Scott blinked at that one. For the first time, the zombies were mentioning things other than lewdness. Maybe this fatty got off on eating cheap fast food from popular restaurant parodies? Everyone had a kink, so it was entirely possible.
Regardless, he led the horde a considerably distance from the store then doubled back. Of course, they followed him with several more zombies in tow. Still, this bought him enough time to enact his plan.
First, he repurchased the fuel collection point. Next, he gathered his bottles and rags while the gas jug filled. By the time the zombies would have managed to close in on him at a dangerous distance, he had already rushed to the far side of the parking lot and begun filling his Molotovs.
Oil and gas were mixed together and used to fill the bottles halfway, then he stuffed a strip of cloth inside to act to act as a wick. The scent of gasoline was potent, but he thought of it as a blessing.
“Eight. I have eight of these things,” he said to himself. He had to place them well.
Curious, however, he decided to check them to see if there were any special ones among the lot. He did not fully comprehend the rules on what constituted a weapon worthy of a color designation, after all.
None of them had a grey aura, but he still had roughly a minute left before the horde needed to be handled. Perhaps it would be worth it to test out one other thing he had not really bothered to attempt thus far.
Scott held one of his Molotovs aloft then stared at it briefly. He was at a loss. How did he do it? “Become an item, dammit.”
The knowledge came to him slowly. Scott was led to believe that all he had to do was will an item to be upgraded to grey and he could do it. Upgrading past that point would require soul gems or other things, but he could do this! Soon, a new window appeared.
System Item Conversion Menu
Would you like to convert this item into a system sanctioned item?
Yes | No
Scott saw an image of the Molotov in his hand appear before him. He agreed to turn it into a system item.
System Item Conversion Menu
Please name the item:
“Uh... It’s a Molotov,” said Scott.
System Item Conversion Menu
You will name the item [Uh… It’s a Molotov] Is this correct?
Yes | No
“What? No!” exclaimed Scott.
The process started over once more, and he named the item properly. A new window appeared which told him the cost of creating the item.
“Seriously? One hundred eighty equipment points? That’s obscene for a single use item,” said Scott.
Even so, it was for testing purposes. Scott spent the points and watched it as it began to radiate a clear white light. The light dulled to a dim grey aura and new information appeared.
Molotov
A homemade incendiary device with explosive potential.
Item Type: Incendiary Explosive
Scaling Attribute: Strength
Rarity: Common
Aura: Grey
Damage: 860 [Fire]
Damage Reduction: 160 [Fire]
Durability: Lightly Damaged
Area of Effect: 8
Uses Remaining: 3
UPGRADE COST
Equipment EXP: 1000
Item(s): Tiny Soul Gem
“Interesting. I wonder what all of that will mean,” he said thoughtfully. “Especially that uses remaining thing…”
He set the newly made equipment aside then picked up a normal Molotov. The zombies were closing in, and it was time to take a stab at taking them out.
Scott lit his Molotov then chucked it at the oncoming horde. It smashed open beautifully and exploded in a bright fireball. The zombies did not even so much as recoil. Several walked through the flames and seemingly started to catch fire, but the flames died out quickly under their stomping feet. In the end, only one of them caught fire to the extent that any real damage would be done.
“Shit! This should work better than that!” snapped Scott. They were Molotovs! Molotovs! Surely, they would set several of those zombies ablaze. All told, he had killed only one of them so far.
“Fuck…” he said, before he lobbed a few more. This time there was enough flame produced to catch several more of them on fire, but they were not deterred. They were packed a bit close together, but not close enough for more than a few of them to get caught up in the blaze.
Had television and video games lied to him? Were Molotovs not instant zombie death?
The Molotovs would have easily denied a normal human being forward momentum, but most of the zombies weren’t in the flames long enough for it to matter beyond some charred clothing and third-degree burns. While they did work, they weren’t the super amazing zombie killing thing he envisioned.
He snatched up his newly made Molotov equipment then frowned at it. “Useless overpriced shit…”
Scott lobbed the Molotov into the thickest concentration of the oncoming horde then prepared to run off only to be forced to cover his eyes when the Molotov exploded with a bright flash of light and a brilliant fireball. Intense heat from the flames washed over him, but it was nothing compared to the fiery hell that the zombies faced.
Agonized screeches rose up as the chatty zombies had something to discuss other than lewdness and WcDonalds. Normally they did not seem to feel pain, so this might be more of a shock and surprise sort of thing. Perhaps it was even a memory from their time as living people. It was hard to saw just how functional these shambling idiots were.
Nearly a dozen of the zombies lit up like a bonfire, and the flames spread to those nearby. Soon nearly a third of the horde was on fire.
Realizing that his equipped Molotovs acted like a Hollywood special effect, he quickly moved to make more. However, to his surprise another one appeared in his hand.
