《Beta Tester Beth: Hundred Day Horde》 Chapter 1: MMORP鈥擶hat? Frackity, frack, frack, frack! Beth Davis sighed and stared at the college grant rejection email. She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them. How could they have said no? She¡¯d answered the questions exactly like they¡¯d wanted. What was she gonna do now? Just one more semester. One piddly semester, and she¡¯d have her associates in general studies. All she wanted was a better life, was that too much to ask? When she graduated, Beth would officially be the first person in her family to get a college education. Just because she had no idea what she wanted to do after, didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t worth taking a chance on now. She closed the email and a new one popped up from her mama. The subject was empty, so Beth clicked on it to read the body of the email. Hey Beth Ann, U wer rite about Freddie, he took my sock cash n left I aint heard from him sence NE chance U got sum money to spear? gonna get kickt out of my traler if I cant pay - Mom Her ¡°sock cash¡± was what her mama called the rolled up twenties she stuffed in the bottom of her sock drawer for safe keeping. The typo-riddled email was just like her mama, straight to the point. No, how are you? How¡¯s life? How are your classes? Just, ¡®send money¡¯. How was Beth supposed to send money? She didn¡¯t have money to send. In fact, she was behind on her own rent. Maybe she could find a second place to sell her plasma every week. Just for a month or two until she¡¯d caught up on her bills. It couldn¡¯t be that dangerous, could it? She was already stacking the clinical trials of two different drugs on the down low, and picking up shifts at the diner on the weekends just to pay for books. She¡¯d worked her tail off to get a grant to pay most of her tuition over the past two years, but books and living expenses were eating up every bit of money she had. And now, without the grant to finish out the year, she was screwed. Her roommate, Celeste, didn¡¯t seem to be having the same financial troubles. Before Beth could talk herself out of it, she checked between the couch cushions. Gum wrappers, crumbs and fifty-six measly cents. It was barely enough to buy two packs of ramen. Beth glanced at her watch, son of a bitch, she was gonna be late for work. She closed her laptop and stuffed her cell into her back pocket. It was one of those prepaid deals, but she hadn¡¯t been able to afford minutes in months, so for now, it was just for show. Then she pulled her black hair into a high ponytail and twisted it into a bun. Before she walked out the door, she popped one of her drug trial pills, it was supposed to help her ¡®improve her focus¡¯, or some such garbage, but it just gave her a ton of energy. She left the apartment and got into her 1998 Honda Civic that was more rust than car, held together by bumper stickers. Then she made her way to the Tasty Treat Drive-in. Eight hours later, she was exhausted, covered in grease, and her feet felt like they¡¯d fall off if she didn¡¯t sit soon. She pulled the tips from her apron and set them on the table. After totalling the change, she thunked her forehead onto the hard surface. Twelve bucks. How was she supposed to make it to payday with twelve measly bucks? Quickly, she showered the grease from her body, washed her undies in the sink and pulled on a less-than-clean pair of jammies from on top of the dirty hamper. Part of that twelve bucks needed to go to laundry detergent. Winning the lottery sure would be helpful; this paycheck-to-paycheck thing was getting old. The next week was a total cluster. With the tips she¡¯d gotten at the diner¡ªthanks, college town¡ªshe¡¯d bought laundry detergent, a 12 pack of ramen, and a bottle of cheapo 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner. Then used the rest to wash a load of laundry at the Soap ¡®N Bubbles. She¡¯d squirreled away a hundred bucks from selling plasma. But she still needed a lot more to catch up on her rent and buy the list of books that seemed to never end. Friday, as she walked into the library, she swung past the bulletin board. It was where she¡¯d found her other clinical trials. A white paper with tear-off phone numbers poked from behind a neon green flier announcing a live band performance at a local dive. Beth pushed the green page aside and read the white one. Testers needed for a sleep study/VR beta test, earn between $100-$1000. She ignored the rest of the flier and tore off the tab with the phone number. She didn¡¯t need the details about what they were looking for, she¡¯d fudge that part to become the ideal candidate. As she sat reading the same page of her biology textbook for the tenth time, Beth finally flipped the cover closed and stood. She couldn¡¯t focus¡ªthe irony didn¡¯t escape her¡ªthat damn flier kept poking at the back of her mind, ruining her concentration. Beth walked to the back of the library, where there was often an empty desk for the library assistants. A corded phone sat on the desk, and Beth sat at the computer and dialed the number. After a few rings, a man answered. ¡°Insomnia Games Sleep Studies, this is Jim.¡± ¡°Hey Jim, I saw your flier in the campus library, and I¡¯m calling to see if I qualify for a sleep study.¡± The sound of fingers tapping on a keyboard filtered through the phone. Then, ¡°Name?¡± ¡°Um, Beth Davis.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re an avid gamer?¡± Avid gamer? What the Frack? ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°What types of games do you like?¡± came the dude¡¯s bored voice on the other end. Shiz. Beth loved board games, but had a feeling that wasn¡¯t the type of games he was talking about. ¡°All types,¡± she lied. The dude harrumphed. ¡°Have you ever played an MMORPG?¡± What kind of alien-speak was that? And did he have to sound so accusatory? ¡°Yup,¡± she said with confidence. The guy let out a sigh, heavy with what Beth could only describe as annoyance. ¡°We have an opening tonight. Can you be here at eight?¡± She was supposed to work a shift at the diner, but she¡¯d make more at the sleep study, even if she only made a hundred bucks. ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°Bring something comfortable but form-fitting to sleep in,¡± he said, then disconnected the call. Beth powered on the computer in front of her, pulled up a search engine and typed in MMORPG. ¡°Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game,¡± she whispered. What had she just gotten herself into? She spent the next thirty minutes reading through articles and forums about different types of MMORPG games. Basically, she was going into a nerd world. Honestly, it wasn¡¯t that she wasn¡¯t interested in games, but growing up her mama had never owned a computer. The only electronic things in their trailer were either devoted to watching soap operas, or cooking food. When Beth felt sufficiently ready to lie about all the games she¡¯d researched, she sat in her car and drew eyeliner around her eyes, then smeared it in before heading to the diner. She spoke to the shift manager, making her voice scratchy and throwing in a couple of coughs for good measure. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. I kept hoping I¡¯d feel better for my shift tonight, but I think I¡¯m going to miss it.¡± The manager treated her like a leper and sent her home with orders not to return until her cough was completely gone. Beth had to hide her smile until she was back in her car. Once she arrived at her apartment, Beth opened the door and called, ¡°Celeste?¡± She held her breath and prayed her roommate wouldn¡¯t respond. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Silence. Beautiful, beautiful silence. Beth headed straight for the fridge and grabbed Celeste¡¯s milk, stole the cereal from the cabinet, then poured herself a bowl of Fruity Loops. As she was pouring the milk, Beth noticed a tiny line drawn on the outside of the half gallon of milk. Her roommate was marking the fill line? Beth grinned and took the milk to the sink, filling it with water to the previous line before retreating into her bedroom to eat her pilfered cereal. If her roommate caught her, there¡¯d be hell to pay. A half hour before her scheduled sleep study, Beth rinsed off in the shower, redid her makeup, and slipped into a pair of black yoga pants, a sports bra, and an oversized hoodie. She grabbed one of Celeste¡¯s granola bars and shoved it into her pouch pocket, then drove to the address located on the tear-off tab. When she pulled up to the dingy warehouse building, Beth began having second thoughts. This looked pretty shady. What if they were organ harvesters or something? What if she went in and never came back out? Human traffickers? There were too many possibilities. The lone streetlight above her car flickered off, and Beth took that as a bad omen. There was no way she was going in there. She restarted her car and retreated back to her apartment. As she climbed the stairs to the second floor, a huge gust of wind cut through the gaps between the cement steps and blasted her with snow. She fracking hated winter. The door to the apartment was locked, which meant Celeste was home. She inserted her key into the lock and turned, but nothing happened. What the hell? She stepped back and looked at the apartment number, this was the right apartment. Beth pulled the key out and checked to be sure she¡¯d used the right one. Indeed, she had. ¡°Beth?¡± came Celeste¡¯s muffled voice from the inside of the apartment. ¡°It¡¯s me.¡± Thank heavens her roommate was home. Celeste¡¯s voice mingled with a male voice inside the door. ¡°Um. You haven¡¯t paid rent in three months, so the landlord changed the locks and took possession of your things to pay your back rent. He says you have thirty days to bring yourself current, or he¡¯ll pawn everything.¡± FRACK. Beth pounded on the door. ¡°Can you at least let me in? It¡¯s cold.¡± This time, a man spoke, ¡°You need to pay rent or I¡¯ll have you arrested for trespassing.¡± Son of a bitch. Beth stomped down the stairs to her car, slamming the door a little too hard. If she hurried, she could get back to that sleep study place, at least it was somewhere to stay. Hell, she could make enough money to pay her back rent, if she made herself the perfect candidate. She started the car and her gas light came on. Ignoring it, she quickly drove back to the creepy warehouse. This was such a bad idea. Sitting in the dim dome light from her car, she caught a glimpse of the bottle of pills for one of her drug trials. At least those hadn¡¯t been confiscated by her landlord. She popped a tablet in her mouth and swallowed it with the mostly frozen bottle of water in her cup holder. A blonde girl stood in the parking lot looking at the building, and Beth got out of her car and stood next to her, noting the girl¡¯s height. ¡°This looks so sketchy,¡± the girl said. ¡°I know,¡± Beth deadpanned. ¡°I¡¯m so broke, though,¡± the girl whined. Beth sighed. ¡°Me, too.¡± The girl linked her arm with Beth¡¯s. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with.¡± The pair began walking to the steel door with the only other light above it. ¡°I¡¯m Beth, by the way,¡± she said. ¡°Carrie.¡± As Carrie opened the door, it creaked, announcing their entrance. They entered into a main office that was about ten feet by fifteen feet and smelled like the inside of a tire shop. A long oval table was in the middle and sitting around the table was like ten dudes. All staring at them. And all looking like they were the kind of people that would play an MMORPG. Okay, that was unfair. She scanned the group; some of them at least looked like they hit the gym. A bakery box sat in the center of the table with two lonely sugared donuts. Barf. She took back her assessment of them; they¡¯d eaten all the best donuts, therefore they sucked. Beth could see remains of maple and chocolate glaze and a few rainbow sprinkles. ¡°Thanks for joining us, ladies. If you¡¯ll have a seat, we¡¯ll continue on with the orientation.¡± A guy that was barely older than Beth gestured to two unoccupied seats near the back. He wore a well-tailored gray suit and a button-up blue shirt that was unbuttoned at the throat. His light hair was slicked back and secured with a man bun at the back of his head. Beth suppressed a shudder. Man buns were the worst men¡¯s hairstyle since the mullet. As the girls sat, one of the guys slid the bakery box back, and Beth and Carrie each took a donut. ¡°Now, as I was saying,¡± the guy continued, ¡°you¡¯ll each be put in your individual pods, and you¡¯ll place these electrodes on your temples, and one below your heart.¡± He held up a couple of quarter-sized stickers and placed them on his temples, then a third he held over his shirt under his left peck. ¡°Once you¡¯ve got them in position, notify your assistant, and they¡¯ll help you with your VR mask. Then the fun begins. Any questions?¡± Great, they¡¯d basically missed the entire introduction. Carrie widened her eyes at Beth and raised one half of her mouth in an Elvis like sneer. Beth shrugged. They¡¯d just have to wing it. Man-bun clapped once. ¡°Perfect, then if you¡¯ll all follow me¡­¡± A bigger guy who stunk of sweat and thai food accosted the two girls and handed them each a clipboard. ¡°Sign these waivers, please.¡± This was too easy. They didn¡¯t even have to ask questions? Beth¡¯s research on the role-playing games was a waste. Bah. She quickly scrawled her signature across the line and dated it as the rest of the group followed Man-bun out a door opposite the entrance. Carrie and Beth stood simultaneously and shuffled out behind the rest of the participants deeper into the warehouse. A hallway lined with doors stretched the length of the building, about eighty feet long. Each door had a piece of paper taped to it with the participant¡¯s name typed on the front. As they went, she made a mental note of each name. Beth would never remember them all. By the end, each person had split off and was in their private room. Carrie waved and entered the room across from Beth¡¯s own room. When Beth entered, she almost laughed. A pod that looked akin to a tanning bed stood at the center of the room with the lid open. Man-bun followed her in, closed the door and turned to her. ¡°Do you need any help? I¡¯m Phil, by the way, I¡¯ll be your sleep assistant.¡± Beth eyed him as he played with a portable machine on a table next to the tanning bed. She walked to the pod and picked up the electrodes from the bed, placing them carefully on her temples. She peeled her sweatshirt off and placed the other electrode under her left breast. Pulling her hair from her ponytail, she massaged her scalp, enjoying the relief in tension taking out the hair tie caused. ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± Beth said, sitting on the edge of the pod. The bed itself felt like it was made of some sort of memory foam, and the sheets were soft and luxurious. They were the softest thing she¡¯d ever felt. Man-bun¡¯s adam¡¯s apple bobbed. ¡°Go ahead and lay down.¡± He pulled an odd pair of glasses with a small wire, running from the edge on one side and handed them to her. ¡°Put these on your eyes, then I¡¯ll adjust the bed and attach the electrodes.¡± Beth carefully laid back and placed the transparent glasses over her eyes. Man-bun stood and his fingers brushed her abdomen as his shaky fingers attached the wire at her breast. Then he lowered the top of the tanning bed and moved to the head of the bed, kneeling and attaching wires to the electrodes on her temples. ¡°How long will this take?¡± Beth asked. She tilted her head up until she could meet his gaze. ¡°Well, that was my next question. Do you have classes in the morning?¡± Beth nodded, or tried to. The wires tugged on her skin. ¡°What time would you like your wake-up call?¡± ¡°Um, eight? I guess.¡± He nodded, then stood and she heard him type something into his computer. ¡°So what determines whether I get a hundred bucks, or a thousand?¡± she asked. ¡°We¡¯re looking for compatibility at this stage. If you¡¯re compatible with the game, you¡¯ll make more, but we¡¯ll know pretty quickly if you¡¯re not,¡± he said. ¡°How? Is this dangerous?¡± He chuckled. ¡°No, it¡¯s not dangerous. If you¡¯re not compatible, you won¡¯t experience the dreamscape. You¡¯ll just go to sleep and wake up in the morning having rested in one of our deluxe pods.¡± ¡°So if I go to sleep, and wake up in the morning without anything, it¡¯s just a hundred dollars?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± That wasn¡¯t too bad, it wouldn¡¯t pay her rent though. ¡°And I wouldn¡¯t be eligible to do it again, right?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± ¡°And if I am compatible?¡± Beth found herself crossing her fingers as she waited for his answer. ¡°Well, the pay is based on the level of compatibility, and the level of compatibility determines whether you¡¯ll be asked to come back again.¡± Fair enough. ¡°Cool,¡± she said. ¡°Ready to try it?