CHAP 2: When the sun goes down + How you like me now

I cannot store my gun on the inventory. If it's loaded, it doesn't enter, if i take the mag out, it enters, but i cannot store the mag unless i take out the bullets. It's better to just keep it in my concealed carry holster and keep the two extra magazines in my pocket.

Inspect is a very strange perk. It can both give detailed descriptions of things, or simply state what i am observing. For example, here's what the inspection of a bottle of antizin showed:

| A bottle containing a concotion of rabies immunoglobulins, an modified and annuated strain of the Harran strain of the virus, and immuno adjuvants.

The effect can vary from system to system, but a normal healthy human would have a week before a additional dose is taken.

It's side-effects can entail hallucinations, headaches, nausea and fever. |

An detailed enough description, and it gives information i would not known by simple observation. But inspecting a box, or a cabinet, simply gives what's inside, which i admit is pretty handy, and what type of container it is, nothing more. Maybe i'm complaining for the sake of it, but i find the disparity between the information given strange. Even when i mentalized knowing what it was made of, it gave me nothing.

But enough about that, it's a new day, and i have a mission to complete. I got up from the bed and headed out. I went back to the Tower using the same path i used to reach the drop. One day i'll come back to this highway and burn all the zombies swarming it, but since i'm low on supplies, i'll use the top of the cars as i did before. I got off the highway and dropped to a house. Machete in hand, i kicked the door open, the sound attracting the zombie, he turned to me, but i used dodge to get close enough to him, the momentum the skill gave me made the machete cleave through most of its head. The body fell down, my machete still stuck on it, so i used the torso as support and pulled it off, getting blood over my pants. The worst part about using melee is that it is messy, and washing blood and pieces of bone is a bother, specially if the blood dries up. During my interrogations, i used a rubber apron, gloves and boots, ah, the good old times.

|+30 Power EXP|

I searched the house for supplies, and ended up finding exactly what i needed, a whetstone. With this in hands, i could make some throwing knifes and edge my bladed weapons. I found some bottles and more alcohol as well. I found a bottle of whiskey and filled my pocket flask. This is what killed me on my past life, but alcohol has been an old partner of mine, and i don't think i could give it up easily. About the smoking problem, though, i can't decide yet, as they say, nicotine is a bitch. This body has been apparently zero'ed, but even then i think i am still psychologically addicted to those things. Old habits truly die hard.

I did the same for all the houses on the way to the Tower, some were already fully plundered, but others were not. I checked my inventory and i had 36 molotovs ready and 49 pieces of metal ready to be turned into throwing knifes, i was carrying some batteries and some electronics on my pockets, since i had an idea of electrifying my machete. The human mind is truly wondrous.

I finally arrived at the Tower, antizin box in hand.

"Look who's back, the man who gets the job done!"

The quartermaster said to me, signaling me over.

"I have to say, i had no hope you would survive out there, but you not only did, but got a antizin box as well. Give it to me, we'll handle it from here."

I put the box on the table, and he took it and put it on the back.

"Brecken's calling. I believe he has a job for you."

"I'll head to the headquarters, thanks."

"I'm the one who should be thanking you."

I went to the elevators, clicking the number 19. The elevator made a ding, and i walked through the corridor to the headquarters while people looked at me gratefully. They're really desperate for antizin, aren't they? I entered the HQ and Brecken was waiting for me, while Rahim was working on the radio.

"Look who it is, the man of the hour. What you did out there was suicide, but i thank you for your courage."

"I heard you have a job for me?"

"Direct to the point, huh? Yeah, while you've managed to get antizin, only one box is not enough for us. You must've heard from Spike about the two drops incoming, right? I want to take you with my team to get those."

"And if it fails?"

"If it fails, there are two more drops coming the day after. We get those."

"And if that fails?"

"If that fails we're fucked, because we'll have to make a deal with that goddamned psycho."

"Understood. I'll go with you."

"Good. I hope you are as good as i think you are. Taking down a goon alone is no easy feat."

"I just do the job."

"Yeah, and i want you to help us do our job."

|World Quest received.

{Sabotage}

Objective: Stop the Tower from getting the airdrops.

Optional objective: Save Brecken.

Reward: 8000 Agility EXP.

Additional Reward: {Night Survivor} perk.|

I nodded and went out the headquarters. Now, to sabotage these missions. I could deactivate the traps, but that would make me suspicious, i could tip Rais's men about the mission, but that would make me really suspicious. Hmmm, maybe i put some booby traps on the cars, calling the attention of the horde, the problem is making sure i get out alive, and saving Brecken on the process. The man is what is holding this whole thing together, and if i was the only one to return they would think i was the one guilty for his death, especially considering what happened with that guy with Jade, Mimir or something? I can't remember, is this the effect of {amnesia} or the fact i don't care about him? Probably the latter. About Jade, i expected she to be here, since she seems to be one of the leaders here, that punch of her's was pretty hard even if she was holding back, and she seems to know some fightings, so she could be useful. She's emotionally unstable, which means she's open for manipulation.

I went down the elevator, and out of the Tower. I will go to a safe house, and do some crafting. You give a wanted man a computer, some hacking skills and a self-functioning underground organization and he ends up learning a lot of things by himself. I have an idea of a gadget to make the explosions to call the horde, and i will make the throwing knifes and the electrified machete as well. I went to the safe house i cleared while i was doing the assignment Spike gave me, but i was hit with some heavy drowsiness on the way there. When i arrived, i saw the sleeping bag and threw myself on it, sleeping immediately.

