The Fifth Survivor - Episode 3

by Angel Ramon

  Picked up a Pistol Magazine. +8 Pistol Ammo.

  Pistol Ammo: 19

  Once he gets the magazine, he walks through the door leading to the kitchen. In the kitchen, he sees a few zombies along with the equipment used to cook his favorite guilty pleasure. Using his pistol, he shoots two of the zombies that are walking around aimlessly.

  Pistol Ammo: 15

  Believing that he’s in the clear, he turns the corner around the fryers and pressure cookers. Seeing the kitchen is rather dark the deeper he goes, he pulls out his flashlight. Once he turns around, George spots an employee that has turned into a reanimated corpse.

  With no time to react, the undead bites him on his arm dealing some decent damage.

  Condition: Caution (Level 2)

  He pushes it away but also drops his pistol. The pistol spins under one of the fryers. The zombie walks towards him once again. With no time to grab his magnum, he’s forced to improvise. Spotting a fryer full of oil, he bangs on it. The oil that’s on the fryer flies out. George gets out of the way to avoid the burning oil. The oil hits the zombie and begins to burn it.

  With the corpse screaming in pain and distracted, George pulls out his knife and stabs it on the head, killing it. With his flashlight, he sees the kitchen is clear and he looks for his pistol. Looking under the fryer, he flashes his light and spots his pistol. Stretching his arms as far as they can go, he reaches the gun and grabs it. George gets up and sees an herb on top of one of the boxes.

  Picked up a Red Herb. Useless by itself. When mixed with a green herb, it can heal health 100 percent.

  Continuing to flash his light, he notices a manual on the floor that he picks up and begins to read.

  Bacon World Training Manual

  “Hello fellow bacon lover and welcome to Bacon World! We are confident that you will enjoy your employment at what has become America’s new guilty pleasure fast-food company. You will be in charge of running the day to day operations. As a manager, you will find that sitting behind the desk will be far from what you will be doing. In fact, you may have to go into the line and cook some of our delicious varieties of bacon-flavored food in case one of your workers is out or is on break.

  Hell, you might even have to be Captain Mascot for the day should the normal person take off. We are happy to be opening this new location in the new Brewster Mall. It will allow us to target new demographics and hopefully one day, we’ll make everyone into zombie-like customers who can’t get enough of our food.

  Please read the manual carefully. It even includes a small but important part should an emergency take place such as a zombie outbreak.”

  “Hmm… a bit of foreshadowing? Either this was a sick joke or they knew Hybrid was up to no good.” George says as he turns the pages.

  How to prepare for a zombie outbreak

  “This might sound like a crazy part of the manual but you should skip at your own risk. Reading this might save your life…

  There is a key that leads to the maintenance area of the mall. The only problem is the maintenance area is located in the back of the Forever 21 store. This is where they decided to make the meeting point should an emergency occur. Just get to the back of the store and use the key to get to the maintenance section of the mall. From there you can open the shafts if they are locked or use the emergency exit.

  Note: The door to the emergency exit is locked and power has to be supplied to the door. We were never told how to get this door open. So hopefully you won’t have to use this method or if you do, you’ll have someone who knows the mall well.

  There are also some extra bullets in the manager’s office if you need them and some gunpowder jars to make ammo. Now making your ammo is something you’ll have to find out as you go along.

  The only reason this section is even in this manual because there is a secret we need you to keep more than just our secret recipes. We believe that the Hybrid Corporation is creating a secret virus that will either accidentally or intentionally start the great zombie outbreak. We have inside information that we cannot reveal to you in fears of retaliation.

  While we might be wrong, this information might be useful and even save you in case we’re not.”

  “For a manual, it sounds like they knew something was fishy about Hybrid. I never thought a stupid manual would help me.” George says after reading.

  With his flashlight, he sees the manager’s office up ahead. When he gets to the door, he uses the key he got from the mascot to open the door. As he enters the room, he begins to believe that he might have killed the manager when he killed the mascot who was filling in for the worker who called in sick.

