Raven's tired body slumped beside the fallen undead, his chest rising and falling in heavy breaths. The fight hadn't even lasted a full minute, and yet, it had drained him completely.
"What the hell was that…?" he muttered, eyeing the twisted corpse beside him, then shifting his gaze to the blue, hovering screen in front of him.
A notification blinked steadily.
[You have received a star fragment.]
'Star fragment…? What even is that?'
He stared blankly at the words, hoping the system would answer somehow. But nothing happened. Silence.
After lying there for a few more seconds, Raven forced his sore body to sit up. He reached for his jacket, the thin, sweat-stained delivery uniform he wore every day and stripped it off. The stench of the rot that stained it was unbearable.
'I guess I don't need this anymore.'
He tossed it aside, watching as it crumpled to the ground like a discarded piece of his past. His breathing steadied slightly. From the sounds echoing in all directions, the screams, crashes and shouts, it was obvious that what had just happened to him was happening everywhere else too.
"This thing… this skeleton or to say undead, whatever it was, it came out of the ground. A grave?" he asked aloud, voice low and uneasy.
He gulped.
That meant…
"…all of them?"
The realization sank in like a weight to the gut. If even one could crawl out from under the earth, then that meant anyone who had died, everyone could return and become an undead.
"Even those who die now…?" he whispered.
That was a question without an answer. But deep down, he had a feeling the system was cruel enough to say yes. Still, thinking about it wouldn't change anything. He needed to survive.
That was the only thing that mattered now.
This street was quiet for now but not for long. Staying here would be suicide. He needed to move, and quickly. Somewhere isolated. Somewhere high up, where the undead couldn't so easily reach.
'I shouldn't be reckless. Charging into a fight head-on just because I will get a kill and a reward… that would be suicide. Even this one was enough to push me to the edge. If I face a whole group of them, what then?'
He didn't need blind bravery. He needed strategy.
The best thing to do right now was to get to a place where he could observe everything. Somewhere with elevation, tall, sturdy, and away from the swarming chaos below.
And only one place came to mind: the tall building he had just delivered food to. It wasn't far. It was also his best and maybe his only option.
But there was one problem.
"…How the hell am I supposed to get there?"
He did not have the mean to get there now, and the only thing he could do was walk there but with the current situation he needed a weapon to get there unharmed.
The undead were terrifying, but they didn't seem superhuman. If he had something solid, something that could crush bone…
His eyes scanned his surroundings.
There was nothing. Just the broken remains of his old, faithful bike which now was a useless heap.
But… maybe not entirely useless.
Raven crouched beside it, inspecting what was left. The electronics were fried, probably due to that freakish wave from Puck or whatever force was behind it all.
But there had to be something here he could salvage.
And then it hit him.
'The chains.'
His eyes lit up. That was it.
The chain was tough, solid, and if used right, could become a brutal makeshift weapon. But it wouldn't come off easily. Not with bare hands. He needed to break it.
He looked over to the same blood-stained rock he'd used earlier and picked it up once more.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Each strike echoed sharply through the empty street until finally,
Snap!
the chain gave way.
He yanked it loose and wrapped it around his hands twice. It wasn't perfect, but it was something.
'This will work for now… but it still needs weight. Something hard enough to smash a skull.'
His eyes shifted back to the bike.
Something small... solid... metal…
There.
'The brake disc.'
It was probably the toughest piece on the entire thing. And perfect for the end of a flail-like weapon.
But he couldn't break it off the way he did with the chain, not without ruining it.
Luckily, he had a way.
Raven quickly rummaged through the toolkit under the bike seat and pulled out a set of Allen keys. Without wasting a second, he started unscrewing the bolts on the disc.
The smell of rot was intensifying by the second. The air was thick with it. Something was coming.
He could feel it.
He moved faster.
One bolt… then another… then another…
His fingers worked with adrenaline-fueled speed. Each passing second, the scent of decayed flesh grew stronger.
The undead were coming.
Finally, six bolts undone. He tossed them aside and yanked the disc free.
In a hurry, he looped the chain through one of the holes, knotting it tightly.
He stood up, gripping his new weapon... a chain flail with a brake disc head. It felt heavy and powerful. Crude, but deadly.
'Let them come now… I'm ready.'
His face had changed. The fatigue was still there, his limbs ached, his chest burned but beneath all that, there was a flicker of fire in his eyes.
He swung the weapon experimentally. It sliced through the air with a satisfying whirl.
'If this hits their head full-force, I'm sure it'll crack right through.'
Confidence rose in his chest, but he knew better than to be cocky. This was just the beginning.
Getting to that building wasn't going to be easy. There would be more undead. Dozens maybe even hundreds.
Even if he tried to sneak through the streets, he would run into them eventually.
'If only my damn bike worked…'
He sighed, tightening his grip on the chain.
No more time to waste.
He had to move. Had to survive.
As he took the first step forward, he felt the familiar weight of fear pressing down on him. He wasn't fearless, not by a long shot.
But fear wouldn't stop him.
It never had.
This apocalypse… it was just another chapter in his story.
Another storm to endure.
---
Thanks for reading everyone.