As expected, {Narcolepsy} means i have the chance to simply go to sleep at any moment, and sometimes suffer from insomnia. Very bothersome problem, since every combat situation becomes a gamble of whether i'll sleep during it or not. This time i was lucky, but maybe i'll not be so lucky next time. I realized i didn't activate or use that {Morality Emporwement} thing, which i admit is an error on my part. When i activated it, the colors became less vibrant, but it didn't seem to be really affecting anything else.

'Game, how does this thing work? The explanation given didn't really elucidate anything.'

[It's a tricky power. Basically you use the morality of others and yourself as a ways of strenghtening yourself.]

'Thanks, you explained nothing.'

[Well, the idea itself is strange. Morality is hard to really specify, but everything has morality behind it, which means you will get stronger as long as you are facing beings with control over their own actions, and your {power detection} allows you to sense morality around you, since your power kinda solidifies it into power. Your vision has become gray because you are seeing your own morality.]

'I see. Are those empowerments permanent?'

[It depends, the stronger the moral behind something, the more powerful the empowerment will be, and the more chances of it being permanent, sometimes you can unlock powers according to the type of morality.]

'Status.'

|Name: Gray Fraudator

Class: Charlatan

Level: 0

HP: 110/110

MP: 140/140

STA: 110/110

HP Regen: 1 per hour while awake, 10 per hour while sleeping. Can only regenerate wounds a normal human would.

MP Regen: Null

STA Regen: 1.1 per minute

CON: 11

STR: 11

DEX: 13

INT: 14

WIS: 12

CHA: 15

LUK: ??? |

I'll admit i was expecting some change, but i shouldn't get ahead of myself. If i had been keeping this thing active, maybe i would've had some changes, but it's no use crying over spilled milk. I exited my status, and went to the workbench to make what i needed. Checking my clock, i saw it was 3 pm, giving me 3 hours until night, i dropped what i was carrying on my pockets on the table. I had acquired some cellphones and some remotes, as well as a bunch of batterys, what i needed now were lighters and a RC car. I decided to work on getting more materials, so i went outside and decided i would scavenge everything on the houses around me.

After 2 hours passed, i had taken everything i could. I found a good backpack on one of the houses, so i was using it to carry more than i could before. While i was going back to the safe house, i was hit by a sudden strong drowsiness, so i sat down on one of the rooftops, doing my best to persevere through it. When it passed, i continued on my way and shortly arrived. I put the backpack down, taking the things i needed at the moment. I dismantled the electronics, taking the necessary things. What i was planning to make was a device that would create a spark inside the fuel tanks of the cars, and use the remote control of the car to activate them, well, remotely. I had found some components to make some I.E.Ds as well, the last time i made those was during my enforcer days to make the target run into my trap, never thought i would be using them again.

I set off to do work. I did the delicate things first, because if i fell asleep during those there wouldn't even be a body to mourn, fortunately i am quick in doing those things, because after i finished, i immediately fell asleep on the workbench. I woke up 30ish minutes after, and continued fabricating the devices.

"To all that are still out there, night's coming, so start wrapping up and go to a safe house."

Rahim said this through the radio, i checked my watch and saw there was only 30 minutes till nightfall. I don't think there'll be any runners coming to this safe house since, from what i've gathered, the amount of runners is very low. I continued making the devices through the night. As expected, no other people came here, so no one will become suspicious of what i'm doing. I had finished everything by sunrise, i now had 8 I.E.Ds, and three remote car-exploding devices, a honed machete, and some make-shift throwing knives. Strangely i could store the I.E.Ds in my inventory, even if they're technically carrying things, but i'm not complaining. Now i just needed to know which cars to trap. I pulled out my notes, analyzing the map i had drawn of the traps. After some pondering, i found two fitting places, now i needed to know if there were cars on those places.

I got out of the safe house, and went to the places i had marked. One of them had a fitting car, but while the other did have a car, the one in a optimal position had it's tank punctured. The other cars were close to each other, so i was afraid it could generate a chain explosion and end up calling more zombies then i could handle. I didn't have the tools to safely change the tank, so the only option was to hot-wire one of the cars and put it in a good position.

There were zombies on the street, so i needed to end them before doing this. I pulled out my throwing knives, and i saw what 'locking-on' meant, three of the zombies had been outlined in white, and i could accurately calculate what i needed to do to kill them. Moving around kept my vision focused on them, and changed my calculations automatically. I've become a portable aiming system. I threw the knives and killed the zombies instantly, i did the same with all of them, getting better and better. I had thrown my 64 knives, and now there were only 9 other zombies, so i got down from the roof of the shop i was standing on, and ran at them with my machete. I used dodge to get more momentum on my swing and cleanly cut the head of one of them, the sound i had made while running attracting the other 3 of that group, i dodged back, taking a stance where i could easily cut their heads if they came closer. Of course, they couldn't think, so they didn't realize that fact and continued advancing, i slashed the head of the one on the front, the machete getting stuck, so i kicked him away and dodged away from the other one trying to grapple me, i dodged back once more and ran at them, using the momentum to kick one of them far in a dropkick. I got up and slashed the one who wasn't kicked, cutting off the lower part of his arm, and then i swung from overhead, parting its head into two.

