Time to Grind

Morning sunlight begins to peak through a dirtied solitary window, scattering dim rays of light throughout the small bedroom. One of the rays just so happened to land right onto the face of a slumbering survivor, shaking the young man out of his deep sleep. 

"Urggh" Leo groans dramatically, doing a good impression of a walker as he brings up his hands to rub his eyes in discomfort. Who would have thought that sleep wouldn't come to him easily during his first night in an undead infested apocalyptic Earth. He had found a bedroom with a lock on it and decided that it'd make the perfect spot to hold up for the night. What he didn't account for, was for the entirety of the day's events to catch up to him. 

After the first hour of deep contemplative thought while staring at the glow-in-the dark, star-speckled ceiling, Leo had decided to say 'fuck it' and spent the next couple of hours practicing knots from the book he found. 

As luck would have it, whoever's room this was seemed to be a big fan of shoes for some reason, the closet being full of them. What really perplexed him was that none of the shoes looked like they'd never even left their boxes. Why would someone buy a bunch of shoes with no intention of even wearing them? It's a good thing Leo came along though, the crisp new shoelaces were soon put to use.

Once Leo successfully completed his first knot from the book, he was given a new skill to work with. 

[Trapping (Level 3/30)]

Laying throughout the room were all sorts of different kinds of knots that could be used for a whole bunch of different scenarios, such knots as: The Square Knot, The Bowline, The Sheet Bend, The Clove Hitch, and many more.

Even though he completed every knot in the survival book, he only managed to level up the skill three times. What was nice, however, was that with each level of the trapping skill he gained, Leo was granted new knowledge of several different knots and traps that weren't even in the book. While it wasn't much progress, he was very happy that there was progress regardless.

Leo figures that to gain real experience in the skill, he will have to actually put the knots and traps to real use. Even though he has food to last him a while, hunting or trapping animals will give him much needed experience. Hell, there could even be new skills in it for him or something. 

The night was productive, but Leo was convinced that sleep didn't find him until just before the sun came up over the trees. He will need to invest in some kind of solar powered clock or something else along those lines if he wants to get a proper sleep schedule going. 

Grumbling some more nonsensical sounds of irritation to the walls around him, he sluggishly sits up from the comfy bed, running a heavy hand through his hair as he lets out a large yawn. Today is going to be a very busy day. Leo figures he did enough scavenging of the houses on the outskirts of town yesterday. So today, the agenda consisted mainly of finding the Grizzlies' base of operations and evaluating whether they are a threat or not. 

Taking his time, he makes a small breakfast consisting of beef jerky and some cold oatmeal. Sure, he could have probably found a way to heat up the water, probably using one of his lighters, but he doesn't have the patience for that at the moment and wants to get a head start on the day. 

Just as Leo finishes up his meal, he spots the flower from the day before sitting innocently in one of the inventory spaces. He had completely forgotten about the little experiment. Come to think of it, there are probably numerous better ways to test if his inventory preserved the state of whatever items were placed in it or not. 

Taking the little flower from his inventory, a large grin settles on his face as it lays innocently in his palm. As if it were picked mere seconds ago, the petals and stem are still as fresh and healthy as the day before. 

"It works…" Leo utters in awe, pinching the small flower between his forefinger and thumb as he brings it to his face. His inventory works as some sort of chrono-stasis, allowing items brought into storage to exit in the same state as when they entered. This recent discovery brings so many more use possibilities for his inventory. 

Looking at the remains of his pitiful breakfast, Leo suddenly gets an idea. He could prepare food and eat a nice warm meal at any time–even days later than when the meal was first cooked. Not only can he plan his meals now, but he can also store items that expire or need refrigeration after opening. If he eventually ends up hunting like he knows he should, he will try sticking as much of the carcass into his inventory as he can and take a little from it at a time. 

No longer feeling the exhausting effects of lack of sleep due to his excitement, Leo grabs his backpack and crowbar, then hastily removes the heavy dresser from against the door, quickly leaving the room with a pep in his step. These small tricks of the inventory are perfect examples of why he should have asked the system more questions when the opportunity presented itself, but he doesn't regret his decision. To him, the excitement of discovering system features on his own is worth all the hassle.

The house that Leo decided to spend the night in is a humble little abode, having only three rooms in total, the bathroom not included. A little while after his encounter with the mystery woman yesterday, he stumbled across a partly hidden stone path near some overgrown bushes and his curiosity got the better of him. Following the path, it was only a short walk until he reached a clearing with a small green coloured house built at the edge.

Considering that the sun was beginning to dip down below the tree line, and taking the house's seclusion into account, he figured that it would make a good place to rest up for the night. Thankfully, he managed to cleanly dispose of the elderly undead couple inside without too much of a hassle, easily leading them out into the yard where he earned six more experience points. 

