Road to Survival
With a hard swallow, Leo confirms the quest, the screen promptly disappearing. If he was in a world where a zombie apocalypse occurred, the zombies weren't nearly his greatest concern. What has Leo really worried, were the living.
He was under no illusion that everyone he met would be good people wanting to help him and provide him with supplies, no, there would be many people wanting what he had. When it comes to life or death, even the most good hearted people would be willing to commit atrocities to survive.
Without any sense of order, the worst of the worst of us comes out. When someone is starving, on the brink of death, or simply backed into a corner… that's when they find out who they really are, and what they're capable of. Leo knows that he'll have to defend himself and may even have to kill sooner or later, he just hoped that it was later rather than sooner.
Needing to find something to use as a weapon to take out the undead woman in front of him, he jogged back towards the woodline to see if he could find a sharp stick. Without any legs, Leo knew the crippled zombie wouldn't be going far.
After about five minutes of searching, he finds a decently sized stick with a pointed tip that could be used as a makeshift spear. While it wasn't as sharp as he'd like, it will still work for what he had planned.
With the stick in hand, he marches back towards the bloody tent with grim determination in his every step. Even though he's only killing something that should already be dead, it would still be his first kill regardless, and the thought makes him more than a little queasy.
Making his way quickly back to the tent, Leo quickly notices that the woman was a couple of meters away from where he left her. She didn't go too far, but she still crawled a decent distance in her attempt to get to him. Shaking his head at the one track mind of the virus, he came to a stop a handful of steps in front of her.
"I can do this, I can do this," He repeated like a mantra, taking deep steadying breaths to calm his nerves and racing heart, watching the undead woman mindlessly inching her way towards him.
Readjusting his grip on the stick, he steels his resolve and thrusts the makeshift spear into one of the woman's dull eyes and into her brain with a sickening squelch, the sound making him wince. Immediately, the groaning zombie stops her advance, her outstretched arm heavily dropping to the ground.
[Ding!]
[Quest: Zombies! (Complete)]
[Rewards: +5 Exp, +2 Stat points]
Seeing the quest completion notification, Leo lets go of his iron grip on the stick, causing the deceased woman's body to collapse with a dull thud. Releasing the breath he didn't realize that he was holding, he allows a weary smile to form as he pulls up the 'status' tab to check the changes.
[Name: Leo Hopkins (Age 20)
Title: None
Level: 1
Exp: 8/10
Strength: 5
Intelligence: 5
Perception: 5
Endurance: 5
Charisma: 5
Dexterity: 5
Agility: 5
—
Stat Points: 2
Skills: None
Perks: None]
'Eight experience points? I must have gotten the extra three points for putting the woman out of her misery, plus the five from the reward.' He muses, wondering if all undead were worth three points of experience. Deciding he'd just have to find out the next time he came across a walker, Leo began to debate whether or not he should distribute his stat points now or later.
If five in a stat was average, then a single point in any specific stat would be a pretty decent improvement. He wanted to figure out if he is able to improve his stats naturally or not before using stat points, but he was also aware of how important survival was in an apocalyptic world. If Leo wants to survive and be able to eventually thrive, he needs to improve as fast as he can.
After a few minutes of contemplation, he decides to just bite the bullet and put a single point each into Agility and Dexterity, bringing both stats to six. While Strength or perception were both important, he feels that having the ability to escape quickly if needed was the most important in the beginning.
Even though it wasn't a huge increase and he didn't feel too different, there is still a noticeable change that catches his attention: he feels slightly lighter, if that's even possible. Rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, he also notices that his balance seems a little better as well. Satisfied with the differences, he allows a small satisfied smile to grace his features.
Once Leo levels up, he's sure that he'd be given some more stat points to use, so he isn't too worried about points for the near future.
Dismissing the status screen, he looks down at the corpse of the woman and releases a heavy sigh. He knows that he'll have to get used to killing soon, a moment's hesitation and could see himself killed or even bitten. If he ends up joining a group, hesitating could lead to someone else's death just as easily as his own.
Shaking the thoughts from his head, he bends down and grabs the stick with both hands, giving it a firm tug. The stick exits the woman's head with another squelch, the sound making Leo grimace as he looks at the blood and brain matter now coating the end of his weapon.
"I really hope this gets easier," He mutters quietly, wiping the stick on the grass. Walking over to the bloody tent, he takes a peek inside to see if there's anything worth scavenging.
The inside of the tent is just as bloody as the outside, if not more so. On one of the two sleeping bags inside, lay mutilated chunks of meat that vaguely resembled legs. Thankfully, whoever the second sleeping bag belonged to wasn't present.
Seeing nothing of use inside, Leo turns his attention to a black SUV parked near the tent. Walking up to the vehicle, he tried in vain to ignore the bloody handprints marking the driver side window and handle. Multiple unpleasant scenarios play in his mind to explain why they were there.
Trying the handle, he lets out a quiet curse under his breath as the door remains firmly closed. Looking in the window, he can see a good sized black backpack sitting in the passenger seat that he wants. Figuring the bag was worth the noise, he looks around the car for something that he can use to smash the window.
