Preparations

William got up from his chair and left his computer on. He then put his phone on charge. He then looked down through the hole in his room.

"I guess I don't need to worry about cleaning."

William then left his room and checked all the rooms on the second floor carefully, because he didn't want to be surprised by a zombie attack.

He then went downstairs and locked the doors of the house one by one. Fortunately, only a few windows had been damaged in the explosion. Most of them were small cracks, and it seemed that the intensity of the explosion had been focused on William.

He entered the living room and saw the shattered chairs and tables in the center. Plates and bowls mixed with rotting food scraps were scattered everywhere. And mostly blood. 

His mother's... his father's... his relatives' blood. It had already begun to turn black. A deep red color had washed over the white walls. Occasionally, traces of light blue ley could be seen.

William approached and touched one of these ley traces. It was like dust on the wall, but as soon as it touched any surface, it spread like a vein.

William felt a sharp pain as soon as he touched it and immediately shook his hand. 

When William shook his hand, a few butterfly-wing-like ley fragments flew off the tip of his finger and dispersed into nothingness. As if they had never existed. William could no longer feel anything. 

"I think you need to give the ley a few points to interact with it."

William nodded. He then began to gather everything useful in the living room. 

All that remained of his family was his uncle's phone, whose password he didn't know, and a power bank. He then went to his room, took the power bank there, and charged both of them. He put his uncle's phone back where he found it. 

He didn't forget his mother's old laptop; after putting it on charge, he went to the garage. He removed the car battery and packed it along with a few cables. 

"This will keep me going for a while. Not knowing how to drive a car is a big disadvantage." 

He had never needed it before, so he didn't know how to drive a car or a motorcycle. Only a bicycle.

His next target was the kitchen and pantry. He placed all the canned goods and dried legumes in a corner.

"There's not much, but it'll last a week." 

William looked around and first packed the canned goods, then the dried legumes like rice into a bag. 

After putting in enough food for a week, he also added a few basic necessities. There wasn't much space left. Only the power banks could fit. 

He planned to carry the battery by hand. Maybe on the way to the gathering point, he'd find a shopping cart quiet enough to drag along. 

William then decided to make a list. He wrote everything down one by one. 

These were things he had seen in movies and read about before. He had never thought this day would come, but here it was. Even though he wasn't prepared, it was highly likely that someone looking for a little entertainment would come across a few zombie movies. 

1. Water: 20 liters of water in sealed bottles. 

"I can drink from the tap until I have to leave the house." Then he went and checked the tap. There was no difference in taste or color. 

2. Cutting tools: My father's Swiss Army knife and a hunting knife. 

3. Clothing: Choose the most comfortable ones. Clothes I can wrap my old books and magazines in, then wear over them. 

"I think I'll take my father's clothes."

4. Light: Two small flashlights and a camping lantern. 

5. Cooking utensils: A small frying pan and a coffee pot.

"I think I can mostly use the cans from the canned goods." 

6. First aid supplies: 2 boxes of paracetamol, 1 box of dexketoprofen, 5 ampoules of diclofenac sodium, 1 box of tramadol hydrochloride, 1 box of thiocolchicoside, 2 bandages, two pain-relieving ointments, 1 box of antibiotics, and finally some iodine.

"I have everything I need for first aid supplies. Thank goodness for my father's rheumatism." 

After saying this, William took one paracetamol tablet.

7. Rope and tape: 3 meters of rope and an unopened roll of tape.

"I think these will be enough, but I definitely need to find something to carry them in. Carrying all this stuff will tire me out. That will make me thirsty and hungry."

William shook his head and began to realize that things were getting serious.

He went and covered all the windows in the house as best he could with cupboards and furniture.

He left only a small opening in the door, just big enough for him to get in and out. He even taped the dog door shut with half a roll of tape. 

It didn't look very secure, but it was enough. 

Then he went and got a crowbar from the garage. 

After swinging it around in the living room a couple of times, he nodded in approval. 

"It'll do."

Finally, he went up to his parents' bedroom and took his father's comfortable clothes and an old gun from the drawer. 

"I hope I won't have to use it. I'm sure it will make a lot of noise." 