As morbid as it may be, coming to terms with killing the undead was beginning to get much easier for Leo. He wasn't seeing them as NPCs or just walking experience points–at least, not yet. However, Leo began to tell himself that if anything, he was kind of laying them to rest, in a way. Instead of just ambling around, slowly rotting away with nothing on their mind except an intense desire to consume, he was putting them out of their misery. 

There was always that small thought in the back of his head that maybe the undead victims aren't really gone. Maybe, just maybe, they are trapped… unable to react in any way as they lose control of their bodies… as they tear apart and eat their loved ones piece by piece. 

Just thinking about the scenario makes Leo shudder. He hopes that isn't the case, but he wouldn't know unless he became a zombie himself. If that's really how it is for them, it would be pure torture and a nightmare unlike any other he could imagine. Leo believes that the trapped souls would beg him to end their misery if they could–so that's what he'd do. 

While cautiously making his way back down the private road and towards the highway leading into town, Leo makes sure to check his surroundings every few minutes for any signs of movement. Since his quest is to locate the Grizzlies' hideout without being spotted, he chose to navigate through the thick brush on the side of the road as he slowly makes his way into town. 

The forest is quiet, but lively. Birds sang happily in the distance, seemingly unbothered by the deadly catastrophe that befell billions of humans across the globe. With or without humanity, the world goes on–nature will always find a way to balance things out. Perhaps this infection is nature's way of healing the imbalances of Earth? 

After about twenty minutes of ducking under branches and wading through thorny brush, Leo's caution is rewarded as he hears the telltale sound of a diesel engine coming from around a bend further up the road. 

Hearing the roaring engine, He quickly takes cover behind a thick tree as the same blue truck from yesterday comes speeding around the corner. Not willing to risk getting spotted, Leo doesn't peek out at the passing truck until after it has already moved away from him a good bit of distance down the highway. Although its the same truck with the same decaying corpse on the hood, the men in it are completely different from what he could remember, and there are only three of them this time.

'They must work in shifts or something,' He thinks to himself, placing one hand on his chin in thought. 'Well organized, well armed, and probably well manned,' As he's seen seven different members of their group so far, making the presumption that they are well manned doesn't seem like too far of a stretch. 

Working in shifts would kind of explain why some of the houses he hit were looted and some were not. Leo supposes you wouldn't want to bleed your area of supplies too quickly for a couple of reasons. One reason could be that having too big of a stash could cause some groups to become quite desperate for their loot, which would lead to conflicts and unneeded casualties. 

Another reason is that they don't have the manpower or equipment to safely do a wide sweep of the town and its surrounding areas. Then again, he hasn't seen the size of Flintrose yet. The town could have been quite densely populated and there's too many undead roaming the streets to safely ransack everything, which would cause the group to take their time. 

'Was I this much of an overthinker in my past life?' Leo muses curiously, stepping out of his hiding place as soon as the truck was once more out of sight. 

Following along the edge of the road, Leo rounds the bend and is finally able to see some signs of the town not too far away. He couldn't see too much because of all the trees, but he can make out some bright-ish yellows and and reds; most likely a gas station of some sort. From what he can tell, however, is that trees were beginning to thin out and he'll have to start moving through buildings soon. 

Reaching the edge of the treeline, Leo listens intently for any sounds of vehicles while scanning the area for any signs of movement. As he suspected, it was indeed a gas station that he saw through the trees, and the building looked like it had been picked clean. 

Nearly a couple dozen dead bodies are littered the parking lot while a few undead stragglers could be seen ambling around without purpose. A majority of the corpses are huddled up near the pumps and front entrance of the building. If he had to guess, these people were frantic in their want for fuel at the beginning of the outbreak. 

Not only did they need fuel for their vehicles, but for their gas powered generators as well. Leo imagines that this area got pretty cold in the winter, and if the power went out… people need some way to warm their homes if they didn't have a fireplace. 

From his position, he can see that nearly all of the corpses and even some of the zombies still walking around had gunshot wounds. As luck would have it, there were only five walkers that he can see, with potentially more inside the store.

This would be the biggest group that Leo has encountered thus far–he needed to play it safe. While it isn't a horde, he still has to be absolutely focused and keep them all in his line of sight. It wouldn't be good if he allowed any of them to get behind him and divert his attention. 

Leo only needs one more kill for enough Exp to level up and he can't let this opportunity go to waste. Just from the undead that he can see, if he manages to eliminate them all, he'll get the same amount of experience as if he completed his quest. 

They are all a good distance from each other except two, so he quickly devises a plan to lure them to him one at a time so as to isolate the kills. Using his knife, he should be able to off each of them swiftly and quietly. In theory, all it should take is plunging the blade through one of their eye sockets and into their brains. 