¡± Excitement and terror warred for control inside her. On one hand, if this went well, she could pay her bills, help her mama, and eat something other than pilfered cereal and ramen noodles. But on the other hand, if she wasn¡¯t compatible she¡¯d leave with a hundred bucks, and probably have to move back to her mama¡¯s trailer. ¡°Let¡¯s do it,¡± she said with more confidence than she felt. Lights flickered on the lid of the tanning bed, and she was cocooned in warmth. Almost immediately, her eyes felt heavy. ¡°Why am I so tired all of a sudden?¡± Beth said through a yawn. ¡°The donuts,¡± Man-bun replied. Frack. She¡¯d been drugged. Chapter 2: Zombies Suck An empty black room greeted her. Not that the lights were off, but the room was literally black. The walls, ceiling and carpets were all black. A white X was drawn in the center of the room and Beth caught herself walking toward it before she¡¯d even known she was moving. As she took her place on the X, white text appeared in her vision. Welcome to Insomnia Online the VRMMO. If you can dream it, you can be it. Clever. A masculine voice read the words aloud in a cultured British accent, and Beth almost melted into a puddle on the floor. Yes. She could happily listen to that voice all night. Hundred Day Horde Avatar creation screen. The text dissolved and in its place the figure of a non-descript human man appeared on the right of her vision, and text on the left. Name: Survivor Sex: Male Specialty: Builder Two arrows with points going either direction floated above the figure¡¯s head, and Beth reached up and touched one of them. A scantily clad buxom woman spun in a slow circle. She wore a glorified bra and a skirt that was torn off mid-thigh. Her boobs were enormous, and Beth laughed. Obviously this game was designed by men for men. Name: Survivor Sex: Female Specialty: Builder Beth scrolled sideways on the specialty option. She could be a hunter, a mechanic, a fighter, a scientist, or a builder. Each option came with its own tool belt and a different body type. The fighter had a gun belt slung low across her bare abdomen, toned legs, and muscular arms. Swords criss-crossed behind the character¡¯s back. Beth scrolled past several options before settling back on Fighter. It was kinda fun, like window shopping, but in the best possible way. She could pick what her character would actually look like, or there was a clone button. Curious, she clicked on it. The character changed immediately, sporting long, auburn hair, striking green eyes, full lips, and a form-fitting brown leather outfit that accentuated her boobs, that again, were way too big to actually be comfortable. It was like using one of those glow-up filters for her whole body. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t there be descriptions here?¡± she wondered aloud. The avatar¡¯s mouth moved as Beth spoke, and instead of her thin and slightly raspy voice, the voice she heard was sultry and rich. Beth laughed, and the avatar copied. Fighters specialize in hunting zombies, clearing buildings, rescue missions, and defending their base. They have a higher accuracy with weapons, and they can carry more items due to their high strength. Sounded cool enough. The character¡¯s name flashed on the screen, and Beth shook her head and the name disappeared. She looked around. What was she supposed to do? ¡°Beth,¡± she said, and her name appeared above the character¡¯s head. Okay, then. Next, the word Difficulty appeared. There were only four options: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Nightmare. What the heck. She selected Advanced and pressed continue. Warning. You¡¯re selecting Advanced difficulty. Confirm your selection by pressing continue, or go back to select again. A smile spread across Beth¡¯s lips before she pressed confirm. She gasped and jumped backwards as a graying zombie appeared in front of her. One eye hung from the female zombie¡¯s eye socket. Her irises were red, and she shambled in place, her limbs stiff and rigid. A low moan escaped her throat and Beth took another step backward. The word ¡°Walker¡± floated above her head and then rang through the room in the sexy British accent. Immediately the zombie changed, and in its place was a large male zombie, a distinct dragging sound accompanied its limping steps. One of its feet dragged at an awkward angle. The word ¡°Runner¡± floated above its head, and the same voice read it aloud. The next zombie looked almost exactly like the first one, the only difference being the dislocated jaw and the word ¡°Rabid¡± above its head. Sexy British accent said that word too, then the zombie changed again. This one was missing the bottom half of its body, it made a gurgling noise as it dragged itself in place. ¡°Crawler¡± hung above its head, repeated by the voice. A body lay on the ground, the word ¡°Deceptor¡± above its head. Instinctively, Beth stepped closer, and the zombie sprang to its feet and hissed. She stumbled backwards, placing a hand over her pounding heart. She laughed nervously and looked around the black room. What had she gotten herself into? The zombie changed, this one a female with a blindfold over one eye. Her good eye scanned the room and when it landed on her, it shrieked. Zombies popped up all around it, and the voice explained: ¡°This is a Shrieker, it spawns when characters are making too much noise, if it spots you before you kill it, it will shriek, drawing zombies to you from all directions.¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. The zombies all disappeared, and Beth was left looking at a zombie wearing all black. It was eerily silent as the zombie moved. ¡°Prowler,¡± the voice said. A chill went down Beth¡¯s spine. She wouldn¡¯t be able to hear this one sneaking up on her. The parade of zombies continued, and try as she might, Beth knew she wouldn¡¯t remember each one and what it did. Eventually, the room morphed, and Beth found herself in the middle of a desert landscape, complete with cactus and sand in every direction. At the very top of her screen, a compass appeared and she spun in a slow circle, watching it shift with her. As she looked east, she saw a blinking yellow marker. Right below the compass was a small clock, which told her it was Day: 1 Time: 05:00 hours. This was probably where past gaming experience would come in handy, but she didn¡¯t have any. Light music played in the background, which Beth took as a good sign. At the bottom, center of her vision, she saw eight squares with outlines of hands. In two of the squares there was a can of food, and a bottle of water. She reached behind her back to where her criss-crossed swords were supposed to be, but came up empty. Her hand traced to her gun belt, only it wasn¡¯t there either. How the hell was she supposed to fight zombies without weapons? And shoes. She cautiously headed toward the yellow bouncing arrow, weaving through the desert and avoiding cactuses. After a couple minutes, she bent over, panting. Beth noticed two bars on the top right side of her vision, one of which was red, and had a cross beside it, and said 100/100. The other was blue and had a shoe beside it. That one said 2/100 and slowly ticked upward as she stood there. Right below that was an outline of a body. Beth had no idea what it was or what it did, so she ignored it for now. ¡°Out of Stamina,¡± the sexy British voice said. Beth looked around again, now noticing on the bottom left of her vision there was a ¡°Tasks¡± list. The first of which was, ¡°Build a Sleeping Pallet.¡± As she looked at it, a box popped up in front of her.
Gather 100 grass, 50 cloth, and 50 sticks to build a Sleeping Pallet
Grass, cloth, and sticks? There was dry grass around her in small patches in the desert, and she walked to the first one and reached down. Instead of grabbing it like she intended, her character punched it. The grass appeared in one of the boxes at the bottom of her screen with a number 5 in the bottom right hand corner. She went from clump to clump, slowly getting closer to the yellow arrow as she went. Occasionally, she saw a small bundle of sticks and picked it up, making it appear in her boxes at the bottom of her screen. Eventually, she came to a stark line across the ground, where desert suddenly turned into lush green lawns and cookie-cutter houses. The music changed, adding deeper tones, but still remained upbeat. She¡¯d gathered all 100 grass, and all 50 sticks, but had yet to find 50 cloth for her sleeping pallet. She crept down the broken street between the houses, keeping her eyes peeled for zombies and walking in the general direction of the yellow arrow. Her heart was pounding and her breathing was shallow. If she encountered a zombie, she had no way of defending herself. She passed boarded up houses, shelled out cars, piles of smoking garbage, but didn¡¯t see any zombies. When she finally made it to the yellow marker which flashed directly in front of a house, she thought she¡¯d feel relieved, but instead, trepidation roiled in her stomach. She walked until she stepped on a small yellow pad on the ground and the button and arrow both disappeared. ¡°Enter simulation,¡± the British hottie said. Beth walked up the rickety stairs, which creaked under her weight and to the front door, which hung ajar from the single top hinge. Closed doors stood to her left and right, and an eerie, soft tune began playing. With a loud clatter and a low moan, a female zombie with a nasty hanging eyeball burst from the door on Beth¡¯s right. Beth screamed and leapt back onto the porch. Slowly, the zombie rambled out toward her. Beth glanced around the porch and found a baseball bat leaning against the rail. She grabbed it and squeezed the handle. You can do this. As the zombie wandered close enough, Beth swung the bat, decapitating the zombie and sending its head rolling across the wooden porch. Beth dropped the bat and ran into the street. She rubbed her hands on her leather shorts as tears stung her eyes. Maybe she wasn¡¯t cut out for this stupid game. This sleep study. She couldn¡¯t walk around killing zombies. ¡°Enter simulation,¡± the British jerk insisted. Beth looked up and down the quiet street. It was probably a terrible idea to scream and freak out every time she encountered a zombie. She¡¯d probably draw an entire hoard of zombies to her. It¡¯s just a game. They aren¡¯t real, she reminded herself. Taking a steadying breath, Beth walked up the steps and scooped up her bat. She noticed a lime green backpack on the ground and her hand reached out of its own accord and touched the bag. A screen popped up in front of her vision, blocking most of her view. It was several squares, similar to what was at the bottom of her screen. Inside the first square was a picture of three bullets with a number 10 at the bottom left. She touched them and they appeared in one of the eight slots at the bottom of her screen. 9mm ammunition. She noticed the bat was also taking up one of the slots, leaving her with two remaining slots. The bat didn¡¯t have a number like the other items did. Instead, there was a green line across the bottom. When she touched the bat, it popped up a small stat sheet.
Level 1 Wooden Bat
Damage: 10-25 Durability: 98% Enhancement Slot: (Empty) Enhancement Slot: (Empty)
At the top of the pop up windows were an X, and Beth touched them both, clearing her vision. She¡¯d have to figure out what all that meant later. Or not. She was having second thoughts about this. When she¡¯d calmed down enough, Beth stepped past the front door and back into her own personal hell. The door to her right was already broken, and the closet was clear, so she faced the door on her left. Her knuckles were white as she gripped the bat, and the intense music put her teeth on edge. After staring at the door for several seconds, she decided there wasn¡¯t a zombie inside and she probably looked stupid just standing there staring at it. She walked past the door and toward the set of stairs that went to the second floor. As she stepped over a pile of garbage, a springing noise echoed through the room, and three zombies burst from the closed door behind her. ¡°Oh, hell no.¡± Chapter 3: Perfect Compatibility TJ Carothers stared at the latest data coming out of this batch of beta testers. His assistant had rushed it into his office, panting and out of breath. Of the twelve candidates, four were incompatible, three were mildly compatible, and four were very compatible. TJ¡¯s gaze stuck on the final line of data. One beta. Status: Perfectly Compatible. They¡¯d done it. They¡¯d found a candidate. After three years of testing, they finally had their perfect match. All they had to do now was figure out what made this beta different, then adapt the game to fit the rest of their clients. If he could figure that out, he stood to make billions. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. He stood, still slightly numb, and barked out an order. ¡°Gary, get the tank to this location immediately.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Gary grinned and nearly tripped over the leather chair as he rushed to leave the room. TJ pressed the call button for his secretary. ¡°Yes, sir?¡± ¡°Harmony, get my jet ready.¡± Chapter 4: Daughter of Chaos Beth backed away as the small horde of zombies approached. One of them was enormous, with a Hawaiian shirt on, and a big beer belly. Beth remembered from the intro that it was a ¡°Traveler,¡± the only problem was, she had no idea what that meant. As the trio of zombies drew nearer, she swung her bat, hitting them in the chest and head. The first two went down without much fight, but the third one, the Traveler, kept coming. ¡°Dammit.¡± Beth tried to swing again, only to realize she was out of stamina. She backed away, keeping just out of the zombie¡¯s reach. After a couple of seconds, she¡¯d regenerated enough stamina to use her weapon. She swung the bat with all her might, and the zombie collapsed to the ground. White text overlaid the corpse on the ground. Welcome to level 2! You¡¯ve received 1 skill point. Was it really dead? She had no idea how to tell. She got closer and poked the zombie with the end of the bat. Nothing happened. Carefully, she stepped over its body and deeper into the house. ¡°Search cupboards, behind pictures, under beds, in closets, and other hiding places for items to help you along the way,¡± sexy British man said. Beth came into the kitchen and quietly began opening cabinets. She found five more cans of food, and two more bottles of water, which she was pleased to find stacked with the other items she already had. She also found a can of oil, which left her with one more slot to fill. As she checked the fridge, she noticed her character was panting, then she saw a blinking water drop icon on the top right of her screen, which told her that she was thirsty. She grabbed one of the bottles of water and drank it, leaving the empty bottle on the counter. ¡°Continue clearing the building,¡± the voice said. Beth cursed quietly and crept to the stairs, bat out and ready. She ran into three more zombies, one at a time, in the upstairs bedrooms. At last, she climbed a ladder to the attic. It looked clear, but the eerie music continued to play, so she had a hunch that there was at least one more zombie nearby. Behind a stack of boxes, Beth came across a skeleton and her stomach churned. It looked so real that she had to remind herself this was just a game. As she turned to leave, she saw another body, this one laying very still on a cot at the other end of the room. She ducked beneath cobwebs and sidestepped trunks of old clothes to get to the elderly woman. ¡°Ma¡¯am?¡± Beth had no idea if there were survivors other than herself, but she reached over and lightly touched the woman¡¯s shoulder. Her eyes popped open, the whites a sickly yellow. A low moan escaped the woman¡¯s throat and she jerkily popped to her feet. Her legs disappeared in the center of the perfect cot, and the woman tried to walk toward Beth, but just twitched in place. What the hell? Beth glanced under the bed and saw the woman¡¯s feet. The zombie must¡¯ve been glitching. Beth saw it as a mercy when she bashed the woman¡¯s head in with her bat. ¡°Simulation complete.¡± The music returned to the cheery upbeat tune. Where the woman had been, a treasure chest appeared on top of the cot. Beth opened it and found a backpack, three more bottles of water, a flint, a bow¡ªbut now arrows, and a jacket. ¡°You¡¯ve obtained an inventory pouch. You may now carry up to forty-eight items in your inventory. Tap your left shoulder to open your inventory, and tap it twice to close it.¡± Beth slung the backpack over her shoulder and noticed the trunk she¡¯d passed earlier was open. She walked over and lifted the lid before rummaging through the contents. Inside, she found a pair of tennis shoes, pajama pants, and socks. She tried to put the items on, but as she attempted to put her foot into the sock, it kept just appearing in her inventory bag.
