Day 3.5
What the actual fuck was going on! A box was floating in his face. What the fuck was a Contender? Gods of the Multiverse?
Colin Braithwaite was freaking out.
The TV blared on about a quarantine zone around Exeter City, which meant fuck all right now. He had some anime shit happening. Why me? Why not a soldier? Or the whole damn British Army?
Our army isn't worth shit, police ain't any better.
999 was just a continuous busy signal for the last hour.
Time to get your shit together Colin. You don't have to be a Hero, but ya don't have to be a victim either.
Except that wasn't true anymore. Clearly he does have to be a Hero. Of the fucking Multiverse! How the hell could I be a Hero with a damn screen floating in my face. Can it atleast be minimised?
With that thought, the screen reduced to task bar size. New text appeared.
[ New Quest. Construct a Weapon ]
With what?
His flat had fuck-all to help with that.
No handy broom handle when he had a vacuum cleaner.
No great big butcher knives.
No bloody great axes to swing around.
No garden shed full of....YES!
The Bensons garage on the other side of the house! They're always gardening and building stuff!
[ Contender has shown initiative. Well done! ]
Yeah thanks creepy text thing.
Of course, that would mean he would have to go outside.
Fuck!
Colin crept to his front window. Just the empty driveway to see.
Good.
Bad Bad Bad!
A figure staggered past, but neither stopped or looked in his direction.
He would have to walk halfway down the driveway, flank by the side of the Bensons house and a hedge, then cut left at the front of the house.
The view from the street was blocked by the front hedge from then on.
OK you can do this Colin. Don't be a little bitch.
[ Contender has shown courage. Well done! ]
Running commentary is really not needed.
He eased open the door and waited. No sound. Like really no sound. No car noise, no distant factory drone of machinery. Not even fucking birds!
If a bird chirps right now, I'm gonna need a clean pair of pants.
Creeping down the driveway, he heard the first scrape of something being dragged. Not too close, but every 2 or 3 seconds the noise repeated, getting louder.
Move faster bitch. You wanna get eaten!
But he couldn't move faster. Just to keep moving forward at all took all his willpower.
1 2 3 scrape! 1 2 3 scrape!
He couldn't even tell which direction it was coming from, the sound tunnel of the driveway funnel the noise.
If it was a Deader coming from the right of the property while Colin was in the driveway, it may miss him.
Not as Colin rounded the corner of the house though.
It would have a clear view of him.
[ Tactical reasoning shown. Well done! ]
His heart pounding through his chest, Colin approached the corner, just as a Dead woman crossed the drive.
From the left side. Colin froze, not wanting to even breath.
The Dead woman took a lunging step, then a stumbling step with her left leg, her foot dragging a bloody trail along the pavement.
Her throat was torn out, blood drenched her cloths
It was the woman from the car accident.
He had heard her die, by the hands of the drunk guy who wasn't really drunk.
A turn of her head, and she would see her first potential victim mere metres away.
With every step she had less chance of seeing him.
But she did not turn, but continued in her blind search.
His chest bursting for air, Colin held on till the Creature passed. And slowly inhaled even after.
He had been far luckier than he deserved.
He made his way to the garage set in front of the house, a stand-alone structure.
A path lead between house and garage to its side door, the plant pot near the door hid a spare key under it.
Briefly panicking at the possibility of squeaking hinges drawing at undead to him proved unwarranted.
The Bensons took care of their property, hinges and all. The sidedoor opened in silence, Colin's fat body sliding through the opening as soon as it was wide enough.
Closing the door behind him, he let his eyes adjust to the dim light.
And was greeted by a treasure trove of items.
Tools as expected, yes.
But the huge quantity of food boxes and canned goods was shocking! Who keeps this stocked up on food? Well, Mormons apparently.
[ Initiative Reward. Serendipity Increase ]
Your in luck today Colin-me-boyo. You gonna test that luck by standing here staring, or doing what you came for?
He slowly scanned the tools, picking out a rake he could remove the head off. And garden shears for its bayonet type blade.
He quietly set to work.
Day 3.75
Hours passed. The act of staying quiet dragged every task out infinitely, or so it felt.
He had stopped to drink some of the bottled water from the shelves of supplies, the heat in the garage climbing as the day wore on.
But he had made good progress.
He could now say he wasn't defenceless, armed with a spear made from the rake handle with a wicked garden shear point held on with wire.
The pairing shear blade was turned into a long dagger.
He was as set as he could be.
[ Quest Complete. Weapon Durability Increase ]
Durability increase huh? I'll take it.
[ New Quest. Secure Your Shelter ]
Great minds think alike I guess.
Packing canned meat and vegetables into an old backpack found hanging on the wall, He ventured back out into a suddenly deadly world.
Colin stood in the path between house and garage. Just listening, and trying to make a plan for further ahead than the moment he was in.
Victims live in the moment.
Survivors plan for the future.
And he already may be too late. The first days of disaster would make the most difference to that future. So what did he need?
I got a fuck-ton of food. Oh thank you thank you thank you Benson family. I'm sorry you are away in the North, but thank you all the same!
Now I need security. Weapons are for if I'm attacked. Security is so I don't have to use the weapons.
He needed to block the driveway.
The homes on one side had high fences on four sides, a thick Privett hedge separated the other house from Colin's refuge, the street front the same.
A car, parked sideways, could barricade the driveway entrance?
Yes, but not well enough. Out of sight, out of undead mind is what you need.
So a truck? Great idea, but Colin couldn't drive a truck.
The short distance he would need to travel from finding then driving it didn't outweigh the time it would take to figure out how to get it moving.
I need a van. Not too big, but big enough.
Who has a van round here though. Plenty of private ones, but I don't know who has them.
Company van then.
Big companies have trucks, so small business only. Food stores? Fuck-all of them in Kenn.
Bakeries though?
He knew of two. Only one close enough to risk. Half a km down the road.
[ New Additional Quest. Cull the Cursed ]
Only if I can't help it.