Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 19.5
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 1
In the middle of the suburbs, there was a family that owned a large portion of land. It was only one acre, but to own that much land in the middle of the suburbs meant only two things. Either they were rich, or they had that land for generations. The reason was the latter. The acre of land was hidden from the rest of the city by tall blocky shrubbery. The only way inside was an iron gate. The road lead to a large wooden house planted right in the middle of the land. The house was worn down. It clearly needed a new roof and paint job. But to the family inside, they couldn’t afford that.
The residents of this house numbered four. A grandmother, mother, a teenage boy, and a baby girl. It was early morning, so the house was still dead asleep. Inside a room on the second floor slept the teenage boy. His name was Eric. The alarm on his nightstand suddenly started to beep.
Eric’s eyes snapped open at the sound. He groaned and slapped his hand across the clock next to him. The room fell silent. Just as he was about to fall asleep again, he opened his eyes and glanced at the clock. 5:15.
“Damn,” He thought, “Why do I have to get up so early for school? Can’t they move it back a few hours? Why elementary school kids get to sleep longer, I’ll never know.”
Eric forced himself out of bed. He stood up, wearing only his boxers. He shivered after leaving the warmth of his bed.
“I still can’t get used to how cold this house is in the morning,” He said to himself.
He began his daily routine of stretches. His toned body was for all to see, though there was no one but himself. After only a few minutes, he was able to do the splits. This was the benefit of stretching daily for years. Feeling nice and warm now, he looked at the clock. 5:45.
His stomach rumbled pitifully.
“Time to eat,” He chuckled to himself. If he ever needed to force himself to eat, he just had to workout first. It worked like a charm. He quickly got dressed. He looked in the mirror before leaving his room. A brown haired, brown eyed young man stared back at him. His hair reached his eyebrows and was messy. He tried styling it at his mother’s behest, but he preferred the messy, wild style. He was of average height, reaching 5’11. He was lean and tone.
Satisfied with his attire, he left his room and quietly walked down the hallway. The upstairs had five rooms. One was a bathroom and four were bedrooms. One was occupied by his grandmother, another by his mother, one by his little sister, and the last one by him. He walked down the stairs and entered the kitchen. Just as he was about to prepare some food, his mother entered the kitchen, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll make something.”
“Okay,” Eric shrugged in indifference. He sat at the kitchen table and waited patiently by watching his mother cook. She didn’t look anything like him. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, just like his little sister. He shared his father’s appearance. Eric’s eyes dimmed at the thought of his father. It was only last year that he passed away in a fatal car accident. The doctors told him he passed instantly, so that was the only fortunate thing.
Driving away the thoughts of his father, he looked up at his mom and asked, “Couldn’t sleep?”
“No. Everyone stayed up all night, yet you slept without a care in the world,” His mother said with a wearisome chuckle.
“Haha, it’s unavoidable, so what’s the worry?”
“I wish I had your carefree attitude,” His mother said with a sigh.
Eric shook his head, “I can’t believe they didn’t close down school.”
His mother placed a plate full of eggs, toast, and sausage in front of him. She sat down next to him, “Well, the government is trying to say, ‘Hey, look. Everything is alright!”
“I suppose,” Eric said as he dug into his food.
His mother turned on the TV on the kitchen counter. It was one of those small, blocky types from a decade ago. It was here when they moved in. His grandmother loved watching TV in the kitchen, she always did her crossword puzzles in here. When the three of them moved in to help take care of her, they started to watch it occasionally. Eric missed the flat screen TV they used to have. He couldn’t believe his mother was fine with this old one.
His mother switched the channel to the local news. A middle aged male was the news anchor. At the bottom of the screen were big words, “Everything is normal.”
The news anchor said with a smile, “The fears that were making rounds across the world appear to have been for naught. It appears the scientists were right when they said the gas was harmless. According to their calculations, the Earth will move outside of the gaseous cloud by this late afternoon.”
A year ago, astrophysicists found something alarming. Earth’s current trajectory in space was headed right for a massive white gaseous cloud. It was made out of some gas that scientists said they recognized. Most people tend to forget that Earth, the solar system, and the Milky Way galaxy was moving through space at tremendous speeds. To encounter asteroids was normal, but a gaseous cloud the size of the solar system? That caused a worldwide panic. Today was the day Earth was right in the center of it.
“See?” Eric grinned at his mother.