Level 1 Tennis Shoes
+10 Stamina Regeneration per minute. Durability: 100%
Level 1 Wool Socks
Wear beneath shoes to prevent blisters. Durability: 92%
Level 1 Pajama Pants
+1 Warmth Durability: 76%
She definitely needed to figure out how to wear the items, but being in the house gave her the creeps. Beth took the ladder back down to the second floor and used her bat to break the pictures on the walls. Behind one of the pictures she found a locked wall safe. ¡°Lockpicks required to open safe,¡± British jerk informed her. Damn. She finished ransacking the house, finding a roll of cloth under one of the beds. She also found a wrench and a stone shovel. As she made it back to the main floor, she heard creaking out on the front porch. She grabbed her bat and carefully snuck to the front door. Beth rounded the corner and swung the bat right at the zombie¡¯s head, only it ducked beneath her swing and her bat shattered the porch light. ¡°Shhh!¡± the man hissed. He grabbed the bat, his warm body pressed against Beth¡¯s. Beth froze. There were survivors. Above his head was the name ¡°Maverick,¡± and Beth stared at it. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Are you?¡± Beth looked up into his ruggedly handsome face. ¡°I¡¯m another player, like you,¡± he said. She¡¯d seen the guys in the office, and none of them had looked like that. He obviously hadn¡¯t used the clone feature when creating his character. The beauty of online gaming, she supposed. ¡°Oh.¡± She stepped back, and he released her baseball bat. He ran a hand through his thick dark hair, and Beth tracked the movement a little dreamily before she snapped herself out of it. What is wrong with me? ¡°Have you set up a base yet?¡± Beth shook her head. ¡°What¡¯s your specialty?¡± ¡°Fighter,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m a builder. Want to team up? It¡¯ll be beneficial for us to stick together.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Beth needed all the help she could get. ¡°Follow me. I¡¯ve started building a base just south of here. If we find anyone else, we should try to recruit them, too,¡± Maverick said. Beth followed him. He stopped at every mailbox, gathering letters. ¡°What are you doing?¡± she asked. ¡°Makes good kindling for the fire.¡± Maverick continued to lead her south. Finally, just as she was running low on stamina, Maverick said, ¡°This is it.¡± Beth looked at what appeared to be stacked wooden boxes that went about ten feet high. ¡°This is it?¡± she asked, stupidly. ¡°Yeah. We¡¯ve gotta start upgrading them and creating a taller base before horde day.¡± Beth had no idea what he was talking about. ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Do you have a pickax yet?¡± He hefted a miner¡¯s ax onto his shoulder and Beth just stared. ¡°I think I should tell you that I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about.¡± Maverick stopped, his gaze traveling over her. ¡°Shit.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone. I lied because I needed the money.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s a damn good thing I ran into you then, cause I¡¯ve beta tested a game similar to this before. I have a pretty good idea of what to do.¡± Beth sighed in relief. ¡°Thanks. Sorry to be dead weight.¡± ¡°No worries.¡± Maverick clapped his hands like he was psyching himself up. ¡°Let¡¯s do this. The first thing you need is some wood, and stone. Do you have a shovel?¡± Beth nodded. ¡°Go a little ways away and start digging. See that tree over there? You¡¯ll want to punch it until it falls over, and you¡¯ll get wood from it. You need 10 wood and 5 stone to make a stone ax. I¡¯m gonna head over here and start digging. We upgrade from wood to cobble. I also need to run into town and see if I can find some cement mix. Build your ax and start collecting wood.¡± ¡°Okay? What do I do after I have 10 wood and 5 stone for the ax?¡± Maverick sighed. ¡°Open your character sheet.¡± Beth glanced around, searching for her character sheet. Maverick chuckled. ¡°See the silhouette beneath your health on the top right?¡± Beth looked up and noticed that she now had 110 health instead of 100. That must have happened when she leveled. She reached up and touched the silhouette. A screen popped up in front of her. It was divided into three sections. The entire left side was one section, and the right side was split in half horizontally across the middle, creating the other two. At the top of the left side was a few icons. A map, a T-shirt, a hammer, and a sword. ¡°Now what?¡± she asked. ¡°See the hammer? That¡¯s where you craft items. Usually you have to find a schematic, but you can make a few basic items without one.¡± Beth clicked on the hammer. The screen on the left changed to a list of items she could make, including a campfire, a sleeping pallet, a stone shovel, and a stone ax. She selected the sleeping pallet first, since she knew she had all the things to make a pallet. She placed 100 grass, 50 sticks, and 50 cloth into the slots, then selected ¡°craft.¡± A sleeping pallet appeared in her inventory, it looked like a sleeping bag. Next, she made a stone ax by placing 10 wood and 5 stone into the slots. ¡°I have my sleeping pallet now, how do I put it inside?¡± Maverick took her around to the back of the square structure and pointed to a ladder about eight feet up. ¡°You expect me to climb that? Can¡¯t we make it closer to the ground?¡± Maverick placed a hand on her shoulder. ¡°You can do it. Zombies generally aren¡¯t great jumpers, so jump up and grab it. Forget the limitations of your body. You¡¯re not that person anymore. Jump.¡± Beth walked to the slot below the ladder and leapt. She easily grabbed the bottom rung and climbed hand over hand until she stood atop the wood wall. ¡°Now what?¡± ¡°Climb down the ladder on the other side and place your sleeping pallet next to mine. That¡¯ll be your spawn point if you die. You only get two lives, so be careful.¡± Beth still wasn¡¯t convinced that she wanted to come back for this ¡°sleep study¡± or if she was what they were looking for, but she nodded anyway. She went inside the small space and put her sleeping pallet next to his. The space wasn¡¯t very big, but for now, it would do. As she climbed back to the top of the wall, she noticed a few zombies wandering in the distance. ¡°There¡¯s some zombies over there,¡± Beth called, pointing south. Maverick had wandered a little ways from their base and was digging a hole. He looked up at her and shielded his eyes from the sun. ¡°It¡¯s only noon. We¡¯ll want to kill them before nightfall.¡± ¡°And what happens at nightfall?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Usually we get attacked.¡± ¡°I do not like the sound of that. What time will the simulation be over?¡± ¡°Game time and real time aren¡¯t usually the same. We¡¯ll probably get at least a full 24 hours in before we wake up.¡± ¡°We better get cracking then.¡± Beth climbed down the ladder and went to the nearest tree, which was still within view of the base. She grabbed her stone ax and began swinging. The numbers 180/200 appeared, and Beth noticed her stamina dropped 10 points, but had climbed almost to full before she swung again. Okay, this wasn¡¯t so bad. Each tree took ten hits to ¡­ she had no idea what the right word was. Kill? Harvest? That seemed right. And each gave her between 40-80 pieces of wood. She¡¯d also somehow gotten maple syrup, twigs, some eggs, and feathers¡ªpresumably from birds¡¯ nests in the trees. Luckily, the like items all stacked in her inventory, and after working for a solid hour, she had two stacks of wood in her inventory, each with 800 pieces. The edges of her vision turned red, and her character panted. ¡°Maverick?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± He looked up at her, sweat dripping down his forehead. ¡°Something¡¯s wrong with me.¡± Beth sat on a nearby stump and stared at him. She had to admit, the graphics of the game were really cool. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°My vision is turning red.¡± ¡°You¡¯re overheating. You need to drink water. Do you have any?¡± She nodded and pulled a bottle from her inventory, drinking it and feeling almost immediate relief. It was crazy. She actually felt better. As if she were thirsty in real life, and somehow, the water had quenched her thirst. ¡°Want to run to the trader and see if you can get some food and water? Look for some schematics too. And you can sell anything you don¡¯t need.¡± The problem was, she had no idea what she did or didn¡¯t need. Or where to find the trader. ¡°Umm.¡± ¡°Want me to go with you?¡± Maverick put a bottle of water to his lips and drank it. ¡°Please.¡± He pulled out a club and Beth grabbed her bat. Maverick looked at her. ¡°You know you can change your name to something else if you want.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Anything. Do you have a gamer handle you usually use?¡± He must have seen her confusion because he laughed. ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a no. I have a friend who uses the handle Goose. He¡¯s here. I¡¯d like to try to find him. Our best bet to run into people is at the trader.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± They began walking, and Beth opened her character screen and looked at the top, where her name appeared. She put her hand on it and it disappeared. Now, what was a cool name. Her mind went to Greek goddesses, and she mentally scanned through the list until she stopped on Nyx. From what Beth remembered, Nyx was the goddess of night and the daughter of chaos. Beth grinned as she said, ¡°N Y X.¡± Chapter 5: Come in Maverick Beth followed Maverick to the trader, and he showed her how to create what he called a POI on the map. A Point of Interest. She labeled it trader and followed Maverick into the compound. ¡°Always make sure to close the door behind you. If you leave it open, zombies will come in and kill him, then you¡¯ll be screwed.¡± Maverick secured the door, and Beth looked around. The walls of the compound were made of mishmash pieces of metal, on the inside of those was a barbed-wire fence. In the center of the compound was a house on stilts, and they climbed the steel steps to the second floor. ¡°So is this guy like a computer or?¡± ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s an NPC. A non-player character. You come to him to sell or buy items, and he can also send you on errands or quests.¡± Just walk up to him and say hi. Beth did. A small screen popped up. Would you like to buy and sell? Go on an errand? Never mind. Beth selected buy and sell. The trader¡¯s inventory opened in front of her on the left side of her vision, and her own inventory on the right. ¡°How do I know what items I need?¡± ¡°What do you have?¡± Beth listed her items, including her jacket, socks, pajama pants, and shoes. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you wearing any of that?¡± Maverick asked. ¡°Cause I don¡¯t know how.¡± ¡°ex out of the trader.¡± Beth pressed the X at the top right corner and backed away, facing Maverick. ¡°Okay, open your character sheet and hit the shirt icon at the top left.¡± Beth did. On the top right side, she saw an outline of a person with boxes overlaid. Her inventory was directly below that screen and she grabbed her jacket and clicked it on the box on the character¡¯s chest. There was another one on the character¡¯s abdomen that Beth suspected was for a shirt. She placed the socks on her shins and the shoes on her feet. The pajama pants only gave her +1 to warmth, and it was the middle of summer. She also didn¡¯t feel like wearing light blue pants with puffy white clouds on them, so she opted to stay in the tight leather shorts she had on. She exited out and stood looking down at herself. Okay, so she wasn¡¯t a badass. But for now, these clothes would do. ¡°Nice. I wouldn¡¯t sell any tools, or any clothes you¡¯re going to use.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Beth clicked on the trader again, then sold her pajama pants to him for 50 coins. She looked at his inventory and bought a bottle of water, using all 50 of the coins. Dammit. ¡°Done?¡± Maverick asked. ¡°Yeah.¡± He grabbed her elbow and started guiding her toward the exit. ¡°K, let¡¯s get back and I¡¯ll show you the best way to build our base for defense.¡± Beth gently pulled away from him. Admittedly, she didn¡¯t get the best view of the guys at the office, and maybe she was being nerdist for thinking they were all 30 year olds who lived in their parents¡¯ basements. She might think his avatar was handsome, but she didn¡¯t want to give him the wrong idea. By the time they arrived back to base, it was almost 5 pm. ¡°The time does go really quick here.¡± ¡°Yeah, it does. I want you to start making wooden pillars, put one about four blocks out from each corner and once here in the middle.¡± He walked around showing her where to place the pillars. Beth opened her character screen and went to the crafting section, then found wooden block on the list. She crafted about 100, each one using 100 wood. When she was done, she tried to place them, but couldn¡¯t. ¡°Hammer required,¡± British boy told her. She looked through the list and found the hammer schematic, then using the appropriate wood and stone, crafted a stone hammer. She was really getting the hang of this. Beth placed pillars 5 blocks high in all 16 places that were four blocks apart and four blocks away from the base. It took her several hours, including a break for food, water, and to let her stamina regenerate. Maverick climbed up the ladder and began creating walkways from the top block of their base to each of the pillars Beth had built. Then in the spaces between the walkways, he placed wooden grates. A shriek rang out directly behind Beth before blood splattered across her vision. She spun to see a partially blindfolded woman directly behind her. The music instantly changed to a fast-paced eerie music with screeching violins. She swung at the woman¡¯s head with her hammer, and the woman dropped to the ground. All around her, zombies appeared and started shambling toward them. ¡°I count six,¡± Maverick said, climbing down the stairs. Beth switched her hammer for the baseball bat and stepped over the corpse. A second later, Beth was knocked to the ground from behind, and in the top right of her vision, directly above her health bar, a red biohazard symbol appeared. The zombie¡¯s teeth tore through her shoulder, and she noticed her health bar drop 25 points. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Oh, shit!¡± Maverick yelled, and the weight disappeared from Beth¡¯s back. She shakily got to her feet and found the actually dead shrieker on the ground behind her, headless and unmoving. ¡°I thought it was dead,¡± Beth said shakily as she slammed her bat into an oncoming zombie¡¯s head. An experience notification popped up at the bottom of her screen. She was a dumbass. She should¡¯ve been looking for experience all along. That had to mean that she¡¯d killed it. They made short work of the other five zombies, and Maverick turned to her. ¡°Are you infected?¡± Beth glanced at the biohazard symbol. ¡°I think so.¡± Maverick glanced up at the sun, which had just started to go behind the mountains in the distance. ¡°Do you have an antibiotic?¡± Beth looked through her inventory. ¡°Not that I see.¡± ¡°I have to run to the trader to see if he has any. You stay here and defend the base.¡± Maverick started toward town. Beth nodded and climbed the ladder into the base. Feeling exposed, she climbed down and sat on her sleeping pallet. She reached over and touched the infection warning and a box popped up in her vision.