Scott waved his hand around, surprised at what had happened. He noted the status information said that he had two uses remaining. Now it was his turn to light up. Rather, his eyes lit up. Suddenly, he knew exactly why these things cost him so many equipment points. He got three of them and they were pretty amazing!
He chunked another one toward a thick knot of uninjured zombies then trotted away from them as they were getting too close to his Molotov stash. Well over a dozen of them were set blaze and several were knocked down from the force of the explosion.
“It’s like these things are flaming hand grenades…” said Scott, his eyes wide and his grin even wider. Expensive as hell given his current equipment points, but one could not deny their usefulness!
He found the next largest group of them, less than ten sadly, and lobbed his final system Molotov. He did not wait around to see what would happen, however. He rushed back and snatched up his leftovers then moved to a good distance away from the burning horde. The burning effects only lasted ten or fifteen seconds at most, but that was enough to take down a large amount of the horde. He lit his normal Molotovs and started chunking them like a mad man.
“Burn, baby burn!” cried Scott. Only one Molotov left, he decided to save it in case something happened. Instead, he grabbed his brush axe and trotted over to finish off the struggling remnants of the horde.
Despite their gruesome injuries, it took quite some time, several minutes in fact, to finish them off. During that time a few more zombies trickled in, but he was able to take them out.
Scott stood there panting as the battle ended. He looked around expectantly, over a hundred charred and butchered corpses sprawled across the area. Flames still burned in certain parts of the corpse piles, but it seemed that the war was over.
Yet, he could not help but wonder at why the mission had not shown his victory screen. Eventually, he got tired of waiting then sighed.
Scott looked toward the gas station, intent on checking the perimeter once more, but caught a glimpse of something ridiculous. The doors exploded outward violently then a lumbering figure staggered out of the ruined hole.
The hulking bandana clad behe
moth sniffed the air then looked toward Scott. A bone-rattling roar echoed through the parking lot as the biggest damn zombie he had ever seen reached back and snatched up the ice box behind it. Partially filled with bags of ice, the thing must have weighed over half a ton, but the monstrosity didn’t even seem to struggle when it snatched it up.
Wild-eyed, Scott could not help but stare as even his cool under pressure trait was momentarily at a loss. He barely registered the need to move before he dove sideways. The ice box was sent flying through the air toward him with incredible force. It smashed down onto the ground like a raging cannonball and shattered on impact. Ice flew everywhere as the bags inside exploded from the forces exerted.
He now knew why the mission had not ended. There was one opponent left. The big ass zombie was clearly different than the others, and Scott was in for the fight of his life… Literally.
“Shit!” Scott rolled over quickly and did his best to push himself back onto his feet. The hulking zombie trotted toward him in further defiance of the norm. By the time he was back on his feet he barely had time to grab his Molotov and pick a direction to run.
The oversized zombie kept pace with him to some extent, but it was obvious that it was specced for strength and endurance, not agility. Much faster than a common zombie, it was still slower than a living man.
“Bro!” cried the zombie. “Gimme protein, bro!”
“Damned musclehead zombie,” muttered Scott. He slowed down long enough to spend his precious equipment points on his Molotov. Once again, he had three system empowered ones to toss.
Tongue lolling obscenely from his mouth, the overgrown zombie cried out, “Hungry, bro!”
“Eat this!” shouted Scott. He threw one of his Molotovs directly into the beast’s path.
Flames erupted all around, and quickly engulfed the hapless creature. It groaned and moaned. It even said something about fried food being against its diet.
Scott panted heavily, his vision blurring all the while. He was on the edge of collapse by now. Only his adrenaline had kept him going after the battle with the horde. However, he could still see well enough to notice that the big bastard was not that badly damaged. So, he lobbed another one at the beast.
This time the buff zombie flailed around spastically and cried out for a protein shake. He needed to cool off, bro!
The tattered shreds of clothing the critter had worn were soon burnt black, and its wounds continued to mount. Now it showed signs of having taken serious burns.
Unable to do much else, Scott kept the barbecue going. He lobbed his last Molotov then gripped his brush axe tight.
Flames engulfed the beast, and this time its entire body caught fire. It screamed out in defiance and came trotting heavily toward Scott. Whatever semblance of humanity it originally had was gone now. The pain, or continued changes from becoming a zombie, had finally taken their toll. Now it only had one desire. Get that sweet, sweet, protein!
Scott prepared to leap to the side, but to his great surprise the beast proved that it was also able to jump. The overgrown critter leapt with great ferocity and barely managed to miss landing on its prey.
Scrambling to the left to avoid the creature, he soon found that he was on the receiving end of a quick back hand from the monster. Unlike the regular zombies, this one had a vague understanding of combat. It didn’t just rush blindly. It attacked quickly then regained its balance.
Tagged by the powerful brute, Scott felt a heavy strain in his chest. Though it had been a glancing blow, he’d nearly broken a rib!