I pulled my machete off what was left of his cranium, and went over to the last zombie, who had already gotten up. Not wanting to waste the weapon's edge anymore, i waited for him to come at me to grapple him and hit his spine, making him fall over, and stomping his head in. I put the machete back into my inventory, and started collecting my knives, the other group had yet to notice me, so i used 5 of my knives to kill them.

|+30 Power EXPx65

+50 Power EXPx8|

I took some time to collect all of the knives i'd thrown, and saw that one of the cars had it's windows broken, so i supposed the sound of it's alarm was what had brough those infected over. I jumped through its broken window, and used my trusty swiss switchblade to unlock the panel, i cut the battery wires, stripped part of its insulation, twisted them together, and wrapped them with some electrician tape. This made the radio come alive, but i turned it off. I took the ignition wires and sparked them with the battery wires, this started the car, so i revved the engine, the steering was locked, so i used the good old brute force to break the lock, and drove the car to the position i needed it to be, and disconnected the wires. I set up the device in the entrance of the gas tank and put some cans of gas i had found before inside to make a bigger boom. My inventory didn't reject the canisters for some motive.

I had already set up the other exploding car. Now that everything's ready, i just need to wait for the mission. Actually, i need to restock on firecracker, i just need some nitric acid and i can make a batch for myself. I'll scavenge around the highway to see if i find some, in actuality, i think i can make something even better than just a firecracker.

After 3 hours, i had managed to scavenge atleast 40 buildings thoroughly, killing some zombies in the process. One of those buildings was a chemical products store, so i found all kinds of fun, potentially Geneva Convention breaking, things. I had got rid of the boxes by throwing them in a flaming barrel during this little searching, so now i could keep the bigger containers inside my inventory. I could make some flashbangs, some napalm, some mustard gas, and all kinds of spicy things, the store had the equipment for a lab as well, so i decided i would reinforce it and make it my base. There were some UV lights on the store ready to be set up.

|+30 Powerx36|

I had 9 hours till night, so i used that time to reinforce the store, falling asleep randomly on the process, which made me get hurt, i really need to get rid of this goddamned narcolepsy. By the night, the store was reinforced enough, the UV lights were set up, and i had mounted some little traps on the surroundings. I had of course cleared the area of zombies beforehand.

|+30 Power EXPx40

+50 Power EXPx3

You have leveled up on Power.|

'Skill tree.'

|Power: Kick Stun, Combatant.|

'Unlock combatant.'

|{Combatant} LVL 01/03

Each CON stat gives +50% STA and STA Regen.|

That would put me at 165 STA, regenerating 10% of that per minute. Stamina has not really been a problem for me, but it's better be safe than sorry. I had mounted a little lab on the store, and the only access to the store, the backdoor, had been locked by me. The store had some zombies inside, and the one who was using what i assume is the uniform of the store had the keys on its pocket. I threw the bodies out, but i had taken some samples for research, cutting the bodies open made me realize some things, like the fact some organs seemed to have become bigger, while others smaller, and that the bones and muscles had become denser. I didn't let the corpses rot and possibly attract zombies, of course, but burned them with some self made napalm.

But i digress. I returned to the lab and set off in making what i needed. The explosives i had made before were firecrackers when compared to what i was making now. In fact, i plan to use these together with the firecrackers i am making to get rid of the zombies, and use the ones i'm making now in case i need to do some demolition work. I made some flashbangs, not only because i'm interested in using them against the infected, but because i'll have to deal with Rais and his little gang. Mustard gas is another one i'm interested in, how will the zombies react to it? I'm not expecting anything super different, but when experimenting, you must never expect anything.

The night passed while i crafted away, sleeping sometimes. I think i'm ready to kill one of those volatiles. The back of the store had some arsenic, what i'm planning to do is trapping some goons, and if possible, some volatiles, and testing what works best to kill them, for science, of course. I analyzed the samples i had, the effects antizin had on different types of tissue, and let some samples out, to see how long they would survive without nutrition. It was midnight when i put them to 'dry', and by now, it was 10:30 AM, and they're still completely functional, no deterioriation of biological function, nothing. I kept observing it, falling asleep randomly, and during one of the sleeping sessions, i woke up, and the samples had completely stopped, i checked the time, it was 4 pm, and i had fallen asleep 20ish minutes ago. Today was the day of the mission with Brecken, so i wrote down my conclusions, and got up, stretching. I took some of the rations i had scavenged, ate three cereal bars, and put six more of them inside my backpack. The store had a pretty good break room, with everything you needed to make a meal, but i was not in the mood to cook, so i contented myself with just the cereals and some water.

I had put a timer on the UV lights, so they would only be lit up from 6 pm to 6 am. I had taken a shower, since the store had one, sadly i didn't have a chance to wash my clothes, i need to find some spares. Taking care of your hygiene is always important, especially when you are dealing with a infection that is transmitted by bodily fluids. I took my machete, my gun, and climbed to the top of the store, where i decided to report to the GRE.

"Report."

"Been planning what to do against that Kadir fellow. You guys don't care about me killing him, right?"

"If you can recover the files, everything is okay."

"Even if my methods happen to be a violation of human rights?"

"What exactly what are you planning, Greyston?"

"Something fun. If it happens to be needed, you guys can divert the attention of the world, right?"

"Goddamnit Jacob, we thought you were more subtle."

"Subtlety is in the eye of the beholder. What i'm planning to do will be very quiet, all i need is for you guys to be a smokescreen, can i count on that?"

She sighed.

"We'll see what we can do. We should be discounting this from your payment."

"If you dare to do that, i'll make sure to leak those secrets of yours myself. Over and out."

She sighed again. Oh, i forgot how much fun being unreasonable against those that need you is. I changed the frequency and went off to the Tower. Arriving there, the quartermaster called me over.

"You got anything interesting while out there?"

"No. Nothing."

"Shame. You're going on that mission with Brecken and his boys tonight, right? Best of luck."

"Thanks."

"Here, take this."

He gave me two medkits.

"Let's hope i don't have to use these."

He laughed, and i headed to the elevator and up. I entered the headquarters, seeing only Rahim there.