She rolled her eyes, “For now.”
His mother was one of those people who was needlessly worried about unforeseen circumstances. She anxiously counted down the days when the gaseous cloud would arrive . Eric was of the mind that it was unavoidable, so why worry about it? Few shared his mindset.
Eric glanced at the clock before quickly finishing his food. He stood up and picked up his backpack, “Thanks for the food. See you after school!”
“Hopefully,” His mother muttered anxiously. Her eyes were glued to the TV.
Eric opened the front door and froze. He couldn’t see more than fifteen feet in front of him. It was the thickest fog he’d ever seen, but he knew it wasn’t fog. It was the gaseous cloud that Earth was currently inside of. It penetrated the atmosphere and covered everything. After a second, he recovered and took a deep breath, “Sheesh, hope I can make it to school today.”
He followed the dirt road to the iron gate. He passed through the gate and started walking to his bus stop. He was a senior in high school, yet he still road the bus. His family was too poor to afford a car for him, and he was busy taking care of his sister and grandmother while his mom worked. The phone in his pocket suddenly buzzed. He opened it up saw he had a message from his best friend, Michael.
“Want me to pick you up?” Michael sent with smiley face.
“Sure,” He replied with a thumbs up.
Michael was his best friend since youth. Before Eric moved into his grandmother’s house, he lived a few blocks from here. The move was a downgrade, sure, but at least he still went to the same high school and kept his friends, espe
cially Michael. Not long after, a car pulled to a stop in front of Eric. With a click, the door unlocked and Eric sat inside.
“Morning, bro,” Eric said with a smile.
“Mornin’,” Michael said before driving slowly towards school. Thankfully he chose to ride with Michael, because the bus would be late for sure. There was traffic everywhere because nobody could see! The fastest anyone drove was 10 MPH.
Eric looked over at Michael and couldn’t help but sigh at his friend’s dashing looks. Michael’s hair was short, so he styled it differently every day. His hair was blonde and he had green eyes. His expression was full of intelligence. Michael is the student president, so it was expected. Ten minutes later, they parked the car in the school parking lot.
As they walked to the main building, Michael asked, “Want to chill today?”
“I can’t, unless you’re willing to come over to my house. I have to take care of my sister and grandmother today,” Eric said with a sigh.
“Oh… probably not then,” Michael clasped Eric’s shoulder, “You sure have it rough.”
“It’s okay. Just waiting for school to be finished.”
After he graduated, he would be able to find a part time job. That would help his family out a little bit. Eric looked ahead and found a beautiful girl walk into the building. He couldn’t help but stare at her. Michael gloated, “Why not ask her out?”
Eric glared at Michael, “Elizabeth is dating David. You know that.”
Michael shrugged indifferently, “Wouldn’t stop me.”
“Bro…” Eric could only shake his head. He was attracted to Elizabeth, but he wouldn’t go so far as to ask her out when she was dating someone else. When they entered the building, they waved goodbye and split up. Unfortunately, their classes were different. The best year was in their sophomore year, they actually had four periods together! That was the best.
Eric scanned his peers. All of them were behaving normally, but he could tell most of them were forcing themselves. There were even a few wearing masks. One of the hottest selling items this past year were breathing masks. Nobody fully trusted the scientists, so a few companies made a killing selling these masks. His mother would have bought one if they could afford it. Looks like it would have been a waste, though.
Eric entered his classroom and sat down. As he waited for the teacher to arrive, he chatted with his classmates. The topic of discussion was only one thing: the white fog. The day slowly passed. Everybody was on edge, and most of the classes ended up being free time. That was the worst for Eric. He wasn’t an avid reader, so he was bored the entire day. It was then that it happened.
At 1:29 P.M. a screen appeared in front of Eric. He thought he fell asleep at first, but when he heard audible gasps coming from around him, he knew it was real. He read what was on the rectangular screen.
System Initiating... Standby...
A girl who sat next to him, Rebecca, exclaimed in shock, “What is this? Can you guys see this?”
Eric looked over and found he could see the screen in front of her as well. The message was the same as his. He immediately noticed that the screen that was in front of him followed his line of sight. He looked left and right, but it never left his vision. Curious, he tried touching it with his hand, but it passed right through it. He couldn’t feel anything but air.