  Entering the room, he flips the light switch only to see that it doesn’t work. Using his flashlight, he shines on a closet that is locked but he easily picks the lock to.

  Lockpicking skill increased to Level 11!

  When he gets the closet opened, he finds several items inside that he picks up.

  Picked up two Pistol Magazines. +16 Pistol Ammo

  Pistol Ammo: 31

  Picked up a jar of Gunpowder A

  Picked up a jar of Gunpowder B

  Picked up a Battery. This is a small lithium battery used for flashlights. Use it when your battery dies out on your flashlight.

  With his flashlight, he continues to look around the room to see if he sees any other useful items. He sees a desk that is already opened and there’s a key inside.

  Picked up a Key. It’s tagged Maintenance Area.

  “Cool, looks like I got my escape plan. Now onto the Forever 21 store and see if I can get the hell out of here.” He says to himself.

  Before he leaves, he sees a journal. Figuring nobody is around to see him, he opens and begins to read the journal.

  Mateo’s Journal

  October 1st, 2007

  “I found out today that I was hired as the manager of the new Bacon World restaurant that opened in Brewster. I’m so excited because I always loved Bacon World and their food, even if they have questionable nutritional value. I’m also happy about taking the job for the simple reason that it will be really close to me. In fact, it’s only a half hour away from me. A nice short drive should make it worthwhile. I think I’m gonna love my new job. I start on the 6th!

  October 5th, 2007

  Today I got a call from Bacon World telling me that my starting date has been pushed back due to the mall failing a fire inspection and having to repair the fire alarm system. So my new start date is now October 12th, which is ok. It just gives me more time to prepare.

  Now I can get a brand new suit for opening day. I hope they give me a nice employee discount for all that bacon goodness. I’ll take a drive out there so I can plan the best route to get there and find other routes when traffic is bad.

  October 10th, 2007

  Today is orientation day for me and I do admit the district manager is quite the asshole. Well… that kills my excitement just a bit for this job knowing I’ll be bored with sales quotas and all that corporate garbage. I’ll try to not let that kill my enthusiasm, besides those huge bacon cheeseburgers are calling my name. I need to make sure I get some good rest before opening day.

  Something in the manual did bother me and that was we had to prepare for a zombie outbreak. Now I’m not the biggest believer of zombies, but Bacon World made it seem like it was such a big deal. Then again, I don’t believe the Hybrid Corporation is in the business of curing people but I do have an open mind. I’ll try to not let it invade my head. I’m sure the district manager is just totally paranoid.

  October 12th, 2007

  Yes! Today is opening day for Bacon World, well at least the one I’ll be managing. I come to find out the worker who is supposed to be the mascot has a fever and when I called him, he did sound really bad. So I guess the first day will be interesting as I’ll have to play mascot until a replacement shows up.

  I’m not even angry, it was one of my dreams to be Captain Bacon. It’s much better than being Captain Bacon J
r, trust me I know. Plus the first meal is on the district manager. I guess he can be a nice guy when he’s not playing hotshot. Besides I wasn’t planning on sitting on my butt all day. Well look at the time, it’s time for me to get going.”

  After reading the journal, George feels even worse for killing bacon mascot.

  “Poor kid, he sounded like he was just getting his life together. For him to die such a crappy death because of a greedy corporation saddens me. I really hope that woman I met hasn’t turned into the undead.”

  Seeing nothing else in the manager’s office, he leaves the room and heads back to the main dining room. Reentering the dining room, he sees two more zombies walking around that he shoots with his pistol.

  Pistol Ammo: 25

  Before he can leave the counter area, an undead trips over the counter trying to grab him. George sidesteps from the grab as the zombie falls to the floor next to him. With its head on the floor, he uses his good left foot to stomp the head. The corpse splatters blood all over George. While the blood splatters over his leather jacket, he’s indifferent as survival is the name of the game now.