"How's it going, kid?"

"Old man! You're really a life saver, you know. That box you managed to get saved a bunch of people."

"Did it? That's good."

"If you manage to get atleast a full airdrop today, we'll be good for some time. But that won't mean our troubles will be gone."

"Is that so? And what is making you worried?"

"Let me show you, follow me."

He got up from the chair and went to the balcony. I followed, and saw him pointing to a building on the distance.

"You see that building over there? That's a volatile nest. If we managed to bring it down or clear it out, the nights would become much more safe."

Hmmmm, a nest? Sounds like a good testing ground.

"You need some explosives, then?"

"Yes. Do you have any idea, old man?"

"It would take some time, but i can arrange something."

"CAN YOU? I'm sorry, but that's awesome, old man! If we did that, we would be helping everyone!"

"We? Don't know, kid. I think it's best for this to be a one man thing."

"Why? Volatiles are no laughing matter, you know?"

"Yes, they're not. That's exactly why i will go alone. I know how to set up the bombs, and one individual is less noisy than two."

"But the idea is mine!"

"Are you a child? We're talking about lives here."

"Yes! That's why it's best if we take two people, because if one of us fails the other can complete the plan."

"Or both of us can die. The Tower is in a dire situation, losing two runners because of their own stupidity puts it in a even worse situation. Especially if we consider you are basically one of the leaders here."

"Got it."

He turned his back on me, looking at the Tower. This kid is not taking me seriously, well, it's his funeral.

"One day after tomorrow, if i do survive this mission tonight, i'll make some explosives, and i'll store them here. If you dare to take them, and do things yourself? Well, all i can say is that i won't save you when things end up going wrong."

"I said i got it."

I walked off. If this kid ends up doing what i think he'll do, i'll be the one to kill him. When i closed the door to the balcony, i saw Jade was waiting for me.

"Can you really arrange some explosives?"

"Yes."

"Then i ask you, please destroy that goddamned nest before my brother kills himself."

"He's your brother?"

"Yes. and since he seems to like you, i hope you can put some sense in his head before he does the stupidity he's thinking about doing."

"I don't think that's going to happen, you listened to the conversation."

"If you need any help getting the materials, or destroying the nest, i can help you."

"A pretty lady like you, guarding my back? How could i refuse it?"

"This pretty lady can probably fight better than you, Spectre."

The moment she said that name, i dodged close to her and pushed her to the wall, putting a knife to her neck, ready to cut her carotid, with my hand covering her mouth. I did this out of instinct, because that's the same nickname i used during my mercenary days during my past life.

"Now then, why don't you tell me how do you know that name, miss Jade? And if you dare to scream, i'll stab this little neck of yours and throw your brother off this fucking building."

I stopped covering her mouth.

"You're famous, don't you know? Even if you've been missing for the last 7 years, what you did before that was still enough to give you quite the reputation. "Tyrant Killer", "Master of Regicide", "God's evil hand". A young man, killing tyrants, known for his cruel methods. Not only that, the only known witnesses speak of a very tall tanned man with hair the color of an old man. So imagine my surprise when i saw someone with those exact features right in front of me."

I released her. I guess the game couldn't just create me out of nowhere, but i would've appreciated if he let me know i was a fucking celebrity.

"Sorry about that, Jade."

"I can't say 'no problem' because you did almost just kill me. But i guess i can understand you would be agressive if someone approached you using your name, specially so considering you're being hunted by so many people."

'Couldn't you give me a fucking break?'

{No can do, pal. I need you ready and alert for anything, i'm actually surprised you didn't enquire about your identity in this world.}

'Maybe because i had to fucking deal with the fact i was not only in another world in a matter of seconds, but that you basically literally dropped me in the middle of a fucking zombie infested city, i'm a machiavellian with psychopath tendencies, not a goddamned machine.'

{Yes, i may have oversaw some facts. I'm giving you the memories now.}

'Thanks.'

"Hey, Jacob, are you okay?"

"Innn okhay, dontch worriii."(A/N: This is supposed to be slurred speech.)

Fucking cataplexy, i got too angry too suddenly i guess.

"You don't seem okay."

I raised my hand up to signal her to wait a bit. After maybe a minute, i recovered control.

"Sorry about that. Narcolepsy, you know?"

"The world's greatest mercenary is a narcoleptic? Now that's an unbelievable story."

"Yeah yeah, laugh all you want. I currently don't have medicine for it, which mea------"

Waking up, i saw a zombie Jade and a volatile looking at me apparently worried. So this is the extent of the hallucinations, huh?

"I guess that's a answer to what it means."

I blinked sometimes and the hallucinations went away, showing me a worried Rahim and Jade.

"You want to do a dangerous mission while you are unmedicated and can fall asleep randomly? I won't allow that, i'll tell Brecken you can't go."

Jade said to me with her hand on my left shoulder.

"Don't you have any medicine, no modafinil, armodafinil?"

"We asked Lena and we got nothing of the like."

I got up from the chair, Jade and Rahim trying to support me.

"I can get up just fine, you know. I'm not an invalid."

They stopped trying, but Jade stopped me.

"I won't allow you to go out there while we don't have the medicine here."

"Look, if i take a nap before going, i can stay awake long enough."

"Are you sure of that?"

"Never been more sure."

This is what i did during the mercenary days on this world, and i say i because this body has a similar story to my past one, and i don't want to get stuck on the errors of the me of the past, i'm a new man now.

"Then go do your little nap right now, because you, Brecken and his crew leave in one and a half hour."