Infected with Pithovirus. 4% infected. Get an antibiotic before you reach 50% infected.
As the sun disappeared behind the mountain and crickets began to chirp, her British guide said, ¡°Build a fire to keep you warm and ward away infected birds.¡± A shiver ran down Beth¡¯s spine and she opened her character sheet. She clicked the hammer to take her to the craft screen, then gently scrolled down until she found a fire pit. 50 stone, 100 wood, a flint, and 50 paper. Dammit. Maverick had been taking all the letters from mail boxes. In the distance, she could make out a porch light on the outskirts of the town. Did she dare go into town this late? She clicked on the map icon and found a marker at her current location, and one she¡¯d set at the trader¡¯s compound. She could also see her original starting point. Everywhere she hadn¡¯t been yet was still white and unexplored. She¡¯d have to explore later. Beth redirected her attention to the matter at hand. If she went quick, maybe she¡¯d be able to grab some papers before she was discovered. She searched her inventory for some sort of light source, but came up empty. Going back to the craft screen, she found a torch schematic. 10 wood, 20 cloth, 1 oil, and a flint. She put the required supplies into the boxes, and created a torch. Then she cursed as she realized the flint was a one-time-use item. She had no way of creating a fire without another one. Quietly, she snuck up the ladder, traversed one of the walkways, then went back down outside the base. Maverick had moved the ladder to one of the pillars, and she made a mental note of its location on the east side of the structure so she could find it quickly in case she was being chased when she returned. Once down, she used the torch to light her way. The music had stopped completely, and only the sound of crickets accompanied her. She moved quickly, the torch in her left hand, and the baseball bat in her right. As she crossed the threshold where desert turned to grass, the crickets quieted, and one by one discordant notes began to play. Damn, she was scared. Beth reminded herself that this was a video game. She couldn¡¯t really get hurt, and this infection couldn¡¯t really turn her into a zombie. A low moan was the only warning she got before she was tackled to the grass by a zombie on her left. The torch flew from her hand and landed on the ground. Beth¡¯s body jolted and her health bar took another hit. Since the last attack, she¡¯d slowly ticked back up to full health, but now she was back down 25 points. She swung her bat and it slammed into the zombie¡¯s head. The zombie went still, dead weight pinning her to the ground. In the light of the torch, she could see another zombie rushing toward her. Shit. Beth shoved the zombie off her and swung the bat just as the zombie reached her. The bat broke in half. Double shit. She turned and ran toward the base, watching as her stamina bar drained at a steady clip. A shriek sounded to her left as a second zombie joined the chase. It was pitch black when her stamina hit zero, and she was still several yards from the base. She slowed to a torturous pace. Blood splattered across her vision. She tripped just as a loud sound exploded behind her. She heard the pumping of a shotgun and another blast, this one closer, almost deafened her. ¡°Get up!¡± Maverick shouted. Beth¡¯s ears rang, and she stumbled to the ladder. You feel ill She leapt, barely grasping the bottom rung, and pulled herself up. Once at the top, she opened the infection screen.
Infected with Pithovirus. 18% infected. Get antibiotics before you reach 50% infected.
Maverick killed the two zombies that had attacked her, and he climbed the ladder to join her at the top. ¡°What the hell was that?¡± he demanded. ¡°The game told me to build a campfire to keep the infected birds away, but I didn¡¯t have any paper, so I was just going to sneak over and check the nearest mail boxes for letters.¡± He sighed. ¡°Climb down into the base. Hopefully we won¡¯t get attacked again tonight, but if we do, I¡¯ll handle it.¡± Beth wanted to tell him that she could take care of herself. She¡¯d been taking care of herself since she was old enough to lift a frying pan, but she needed his help. She had no idea what she was doing. ¡°Sorry. Did you at least get the antibiotic?¡± He tossed her a small orange pill bottle. ¡°I had to sell almost everything in my inventory to get this, so enjoy it.¡± Guilt ate at her. ¡°Thanks.¡± She opened the bottle to reveal a single dose. Beth put the pill in her mouth and swallowed it dry. ¡°Let¡¯s work on the base from the inside for now.¡± Maverick built a fire inside the base; the smoke escaping from the open ceiling. Then he began placing wooden blocks, making their base two-stories high. ¡°If you want to make a hole right there and start digging down, we¡¯ll make an ore mine below our base.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t that screw with the structural integrity or something?¡± Beth asked. ¡°Not in my experience.¡± Beth used her shovel for the top soil and dug straight down. Once she hit three blocks deep, she looked up and realized she wouldn¡¯t be able to get out of the hole. ¡°Umm. How do I get out?¡± ¡°Build a ladder. You still have wood? If not, I can build one for you.¡± I got it. Beth built several sections of ladder and continued digging downward. When she hit something solid, she switched her shovel for her stone ax and began chipping away at it. ¡°I can¡¯t really see,¡± she said into the pitch black. ¡°Don¡¯t go too far, and pay attention to what direction you¡¯re heading,¡± came Maverick¡¯s reply. After a bit, she realized she couldn¡¯t hear the clatter of Maverick''s tools anymore. ¡°Mav?¡± She built a ladder and climbed back to the base. ¡°Maverick?¡± He didn¡¯t answer. She climbed the ladder to the small second floor and found Maverick slumped in a corner. Beth shook his shoulder. ¡°Maverick?¡± She half expected him to suddenly jump up in zombie-form, but he just sat there, unmoving. Seconds later, darkness overtook her. Chapter 6: Beth Davis TJ walked in the warehouse¡¯s office where his team had been conducting the beta tests. It smelled distinctly of rubber, and TJ was not a fan. He¡¯d been informed the candidate had requested an eight o¡¯clock wakeup call, and he wanted to be here to greet him. The next step was convincing him to do the implant at the base of his skull. It was a wireless connection that would enable the user to log into the game automatically each time they went to bed. TJ dropped into one of the padded chairs around the conference table. The procedure was fairly non-invasive and the implant had cost him more than he wanted to think about, but if it worked ¡­ he smiled. It would be ground breaking. Members of the local team milled about as if unsure whether to talk to him or not. The silence suited him fine. Gary had made sure the tank made it on the jet with TJ, and they were unloading it now and bringing it here. The manager walked out in his fitted suit and greasy man-bun, smiling. ¡°She should be out any minute.¡± ¡°She?¡± TJ stood. ¡°Yes. Beth Davis. She¡¯s the ¡®perfectly compatible¡¯ candidate. Her alarm went off a few minutes ago and I helped unhook her from the machine.¡± His cheeks turned pink, and TJ imagined the man getting a little bit handsy with their candidate. He balled his hand into a fist, then forced himself to relax. ¡°Make sure you are 100% professional with her. I don¡¯t want any lawsuits for improper behavior.¡± Or for her to decide not to do the implant because his low-level team members had been perverts. Maybe he should invite her to New York to do the implant. Put her up in one of his suites where he could keep track of her. The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea. He could keep her safe and keep her from being harassed by being the one to watch over her. As he was working out all the details in his mind, an auburn haired beauty walked down the hall toward him, wearing nothing but tight yoga pants and a sports bra. He swallowed and directed his gaze to her face. ¡°Are you Beth?¡± She paused before entering the office, twisting a sweatshirt in her hands and looking around, unsure. ¡°Yes?¡± This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. ¡°I¡¯m TJ Carothers. I¡¯m the founder of Insomnia Online.¡± TJ held out his hand and she shifted the sweatshirt to her left hand and shook his outstretched hand. ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± He cleared his throat. ¡°I flew in last night after the initial reports. How are you enjoying Hundred Day Horde?¡± She blinked a couple of times, and TJ shifted nervously. He wasn¡¯t usually a nervous person, but this woman had a strange effect on him. Usually, if he encountered a problem, he threw money at it and it went away. And Usually, if he told someone he was the founder of a multi-million dollar company, they did more than just blink at him. ¡°I¡¯m not a huge fan of zombies, but it was fun.¡± ¡°Good. Good.¡± It wasn¡¯t often that he was tongue tied. It felt weird to talk to her in front of all these people, but it felt even weirder to pull her into a private room. He wouldn¡¯t have hesitated if she was a man, wouldn¡¯t have even given it a second thought, but after talking to Man-bun and getting the impression he had been a little inappropriate, he wanted to make sure to keep everything professional. Another man joined them and smiled at her. ¡°Are you Nyx? I¡¯m Maverick.¡± She grinned and threw her arms around his neck. ¡°Thank you for saving me.¡± TJ sized up the newcomer. Objectively, and as a secure, heterosexual man, TJ could admit that he wasn¡¯t hideous. But he didn¡¯t care for the way she¡¯d so willingly thrown her arms around him. He lightly patted her back and stepped away. ¡°Sorry. Maverick saved my bacon last night.¡± Beth tucked some auburn hair behind her ear. It made TJ wonder if she¡¯d used the clone feature, and how accurate it had been. ¡°Well, we have some good news. Beth, you were perfectly compatible with the game.¡± He smiled at her, letting that sink in. Again, she blinked at him. ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°It means, if you''re amenable, I¡¯d like to fly you to New York on my private jet and pay you to continue playing so we can figure out what makes you such a perfect candidate.¡± TJ looked at Maverick, his jaw twitching and his dark brows drawn. Had he used the clone feature? ¡°And you, as well. In fact, all the people who were very compatible.¡± ¡°Does that mean I qualified for the highest tier of reimbursement?¡± Beth asked. TJ looked to Man-bun, who¡¯d been standing silently behind him. ¡°Yes. You get $1000.¡± Finally, Beth turned a dazzling smile on TJ. ¡°And how much does this New York thing pay? I still have classes.¡± ¡°We can arrange with the college to pause your classes. We¡¯ll pay for your room and board, and we¡¯ll figure out a salary for you over breakfast. How does that sound?¡± Maverick stepped closer to Beth. ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± Chapter 7: New York Beth wasn¡¯t good around rich people. She never knew how to act or what to say, or not say. Not that she¡¯d been around very many rich people in her life. Celeste was the closest thing to a rich person she had, and Beth just stole her food. So she guessed that was her default setting. But if TJ¡ªhe¡¯d insisted Beth call him TJ¡ªwas going to give her a $1000 just to sleep and play his stupid game, she could get on board. They waited for the other three candidates to wake up, before TJ said they¡¯d head to the airport. Beth thought they¡¯d go somewhere snazzy for breakfast before leaving Poky, but TJ said they¡¯d be better fed on the jet where his chef could take care of them. Within the next fifteen minutes, all three of the other candidates came out of their rooms. Carrie was among them. Beth squealed when she saw her, which felt totally uncharacteristic for her, but she couldn¡¯t help it. She was excited not to be the only girl. ¡°We¡¯re going to New York!¡± ¡°When?¡± Carrie asked. ¡°Now!¡± Carrie looked around. ¡°I need to pack a suitcase, and call my work.¡± Shit. Beth should probably call Tasty Treat. They¡¯d need to know she wasn¡¯t going to be in for the foreseeable future. And she should probably email her mama, too. Nah, she¡¯d just ask for more money. The ride to the airport was fairly uneventful, and Beth borrowed Carrie¡¯s phone to call into work. They were told their cars would be fine at the warehouse lot for long-term parking. Carrie and Beth linked arms on the tarmac to climb into the private jet. As they entered, Carrie laughed incredulously, and Beth joined in. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything this luxurious before,¡± Carrie whispered. The space was all creams and whites, with sleek wood accents and lush leather seats. Beth sat at a table for two across from Carrie, and TJ sat across the aisle from them. ¡°Champagne?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯d love some,¡± Carrie said, but Beth hesitated, not wanting to impair her judgment. A flight attendant came over and poured drinks for them, and Maverick, Joseph, and Warren, the three guys who were also ¡°very compatible.