  Leaving the restaurant, he heads back to the main lobby. He sees a horde of zombies to his right that he ignores as he sees the Forever 21 store to his left. Despite the zombies that are in front of him, George conserves his ammo by outrunning them.

  When he reaches the Forever 21 storefront, the area is clear for the most part. There is a shaft blocking the store and there is no way to break through.

  “Damn it!” He screams as he tries to kick the shaft down.

  There is a keycard reader that he spots. Walking to it, he reads the screen.

  The Master Maintenance Keycard is needed to open this shaft. It’s located in the security office in the basement.

  “Damn it, I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy! Wait… what is that? Why am I shaking?” He asks himself.

  The building begins to shake and a loud boom coming from the other side can be heard. The shaking causes George to fall onto the floor.

  “I hope it’s not what I think it is…” He says in his head.

  He switches to his magnum just in case it proves to be Mr. Z or Polybius. The scene is very quiet and he nervously walks back to see if he can find the security office.

  Chapter 5

  George begins to walk towards the other side as he outruns any zombies that are ahead of him. He quickly goes down the stairs until he realizes that the horde of zombies is waiting to devour him. Before he can go upstairs, a huge superhuman crashes from above.

  “What the hell? Looks like my friend from the hospital is back.” He says.

  Mr. Z drops from above beginning to punch and plow its way through the horde.

  “Oh God, what kind of monster are you? He just plowed through that horde like nothing!” George says in shock.

  George notices that Mr. Z is walking much faster than back in the hospital. He begins to sprint away from the monster.

  “He’s walking even faster! What the hell is this thing? What did Hybrid create?” He screams as he’s running.

  All he can hear are the heavy footsteps getting louder as he tries to run from Mr. Z. He finds a hardware store that he quickly enters. Heading for the back, he looks behind him spotting Mr. Z giving chase. He heads to the cash register and spots a pickup.

  Picked up a jar of Gunpowder A.

  He hides under the counter hoping the monster doesn’t see him. Taking a peek over the counter, he sees that the superhuman is turning back the other way. He breathes a sigh of relief.

  “Looks like trenchy is back and... is badder... than ever.” George says catching his breath.

  Getting up from the counter, he doesn’t hear the heavy footsteps as loud as he was before. Walking around the hardware store, he looks around for anything useful. He looks through all the aisles and for the most part, doesn’t find anything useful.

  He has one more aisle to check and he does spot something different on the counter. It’s gunpowder but has a different label.

  Picked up Gunpowder C. Another type of gunpowder? Wonder what it will convert to?

  After grabbing the gunpowder, he feels the wall to his right vibrating. A few seconds later, Mr. Z pops out of the wall.

  “Oh God, where did you come from?” George shouts.

  Mr. Z deals a decent left hook that knocks George to the cabinet.

  Condition: Danger

  The monster prepares to punch George as he’s getting up. George is somehow able to use his instincts to dive to his right and dodge. Mr. Z’s punch breaks the cabinet in half. Landing on the floor, George has trouble getting up. With his magnum still in hand, he shoots a couple of shots at the monster as it tries to perform a double-axe handle on him. One of the shots strikes it in the eyes.

  The superhuman goes blind for a quick moment enabling George to get up and get a clear headshot. Shooting his third magnum round, Mr. Z goes down face first to his relief. Once the monster goes down, he checks its pockets to see if he finds anything.

  Magnum Rounds: 3

  Picked up a Green Herb.

  You combine a Green Herb and a Red Herb to create a Super Herb.

  You have used a Super Herb.

  Condition: Fine

  George is relieved as he’s able to recover his health fully. He runs out of the hardware store knowing Mr. Z will get up sooner rather than later. Before he goes down the stairs, he spots a gun shop that is open. He walks into the gun shop and is ambushed by a zombie that grabs him by the entrance. He’s able to use to use his survival knife to fight out of the grab but not before he takes damage.

  Condition: Caution (Level 1)

  With the zombie away from him, he shoots a couple of headshots with his pistol to finish it off.