It was a struggle to even raise his weapon now, as the injury made it painful to do so. Still, he had no choice. While the critter did its best to get its bearings Scott slashed at it with the business end of his brush axe.
Fortunately, the creature was still susceptible to a bladed weapon. Scott cut deep into the meat of its left thigh. In less fortunate news, the creature did not even remotely give a damn about that and shot a hand-out to catch Scott by the head.
He struggled with everything he could muster, but the creature was just too strong. Scott’s clothes caught fire due to the fact that the monster was still burning, but it was the fingers that shoved their way into his mouth and the brutal pulling motion that ended his life. As though the beast were making a wish, it ripped Scott’s head in half then roared out its triumph.
“Fuck!” exclaimed Scott heatedly as he awoke. The nature of the loading area between worlds quickly dampened his emotions, but that did not stop him from being annoyed. He had been so close, and then that big bastard had ripped him apart.
He spat out a bit of phlegm as he remembered the scent and taste of burning flesh gripping his mouth from the inside. The feeling of his flesh ripping apart even as it began to burn, it was not something he would soon forget.
“If it wasn’t for this place, and the way it numbs pain and emotion… I’d have PTSD by now. I just know it,” grumbled Scott.
This mission was difficult. More than difficult, it was deadly. Death could occur so easily, that he might have begun to despair had he not already seen his way through.
Scott quickly checked his status then nodded. “Three Molotovs were almost enough to take that thing down…”
Melee was out of the question. His stats and skills were nowhere near what they would need to be to fight that thing toe-to-toe. Firearms and headshots were probably the best way to deal with it. Anything that could be used at a distance would be amazingly useful.
He made some adjustments to his previous plan, and then made another effort. Some time later he reappeared in the room and then sighed. “Ok, that didn’t work… stupid zombie pile.”
Scott had nearly finished with the zombies on the next attempt, but when he went to finish them off, he had been bitten by one. The bite surprised him, and he’d fallen over into a pile of charred zombies that still hungered for flesh and naughty fun times.
Even so, he knew what to do. Scott went back to work.
It was quite some time later that he stood triumphantly outside of the gas station, a horde of charred black zombie corpses smoldering on one side, and a big burnt bastard zombie corpse still burning on the other. Eventually, his plan had proven effective. Five system Molotovs was all that it had taken, though the road to get there had been long and disgusting.
The bus pulled forward slowly, while Scott stood amongst the burning corpses. Though they could not see it, he was looking at his mission complete window. The reward proved to be quite interesting indeed.
System Upgrade Unlocked
You have unlocked the Combat Auto-Upgrade (I) system feature. You may select one of your attributes to receive the upgrade. You may switch to a different stat after your primary save point updates each day, if you choose.
The Combat Auto-Upgrade system will provide extra experience points to your attribute, though those points will not be shown in your system menu. Whenever you defeat an opponent your chosen attribute will receive this bonus, and over time it will lead to faster attribute development. Just like expending trait points, this bonus will be absorbed whenever the attribute increases.
Scott had to admit, it sounded amazing. Now whenever he fought and killed a zombie, he would be able to increase the training development bonus for one chosen attribute without the need to expend his trait points.
It was a no-brainer for him. Scott chose endurance. His hit points and energy points were based on that attribute. Skills, and other things could change the way he acquired those points later but for now that was his main method of advancement.
Saiko rushed out of the bus, wooden sword in hand. She looked around wild-eyed then back to Scott. “Wow. You actually did all this by yourself…”
Scott nodded to her, “Eighth time’s the charm.”
The others slowly left the bus to meet with him as well, but to their surprise Saiko cried out, “Eight times?”
“Yeah. The reward was pretty cool, but this…. Sucked, so hard.” Said Scott. He then thre
w his head back and laughed. Tears began to streak down his face despite his cool under pressure trait. At this point, he just wanted the day to be over with at last.
Chapter Four
The group immediately began to babble about the huge zombie, and the battle they had seen. It was ridiculous to them that one man had managed such a feat. Though, to his credit he was honest enough to admit that he did die seven times. Worse, he found out the hard way that there would not have been an eighth attempt.
During his last revival, he forgot to make a quick save until after he left the bus. When he tried to correct that mistake, he could not activate the system. If he died that time, he would have had to restart the entire day over again.
Frankly, it was stupid to continue under such circumstances. Still, he had nearly completed the mission a few times by that point. He was determined not to pussy out, as he thought of it.
Scott was glad for his cool under pressure trait as it stopped him from having a breakdown. The mention of points acquired for completing his objective had him checking his status. There had been mention of acquiring points for his efforts as part of his reward, after he completed the objective. Now it was time to see just how many he had earned!
Scott Ambrose
Level: 60
EXPERIENCE POINTS
Power Fantasy Page 12
