before the men tried their best to stay alive.

"Hang in their men!"

Reeves focused hard as he began the process in activating his skill. Within an instant, he gave a loud battle cry which caused a few soldiers to shudder.

All of a sudden some kind of blue energy began radiating round their body, increasing their strength, agility and stamina. This was one of Reeve's skill, Leader's blessing.

This bought him enough time for him to come up with a plan. Looking around, he noticed the gas tanks within the building. He believed that since guns didn't work, fire would do the job. Signaling the men to move backwards, Reeves held the creatures back with his shot gun. With the soldiers evacuated within less than a minute, the ex soldier took a calculated shot at a gas tank nearby.

This resulted in a blast that decimated the cafeteria environment. Blessed by his improved speed, Reeves was able to escape such a predicament with ease. Witnessing the building burn down, his screen was invaded by a number of notifications.

[Level 1 Bacterial surging undead defeated]

[Level 1 Bacterial surging undead defeated]

[Level 3 Bacterial surging undead defeated]

[Level 3 Bacterial surging undead defeated]

[Level 5 Bacterial surging undead defeated]

[1 point added to all stats]

[You have successfully reached level 15]

Reeves gave a funny looking smirk as he looked at his display. For some weird reason this was starting to feel like a RPG game he was addicted to. It felt good to see how far he had come since the drastic changes to the planet.

Few minutes later, most of the flames had been extinguished by fire extinguishers and skills. This left the way open for some terrible findings. Most of the food items had been burnt down by the fire outbreak. The ones left behind were infected by the unique bacteria, making it impossible to feed on. They weren't disturbed so much by this as they knew that even if they had food, it was impossible to cook it without a fire.

Reeves felt no guilt for what he did as he knew he had to choose between a possible Abstract spread, or their food. Sure they only had a few days to survive without any food, however it was enough time to get something to eat.

"How did Bacterial surging undead invade the camp, I thought you were checking every survivor that came in!" Reeves said in rage.

His reason for feeling this way was understandable as innocent people with families had lost their lives as a result of not being cautious.

"Sir, we were inspecting them. I believe a soldier must have been infected on a mission and refused to tell," Henry explained.

Giving a sigh as he rubbed his eyes, Reeves calmed down and spoke once again. "Find out whoever was infected, check every soldier, investigate the bodies and give the news of the deceased to their respective families."

The soldiers left swiftly, leaving Reeves to himself once more. Looking at the bacteria devouring the food, he threw a piece of wood being consumed by flames unto it. The consumables caught fire, killing the bacteria swaying all around it.

'I am sorry Lacey, it seems I will have to go out into the cruel world once again, sooner than expected.'