¡± Maverick refused to tell Beth his real name, but his friend, who went by Goose, wasn¡¯t compatible with the game. After a toast, where Beth didn¡¯t drink anything, just put the glass to her lips, TJ stood. ¡°Beth, can I have a moment of your time?¡± He offered her his arm and she took it. They walked past Maverick, who eyed TJ suspiciously, and went through a partition into a back room. There was a table and more leather chairs. ¡°Please, sit.¡± This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. He took a seat across from Beth and placed his hands on the table between them. ¡°So, according to the data, you are perfectly compatible with Hundred Day Horde, and we¡¯d like to pay you two-thousand dollars a week to help us figure out how to replicate the compatibility for other users. This will require a small implant at the base of your skull, and you¡¯ll be upgraded into one of our micro-bot tanks. The tanks will actually help you relax, and be a more immersive part of your experience.¡± He lost her after the word implant. ¡°Come again? What about an implant at the base of my skull?¡± ¡°It¡¯s non-invasive. A needle will inject an implant, a micro-bot that will then fuse to certain receptors. It won¡¯t be like a game, it¡¯ll be like actually being there, inside a zombie apocalypse.¡± His eyes danced with excitement, but Beth wasn¡¯t feeling that at all. Nerves jumbled in her stomach and she shook her head. ¡°Nope. That sounds like more than I can commit to. I don¡¯t really like zombies all that much, either.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give you $10,000 for the procedure.¡± Beth stared at him. She¡¯d had plenty of practice with her RBF, in fact, her childhood friend told her that she has the best resting bitch face in the world. ¡°Twenty five thousand.¡± If he was desperate enough to up his offer by that much, she would wait him out. Silence always made people uncomfortable, but not Beth. She¡¯d had plenty of practice with silence. It was the dark she hated. Every few months growing up Mama would spend the power bill on something or another, and their power would get cut off. She didn¡¯t mind the lack of soap operas playing in the house, but nighttime was like her own living hell. Her imagination would run wild, and she¡¯d end up huddled under her bed silently praying for someone to rescue her. ¡°Fifty thousand. Final offer.¡± TJ crossed his arms over his chest, and Beth mimicked him. ¡°Say something. You¡¯re making me anxious.¡± Beth leaned forward and held his gaze. ¡°The way I see it, you need me.¡± His adam¡¯s apple bobbed, which was enough indication Beth needed to confirm her suspicions. ¡°If not, I wouldn¡¯t be in the back room with you here while we left everyone else in the front of the plane.¡± He tried to play her game. She could tell he was just going to sit quietly and use her own tactic against her. What he hadn¡¯t counted on though, was that she was willing to walk away. He¡¯d probably had his lackeys doing a background check on her. He probably knew she was in a bad situation. But she¡¯d been in worse. She didn¡¯t need him as much as he needed her. Beth stood and walked back to the front of the plane. He owed her $1000. She¡¯d get it and buy a ticket home, use the rest to pay her back rent, then start her classes again. She didn¡¯t need to be rich, she just needed to be content. That $1000 would go a long way toward getting her there. ¡°Miss Davis?¡± TJ said from the door she¡¯d just exited. She looked back, unconcerned, and sat in the seat across from Carrie again. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Might I have one more moment of your time?¡± Carrie kicked her under the table and shot her a wide-eyed look full of innuendo. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t have much more to say on the matter.¡± That sounded smart, right? She could do this. Pretend to be as high and mighty as he was. ¡°I¡¯ll double my offer.¡± She raised a brow. ¡°Which one?¡± ¡°Both.¡± So, $4,000 a week for her participation, and $100,000 for the implant. That was a life changing amount of money, especially for her. ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡± Chapter 8: Rich People... Blegh. Breakfast was delicious, TJ hadn¡¯t been exaggerating. It was better than anything Beth had ever had. She¡¯d had Eggs Benedict, which she¡¯d heard about on fancy cooking shows but never tasted, and a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice. When they landed, a limo waited for them on the tarmac. Beth hadn¡¯t been to New York, and after navigating through traffic, she wasn¡¯t sure if she ever wanted to come back. They got out in front of a hotel, and TJ led them into the opulent lobby. Beth looked up at the vaulted ceilings and lavish gold decor and almost laughed. ¡°I feel like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman,¡± Carrie whispered. Beth could only nod. A group of employees swarmed them, and TJ barked orders, commanding their respect. Beth secretly grinned as she watched. This was a man used to getting his way. It must¡¯ve killed him when she turned him down. She still hadn¡¯t made up her mind. Sure, she¡¯d done drug trials, but her friend Trev said he¡¯d made sure that she was in the placebo group so that she wouldn¡¯t actually have any side effects. She had no guarantees here. None. This wasn¡¯t popping a sugar pill. They rode the elevator to the top floor and it opened into a penthouse suite. There was a sunken living room with white couches, cream carpets, and the biggest TV Beth had ever seen. Next to that was a full kitchen, done in white cabinets and stainless steel appliances. There was a half bath beside it, as well as a hallway with bedrooms. ¡°This is where we¡¯ll be staying for the foreseeable future.¡± TJ walked into the kitchen as if he owned the place. ¡°There are four bedrooms and each has been set up with a pair of sleep pods. We¡¯ll grab a late lunch, maybe see a show, and then I¡¯d like to get to work.¡± And they did just that. After the showing of Shrek, The Musical, TJ cornered her in the hallway of the penthouse. ¡°I know you¡¯re still uncomfortable, so we¡¯d like to do the same type of study that we did last night. Nothing invasive. Just the electrodes. If you¡¯re okay with it, we¡¯d actually like to do more electrodes, which will give you a more immersive experience.¡± ¡°How many more?¡± Beth swallowed. Maybe if she watched him long enough, he¡¯d offer her more money. TJ shrugged. ¡°A few in various places of your body.¡± Beth sighed. TJ¡¯s jaw twitched. ¡°I¡¯ll throw in an extra thousand dollars.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± On the bed of the master suite, which TJ had given to Beth and Carrie, there were several white form-fitting outfits¡ªthe word outfit was a bit of a stretch. ¡°Guess we¡¯re supposed to wear these?¡± ¡°Guess so.¡± ¡°Those are sleep suits,¡± a woman with gray hair and a white lab coat informed them. ¡°Let us know when you¡¯re ready and we¡¯ll get you set up.¡± She closed the door, leaving Beth and Carrie alone. Beth picked up the sports bra and boy shorts, then slipped into the bathroom to put them on. When they were ready, a team of ¡­ people? Beth didn¡¯t know if they were scientists, game developers, doctors, or what. But they swarmed the pair, putting them into the pods and getting them ready for the night. TJ handed Beth a pill. ¡°This will help you fall asleep faster.¡± Beth took it and swallowed it dry. ¡°Wonderful.¡± She noticed TJ was wearing his own version of the sleep suit. ¡°Are you doing it too?¡± He shrugged. ¡°I figure I may as well.¡± She nodded, feeling a little better that at least he was willing to subject himself to the things he was putting her through. ¡°Great. Maybe I¡¯ll see you in there.¡± He smiled and left the room. Carrie giggled and mimicked Beth¡¯s voice, saying, ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll see you in there.¡± Beth pushed her new friend¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Shut up.¡± ¡°Okay, ladies. Let¡¯s get you all set up and in your pods,¡± the woman said. As they were getting into their pods, Beth said, ¡°Wait! Carrie, meet me at the trader. We should team up!¡± Carrie shot beth a thumbs up. ¡°See ya there!¡± A few minutes later, after Beth drifted to sleep, she found herself slumped against Maverick in the second-story corner of their base. She glanced at the clock. Day 2: Time: 05:00 hours. Maverick stirred, and Beth got to her feet. ¡°This is odd,¡± Maverick said. ¡°What?¡± He furrowed his brow. ¡°Usually when you plan online, the game continues once you¡¯re offline, but it almost feels like the game just paused and popped us into the next day.¡± Beth had no idea what the implications were to that statement. ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just strange is all. What happens if you wake up in the middle of the night or while you¡¯re being attacked? Does the game just stop? Do the zombies just pause?¡± ¡°I dunno. We can ask TJ when we see him again.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the other thing,¡± Maverick said. ¡°Be careful. I don¡¯t know what it is, but I don¡¯t trust the guy.¡± Beth didn¡¯t either. She bit her lip and nodded. ¡°I will. Thanks.¡± ¡°Shall we get to work?¡± Beth shook her head. ¡°I told Carrie to meet me at the trader and we¡¯d team up.¡± ¡°Fabulous. Let¡¯s go. Maybe we can do a couple of clear quests while we¡¯re at it.¡± Maverick climbed to his feet and wielded his shotgun. ¡°Shit. I forgot, my bat broke last night.¡± He hefted a wooden club from his bag and handed it to Beth. ¡°Use this until you find better. I prefer to save my ammo for horde night, which TJ told me was every ten days.¡± Beth took the club from him.
Level 1 Wooden Club
Damage: 18-30 Durability: 91% Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Enhancement Slot: (Empty) Enhancement Slot: (Empty)
¡°Thanks.¡± They exited the base and walked a few feet apart toward the town. ¡°So how do games like this work?¡± ¡°Well, ideally, you want to create a base that you can easily defend. With games like this, usually as we get further into the game, the zombies are going to get harder and higher level. They¡¯ll get smarter, too.¡± A chill prickled Beth¡¯s arms. ¡°That sounds ominous.¡± ¡°If you do it right, it¡¯s absolutely beatable, but if you don¡¯t know what you¡¯re doing, one small error can be the end of it. I wouldn¡¯t worry too much if I were you. If you¡¯re perfectly compatible, like they said, you¡¯ll probably run through the first few stages of the game over and over as they try to figure out what makes you different. In a few weeks, you¡¯ll probably have the beginning memorized. A shambling horde won¡¯t even phase you.¡± Beth laughed. ¡°I doubt that.¡± ¡°There are a few stages of the game. Base building and defense is key to beating it. There are some players who find a building they can defend, and build around that. But I prefer to start from scratch. In my opinion, it¡¯s better in the long run. Sure, you can fend off the first few horde nights fairly quickly, but the later stages of the game require a well thought-out layout and a know-how to beat the game.¡± ¡°Can this game be beat? Or does it just keep going?¡± Beth stepped over a bovine skull, a buffalo, bull or the like. Maverick pointed to the animal remains. ¡°If you use your club on that, you¡¯ll get bone. That can be used to make glue.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Beth stopped and hit it a couple times, then noticed a small stack of 2 bones in her inventory. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°Yup. Pretty much everything can be used.¡± You are hungry. Beth¡¯s stomach growled as the notification faded from view. She grabbed a can of food. ¡°So, how does one eat this?¡± Maverick pulled a pocket knife from his waistband and stabbed it into the lid with a loud screeching sound. He cut the can open and handed it to her. ¡°Bon app¨¦tit.¡± Beth took the can from him and tipped the cold stew into her mouth. Luckily, she couldn¡¯t taste anything or she was sure she¡¯d gag on it. ¡°Thanks.¡± They stepped over the threshold to the city and the light music changed to a lower tone. Beth tossed the can onto the lawn, feeling slightly guilty about littering until she reminded herself this was just a game. She wasn¡¯t really littering. It was fine. ¡°Let¡¯s get to the trader, meet up with your friend, then we¡¯ll do a couple of ¡®clear¡¯ errands.¡± On the walk to the trader, Beth opened every mail box they passed, but only found a couple of letters. After opening the next mailbox, she gasped. ¡°I found something!¡±
Bicycle Schematic
¡°What is it?¡± ¡°A bicycle schematic.¡± Beth held it out to him. ¡°Do you see a book icon on the left side?¡± Beth looked, and indeed did see a book icon. ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s open, it means you¡¯ve read it. If it¡¯s closed, it means you need to read it. Usually they sell to the trader for a good amount, so if you ever come across one you¡¯ve already read, save it and sell it to the trader.¡± ¡°So ¡­¡± Beth raised an eyebrow. ¡°I should read it?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± She did.