William took the gun and placed it on the counter in the living room.

"I think everything is ready." 

It was certain to be a difficult journey with two bags and the tools he had to carry, but he didn't want to leave home before the perishable food in the refrigerator ran out. 

Now it was time to fill his stomach, so he went and cooked some meat on the electric stove. This could be his last meal of meat. He didn't hear much while cooking, but he was starting to feel tense.

He didn't need to find the reason for this unexplained tension. Now his body had overcome all the shock.

The hormones secreted by his body had finally broken free from the block and started to take action.

His hands holding the pan began to tremble. It was getting dark outside. 

The house was already dark because all the doors and windows were closed, and no lights were on so as not to attract attention. Only the small light from the hood illuminated the kitchen and living room. 

After a while, the food was cooked.

William didn't bother to transfer it from the pan to a plate and placed the pan directly on the counter.

He pulled up his chair and sat down.

Then... Then he noticed the silence.

Silence.

It was as if even this wooden house he had lived in for years had stopped breathing.

After swallowing the last bite from the pan, William leaned back in his chair. The fork almost fell from his hand, but it didn't.

His palms were sweaty.

He put his hands on his legs. He closed his eyes.

He could hear his heart beating.

But this time it wasn't BA-DUMP.

It was a hum.

A hollow sound that sank into him and climbed up to his throat.

"I'm alone," he whispered.

The sound didn't bounce off the walls. There was no echo.

The house was as quiet as a tomb.

At that moment, reality weighed heavily on him.

His family was dead. All of them.

His mother's laughter, his father falling asleep in front of the television... all of it was just a memory now. And the memories... were very quiet now.

The bridge of his nose ached. He frowned and took a breath, but it was choppy. He tried not to cry.

But he couldn't.

Suddenly, the tears came flooding out.

He didn't scream or sob. He just cried. 

His shoulders shook. His eyes burned. Tears flowed silently, trickling down his chin and falling into his lap. 

He covered his face with his hands. "What am I going to do..." he whispered.

He slowly got up from his chair. His feet felt heavy. He walked from the kitchen to the living room.

The mess in the living room didn't just look like chaos this time.

It was as if everything from his past had been blown to pieces by the explosion.

He looked at the wall. The painting his mother had spent days trying to hang was still there. But it was cracked.

Suddenly, he collapsed to his knees. He placed his hands on the floor. When the cold floor touched his skin, he felt even emptier inside. 

He thought again: There was no one. No savior would come, no magical solution to fix everything. This world… was no longer the old world. 

William lifted his head from the floor. He looked at the ceiling. Darkness. Silence.

At that moment, for the first time, he faced the possibility that this silence could be eternal.

And that thought... frightened him more than death.

Suddenly...

He heard a sound.

A squeak.

It was so faint that at first he couldn't tell if it was real or imaginary.

"A mouse? The roof of the house?" he thought. 

He moved toward the kitchen window with heavy, silent steps. 

He peered out from the edge of the curtain. 

There it was. 

A figure in the street. 

A woman… but no longer human. 

Her foot was dragging. 

Her head was slightly bowed, and she held one arm in the air as if trying to remember something. 

Its body was slightly tilted to one side, as if it were being pulled in that direction.

There were bruises on its skin, and its eyes, which he could see from this distance, were expressionless.

[Zombie Lv1] William saw a slightly glowing text in the font used by the system above the zombie's head. 

It was the first time he had seen a live zombie.

William took a step back.

His breath caught in his throat.

A moment of panic. 

His heart began to race wildly. 

But this time it wasn't BA-DUMP. 

It was a fear that pounded like a wild drum, uncontrollably. 

William couldn't take his eyes off the female zombie. He watched until she disappeared from view at the window. 

Then he placed his hand on the window. He felt the coldness of the glass.

This world... was now a scary place. William realized he had to accept it. 

He quietly headed for the stairs. With a fearful silence, his legs trembling, he went up to his room. He closed the door. He put the crowbar and the gun next to him. He looked outside one last time and fell asleep. 

He fell asleep very quickly. His body had already grown accustomed to this new world. He knew he had to use every opportunity to rest. 

William had grown accustomed to it.