I didn't think she would actually let me go so easily. Good, saves me time. I went to my room, and took off my shirt, since it was the most unclean part of my clothes. I got beneath the covers and after some minutes, slept.

"Wake up. You're leaving in fifteen minutes."

Jade shook my shoulders, saying this. I got out of the covers, and she passed me some clothes.

"I noticed your clothes were filthy, so i brought you a change. If you want them to be cleaned, just deliver them at the laundry, the people who can't fight or go out there will take care of them."

"Thanks, Jade. I thought you would be going out?"

"No, i'll be the eyes on the sky for this mission."

"Is that so? Then i'm counting on you. Now, if you could leave so i change clothes?"

"O-Oh yes, i'm sorry."

She got out, closing the door behind her, i changed, and went to the elevator, going down. When i got outside, i saw Brecken and some other people, whom i assume are runners, chatting over a table that had a map of Harran's slums. I got closer, and when Brecken saw me, he called me over.

"Jacob! I was starting to think you weren't coming."

He pulled me to another place.

"Look, buddy, are you sure you won't be falling asleep out there?"

"Jade told you. Yes, Brecken, i'm quite sure i won't lights-out on the mission. And if i do, you can leave me there."

"You know i wouldn't do that."

I raised one of my eyebrows, but nodded. We got back to the table.

"So, as we were saying. Our objective is getting back to this safe house."

He pointed to a circled spot on the map, the safe house i had made my knives in.

"The airdrops are falling around this area."

He pointed to a circle located after the highway, near a school, from what i could see on the map.

"As you may know, this area is close to Rais's turf, which means we have to be very careful, and if they have reached one of the drops, we must not approach."

This is the reason why the Tower is in such a bad situation, they're too afraid to fight against Kadir. I guess he and his gang have guns and can possibly be military, but that didn't stop the vietnamese, did it? Guerrila warfare can be very effective on urban settings, and the zombies, being the sound attracted beings they are, can be your weapon. Set off some fireworks on his fortress, attract the whole horde to them, and the number will deal with their firepower.

"I want to be at the highway before the sunset. Now that everybody is here, we can go."

We left. These guys are better at parkour than i am, as is expected. We reached the highway in about twenty minutes. The drops would fall at six pm, and i don't doubt the sound would attract the zombies, maybe my explosives will end up being unnecessary.

"For all runners still out there, night's coming, get to a safe zone. To Brecken and his crew, i see the plane, it's coming from your right."

"Eyes on the sky boys, we'll act as two squads. Jacob, Emir, Zeki, you're with me, Efe, Ahmet, Aydin, Aslan's your squad leader."

I heard the plane coming. The others took more time to hear it, it seems my hearing is still as good as it was on my past life. One of the drops fell on the open space near the school, and the other fell in the train tracks.

"My team will take the one near the school, you guys take the one on the tracks."

Everybody nodded, and we went on our ways. We ran to the school, passing by some wooded areas, and some roads that branched off the highway, when we saw volatiles, we would sneak by if possible, or crouch and wait for them to pass. One of our guys was an imbecile, and threw a firecracker at the volatile, which made it roar and attract a horde, one of the zombies saw us, and a pursuit ensued.

We ran thorugh the wooded areas, with the zombies following us closely, i threw a molotov to give us some breathing time, the volatiles continued on their way, but the zombies did stop, if only for a moment. One of the volatiles punced at the man who had first threw the firecracker, biting his neck off with the it jaw, which had a bisected mandible. Can't say he didn't get what he deserved for being an imbecile. We continued running, until we entered a freight train's wagon. I threw molotovs on both the entrances, and helped the other person on our team to close the door, while Brecken closed the other. Brecken sat down against the door and pulled out his radio.

|+50 Power EXPx78

+60 Power EXPx3

+70 Power EXPx15

+50 Agility EXPx78

+60 Agility EXPx3

+70 Agility EXPx15

You have leveled up on both trees.|

"Zeki, he... he's gone! One of those fuckers got him."

"FUck! What happened?"

Jade said through the radio. Brecken didn't seem to be able to respond, so i pulled my radio out and responded in his place.

"He threw a firecracker on one of the volatiles. This attracted a horde to us, and now we're hiding inside one of the train cars. Any response from the other squad?"

"They've gone radio silent for some time now."

"That can't be good."

If i don't do something, i'm sure Brecken will want to go out there. I went to one of the boxes on the train and opened it, acting as if i was searching for something to help us out of here. I pulled out the controller to the explosive cars, which i had modified a bit to have a bigger range, and pulled one of the joysticks up for some time, until there was a loud boom. I heard the roars of the volatiles outside, and the sounds of the horde outside our wagon going somewhere, with their unsteady feet. The explosion didn't kill anything, sadly.

'Open skill tree.'

|Agility: Vault, Grapple, Freerunner.

Power: Kick stun, Strenght control.|

'Freerunner and kick stun.'

|[Freerunner} LVL 01/03

You are now more flexible, can climb faster, and have better spatial awareness.

{Stun} LVL 02/03

Hitting targets on the head with blunt weapons or kicking gives 20% chance to apply the STUN effect. Stunned enemies now take more 50% melee damage.|

If i had know stun kick had such an effect on damage i would've unlocked it sooner. Brecken had gotten up after the explosion, and he asked Jade through his radio.

"What was that?"

"A car just exploded. A bunch of hordes were attracted to it. The zombies outside your wagon have been attracted as well, you're free to take the airdrop now."

He put back the radio on his belt.

"You heard her, guys. It seems we've been blessed with a miracle after so much misfortune. Now, let's go get one of the airdrops, for Zeki, and for the other squad."