The classroom grew rowdy. Some stood up, others talked with their friends, and some pulled out their phones. The teacher, Mr. Wes, stood up from his desk and called out, “Everyone, calm down. Please talk in quiet voices.”
The classroom quieted down, but the discussion never stopped. A few minutes later, the screen suddenly changed. The classroom froze as everyone watched their own screen. Eric focused on it as message after message appeared.
System Initiating... Standby...
Modification is being chosen.... Standby...
Undead System has been chosen... Standby...
System starting in 3... 2... 1...
Eric’s heart beat quickly as multiple emotions surfaced. Anxiety, anticipation, fear, curiosity. All of it combined together as he read the screens. When the countdown hit zero, a massive screen appeared with tons of text.
World has been transformed.
You have been designated a user of the System and have gained access to the System.
You can see your System Information by voicing or thinking the word, "Information."
The System offers you one word of advice: Survive.
The classroom read with bated breaths. Rebecca shouted, “Survive? Survive what?! What the fuck is going on?!”
Mr. Wes couldn’t help but frown, “Hey, watch your language!”
A male student with a breathing mask, Jordan, couldn’t help but exclaim, “It’s the gas! Can’t you see!? I knew it was bad! I knew it was dangerous! The scientists were wrong! They lied to us, saying they recognized the gas! Bullshit!”
“Yeah! It must be the gas. This can’t be a coincidence,” A few students voiced their agreement with Jordan.
Eric ignored the other students and kept reading the screens over and over. He focused on the word, ‘Information.’
The screen in front of him disappeared, only to be replaced by another one.
Name: Eric
Title: None
Age: 18
Kill Points: 0
Health: 26/26
Health Regeneration: .13/m
Stamina: 30/30
Stamina Regeneration: .15/m
Mana: 10/10
Mana Regeneration: .05/m
Level: 1
Experience Required to Level: 10
Stat Points: 0
Skill Points: 0
Strength: 12
Vitality: 13
Agility: 15
Endurance: 15
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 5
The screens of a few other students changed. He saw that the screen knew what his name and age was. He wondered how, but couldn’t come up with an answer.
“Ugh, Eric, you have higher numbers than me. I guess that makes sense,” A male next to him said.
Eric glanced over at his friend, George, and happened to see his ‘Information’ screen.
Name: George
Title: None
Age: 18
Kill Points: 0
Health: 20/20
Health Regeneration: .10/m
Stamina: 18/18
Stamina Regeneration: .09/m
Mana: 10/10
Mana Regeneration: .05/m
Level: 1
Experience Required to Level: 10
Stat Points: 0
Skill Points: 0
Strength: 9
Vitality: 10
Agility: 10
Endurance: 9
Intelligence: 11
Wisdom: 5
“You gotta work out, man,” Eric teased with a grin. He knew George wasn’t into sports and liked playing video games. George was skinny and was near last place when the class ran the mile.
Eric took this into account when comparing his information screen with George’s screen. It looked like the difference between getting first place and last place on the mile was only a few points. Eric was beginning to understand more and more about his information screen. It was taken pretty literally, though he didn’t know what mana meant.
Eric looked around at the other students and saw them sharing their screens with each other. He wondered if he could hide his. Just then, his screen disappeared. He guessed it worked based on your intent.
“AHHHHHH!” A scream suddenly came from the window.
The atmosphere in the class became tense. All of the students, Eric included, ran towards the row of windows lining the side of the class. They were on the 3rd floor, and the classroom windows faced the parking lot.
“There!” Rebecca pointed.
Eric followed her finger towards a pair of figures in the fog. One of the figures staggered backwards and fell to the ground. Everybody
wondered what was wrong, but they couldn’t make anything else out because of the fog. All they could tell was that there were two people. The other figure slowly approached the figure on the ground.
“Someone! Call 911! Help!” Shouting came from the figure on the ground.
The figure that was walking reached the figure on the ground. They bent over. Terrifying screams came from the figure on the ground, “AHhhHH! It hurts! HELP! HEL-”
The screams came to an abrupt stop. Eric looked at his fellow students in horror. Everyone glanced at each other, unsure of what to do. Even the teacher was the same.
“What the fuck! Look!” George exclaimed with a pale face.
Everyone looked back, only to see two figures walking towards the school. The person that was screaming stood up and was walking with the other person like nothing happened.
ZOMBIE SLAYER!!: A LitRPG Apocalypse Page 1
