"Let's do it!!! Devin! " A girl with attractive brown almond eyes sparked with confidence. She was wearing a black leather jacket and jeans, and she extended her trembling hand toward the young man beside her.
A train horn sounded at a distance with a sharp beep. Understanding the urgency, Devin let out a shaky last breath and his blue eyes connected directly to hers, and he gave a sharp, single confirmation nod and wrapped his fingers around hers. Both simultaneously stepped out of the train stairs to the platform.
When they placed their feet on the floor, the ground vanished into a space. Reality disappeared, train, junction, everything disappeared. Both are floating in the blue sky and facing downwards.
Behind them, some other participants screaming ripped through the air and fell under pressure.
"Ahhhhh!!!!"
"Help me!!!"
The unmeasurable pressure of air made August couldn't maintain her balance as she left Devin's hand, spun away, struggling against the strong gusts.
"Watch out, Devin!" she called out, warning him to look out for the other players before they collided with one another.
Now, everyone could see the landscape. "What the hell!!!" They screamed.
"We are all going to die!"
"No!!!! We're going to smash like a tomato!"
August was squeezing her eyes shut so hard not to watch the impact.
Instead of a bone-shattering crash, they hit a soft landing and touched a blue, emitting light, which slowed down the motion and safely landed everyone without any single crack or damage.
Devin was the first to find his footing. He rushed to August, "Hey, you're fine!" he murmured gently, who was still curled in a ball, hands clamped over her ears and shivering in fear.
"August!"
"Am I alive?" she thought when she heard her name as she came back to reality. Then she slowly fluttered her eyes open and stood up from the half-sit and looked around. The world around them looked similar to the real world and a mix of high-technology, modern world.
Towering skyscrapers were covered on every side and secured with glowing digital lights and displaying Terms and Conditions banners, making the scene feel unreal. The road was vast and empty. Silence filled every street and building with a rotten smell slightly mingled with the air. Scattered everywhere were papers, dust, and banners.
"Where are we?" August hissed, watching every direction around her.
Others were looking at it with the same confusion.
Before Devin could answer, the ground hummed like a boiling sand. Immediately, mini spider-like automatic robots were suddenly emitted from the ground and swarmed towards the players.
"What the hell?" Devin whispered to himself in a lower husky tone.
Within a second, the miniature device captured everyone on the road and made its way directly to their wrists, and the spider-like robots automatically transformed into unbreakable, advanced, systematic watches, and a nano pin came out of the watch, inserted into the back of the spinal cord of the neck.
"What's happening right now?" everyone shouted, trying to run away from the mini robots.
One of the men in a black shirt, with all his strength, brought his foot down on the miniature robot, aiming to crush it like an ant and rubbed his foot on the road.
"Hehe," he laughed with a happy, wide smile, "I smashed one of them!!!" He shouted proudly as he lifted his foot away.
But there's nothing there.
His pupil enlarged in shock as he looked at his outsole. That miniature had shifted its shape as a shoe print in a liquid jelly form and again shifted into its original shape and swarmed to his wrist.
Meanwhile, the silence was shattered slowly by the sounds of a group of giant steps at a distance, and a raw, screaming sound, creating a chilling echo.
Devin paused his talking, "Shh!!" He hissed and placed his index finger above his lips. He tilted his head, pressed his left tragus ear and listened to the gigantic sound from the south.
"Wait! I can hear something," August whispered as she followed the massive, screaming sound direction.
As the eerie sound echoed along the road, it captured the attention of everyone nearby. "What was that noise?" people wondered aloud and discussed.
The scream grew louder and more intense. Soon, everyone's focus shifted toward the south direction of the road, away from the Devin side.
"Oh! There is more survival here!!!" A man with a red hat smiled and was excited, watching the crowd.
"Yeah! I can see them!" Another lady said, wearing a black formal office dress.
"Nothing seems right here!!!" Devin's instinct told him inside his mind as he looked, noticing the crowd of people's behaviour from a distance.
They weren't just running; they were hunting. Their faces were full of aggression, blood, skin torn, and their clothes were covered with blood stains, flesh and fresh blood. Their faces were scarred, cut and wounded, their eyes were bulging out, and their mouths were covered with dry blood.
When the zombies were near the humans, they didn't offer help; instead, they grabbed the first human and tore him to pieces, chewing through his throat, his cheeks and his hands and every part with famished intensity like a person who hadn't eaten anything for years.
Understand the horrific scene, other players were screaming and running away from the zombies as much as they could to save their lives.
"Come on!!! Run! We have to hide!" Devin yelled as he grabbed August's hand, holding it tightly, and pulled her toward the north direction quickly.
In the chaos, her arm brushed a button on Devin's new watch. A holographic screen flickered into the air between them:
"Welcome to the Zombies Game world."
Player ID Number: 666333
Player name: Devin Rydeen.
Age: 25
Blood type: O positive.
Occupation: Doctor, neurologist.
Strength: Good at science, problem-solving and analytics.
Weakness: Having allergies to sour fruits.
Current Target: Hide at a secure place.
Current task reward points: 1000 points.
Total Points: 0000 points.
Examine his history details: [YES] [NO]
Current location map: [YES] [NO]
Devin was mesmerised by watching the screen and frozen like a statue, staring at the floating data. "What is this?" murmured to himself as he looked back. A bunch of people were getting hit and bitten by zombies.
"Hey... Come on!!! We should hide one of those buildings," August shouted in fear and dragged his hand, bringing him back to reality.
Devin approached the left side of the glass-tall building, grabbed an iron knob and pulled out quickly in pure urgency, but the door remained locked. Instead, after the touch, an automatic AI system voice announced, "SCAN ME!"
August gazed widened in fear, glancing nervously at the approaching zombies at a few meters distance, rushed and clenching the door in nervousness, "Scan it!"
Without wasting a second, Devin placed his wrist toward the scanner, and instantly, a blue 3D holographic letter appeared above.
"ENRTY POINTS: 50,000 POINTS "
"Are you willing to pay the points?" [ YES] [ CANCEL]
Your current points: 0000.
"Huh! Entry fee? Ah! Shit! They're getting closer!" Devin exclaimed as noticing the dead crowd closing in on them. Without another thought, he and August began to run quickly.
August and Devin stopped running and let out a shaky breath, and looking the front road. There are two split roads in front of them. Which way?" she gasped, her leather jacket heavy with sweat.
"Right! Go right!" Devin confirmed in urgency that both ran into the roadway.
After running for a few minutes, no zombies were following them. Both slowed their running speed and paused gradually, slowly looking behind them in their direction.
They darted until their lungs cooled down, finally ducking into the messy ground floor of a small apartment complex. August leaned against the main glass door, her legs trembling from continuous running. "I thought... I thought we were dead," she rasped, swallowed hard to wet her dry throat. "I-I need water."
While talking, suddenly, the door behind her hissed open. A hand shot out from the shadows, gripped her arm, and dragged her into the darkness without any warning.