He's trying to put up a strong front, but i can see he was almost breaking down before. He opened the door, and we got out, going back to the place where we saw the drop had fallen. This time, there was no volatiles, no zombies. But when we got to the drop, Rais's men were already there.

"It seems even God supports our actions."

One of the man said while laughing.

"That explosion really saved us. I wonder if the boss had a hand on it."

The other one responded while opening the box.

We were sneaking behind them, until a gun shot sounded out.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

One of the men in front of us turned around at the loud sound.

"We got some Tower rats here, folks."

A voice sounded out from behind me, and i felt a burning sensation on my head. Looking to the side, i saw the Tower figurant's brains splattered on the ground. What a pity.

"Don't kill that one, he's the leader of those rats."

The one with the gun to my head said. Brecken clearly didn't know what to do, so he tried advancing at the one holding the gun, but one of the two that were taking the drop hit him on the head with a baseball bat. He fell on the ground, knocked out.

"I understand taking the leader, but why is that guy still breathing."

The one who had opened the drop, now carrying two boxes, asked the one with the gun, confused.

"Tahir said we should look out for a gray haired tall man, and if we found him, take him to the boss. He fits the bill, no?"

"Oh yeah, i forgot about that."

"And that's why they don't make you squad leader."

The man carrying the boxes tsked. Their time to shine was up. I pulled the other joystick up, and another explosion rang out.

"Another one? What the fuck is happening?"

I didn't feel the gun on my head anymore, which meant i had an opening, i turned around, throwing a knife on the guy's eye. He screamed out, lifting one of his hands to his face instinctively, which allowed me to slap the gun out of his hand, with him being disarmed, i pulled the knife out of his eyes and stabbed his neck, rapidly sliding to the gun and pointing to the man who was coming at me with the bat. He dropped his bat and started backing off.

|+100 Power EXP|

"Woah, woah, buddy, i wasn't the one to kill your friend, so you have no qu--"

He suddenly started gurgling, probably because of the knife that was now lodged on his vocal chords. The other man had already started running with the boxes of antizin. I checked the drop, there was still a box there, but i wouldn't take it. I picked up my knives and took Brecken in a potato sack carry, proceeding to find a way to go back to the Tower. I pulled out my radio, contacting Jade.

|+100 Power EXP|

"The mission is a failure."

"Jacob? What do you mean?"

"Brecken was hit on the head, Rais's men took the antizin. We need to cut losses, i'm carrying him back."

"Goddamnit! Do you need any help?"

"I'm fine, i just need a safe way back."

"The zombies were attracted to the explosions. Go beneath the highway, and reach the tower through the waterway."

"Understood. Thanks."

I went back to the highway, passing through it, i used the roads because of the extra weight. I was running, but when i saw stray zombies, i would sneak by.

"Jacob, be careful. The hordes are dispersing and there are some volatiles on the river passage."

"Roger."

I entered the waterway, there was a tunnel made of those concrete cilinders, so i used it to pass unnoticed, when i reached the bridge to the Tower, i pushed Brecken up, and then i climbed over, carrying him once again, this time in a princess carry. When i entered the Tower, i heard a volatile scream, but he couldn't enter because of the UV lights, i went to the broken stairway. Brecken stirred, so i let him down.

"Agh, fuck, my head."

|{Sabotage}} quest has been completed.

Rewards: 8000 Agility EXP, {Night Survivor} Perk.

You have leveled up in Agility.

{Night Survivor}

You can see better in the dark, your CON and EXP gains become doubled during the night.|

Stumbly getting up, he turned to me.

"Jacob? Where are we?"

"I brought us to the Tower."

"Fuck, the drop, did you get at least one box?"

"No, I managed to kill the guy with the gun and the one who hit you, but the other ran off with the boxes."

"Goddamnit! It was all for nothing! They died, and it was for nothing!"

I jumped to the first floor, and offered my hand to him, he took it, and i helped him up. Jade and the guards came over to us. One of the guards started supporting Brecken, and led him to the infirmary, the other guards following. Jade pulled me to the elevator.

'Open skill tree.'

|Agility:Vault, Grapple, Light Drop, Knee Breaker.|

'While knee breaker is a very attracting name, let's see what this vault is about.'

|{Vault} LVL 01/02

Allows you to use your enemies as platforms consistently.|

Does that mean i can run over the hordes of zombies? If that's the case, not only is that incredibly funny, but very useful as well.

"Can you tell me what happened, Spectre?"

"People did dumb things, and the mission failed."

She pushed my chest against the elevator wall.

"Listen here, whatever is your real name. If you had any hand on making this mission fail, i will be the one to kill you."

The elevator dinged, so she released me and went to the headquarters, i followed. She entered and i closed the door behind me.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to understand that if it wasn't for me, your little leader would be dead."

"I doubt that, Brecken's very good at running."

"It seems you misunderstand me. Do you know who made the cars explode?"

She widened her eyes.

"They were the fucking failsafe. And i used the first one to save our lifes because of the incompetence of one of your runners. And the second one to save Brecken's life after we had been ambushed. In fact, here's a little present for you."

I gave her the pistol i had taken from the man. She didn't seem to know how to use a gun, putting her finger on the trigger so careslessy. I put my hand over the weapon.

"Now, tomorrow, i'll go take the drops. Alone, you hear me?"

"Why go alone?"

"Because i don't like depending on the intelligence of other people. Now, independent of whether i manage to take the drops or not, i WILL teach you how to use a gun, and you WILL help me killing Rais, am i understood?"

"But you just said you don't like depending on other people's intelligence."

"Exactly, that's why i will be training you myself. And you come off as a smart enough girl to me."