Bicycle Schematic
1 Frame 2 Tires 1 Bike Seat 1 Handlebars
It seemed to Beth that this was definitely not all that one would need in real life to build a bike, but who was she to fault the programming? If all she needed were two tires, a frame, a seat, and handlebars to build it, she¡¯d be in good shape. ¡°What¡¯s the advantage of having a bike over walking?¡± ¡°Takes less stamina and you can outrun most low-level zombies.¡± The music shifted to a more dramatic tone and a zombie moaned behind them, and Maverick spun around and shot it in the head. ¡°So does the sound of the shotgun bring more?¡± The music changed back to lighthearted. He shrugged and reloaded. ¡°It can.¡± Beth pursed her lips. Beggars couldn¡¯t be choosers, and she definitely needed Maverick, even if he was stupid enough to shoot a zombie in the head when it could easily draw more to them. They rounded a corner and made it to the trader without running into any more zombies. Beth opened the door and made sure to close it behind them, then she climbed the stairs to the trader¡¯s shop. She was disappointed for a few minutes that Carrie wasn¡¯t already there waiting. She glanced at the clock, it had only taken them forty minutes to get to the trader, but maybe Carrie was farther away. ¡°Hi,¡± Beth said to the trader. Would you like to buy and sell? Go on an errand? Never mind. She said, ¡°Go on an errand.¡±
Tier 1 Fetch .3 miles West
Tier 1 Clear 1.2 mile South
Tier 1 Clear .25 miles East
Their base was west of the trader, so heading east, back toward their base, seemed like the most logical thing to do. ¡°What do you think about doing the Tier one clear that¡¯s .25 miles East?¡± she asked Maverick. ¡°Sounds perfect. Good thinking.¡± After waiting another hour and a half, Beth finally looked at Maverick. ¡°I don¡¯t think Carrie is coming.¡± ¡°Did she select advanced difficulty?¡± Beth frowned. ¡°I didn¡¯t ask.¡± ¡°This is the advanced map. If she didn¡¯t select advanced, she¡¯s probably in a different server.¡± ¡°In English, please?¡± ¡°There are different servers that house the different difficulties. This is the advanced server. Warren and Joseph are in the intermediate server. So unless Carrie selected advanced, she¡¯s not going to be in our server.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± They left the trader and walked toward the yellow flashing arrow east of them. They encountered one zombie on the way, and Beth clubbed it to death with her borrowed weapon. ¡°Do you have another club or something, so we don¡¯t draw the whole neighborhood?¡± she asked, eyeing his gun. He grunted, but switched his shotgun for a club identical to Beth¡¯s. As they drew closer to the errand location, or EL as Maverick called it, Beth tightened her grip on her weapon. ¡°Why am I so nervous?¡± Maverick looked at her and shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know, why are you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a game.¡± She said it more for herself than for him, but he nodded his encouragement. ¡°You¡¯ll do awesome.¡± Maverick stepped on the yellow pad on the ground and it disappeared. ¡°I¡¯ll go around back, you start up front, and we¡¯ll meet somewhere in the middle.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± Beth walked toward the porch as Maverick disappeared around the side of the house. She stepped up onto the rickety wooden steps and they creaked, announcing her presence. Zombies moaned from somewhere inside. The blue paint on the exterior of the house was peeling, and the windows had been boarded up. A bloody handprint was smeared down the white front door, and Beth wrinkled her nose. It was all so realistic. She tried the handle, but it was locked. How the hell had the zombies gotten inside if it was locked? Beth stepped off the house and looked up at the windows above the porch roof. One was open. Ah ha. She put her club back into the inventory slot at the bottom of her screen, then climbed a metal trellis up to the porch roof. Sections of the roof were rotting and weather damaged, and Beth carefully picked her way around them to avoid falling through. When she got to the window, she pulled aside the white lacy curtains and peered inside. There was a tiny crib with a mobile hanging above it, which spun in a slow circle playing a familiar nursery rhyme. Creepy. Movement inside the crib caught her eye, and her stomach dropped. They wouldn¡¯t make a baby a zombie right? Every sane person knew that babies and kids were off limits. She quietly climbed through the already open window and walked to the crib. A baby zombie lay inside. It flipped to its stomach and crawled to the rail, then pulled itself into a standing position. Beth equipped her club, but hesitated to kill it. After all, it was stuck inside the crib. The baby crouched and its tiny fingers picked at something on the mattress, and Beth drew closer to see what it was grabbing at. A maggot wriggled across the sheet, and the baby plucked it from the mattress and placed it in its mouth. Beth stumbled back, her stomach roiling. Then, without warning, the baby sprung from the crib and landed right on Beth¡¯s opulent chest. She screamed and batted the baby away. It hit the ground with a thud, then climbed to its feet. In another room, Beth could hear more zombies and something thudded against the door. ¡°Shit.¡± She lined up her shot and swung the club, nailing the baby¡¯s head and obliterating its skull. If this were real life, she¡¯d probably throw up right now. The experience faded at the bottom of the screen just as the door collapsed inward and three zombies tumbled ass-over-teakettle into the room. Chapter 9: Updating ... One of the zombies, a woman, leapt to her feet and ran at Beth. Beth swung her club again, knocking the woman to the ground. The other two zombies got up and slowly shuffled toward her. Beth ignored them and as the running zombie got to its knees, she batted the zombie¡¯s head from its body. Welcome to level 3! You¡¯ve received 1 skill point. Two more zombies appeared in the doorway. ¡°Mav? A little help here!¡± she called. She could hear him below, his grunts and cursing. ¡°Dammit, Nyx, I¡¯m trying.¡± Beth bashed the nearest zombie¡¯s head, and it stumbled, taking another one with it. The newcomers stepped over their companions¡¯ bodies and walked toward her. Out of Stamina FRACK! Beth kept her club between the oncoming zombies and herself as she backed toward the window. She slipped in the blood from the baby¡¯s corpse, but got to her feet, tearing her gaze from the approaching zombies just long enough to look at the red smeared across her hand as she¡¯d caught herself. Disgusting. She wiped it on her shorts, then got to her feet again and had enough stamina to swing her bat. She hit a zombie in the head, and it collapsed to the ground with an experience notification. +530 exp Good, one down, three to go. A shotgun blast below her let her know that Maverick had also run out of stamina and had resorted to shooting them. When her ass hit the window sill, she threw herself onto the roof behind her, rolling out of the zombies¡¯ way. They swung their arms at the window and shattered the glass. The first one climbed onto the roof. Beth got to her feet and adjusted her grip on her club, calculating how much time she had until she could swing her weapon again. Probably only a couple of seconds. She backed up, buying herself that valuable time, and in the process, stepped onto something soft. The roof gave out beneath her, and Beth¡¯s leg fell into a hole. ¡°Shit!¡± Zombie guts blew all over her, and the approaching zombie collapsed next to her with a massive hole in its chest. Mav grinned at her from inside the window. ¡°Need help?¡± ¡°Piss off! Where were you?¡± He shook his head, but laughed. ¡°I had like seven zombies down there. And a dog!¡± Beth didn¡¯t remember seeing a dog in the zombie parade. She scowled at him. ¡°Seriously?¡± ¡°Yeah. They¡¯re rare, but they¡¯re infected, and they rush you.¡± ¡°I had a runner up here.¡± She reached her hand toward him. ¡°A little help?¡± He bashed the rest of the glass out of the window frame, and leapt onto the roof. He lifted her out of the hole and held her waist until she was steady on her feet. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°I think we got the zombies on the first two floors, we should clear the attic real quick, then ransack the place.¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan.¡± The water drop was back on Beth¡¯s screen, and she drank a bottle of water. She¡¯d have to watch for more water, cause she was nearly out. ¡°Save that bottle.¡± Mav emptied his own bottle, then put it back in his backpack. ¡°What for?¡± ¡°If we find a lake or something, we can refill it. We¡¯ll run out of fresh water eventually.¡± Mav zipped his pack and gestured toward the window. ¡°Shall we?¡± Beth tucked her empty bottle back into her backpack. ¡°I got your six.¡± Which was her way of telling him to go first. He grinned and ducked into the window, landing inside with a thud. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Well, if they didn¡¯t know we were here before, they know now,¡± she teased. Together, they searched the top floor until they found the attic entrance. The roof was partially missing and light streamed in. Maverick quietly climbed the ladder and peeked into the room. ¡°I see two deceptors.¡± He equipped his shotgun and took them both out with three shots. ¡°That was pretty sick. Let¡¯s loot the place.¡± Beth started on the top floor, while Maverick covered the attic. She opened every cupboard she could find, looked under every bed, then began punching pictures to find hidden places behind them. Maverick joined her in one of the bedrooms. ¡°Do you have a wrench?¡± He equipped his. She nodded. ¡°If you use a wrench on these, we can get things like springs and mechanisms that will be used in the later game stages.¡± He began disassembling the bed with loud cranks. ¡°Have you beat the game before? Can you beat the game?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve made it to the final horde day, but I died. It¡¯s so fucking hard.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what she said.¡± Beth stared at him, wide-eyed and in disbelief she¡¯d actually said that aloud. He started laughing, and she grinned. Good, he wasn¡¯t a prude. ¡°I like you, Nyx. You¡¯re all right.¡± ¡°Thanks, Mav.¡± They finished clearing the house, Beth filling her backpack completely full. She hadn¡¯t paid much attention to the items she¡¯d gathered¡ªor looted, as Maverick called it. But she had gotten a bike frame. She was one step closer to actually making a bike. You are encumbered. Beth and Maverick walked back to the trader. ¡°Hi, Trader,¡± Beth said. ¡°Welcome back! Thank you for clearing those zombies. Here¡¯s your reward.¡± An inventory box appeared in front of her and inside it was a set of bicycle handlebars. Sweet. Now she only needed a seat and tires. She sold a pair of shoes that she¡¯d looted that had no stats. She donned a pair of leather pants and even though she put a shirt on under her jacket, she still looked like she was wearing a glorified leather bra. Typical.
Level 2 Leather Pants
Reduce chance of overheating by 10%. Durability: 91% Enhancement Slot: (Empty)
Level 1 T-shirt
Durability: 100%
Her favorite find was a 9mm handgun. With all the ammo she¡¯d found, (another thing Maverick had insisted she say. Apparently calling them bullets wasn¡¯t the right terminology) she had over 100 rounds. Beth felt like she was finally getting the hang of things. They went back to the base, and Maverick built a couple of boxes on the interior of the second floor. ¡°These are storage containers. We¡¯ll build more and make them more specialized later, but for now, just use these." Beth opened the storage container and dropped all of her loot inside, keeping a couple cans of food, water, her weapons, her ammo, and a few tools on her person. ¡°All set?¡± Beth nodded. ¡°We should spend the rest of the day beefing up the base.¡° They had enough stone and dirt to create cobblestone, and they worked together to make the entire first floor cobble. Maverick had her place another set of pillars, these ones five blocks away from the previous pillars, making the base significantly wider. While Beth cut wood for the grates that would go on the ground of the second floor, Maverick connected the columns from the second story, putting cobblestone blocks from one to the next. As she cut the trees, a shriek sounded behind her, and Beth turned to find a half-blindfolded zombie woman. Shit. Maverick came running as five zombies appeared around Beth in a semi-circle. Thankfully, they all walked slowly. She backed away from the approaching zombies, getting just close enough to bash them in the head one at a time. She killed the shrieker first, as Maverick snuck up on the zombies from behind. He equipped his club, which he¡¯d enhanced with metal spikes earlier today. Beth checked the time, it was nearing dusk, so they had to kill this horde quickly, then head into their base for the night. Blood splattered across her vision, and her health dropped. Then again. And Again. ¡°Help!¡± An arm wrapped around her neck, she swung her club behind her, hitting the back of the zombie¡¯s head. Maverick ducked beneath a zombie¡¯s arm and came up with his shotgun in hand. He put it to the zombie¡¯s head on beth¡¯s back and pulled the trigger. ¡°Are you infected?¡± She looked, but didn¡¯t see a biohazard symbol. ¡°No.¡± They finished off the last few zombies, then headed to their base. Standing on the framework of the second story, Beth saw a couple zombies wandering in the distance. They still had several minutes until the sunset, so she climbed down the ladder and ran toward them. When she finally reached them, she was out of stamina, and pulled her 9mm out, shooting them both in the head. Welcome to level 4! You¡¯ve received 1 skill point. She drank a water bottle, then walked back to base just as the sun disappeared behind the mountains in the distance. Beth opened her character screen and created the grates that went on the second story floor, giving them a view of any zombies attacking from below. She carefully placed the grates between the new pillars she¡¯d created. Maverick had crafted some torches and placed them into the mining hole she¡¯d started digging yesterday. They spent the next few hours working together to gather iron, stone, and dirt. A shrieker screamed outside their base. ¡°Keep working. I¡¯ll handle the zombies.¡± Maverick climbed the ladder into the base, and disappeared onto the second story. Beth continued working to the sound of stone hitting stone, and bullets hitting flesh. A little while later, climbed back into the base and found Maverick slumped in the corner, unresponsive. Then her vision went black, save for a white message. Updating ¡­ Please wait ¡­ Chapter 10: It begins TJ felt like an idiot for bringing all these morons to New York. He woke them up early the next morning and gave each of them a $25,000 check. He¡¯d entered the game briefly, just to check out Beth¡¯s base, and to check his own compatibility with the newest version. ¡°Where¡¯s Beth?¡± Jack, aka Maverick, demanded. ¡°She¡¯s still in the simulation.¡± Which was almost true. Really, she was in the back being prepped for the micro-bot injection. Jack folded his arms over his chest. ¡°I¡¯m not leaving without her.¡± TJ held up the signed waiver. ¡°She¡¯s actually doing the next stage of beta testing.¡± He wouldn¡¯t mention that he¡¯d tricked her into signing it. He was deep into this project, and he needed to figure out what made her different. His team had run all sorts of tests overnight while the testers slept. Beth was 100% compatible, Jack was only 86% compatible. TJ, himself, was 96% compatible, which meant he was going to risk everything to join Beth in the simulation. She¡¯d also get the upgraded version, the game mechanics were smoother, more realistic. The characters were more human and less animated looking. The zombies ¡­ the zombies were fucking fantastic. As soon as his security team had the stragglers out the door, he went into his bedroom, where two micro-bot tanks were set up. With the injection, they were almost redundant, but he wanted to make sure everything was working how he wanted it to. They shouldn¡¯t feel pain, just pressure. And hunger, and thirst. Things would definitely feel more realistic. It would be like living through a zombie apocalypse without the threat of actual death or infection. TJ wandered back into Beth¡¯s bedroom, where the doctor was setting up for her injection. Beth was still out, thanks to the pill TJ had given her. It was basically an oral tranquilizer. ¡°Are we close?