  Pistol Ammo: 23

  Walking around the gun store, he sees three undead scattered through the store. He picks each of them off easily with his pistol before he begins to explore and reload his pistol.

  Pistol Ammo: 16

  “There’s gotta be some good firepower in here.” He says to himself.

  Looking around the shop he sees three weapons that catch his attention. One is a Remington Model 870 tactical shotgun, one is a UMP45 submachine gun, and one is dueling Colt 1911 pistols. There is one problem, there is only one strap for him to take, and it can only fit one weapon.

  “Decisions, decisions. Which one should I take?”

  Which gun will George take?

  1. Shotgun - A Remington M870 series tactical shotgun. Capable of shooting Buckshot, Slugs, and flammable Dragonfire shots. Damage will be greatest at close range while being less effective at far range.

  2. UMP45 - From Heckler and Koch, this is a submachine gun with two shooting modes. One is semi-auto for headshots, effective against zombies. The secondary mode is rapid fire. While it’s good for hordes, but its accuracy suffers badly further from mid-range. Also, it’s weak against certain bosses.

  3. Dueling 1911’s - From Colt, these twin .45 caliber handguns can deal out some mean punishment. These handguns are almost as powerful as a Desert Eagle. They suffer from a lower rate of fire which could prove havoc when it comes to defeating hordes of zombies and quick enemies.

  George thinks long and hard going over the different strengths and weaknesses of each weapon. He thinks about Mr. Z and how he’ll need a weapon that has a good power rating to defend himself should he fall short of magnum rounds. In fact, all he can think about is making sure he can defend against Mr. Z and surviving.

  You have chosen the Shotgun.

  Picked up a Shotgun. It comes loaded with six buckshot shells.

  Buckshot Shells: 6. Great for close range, not so much at close range.

  He decides to go with the shotgun as his new weapon figuring the close range ability works well with the encounters with the superhuman. With his new weapon in hand, he heads to the gunpowder aisle to see what he can gather. He finds three gunpowder jars.

  Picked up
a jar of Gunpowder A

  Picked up a jar of Gunpowder B

  Picked up a jar of Gunpowder C

  After gathering the jars of gunpowder, he heads to the counter where he sees one of the futuristic gunpowder converters that he saw in the mansion. He realizes that this part of the mall still has power. Upon closer review of the machine, he sees that the machine is made by Hybrid.

  “Those bastards even made this. It’s a shame that such a useful invention was made by such a scummy company.” He says to himself.

  Before using the machine, he looks at a computer next to the gunpowder machine.

  Instructions for using the gunpowder machine. First please select your weapon.

  1. Shotgun

  2. UMP 45

  3. Colt 1911

  You have selected the shotgun. Printing out instructions now for your weapon.

  The instructions come out of the printer and he grabs them to read.

  Ammo Crafting for Remington M870 Shotgun

  “Thanks for grabbing and purchasing the M870 series shotgun. You will be pleased with your choice of weapon. You’re in luck because there are three types of shells one can make. One is the regular buckshot shells, good for close range. The second type is slug shells, good for long range. Finally, you can create a new ammo type called Dragonfire shells which can set targets ablaze.

  There are three gunpowder types. They are A, B, and C. Combining them in a certain manner will give you different combinations. Look below for the combinations, each will yield six shells for the beginner in ammo crafting.

  Gunpowder B - Yields buckshot shells

  Gunpowder AB - Yields slug shells

  Gunpowder CB - Yields Dragonfire shells

  Bonus: As a bonus, here are some other combinations for other weapons, should your shotgun not be available to use.

  Gunpowder A - Yields one pistol magazine.

  Gunpowder C - Yields six magnum rounds

  We hope you find this manual useful and enjoy your new weapon. Please use responsibly.”

  After reading the manual, he gathers the gunpowder that he picked up and decides what to create. He counts three jars of gunpowder A. He also counts two jars of gunpowder B and C. He begins to craft his ammo.