Leo had already yelled out when he first entered the camp, and he hasn't seen anyone except the woman in the tent, so he feels it's worth the risk. After he checked the SUV, he would need to go and check the white RV that grabbed his attention earlier, as well as the other tents and vehicles.
Grabbing a small rock that he could spot near the front tire, he walks a few paces from the SUV before turning around and launching the rock into the vehicle's driver side window. The window easily shatters under the force of the throw with a loud crash.
After throwing the stone, Leo once again scans the campground for any sign of movement. Seeing none, he walks back to the vehicle to claim his prize while continuing to keep an eye out in case anything or anyone decided to sneak up on him.
Carefully reaching his hand through the broken window, he unlocks the door and plants himself into the driver's seat after making sure the back was clear of any undead.
"Alright, let's see what we have here," Leo mumbles, grabbing the backpack and opening it up before dumping out its contents onto the seat next to him.
"What the hell… why would someone bring so much makeup camping with them?" He asks aloud, staring at the massive pile of cosmetics in front of him. It didn't make much sense to him, why would someone care so much about how they look while outdoors?
Shrugging his shoulders at the absurdity of some people, he sifts through the pile in hopes of finding something useful. After some time searching, he finds two pairs of tweezers. While it wasn't a big find, there's still plenty of uses for them that he could think of.
Putting the tweezers back into the bag, he turns around and climbs over the seats to get into the trunk area where a large blue cooler is located. Opening up the cooler, he's disappointed to find it is full of sodas and a bunch of moldy sandwiches. All wasn't lost though, among the expired food and carbonated drinks were four bottles of water that he eagerly adds to the bag.
After searching the whole vehicle, Leo walks away with a backpack, two pairs of tweezers, four bottles of water, a working flashlight, and a multi-tool. It isn't a lot, but he wasn't going to complain when it's more than he had previously.
Slinging his new backpack over his shoulders, he spends the next hour turning the campground inside out for anything useful. Prioritizing food and water, Leo manages to fill up two spare backpacks that he found with supplies and promptly tucks them into his inventory. He didn't want to get caught carrying anything valuable by someone who thought he'd be an easy target
Other than the food and water, what he's most satisfied with finding is his brand new crowbar. The crowbar is about a meter in length, and very solid. Not only would it make a useful weapon, but it would also make scavenging much easier if he could just pry things open.
Anything valuable Leo finds that he felt would be useful or someone would want to kill him over, he sticks into his inventory. He tries to keep the backpack he wore over his shoulders relatively light; a few bottles of water, a couple cans of food, and the flashlight from the first vehicle.
The only thing left in the camp that he hasn't searched yet, is the big white RV he spotted when he first arrived. Why did he save it for last, you may ask? Well, he tried to get into it after the first couple tents, but the groaning and scratching coming from the RV's door warded him off.
Standing in front of the RV with his crowbar in hand, Leo is hyping himself up again as he prepares to yank open the innocent looking door.
"Come on quit being a pussy, you got this man. Just open the damn door," He tells himself with exasperation, hopping up and down while shaking his arms out.
He's been at it for about five minutes already; and with the sun directly overhead, he reasons that he still had plenty of sunlight left before he needs to find shelter. In other words, he can take all the time he needs.
Taking practice swings with the crowbar like it's a baseball bat, the metal whips through the air, singing as it arcs in front of him. With every swing, Leo imagines the undead woman's head from before splitting open like a melon.
This upcoming confrontation wouldn't be the same as the last, and he knows that. Whatever is behind that door wouldn't be inching towards him with no legs, it could come at him in a full sprint for all he knows. Regardless, he knows that he couldn't hesitate no matter what he ends up facing.
After a few more minutes of pep talks and slaying imaginary foes, Leo eventually decides that he's finally ready. With deep steadying breaths, he moves towards the door with measured steps. Placing one hand on the door's latch, he mentally psyches himself up one last time before yanking the RV's door open and quickly jumping back.
The door flies open, the back of it smashing against the RV with a loud BANG. Since he jumped backwards, he narrowly avoids the groaning zombie that falls flat on its face, the door no longer there to support its weight.
Pouncing on the opportunity, Leo swings down on the undead's head with vicious strikes. Over and over again he swings, blood splattering with each impact. No sooner than it began, it's over—the zombie's head nothing more than a red smear with skull fragments and brain matter on the grass.
[+3 Exp]
[Level up! +5 stat points awarded]
[New Skill acquired: Melee Weapons]
"Well, that wasn't so bad…" He huffs, out of breath from the anticlimactic fight, if you could even call it a fight. The short bout with the undead wasn't nearly as bad as he previously feared.
Glancing at the notifications, he couldn't help but let out a tired chuckle. Leo knows that it is probably wrong and a little morbid to be laughing while standing over a corpse, but he just got his first level up and skill.
Quickly bringing up his 'status' menu, he begins to look over the changes.