¡± TJ asked the doctor, glancing at Beth still laying in her pod. She nodded, lifting the needle that contained the micro-bot. ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Perfect. As soon as you¡¯re done with her, have her transported to the second tank in my room. I¡¯ll be waiting in the first one.¡± The doctor nodded. ¡°Of course, sir.¡± TJ looked to his assistant, Gary, and nodded. He nodded back. The two of them were the only ones who knew the truth, that Beth had unwittingly signed the consent for the procedure. Gary¡¯s research (which just entailed watching the security tapes from the Poky lab) had revealed that Beth hadn¡¯t even read the first consent before signing it. Getting her to sign one with the new terms was as simple as handing her a pen and putting a clipboard in front of her. TJ headed to his room and slid into the micro-bot tank. The small robots shifted around him, tickling at first. He settled in and looked up at the blank projection screen above his pod. This penthouse was TJ¡¯s home. He¡¯d had his bed exchanged for a micro-bot tank long ago. The robots were programmed to support his weight properly. He couldn¡¯t remember the last time he¡¯d woken up with a kink in his neck. They were also climate-controlled; they sensed his comfort level and adjusted to keep him the perfect temperature. They¡¯d been programmed with other bells and whistles too, for longer-term tank use. Like waste disposal, self-cleaning, heart rate and blood pressure readings. Anything they could think of, was written into their code. They were designed to meet every need the human body had. And, if this worked, he was going to be filthy rich. Of course there were other applications for the technology, and he fully intended to expand the business, once it took off, but his first love had always been gaming, so this, here, was where he¡¯d make his mark. Brian, one of his tech guys, came in and sat at the glass desk beside TJ¡¯s tank. ¡°How¡¯s everything looking?¡± TJ asked. Brian hit a few buttons on his keyboard and the projector cast an image on the screen. It was like watching a home video. They were seeing exactly what Beth saw as she climbed the wooden ladder and sat on the roof of her base, watching the sun rise over the mountains. TJ gasped. ¡°It¡¯s working.¡± Brian grinned. ¡°It looks fuckin¡¯ real.¡± A few minutes later, the good doctor and an assistant brought Beth in and carefully transferred her body to the second tank. ¡°Are you ready, Mr. Carothers?¡± TJ could only nod as Beth walked through the desert. She stopped at a cactus and touched the spiky needles. ¡°Ouch,¡± she said in the enhanced sultry voice, then popped the finger in her mouth, sucking off the dot of blood. TJ held out his arm and they placed an IV in the crook of his elbow. Seconds later, he drifted off. Chapter 11: Fine. Holy shit. Holy shit. Yeah, there was an update, but this? This felt real. She¡¯d actually felt the cactus prick her finger! What the hell was going on? Beth walked into town, wary of the enhanced sound effects. The wind whistling through the trees, the creaking of a decorative windmill in someone¡¯s front lawn. And speaking of their front lawn, the grass. It was trimmed neatly, with small patches of taller grass, and it looked real. Every, fracking, thing, looked, real. She¡¯d left Maverick¡¯s avatar¡ªshe refused to refer to it as his body¡ªin the base. Hopefully, the zombies weren¡¯t attracted to it when he wasn¡¯t online, cause he was an easy target just slumped in the corner. Beth made it to the trader¡¯s compound and quickly entered, making sure to close the door behind her. Apparently zombies were too stupid to figure out a doorknob. She climbed the steps and stopped when she saw a man standing in front of the trader. Or, she thought it was the trader, instead of saying Trader over his head, it said Skip McGee. The newcomer, with the name Helios above his head, turned as Beth¡¯s foot caught on a nail sticking out of the rustic wooden floor. Beth glanced down at it and cocked her head to the side. Again, it looked so real. ¡°Nyx. Good to see you.¡± Her attention was drawn back to the man, and she knew immediately that it was TJ, and that he¡¯d used the glow-up clone option. He had the same dark hair and dark eyes. His face was more angular, his jaw more chiseled. A sexy scruff coated his cheeks and chin. ¡°TJ, what¡¯s going on?¡± TJ pointed at the name hovering over his head. ¡°Call me Helios. You aren¡¯t the only fan of Greek mythology.¡± Beth¡¯s stomach churned with unease. ¡°Helios,¡± she said exaggeratedly. ¡°What is happening?¡± ¡°It¡¯s an update.¡± He held out his hands as if that explained the whole damn thing. She rolled her eyes. ¡°But I feel. My backpack is heavy. My finger still stings. I¡¯m sweaty!¡± His grin widened. ¡°It¡¯s all part of the experience.¡± Fan-fracking-tastic. He was gonna be no help. ¡°We should team up,¡± TJ suggested. Beth shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m already on a team with Maverick.¡± Something flickered in TJ¡¯s eyes that she couldn¡¯t decipher. Anger? Jealousy? But it was gone so quick, she wondered if she¡¯d imagined it. ¡°Invite me then.¡± She bit her lip and looked around, trying to figure out if there was an invite button anywhere. Not that she could see. ¡°Um. He created the team, so I don¡¯t know how to invite you.¡± TJ¡¯s smile looked forced. ¡°Okay. We¡¯ll just wait for him to log on again, I guess.¡± ¡°Yeah. Speaking of logging on, do you know what time it is? Last time I figured that 8 hours was about 24 hours of game time. Is that standard?¡± TJ nodded. ¡°Yeah. We¡¯re at three times speed.¡± Hmm. ¡°Seems like it would get boring after a while.¡± His lips pressed into a thin line and he looked at the wall when he answered. ¡°It can be sped up or slowed down, but for this run-through it¡¯s at three times.¡± When Beth didn¡¯t answer, he seemed to take that as her disapproval, and went on, ¡°it also means that you miss less when you¡¯re not online over the weekend.¡± ¡°And, the time?¡± She quirked a brow. He shrugged. ¡°Does it matter? I¡¯m paying you to be in New York. You¡¯re working.¡± ¡°But I didn¡¯t agree to work 24/7. I¡¯m in New York!¡± And for the first time in her life, she had some extra money to spend. He tsked, and the sound grated on her nerves. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll log out soon. I just wanted to experience the update with you. Isn¡¯t it amazing?¡± That reminded her. ¡°So, what happens if I, like, wake up in the middle of fighting zombies or whatever? Do I die or?¡± Or if Maverick was asleep in her base ¡­ ¡°No. The zombies recognize you as an NPC if you¡¯re not online and they leave you alone.¡± ¡°But Maverick said that the zombies will kill the trader if I leave the gate open, and he¡¯s an NPC,¡± she argued. His jaw twitched. ¡°The traders are different. It¡¯s a different code.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± She cast around for something to say or do to dispel the awkwardness. After a second, Beth walked around TJ and spoke to the trader. ¡°Hi Skip.¡± A screen popped up in front of her. Would you like to buy and sell? Go on an errand? Never mind. ¡°Go on an errand.¡±
Tier 1 Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Retrieve .5 miles South
Tier 1 Clear 1 mile West
Tier 1 Retrieve .35 miles East
After looking at it for a few seconds, she picked the Tier 1 retrieve a half mile south. ¡°So, where¡¯s your base?¡± TJ asked. Beth stared, for some reason not wanting to tell him. ¡°Over there.¡± She pointed vaguely in the right direction. ¡°Yours?¡± ¡°I found a hardware store with a pretty solid wall around it, so I¡¯ve started reinforcing it. You should join me.¡± He puffed out his chest and gave her a condescending smirk. ¡°That¡¯s cool.¡± What she really wanted to know was how close he¡¯d come to beating the game. According to Maverick, starting from scratch was better in the long run, so obviously, that was her preference. ¡°Have you ever beat the game?¡± she asked. He shrugged. ¡°Not on advanced. But I beat the sixty day horde, which is a helluva feat.¡± He turned to the trader and picked an errand, not far from Beth¡¯s retrieve. ¡°Shall we?¡± Beth followed him down the stairs and back to the gate. As he opened it, a sharp violin sound cut through the air and a zombie rushed them. Beth stepped in front of TJ and bashed the zombie¡¯s head in. She looked back at TJ, who was staring down at the corpse. Then, she crouched beside it. ¡°Holy crap, it looks ¡­¡± ¡°Real,¡± TJ finished for her. She nudged it with her club and wrinkled her nose. ¡°It even smells like rot.¡± Bile burned her throat and she forced herself to swallow it down. TJ stepped around it. ¡°Let¡¯s head South.¡± The music returned to its upbeat cadence with low tones that told her that they were inside the city¡¯s borders. Beth located her blinking yellow arrow and as she got closer, she realized it was hovering over a wide yellow circle. She had a gun ready in her inventory, and her club, which was down to 74% durability. She wasn¡¯t a fan of that, the slowly deteriorating weapon. It didn¡¯t seem fair. Maybe there was some way to fix it, if so, she¡¯d have to figure it out. But neither of those things would help her now. Apparently, she needed to dig. She swapped her club for her shovel, which after all the digging and mining she¡¯d done, was even worse off than the club. She dug straight down beneath the arrow several blocks, so deep that she had to build a ladder to get out of the hole. Apparently, the arrow was just to bring her the yellow circle. She moved a couple of blocks over and dug down two layers, then did that within the entire circle. Beth moved back to the center, and began digging another two layers deep. A shuffling outside the hole drew Beth¡¯s attention, and she peeked over the edge. A shrieker was wandering nearby. Frack. Beth exchanged her shovel for her gun and aimed for the zombie¡¯s head. It hadn¡¯t seen her yet, therefore, it hadn¡¯t shrieked and drawn the attention of more zombies. She squeezed the trigger, and the gun¡¯s blast nearly deafened her. The kickback wasn¡¯t terrible, but it was enough to throw her aim off, had she needed a second shot. Fortunately, she hadn¡¯t. The shrieker dropped to the ground, and Beth gained 1150 experience for the kill. She went back to her hole, her ears perked for more movement as she worked. Sweat dripped down her body, trailing between her breasts. ¡°Damn shirt,¡± she grumbled, wiping it away. Pebbles tumbled down the edge of the hole, and Beth spun, her gun drawn. ¡°Whoa!¡± TJ held out his hands in a surrender gesture. ¡°I was just enjoying the view.¡± Beth looked down at her glistening cleavage and pulled her jacket tighter around herself. ¡°You would.¡± He laughed, a warm and sexy sound. Gross. Had she just thought TJ was sexy? Nothing was less sexy than a hot guy with a trash personality. ¡°Sorry. I shouldn¡¯t have said that.¡± TJ rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes cast toward the ground. ¡°No. You shouldn¡¯t have thought that,¡± Beth snapped. She turned her back to him and kept digging. ¡°While you¡¯re up there, keep an eye out for zombies.¡± After another few minutes, she located a small chest. ¡°Well, looks like you¡¯re good to go. I¡¯m gonna go finish clearing the house.¡± Beth didn¡¯t pull her gaze from the chest. It glowed a soft gold color, and the wood felt rough under her palm. Truly, it was incredible what TJ had created with this programming. As Beth lifted the lid, a gold light glowed from the crack, and the chest made a creaking sound. One she¡¯d heard before. A zombie moaned just outside the hole, and Beth quickly shoved the loot into her inventory and climbed out. Three zombies, all from different directions, slowly stumbled toward her. Opening the chest had sprung a trap, of sorts. The eerily dramatic music began to play. Beth opted to use her club to save her ammo. She approached the zombie and bashed its head. It fell to the ground with a squishing sound, but she didn¡¯t get the experience notification. As she waited for it to get back up, she spun to a second zombie, who was just behind her. This one was one of the fat travelers, which she learned meant that they had more life. She hit it twice before it went down. The first zombie had already gotten to its feet, and the third zombie was just rounding the hole as it approached. She smashed the first zombie¡¯s head three times before it collapsed, getting 510 experience. Then she spun toward the traveler. It was a man with a hawaiian shirt on, and a camera hanging around his neck. His eyes were droopy and bloodshot, and one arm had a gaping, bloody wound. Flies flew around the zombie, and maggots squirmed over the rotting flesh. Beth stumbled back a step as very real terror crawled over her skin. This was too real. She thought it was bad before the update. Now, it was something else entirely. She had to tell TJ she couldn¡¯t do this. He couldn¡¯t put all his eggs in her basket, because there was no way she could continue to test this game. After this was over, she suspected she¡¯d dream about it. Non-stop. Who in their right mind went to bed in hopes of dreaming about zombies anyway? Maybe this technology could be applied to having good dreams, you know, the kind that involve rainbows and unicorns. Or better yet, rolling around in piles of money and experiencing things that you wouldn¡¯t be able to in real life. Hell, she¡¯d settle for a dream where she could be on the beach, wholly fed and a drink with an umbrella in her hand. Maybe she could use the game¡¯s glow-up feature to give herself the perfect body. That was the kind of virtual reality she could get behind. She¡¯d tell TJ that as soon as she was finished with these creepy zombies. Speaking of the zombies, she swung at the traveler, twice. It stumbled, but didn¡¯t fall. The other zombie was almost close enough to grab her, which its swinging arms indicated it wanted to do. She ducked beneath its arms and pulled out her gun, wanting to get out of this situation and back to TJ as soon as she could. She stuck the gun beneath the traveler¡¯s chin and pulled the trigger. Its head exploded and brain matter, that was all she could think to call it, splattered all over her. She even felt the warmth of it on her tongue. Beth heaved and spit as she spun to face the next zombie, making a mental note to not be within the spray zone. Backing away, she shot the zombie, and experience flashed across the bottom of her screen. Welcome to level 5! You¡¯ve received 1 skill point. She ran toward the house TJ had disappeared in and found him using his shovel to gather cement mix. ¡°Hey. Can we get out of here now? I¡¯m finished.¡± He looked up at her tone. Probably at the way the word finished sounded so final. ¡°I can¡¯t do this anymore. I can¡¯t be in a world with zombies. I¡¯ll have nightmares for months¡ªyears even!¡± He grinned at her, and something in it made her uneasy. ¡°That¡¯s the beauty of it. With Insomnia Online, you won¡¯t have to dream; you can experience.¡± ¡°I¡¯m telling you that I can¡¯t do your stupid test anymore. I want to wake up.¡± His jaw ticked, a motion Beth was starting to recognize for what it was: irritation that he wasn¡¯t getting his way. ¡°Fine. But let¡¯s get back to your base first.¡± Chapter 12: Payback Beth reluctantly led TJ back to the base, the entire time thinking what a bad idea it was. She felt that even more keenly when he laughed at it. ¡°This isn¡¯t going to cut it.¡± He shook his head and gave her a look that made her want to claw his eyes out. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to cut it. Remember? I¡¯m done,¡± Beth snapped, shooting him a glare that had made plenty of people speechless. She¡¯d just go back to her life, back to the Tasty Treat, though she¡¯d probably take some time off. She was breaking their agreement, so she had no idea how much he¡¯d actually pay her, but she couldn¡¯t worry about it now. She¡¯d made enough at least to cover her back rent and get the keys to the new lock on her apartment. Beth didn¡¯t relish the idea of going back to stealing cereal from Celeste, filling up the milk with water and hoping she wouldn¡¯t notice. Mooching off of her for everything. It was what her mama would¡¯ve done, and Beth desperately didn¡¯t want to turn into her mama. ¡°What are these pillars for, anyway?¡± TJ asked with a head-jerk toward them. Beth pointed at the grates above his head. ¡°I can kill zombies below without being in reach.¡± One of TJ¡¯s eyebrows twitched up. ¡°In the later stages of the game, they jump. This won¡¯t stop them.¡± Beth shook her head. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I keep telling you, but you don¡¯t seem to be listening. I¡¯m done.