"I won't be going with you."

"Who said i was giving you a choice?"

"You can't force me."

"I can, and am in the process of doing so. You've heard of my past achievements, i suppose. So you must know i can level this fucking building, or that i can explode your little brother's face off."

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, my little, smart girl. You know i would. In fact, what makes you sure i haven't put explosives on the base of this building, or that you radio equipment hasn't been rigged to explode? You don't know if i had the chance, do you?"

She tried looking back at the radio, but i held her chin, making her look at my eyes.

"Even if i did such a thing, you wouldn't find it. I've dealt with more powerful people than you, who had some of the best specialists at their disposal, and even then they died, what makes you think you, alone, would be capable of finding something?"

I released her chin, but she kept looking me in the eyes.

"Now, Jade, will you do as i said, or will you take the chance?"

"You're as bad as Rais."

I laughed.

"Rais is an incompetent idiot if he didn't destroy this little faction of yours. No, i'm not bad as Rais, i'm worse."

I adjusted a frequence on her radio.

"If you want to contact me, just use this frequency."

I opened the door and went outside. I know she would try to kill me in my sleep if i did stay here, so i decided i would sleep on the safe house. Sleep in this case meaning passing out randomly. When i reached the door, the guards stopped me.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I need to prepare some things to get the drops tomorrow. If i can carry a man back here during the night, you think i can't take care of myself out there?"

"You raise a good point, but i won't allow you going out there at the middle of the night, we've lost too many runners already."

I sighed and turned back to the elevator. I have to maintain an good appareance to the people here at the moment. I went back to my room, and climbed to the top of the bunkbed. The memories i had received from this world's me showed me the nap i had taken would keep me alert for 1 or 2 hours, which meant i could not sleep. The strategy i had used seemed to be taking a nap every three hours, which meant i would have 6 hours of sleep or less by day. Not exactly ideal, but i did normally sleep less my past life. While i tried finding a comfortable position on the bed, ideas of a electrified machete entered my mind, and i suddenly remembered one of the ideas i had. Fuck, so this is amnesia? That's quite scary, forgetting something and not even realizing you forgot i. I started flipping through my notes, seeing if i hadn't forgot anything else, and started writing down what i wanted and needed to make.

I slipped the notebook back on my pocket, and tried going to sleep. The night passed, and i managed to get two hours of sleep, and no attempts on my life. Jade must be afraid i would wake up and magically kill her brother or something, thanks to her state of mind. When unexperienced people are faced with their deaths or the deaths of their loved ones, they tend to become thanatophobic. By 7 am, i was scouting for a mechanical workshop, i had found one, but everything inside it had been taken, so now i was looking for another one. after thirty or so minutes, i found one, it must've been used as a hiding point during the start of the apocalypse, because there were a lot of zombies inside. I looked for the way where the zombies entered, since the workshop has been reinforced quite thoroughly, i found that the backdoor had fallen out of its hinges, there were some mangled corpses near the entrance, probably what had attracted the zombies here. The simplest of equations, despair plus panic equals destruction.

i threw a firecracker, which attracted the zombies outside, and then i threw a molotov on the entrance. The slow zombies tried walking through the fire, their clothes and subsequently their bodies catching fire. The smell of burnt flesh is not easy on the nose, but the crackling sound of fire, the screams of the victims, and the spectacular visuals give me an artistic inspiration that is second to none.

|+50 Power EXPx37

+70 Power EXPx5

+50 Agility EXPx37

+70 Agility EXPx5

You have leveled up on Agility|

'Skill tree.'

|Agility: Grapple, Light Drop, Knee Breaker, Dropkick Bomb.|

'Let's get the basic things out of the way. Grapple.'

|{Grapple} LVL 01/02

You can more easily grapple enemies, and make them fall.|

Passive effects are always appreciated. I've been wondering, if the virals are the recently infected, doesn't that mean there are still a bunch of survivors scattered around the city? Even though i guess saying there were a bunch of survivors is more accurate, considering the amount of virals i've encountered. The building was not that tall, so i dropped down to a ledge and from there to the ground. I pulled out three throwing knives, and went to the backdoors. I had noticed that the virals seemed to avoid fire, so they were still inside the workshop, i threw the knives at three of them, the thuds their bodies made attracting the other ones. This cycle repeated until they were all dead.

|+50 Power EXPx20|

I entered the shop, there were half eaten bodies, and signs of destroyed little shelters, from what i've gathered, the virus does not reanimate the dead, but makes humans feral, so for there to be new infected, they must be the survivors of zombie attacks, the virus is located in all the bodily fluids, which means that bathing in blood can infect someone, fortunately i find no appeal in being so bloodthirsty, i find having to clean myself because of a messy job is nothing more than a bother. The case here seemed to be infection through blood, considering the viral had dried blood on their faces. The reception's door had been busted open, with eight more virals inside, with my knives already in hand, i disposed of them rapidly. One of the doors was the WCs, which i entered, there were two virals, one on the male and the other on the female bathrooms, both were dispatched off from this world in the same way, heads cut off with a machete. I exited the toilettes, and proceeded to the staff only section of the shop.

|+50 Power EXPx10

You have leveled up in Power|

Before entering the room, i had heard the sound of something munching and the sound of raw flesh being teared apart. Machete in one hand and throwing knives on the other, i opened the door, dodged over to the place i had pinpointed the sound came from, slashing one of the zombies and throwing a knife on the head of the other, but it appears the knife had lost it's edge, since the zombie still managed to get up and try to grapple me, but i grappled it and threw him to the ground, stomping the back of its head and making the knife enter his brain.

|+50 Power EXPx2|

'Skill tree.'

|Power: Strenght control, Focus.|

'Focus.'

|{Focus} LVL 01/01

Hitting the same enemy consecutively gives you a damage boost with each hit. 5% bonus on each hit.|

I turned its body over, and pulled the now bended knife off his head, letting it fall on the ground, i tried opening the next door but found it was either locked or had been barricaded. I kicked it close to the doorhandle, and while that broke the latch and made the door move a bit, it did not fully open, which meant the door was barricaded, so i started pushing it, until an opening thorugh which i could pass was made. I went through, and found some survivors, two using an uniform, of which one was holding a metal pipe, and the other was holding a wrench, and a girl using some generic secretary attire, hiding behind them.