"Alright, here goes nothing," Leo mumbles, performing a low whistle to attract the nearest zombie, a heavyset balding gentleman. Like a trained animal, the undead hears the whistle and begins to move towards the high-pitched sound at a brisk walking pace, one of his legs dragging along the concrete behind him. 

Once the undead is close enough, he spot Leo in the treeline and begins to release an aggravated low growl at the sight of his prey, his bloody lips quickly forming a fierce snarl as he bares his equally bloody teeth. 

Leo, having already put his crowbar on his back, using the backpack as a makeshift sheath, has his knife in his dominant hand ready to go. Just like with his first zombie kill, he takes a deep breath and steels his nerves. This will be his first kill with a blade, and it will be much more personal than with a stick or crowbar. 

As the animal-like corpse nears within three meters of Leo, Leo decides to march out of the treeline and meet him halfway. Before the walker could properly react, Leo plunges his knife into one of its rotting eye sockets up to the blade's hilt with a sickening squelch, his other hand being firmly planted onto the zombie's shoulder to keep its large body at bay.

Releasing the breath he didn't know that he was holding, Leo's attention swiftly focuses on the top right of his vision where the little notification bell is lit up. Using a mental command, he swiftly opens the tab. 

[+3 Exp]

[Level up! +5 stat points awarded]

[New skill acquired: Bladed Weapons] 

Seeing the notifications, he allows a smile to grace his features. The other zombies are still some ways away and are completely oblivious towards his presence, so he speedily returns to the treeline to view and update his stats. It won't do him any good to be caught standing out in the open like a weirdo staring off into space. 

After returning to the cover of trees and brush, Leo excitedly wills his stats to appear before him. 

[Name: Leo Hopkins (Age 20)

Title: None

Level: 3

Exp: 0/100

Strength: 7

Intelligence: 5 

Perception: 5

Endurance: 6

Charisma:5

Dexterity: 7

Agility: 7

—

Stat Points: 5

Skills: Melee Weapons (level 5/25)

Trapping (Level 3/30)

Bladed Weapons (Level 1/25)

Perks: None]

The experience requirements for level four are much higher than level three, which makes him wince slightly, but it isn't too bad. Leo is beginning to like the grind. 

Unlike the Melee Weapons skill, which only seems to cover blunt weapons, the Bladed Weapons skill provides information about any bladed weapon and how best to use it. Although it is only level one and provides basic knowledge, he is still given ample information on how to properly wield his knife. 

Now looking over his stats, there is much that he could improve upon. He started off upgrading his physical stats, which definitely came in handy, but he feels that he is severely lacking in other departments. One of the glaring issues that jumps out at him is his perception skill. 

Because that skill is only five, which is presumably average, Leo was easily caught off guard by that woman from yesterday. If his instincts were better, that most likely would have never been a problem in the first place. Maybe he would have sensed her way before she made her move against him. Considering that his pride is still bruised from that terrifying situation, he is very tempted to just dump all five of his new stat points directly into perception. 

But, he knows that would be a huge waste, especially considering how much more exp he needs for the next level up. Still though, perception is a very important stat to consider in this world. 

Figuring that he should forgo the physical attributes this time around, Leo makes his decision and decides to split his reward into two separate stats. Putting three points into perception and bringing the stat up to eight, he can feel the world metaphorically explode around him with his new heightened senses. 

Leo has to close his eyes and immerse himself within the environment around him. The brisk refreshing smells of the dewy forest, the pleasant sounds of birds twittering in their nests above his head, the feeling of crisp morning air against his skin along with the feeling of soft moist soil beneath his feet… all of it was so… so new. He feels as if he were to open his eyes, his senses could completely overwhelm him. 

And so, Leo stands there for what feels to him like hours, but is in fact only a handful of minutes, just appreciating the world around him behind closed eyelids with deep calming breaths. After a while, Leo feels he is accustomed to his heightened senses enough that he can open his eyes, and what he sees takes the breath right out of his lungs. 

The forest was simply beautiful. 

There is no other way to put it, everything about it from the enhanced vivid colours to the dew splattered leaves. He has never seen the world this clear before, Leo could see each individual dew drop and every insect in sight individually. The world around him seemed to have just come alive and pop.

After spending a few more minutes taking everything in, Leo puts his remaining two points into the Intelligence stat, wincing at the sharp headache he receives for a couple of seconds. Just as suddenly as the pain appeared, it disappears as if it was never there to begin with. 

Leo can't really recognize much of a difference in his thought process, but things sort of just make more sense. His ability in which he processes information seems a little more efficient, and he can remember nearly everything he did yesterday with quite a bit of detail. 

"Cooool," He utters with an awed look on his face, chuckling lightly as he wipes a hand through his hair.

Looking back towards the remaining zombies in the parking lot, Leo's awed features slowly begin to shift, his lips forming a predatory smirk. 

"It's time to grind."