[Name: Leo Hopkins (Age 20)
Title: None
Level: 2
Exp: 1/25
Strength: 5
Intelligence: 5
Perception: 5
Endurance: 5
Charisma:5
Dexterity: 6
Agility: 6
—
Stat Points: 5
Skills: Melee Weapons (level 2/25)
Perks: None]
'Level two out of twenty five for Melee Weapons, huh?' He muses, gaining a thoughtful look while imagining himself skillfully twirling his crowbar around while bashing heads. Even with just two levels in the skill, new information flooded his mind on basic grips and proper swinging forms.
Beginning to wonder if information like that worked with all skills he gained, Leo thinks about what could be useful: survival skills like hunting and skinning easily come to mind. If he could get a skill like that or even a crafting skill, he'd be pretty happy with it as they'd improve his chances of surviving in this world by a lot.
Moving on from the skills, his eyes roam over the stats and new points available. Figuring that Strength would be useful and would pair well with his new Melee Weapons skill, he feels that he should put one or two points into the stat to give his swings more oomph.
Not only would Strength be good to improve, but his other physical stats as well. He didn't like that he was out of breath after his short confrontation with the second undead. Being out of breath like that every time he needs to take out a walker would become an issue very quickly.
Making a decision, Leo puts two points into Strength, and one point each into Endurance, Dexterity, and Agility. Almost instantly after spreading out the points, all the muscles on his body seemed to tighten under his skin. He could literally feel himself getting stronger, all the exhaustion he felt from earlier dissipating in an instant.
Giving the crowbar a few more practice swings, he couldn't help the grin that spreads across his face. While it still seemed to hold decent weight behind it, the crowbar feels notably lighter with the increase of his stats.
Dismissing the 'status' menu, Leo steps over the corpse and makes his way into the RV. As soon as he crosses the threshold, he's instantly hit in the face by a foul putrid odor. Something within the depths of the vehicle seemed to be rotting, the smell made worse by being in such an enclosed space.
It takes all of his willpower not to gag and run out back into open air. Whatever seems to be rotting, he hopes that it was well and fully dead. While his crowbar makes a good weapon in an open area, it would be difficult to maneuver such a weapon in a confined narrow space.
Placing one hand over his nose, his gaze sweeps across the many strewn and broken dishes that litter the aisle and small kitchenette. The state of the RV looked like a tornado flew through it—either that, or someone attempted to fight off a walker by throwing plates and bowls at it.
His eyes following the trail of broken glass, he looks towards the door at the back of the vehicle with a small frown. Whatever is stinking up the place, it's in that room.
Slowly, he walks towards the back room, shards of glass crunching under his boots with nearly every step he takes. "Is anyone in there?" He calls out, listening intently for any signs of movement coming from the other side of the closed bedroom door.
Nothing. Other than the sounds of his footsteps and shallow breathing, the RV is deathly quiet. Silence didn't mean nothing is there though, so Leo keeps his guard up as he creeps towards the end of the vehicle, his heart pounding in his ears.
Reaching the sliding door, he knocks on it with his crowbar while calling out once more. "Anyone alive in there!?"
"..."
Getting no reply back, he tries the latch, only to frown as he finds the door locked.
Placing his crowbar in the slit between the door and doorframe, he uses his newfound strength to break the lock with only minor exertion. The sliding door abruptly cracks open with a loud pop, the lock easily giving way.
Leo's grip on the crowbar tightens as he prepares himself for possible confrontation. If calling out didn't get whatever was inside the room's attention, the sound of the lock breaking surely would have. Yet, as he sits there in silence, nothing stirred from within.
After a handful of moments, Leo lets out a small sigh of relief, sliding the door open the rest of the way and looking around the bedroom. The smell of rot was much more prominent inside, causing him to grimace as he searches for the source.
He didn't have to look too hard though, in one corner of the room sits a decaying older gentleman laying up against the wall with a bullet hole in his head, and a gun in hand. Leo moves towards him with caution, his eyes not wavering from his still form. While the man may look dead, he didn't want to be taken by surprise.
When Leo was close enough, he prods the corpse with his crowbar to see if he can get a reaction. Even with a bullet hole in the head, you can never be too careful when dealing with things that like to play dead.
Getting no reaction, he grabs the .38 caliber revolver from the man's stiff grip and checks the cylinder. The firearm held six rounds, but only five of the shots were remaining. Sticking the gun into his inventory, he begins to check the room for any spare ammunition.
Since he has his crowbar, he didn't want to use the gun unless he absolutely had to. In the apocalypse, ammunition was more valuable than gold, and unless Leo finds a stockpile of ammo, he didn't want to be firing off rounds willy-nilly.
The walkers are a big problem, but even with only two encounters, he feels that he'd be able to handle them with melee rather easily. Then again, that could also just be him getting overly confident since he has the system to help him.
One of his biggest worries is that gunshots would attract unwanted attention—from the living, and the dead.
Finding nothing of use other than the firearm and some supplies from the small kitchenette, the only other item of interest that Leo found in the RV, was a heavy dark green jacket that replaced his gray hoodie. It is pretty chilly outside, and he doesn't know how cold it could get once the sun started to go down, so he wasn't going to take any chances.
After stepping out of the recreational vehicle, he looks around camp once more in case he missed anything of use, and then decides to follow a gravel road leading out of the clearing.