"YOU! Stay where you are!"

The one holding the pipe said, while slightly advancing, the one with the wrench supporting him.

"Ah, panicked people, the worst kind."

I pulled out my gun and pointed it at thim, this made them drop their 'weapons' and put their hands up, the woman still hiding behind them.

"I'm sorry, sir, we are no threat to you, please don't shoot us."

"Is that so? Because it seems to me you are infected."

"W-w-what? No. we were not bitten."

All of them had blood on their clothes, hands and necks, if they had not been infected because some blood hit their faces, the fact they had probably passed their hands on their noses or eyes meant they were infected.

"If i'm saying you're infected, that's because you are. The blood is contaminated."

The woman widened her eyes, and the men looked incredulous. That gave me a response, so i threw knives at the men, killing them instantly, this prompted the woman to scream out some names.

|+100 Power EXPx2|

"With that out of the way, we can get on to business."

I got closer to the woman, and looked her in the eyes, she seemed very scared, which is a desirable trait for a guinea pig. She tried scratching me, but i held one of her hands and turned her around.

"You need not to worry, i don't need sexual relief, nor do i need training in torture. What i need, at the moment, is a infected person for me to understand the virus's workings, i have a lot of antizin, and a lot of rations, all you have to offer is cooperation in my experiments, which will not cause you pain, and i will maintain you alive. Do you understand?"

She didn't respond, so i released her.

"I understand i have killed what i believe were your friends, but the fact is, while i am a murderer, i need you, even if only to satiate my own curiosity. When my curiosity is sated, i'll free you and, if possible, take you out of this destroyed city."

The good old carrot. I believe all of them were infected, but the demeanor of this woman shows she is a coward, which means she is the perfect guinea pig. The fact the people who shielded her before were so easily killed before shows i am more capable than them, and the fact i didn't rape her or hit her makes her believe i am not abusive. The scared brain is truly wondrous, people believe whatever they find more convenient. Now, i need make sure she doesn't set fire to my base, and give her a room. Since i will not let her outside, i can use my inventory freely. So i pulled her to the workshop and picked up the tools i needed, and put the workbench on my inventory. She seemed surprised when the whole workbench dissapeared, but she did not say anything. She's a coward, but atleast she's smart enough not to ask questions. The next place i needed to raid was a clinic of some sort. But that's for later, for now i need to arrange my base. I took her in a princess carry, and started running back to the chemical store. I needed to take a bed, so i stopped and put her down.

"If you try to run, forget about any type of courtesy i could give you."

She nodded, and i entered the house. There were no zombies inside, so i stored the bed, and went outside, she didn't run, which i found actually surprising, has she resigned herself to her fate, or is she planning something? I can't be sure, something about her demeanor seems uncanny. I picked her up and continued on my way to the base. When we reached, i put her down but held her wrist, then unlocked the door. I need to reinforce this door, the situation at the workshop opened my eyes. I brought her to the break room, locked the door, then entered the office. I stored the desk and put down the bed. Then put the desk in the corner, moving the chair there as well. This is already a better room than the one i had during my infancy.

"This is the only place you'll be allowed in until i find you are not dumb enough to try to kill me or set fire to this place. I'll provide you your meals, and if i'm not here, well, i'll leave you some cereal bars. The controller to the AC is inside, and if you need entertainment, there are books and magazines as well."

I said while i pushed her inside and then locked the door. I went outside the break room and put down the workbench, and started organizing the tools i had adquired. I took a circular saw, a jigsaw, and a measuring tape. I measured the dimensions of a plate, then marked where i should cut the door. With the marking done, i proceeded to start cutting the door. I heard the woman scream because of the loud sound, but she must've calmed down when she saw the cut being made. When the cut was done, i pushed the piece of wood out, and coughed a bit because of the sawdust. I took the tools back to the work bench and went to the janitor's closet ,took a broom and started brushing the sawdust on a container. It can be useful, you never know. I opened the door and clened her room as well. She went outside and picked up a cleaning cloth, wiping the furniture of her room.

When it was done, i picked up the wood piece and the cloth and left, locking the door behind me. She was reading a book about something i didn't get to see. All the sawdust was in a canister, maybe i can make some explosions with this, a makeshift thermobaric bomb? Let me put that on my notes. I went back to the workbench, put my machete on it, took a pencil and some paper, and started making a blueprint. My skills are rusty, but the years i studied drawing have not gone to waste. I had one hour until i would take a nap, and i had 8 hours till the airdrops.

|World Quest received.

{Airdrop}

Objective: Do not allow the Tower to get the airdrops.

Reward: {Inventory} Level Up.|

Conveniently timed. I continued making the blueprint. After 50 minutes, i completed it. It should work, theoratically. What i am making is basically a bladed cattle prod, the problem stems from the fact i am making such a thing in the middle of an zombie apocalypse, without the appropriate equipment, and using scavenged parts. I'll have to wear some leather gloves while using this thing.