Chapter 3: The Fight for Survival
Episode 1
Searching for Supplies and Leveling Up
Arjun dragged his study table and propped it against the door to prevent the entry of zombies. However, he made a critical mistake by forgetting about the window. Three zombies crawled through the glass window silently and began moving towards him. Sensing the danger, White Bones, his skeletal companion, rushed at the zombies, swinging its large axe.
White Bones' Stats:
Special Skeleton (White Bones)
Level 2
Strength: 11
Agility: 11
Vitality: 11
Stamina: 9/11
Spirit: 11
Endurance: 11
Skills: Bone Manipulation Ability.
While White Bones struck one zombie with its axe, Arjun tackled the other two with his staff. Two big orbs of experience entered his body. He quickly collected the coins dropped by the zombies. The room was already too stinky, and black blood was everywhere, so Arjun decided to leave.
He found a rope long enough to get down from the first floor. As he looked outside, he saw around ten students running from the ground floor towards the exit door, which was about 200 meters away from the hostel entrance. Halfway there, they were surrounded by at least 20 zombies. Without their staffs, the students were defenseless and tried to climb a nearby tree for safety.
"Look at them," Arjun muttered, "they're in trouble."
After resting for a while and recovering some stamina, Arjun directed White Bones to descend first. Using the rope, he followed through the window. His target was the small supermarket store 150 meters away. He carried a climber's backpack to store as much packed food as possible, anticipating a long period of instability.
As they crossed 100 meters, they encountered a horde of 20 zombies. Arjun commanded White Bones to engage. Despite being outnumbered, the zombies were slow. White Bones focused on striking their heads. Arjun, too, aimed for their heads, knowing it was a matter of life and death. If he didn't fight with everything he had, he would surely die.
Seeing a skeleton and a boy fighting zombies, the leader of the treed students, Raghu, shouted for help, distracting some of the zombies. Eight of them moved towards Raghu's group.
"Hey! Over here!" Raghu yelled. "Help us, please!"
Arjun and White Bones managed to kill all 12 zombies, with White Bones dispatching eight and reaching level 4, while Arjun was midway to level 3. Arjun collected at least 300 coins from the corpses. He also found a guava, which, according to its description, would recover six stamina points over three minutes.
White Bones' Stats:
Special Skeleton (White Bones)
Level 4.
Strength: 13
Agility: 13
Vitality: 13
Stamina: 11/13
Spirit: 13
Endurance: 13
Skills: Bone Manipulation Ability.
Arjun's Stats:
Arjun: Male
Level: 2
Occupation: None
Title: None
Strength: 11
Agility: 10
Vitality: 10
Stamina: 10/10
Spirit: 13
Endurance: 10
Arjun ordered White Bones to move towards the supermarket, needing a place to rest. In the supermarket, Arjun ate the guava and recovered his stamina. Three minutes later, he and White Bones went to help Raghu and his friends. Unfortunately, Raghu had lost three friends in the span of those three minutes as they struggled to stay atop the tree. Arjun cleared the zombies around Raghu and his group, providing a path to the supermarket.
"Thank you," Raghu said, breathing heavily. "We thought we were done for."
"No problem," Arjun replied. "Let's get inside and regroup."
After a brief argument with Raghu and his friends, Arjun left the supermarket, filling his bag with chocolates, noodles, biscuits, cookies, chips, instant food, and ready-to-eat meals. He took 20 bottles of mineral water and some soft drinks and packed juices. His next destination was the girls' hostel to check if his female friend Soniya was alive.
On the way, he saw Shruti, one of the most beautiful girls in the IIT Bombay engineering department, fighting zombies. He was shocked by her courage, considering the danger.
"Shruti? What are you doing here?" Arjun exclaimed.
"I could ask you the same thing," Shruti replied, smirking. "We need to get to my friend Simran on the third floor."
Arjun agreed to help, as he also needed to check on Soniya. They proceeded towards the hostel, with Shruti acting as their navigator.
In room 309, Simran and her friends found Arjun and Shruti. After ensuring Shruti reached Simran, Arjun asked about Soniya's room number. Soniya was in room 315, on the other side of the hall. Arjun asked them to close the door while he fetched Soniya. He found Soniya unharmed and brought her to Simran's room.
"Is everyone okay?" Arjun asked, looking around.
"For now," Simran replied. "But we need to get out of here."
Arjun then inquired if anyone had a place in Mumbai. Shruti mentioned her two-story house in Andheri West, about 12 km from IIT Bombay.
Gathering the Group
Realizing the need for better transportation, Arjun decided to find a bus or truck within the campus. As he searched, he encountered large groups of zombies, killing them and leveling up multiple times. White Bones also gained experience, becoming a formidable ally.
White Bones' Stats:
Special Skeleton (White Bones)
Level 7.
Strength: 16
Agility: 16
Vitality: 16
Stamina: 14/16
Spirit: 16
Endurance: 16
Skills: Bone Manipulation Ability.
Arjun's Stats:
Arjun: Male
Level: 5
Occupation: None
Title: None
Strength: 17
Agility: 12
Vitality: 14
Stamina: 14/14
Spirit: 16
Endurance: 12
In one of these battles, after killing a group of 10 zombies, a white treasure box dropped. Inside was a sword named Rapier, a system equipment with enhanced sharpness and agility. Excited by his find, Arjun continued to fight zombies, each group dropping a white treasure box, several hundred coins, and occasionally skill books.
He found another sword in one of the boxes and gave it to Shruti. Together, they fought more zombies, significantly boosting their stats. By the time they were ready to regroup, Arjun had reached level 8, Shruti level 5, and White Bones level 9. Arjun allocated his points to strength and stamina, enhancing his combat abilities.
Arjun's Stats:
Arjun: Male
Level: 8
Occupation: None
Title: None
Strength: 18
Agility: 14
Vitality: 14
Stamina: 19/19
Spirit: 14
Endurance: 14
Shruti's Stats:
Shruti: Female
Level: 5
Occupation: None
Title: None
Strength: 16
Agility: 13
Vitality: 13
Stamina: 16/16
Spirit: 12
Endurance: 12
White Bones' Stats:
Special Skeleton (White Bones)
Level 9.
Strength: 18
Agility: 18
Vitality: 18
Stamina: 16/18
Spirit: 18
Endurance: 18
Skills: Bone Manipulation Ability.
Arjun gathered a few items from the zombies' corpses and treasure boxes that would be helpful later. He named the students he met along the way: Raj, Amit, Priya, Rani, Vikram, and Anjali. They had brief conversations about their situation, bonding over their shared struggle.
Finally, Arjun found a bus. They loaded it with supplies of water, packed food like chips, chocolates, cookies, juices, kurkure, noodles, biscuits, instant food, and ready-to-eat meals.
"We need to make sure we have enough supplies," Arjun said, organizing the items. "It might be a while before things stabilize."
"Do you think we'll be safe at Shruti's place?" Priya asked, her voice trembling.
"Safer than here," Shruti replied confidently. "It's a sturdy building, and we can defend it."
He told Shruti about his best friend, Harsh, in TISS, and asked for her help to rescue him.
"We need to get to Harsh," Arjun said, looking determined. "He's my best friend, and I can't leave him behind."
"I'm with you," Shruti replied. "Let's go."
Reuniting with Harsh at TISS
Using the bus, the group set off towards TISS. The journey was perilous, filled with zombies. Arjun, Shruti, and White Bones led the way, clearing the path. When they arrived, Arjun and Shruti entered the girls' hostel where Harsh was last seen, saving one of his female friends.
They met a girl named Shona, who guided them to Harsh. Together, they fought off the zombies, using their swords and White Bones' axe. Harsh was relieved to see them and joined their group. Arjun then told Harsh about the plan to rescue their students, Shivam and Shivani.
"Arjun! Thank God you're here," Harsh said, hugging him tightly. "I thought I was done for."
"I couldn't leave you," Arjun replied, smiling. "But we need to get Shivam and Shivani too. Are you ready?"
"Let's do this," Harsh said, grabbing a weapon.