¡± TJ climbed the ladder and stopped at Maverick¡¯s prone form, slumped in the corner. Beth climbed behind him, irritated he wasn¡¯t in a hurry to wake her up. This is a dream. Wake up! Wake up, she kept telling her body. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. TJ perched on the edge of the storage box Maverick had built her. ¡°What¡¯s it gonna take to get you to stay?¡± She didn¡¯t want to admit how dire her financial situation was. TJ, she was certain, already knew. That was why he was using money to try to get her to stay. Money was the key to Beth¡¯s heart. Or, at least her willingness to do stupid things. Beth swallowed, reminded that her mama would have done anything for money. ¡°I don¡¯t think you can.¡± TJ stood then, and walked toward her. No? walked was the wrong word. He stalked her, like a predator stalks its prey. His chin down, his lip quirked, his hungry eyes narrowed. Beth had seen that expression on a man¡¯s face before. She knew what it preceded. Once, as a teenager, one of her mama¡¯s boyfriends, Jerry, had cozied up to her and said all the right things. Beth had been young, and flattered by his attention. He seemed interested in her life, asking her about boys she had a crush on, and school. It was a month in the making, and her mama had encouraged their relationship. Mama said that it warmed her heart that Beth was trying to get to know her boyfriend. Then one night, he looked at her just like TJ was looking at her now. Like a snack. Beth was ashamed that she hadn¡¯t seen it coming. Hadn¡¯t seen how he¡¯d slowly tried to gain her trust. It was exactly what TJ was trying to do. Different tactics, poking holes, searching for her weakness. Well, after that night, it wasn¡¯t men. It¡¯s just a game, she justified, as TJ drew nearer. He stopped in her personal space, his breath hot on her cheek. ¡°I¡¯ll do anything.¡± He sounded like he was trying to be sexy, his voice a little growly. ¡°Anything.¡± He drew out the word, giving it more syllables than it needed. The innuendo was clear. He was offering her whatever she wanted. Even himself. When he lifted his hand and trailed it down her cheek, she swore she could feel it. When his fingers slid over her jaw and down her neck, she repressed a shudder. Her back was to the wall, she had nowhere to go. As his touch brushed past her collarbone and toward her breasts, she grabbed his wrist. ¡°Stop.¡± His other hand pushed the jacket from her shoulder. ¡°C¡¯mon, Beth.¡± She drew her gun. It¡¯s just a game. And she shot him under the chin, exactly like she¡¯d shot the zombie. Chapter 13: Pivot ¡°Fuck!¡± TJ yelled, rubbing his chin as he sat up inside the micro-bot tank. Beth had actually shot him. Taken his life. Now he only had one left. He¡¯d have to be careful. Brian smirked at him. ¡°For a second there, I thought I was gonna get a show.¡± ¡°Wake her up,¡± TJ ordered, ignoring Brian and getting out of the tank. Even though she¡¯d shot him, it didn¡¯t diminish the attraction he felt for the fiery redhead. He was testing her before. Seeing where her boundaries were. He¡¯d found them. Growing up, his mother had a surly mare who hated everyone. She¡¯d buck when anyone would try to mount her. She bit. She kicked. She was as wild as they came. Her name? Nyx. It was a coincidence that had struck him the second he¡¯d seen her avatar¡¯s name. But after their last interaction, he knew it was no coincidence. He¡¯d broken Nyx, the horse. It would be his pleasure to break this Nyx, too. Brian cleared his throat. ¡°It¡¯s not working?¡± TJ climbed from the tank and made sure he didn¡¯t have any stowaway micro-bots in his pockets. ¡°What¡¯s not?¡± ¡°She¡¯s not waking up.¡± A furrow appeared in Brian¡¯s brow as he typed away at his keyboard. ¡°She should be waking up.¡± Stolen novel; please report. Maybe it was the tranquilizer he¡¯d given her. ¡°She did take a sleeping pill before she went to bed. Perhaps that¡¯s what¡¯s keeping her asleep now?¡± Brian walked over to the clear tank, the tiny microbots all around her, clinging to her like a second skin. He put his hand in and lightly shook her shoulder. ¡°Beth?¡± TJ watched for a minute while Brian tried to unsuccessfully wake her. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s good to give her some time to cool down,¡± he offered. Brian¡¯s concern turned into a knowing smirk. ¡°You¡¯re probably right. She¡¯ll come around on her own.¡± TJ hoped that sentence would have double-meaning. Hopefully she would come around. Hopefully he could figure out what made Beth tick and give it to her. ¡°What time is it?¡± TJ asked. Brian glanced at his watch. ¡°Almost noon.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s grab lunch, then we¡¯ll watch the show until she wakes up.¡± TJ gestured to the screen on the ceiling where they¡¯d been watching Beth before TJ joined her in the simulation. She was currently staring at TJ¡¯s headless corpse. Blood dripped down her jacket sleeves, and she pulled it off and wiped her face. TJ turned his back to the image and left the room. Gary was napping on the white couches in the sunken living room. TJ cleared his throat, and Gary jerked away. ¡°What? How did it go?¡± Gary got to his feet and straightened his skinny tie. TJ and Gary had been best friends since their days at USC. Roommates, co-conspirators. TJ had the ideas and the capital, and Gary helped him bring them to fruition. ¡°It looks amazing. You should go in and check it out. Have Brian shift the projection to the wall. And order lunch. We¡¯re gonna be here a while.¡± TJ hoped when Beth woke up she wouldn¡¯t kill him. In the meantime, he had some serious research to do. Chapter 14: Murder It was hard for Beth not to feel like a murderer when she was staring at the headless corpse of TJ¡¯s avatar. It¡¯s just a game. She had a feeling that would be her new mantra. When he died, he dropped a backpack, and though she felt bad for it, she looted it, taking his guns and ammo for herself. Beth stood in the same spot, waiting for what seemed like forever for them to wake her. Maybe TJ was pissed and was going to let her rot in here for an extra few hours because she¡¯d killed him. If Maverick was right, he only had one more life, which brought a smile to her face. Like the zombie corpses, she expected TJ¡¯s¡ªerr¡ªHelios¡¯s corpse to disappear after a little while, but it just sat there, attracting flies. When it actually started to get dark, Beth got to her feet and cursed, looking at the time above her head. Day: 3, Time: 22:06 Well, wasn¡¯t that fan-fracking-tastic. She hadn¡¯t done anything to reinforce the base, but Maverick had left supplies in one of the boxes, so Beth went around turning the cobblestone into stone. For Maverick, not for TJ. TJ could kiss her ass. As she worked, she heard zombie cries in the distance, but ignored them. If they got close enough, she¡¯d do something about it. She went to each of the pillars and created stone boxes, placing them five blocks high. She didn¡¯t know what Maverick¡¯s plan was, but this was what made sense to her. If in the later games, the zombies could jump, she wanted to make sure they couldn¡¯t jump as high as they built the base. She hadn¡¯t even considered that they would be able to jump. Beth worked by the light of the torches that Maverick had placed around the base. Hopefully, they would also deter the zombie birds, because Beth had no desire to deal with them. When she finished, she went to the storage bins and began sorting through them. There were car parts, relays for electricity, a couple of level 2 axes, one of which she exchanged for her ax, which was running low on durability. There were piles of dirt and cement mix, which she needed to figure out how to use. Maybe she needed a cement mixer? You know, one of those small ones that you could rent. There were also piles of iron and stone. She saw something called a flashlight mod and picked it up.
Flashlight Mod
Attaches to: Guns and Helmets.
Beth didn¡¯t have a helmet, and incidentally, couldn¡¯t use a gun while holding her ax or her shovel. It was stupid. She tried propping it between her teeth to no avail. As dawn broke, Beth ate some food and grabbed a couple of water bottles out of storage and climbed down the ladder. Why the hell hadn¡¯t they woken her yet? And where was Mav? He should¡¯ve logged on by now. She was growing more irritated with TJ by the minute. Frack TJ. She climbed the ladder, then grabbed his corpse. If he needed it, she wanted to make sure he couldn¡¯t find it. Beth dragged the corpse to the edge of her base, then kicked it over the edge onto the dirt below. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. The thunk it made when it hit the dirt would¡¯ve normally turned her stomach. This is a game. Taking several deep breaths through her mouth, she climbed back down the ladder, then grabbed the body under its arms, and began dragging it south. When she was out of stamina, and her base was over a football field length away, Beth drank some water, then when her stamina allowed, began to dig. TJ was just like her mama¡¯s boyfriend, poking at her, searching for weakness, and there was no way she¡¯d show him any. Finally, after she¡¯d dug down to the iron, she heaved his body into the hole, then covered it with dirt. Then, because she couldn¡¯t resist, she pulled a piece of wood from her inventory and, finding a sharp stone nearby, carved: Here lies Tiny Johnson (aka TJ) and placed it at the head of his grave. Then, immaturely, she flipped him off and spit on it. Satisfied, she spun in a slow circle, taking inventory of her surroundings. To the east was the town with the trader, and all other directions looked like desert. Obviously, the game developers or designers or whoever decides what a game should look like, wanted her to head to the town. That was the obvious choice. Instead, though, Beth went the opposite way. She was just hoping to find somewhere without zombies to hang out. Not that she was convinced there was such a thing in this game as a place without zombies, but with towns populated with them, she decided to head the other direction. Walking west, Beth kept her ears peeled for any shift in the upbeat music. It was like being at a piano bar all the time, but with other instruments occasionally thrown in. Beth walked until she was out of stamina, then opened her inventory to check her map. There was a big square of white, with the smallest trail of desert cut through it. She closed it and kept going. More than once, she passed the skulls of some horned animal that she imagined was a cousin to a cow or bison, but she had no idea which. The cactus were all basically the same three shapes. One tall with two arms coming off of either side, the stereotypical cactus, Another, with a similar body-type¡ªcould cactuses have a body-type?¡ªbut shorter and without arms, and a third with flat spiny leaf-looking things and red blossoms. Sagebrush and tumbleweeds also helped give her that desert feel. But what was the most convincing, was the sweat dripping down her back. She¡¯d used her jacket to wipe TJ¡¯s blood from her face. Fracking TJ. She would forever call him Tiny Johnson in her head. The landscape around her slowly grew more green and she came across a parking lot. There were a few abandoned cars in the lot. Okay, maybe it wasn¡¯t quite as deserted as she was hoping for over here. In the distance, she could see a few birds flying over a small man-made lake. It was small enough that she could have swam from one end to the other without worrying about drowning. There were two docks along one side of the lake, and she suddenly remembered her empty water bottles. She walked to the dock and leaned over, filling each of them in turn as her stamina refilled. Maybe she could anchor a boat in the center of the lake and avoid any zombies. Blood splashed across her vision, and pain tore into her back. She spun and found a group of at least ten birds circling overhead. One had dive-bombed her. ¡°Son of a bitch,¡± she murmured. Beth pulled out her handgun and aimed it at the birds. She only had twenty rounds left, and she wasn¡¯t the best shot. She squeezed the trigger, and the loud explosion was followed by a bird thunking onto the dock beside her. It flapped around wildly, and Beth exchanged her gun for her club and hit it until she got the experience notification. +650 experience Another bird swooped toward her and she shot, missing it completely. Then two came at her at the same time, she ducked and shot, again and again. One more fell to the ground, and she clubbed it to death, then swapped her gun for her club. She had no more ammo. A shriek sounded from the other dock across the lake, and a bunch of zombies appeared. One dashed toward her, only the water was between them, and it dropped into the lake and disappeared below the surface. Maybe it was swimming underwater. Maybe since it was dead, it didn¡¯t need to breathe. But that thought was cut short as another shriek sounded from behind her, on her side of the lake. Three birds dived toward her, and she used her club like a baseball bat, hitting them from the sky. More zombies ran at her from her side of the lake. Her choices here weren¡¯t great. She didn¡¯t want to die at the hands of these zombies. ¡°Wake me up anytime now, TJ!¡± she yelled as she jumped off the dock and into the lake. Chapter 15: Tiny Johnson TJ didn¡¯t have time to feel annoyed that Beth had given him a new nickname, one that he¡¯d heard some of his developers whispering to each other out in his kitchen; he was more concerned that they couldn¡¯t get her to wake up. He¡¯d dismissed the doctor, telling her that he¡¯d call if he needed her, and turned his trouble-shooting to the elite team of programmers, developers, and designers he¡¯d assembled to help him trouble-shoot. He¡¯d had them each sign an NDA, a non-disclosure agreement, so they wouldn¡¯t go blabbing to the media that his technology had taken one of its beta-testers captive. TJ couldn¡¯t afford for Insomnia Online to get the bad press. ¡°Should we shut down some of the other beta testing locations?¡± Gary asked, his judgemental eyebrow raised and his hands tucked into his pockets in a false show of ease. ¡°No. Just don¡¯t advance them to the injection. We need to continue finding suitable candidates so we can figure out their common threads.¡± Like why TJ was 96% compatible but hadn¡¯t been trapped inside the game. Somewhere in that 4% was a mystery to be solved, discovered, and fixed. He typed out a text to Candace, his sister. She loathed him, but would do anything if he paid her enough. TJ: I need your help with a coma patient. She¡¯s important to me. Candace: How important? TJ: I¡¯ll do anything. Candace: Send me the address, I¡¯ll be right there. He did. That was another thing about his sister, she didn¡¯t ask why he had a coma patient in his penthouse, she just came. Candace: You owe me, though. Candace arrived less than an hour later, her pixie-like features accentuated by her dark hair pulled into a ponytail. TJ¡¯s living room had been turned into an office for the six men hard at work. Each of their heads swiveled toward her as she sashayed across the marble floor toward him, a glower firmly in place. TJ led her to the bedroom, where Beth and Brian were. Candace stopped between the two tanks. ¡°These are the robots that can do almost anything the human body needs?¡± Her eyes darkened as she turned on him. She¡¯d been telling him since they were in prototype that they needed to be marketed to the medical field, her area of expertise. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. TJ swallowed, giving her a hard look. Now was not the time to get into another argument about the micro-bots. ¡°Yeah.¡± Candace turned toward Beth¡¯s tank. ¡°She¡¯s beautiful.¡± Candace¡¯s fingers touched Beth¡¯s chin, her face being the only exposed part of her in the micro-bot tank. ¡°She is,¡± TJ agreed. ¡°Fill me in then.¡± Candace kicked off her high heels and slid into the second tank, looking up at the screen. ¡°What movie is this?¡± she asked. Brian cleared his throat and gave TJ an uncomfortable look. TJ said, ¡°This is the game. What you¡¯re seeing is through Beth¡¯s point of view. She¡¯s stuck in the game, and we can¡¯t figure out how to get her out.¡± Beth screamed TJ¡¯s name, the sound raising the hairs on his arms. ¡°So, she¡¯s stuck in a zombie game, currently underneath a dock, shivering with cold as zombies try to break through the wood?¡± ¡°Basically.¡± TJ looked at the screen. He wasn¡¯t actually sure the zombies could break through the dock. They may have made that one a permanent structure. At least for her sake, he hoped they had. Night had fallen, and they were just getting glimpses by the light of the full moon. A swarm of zombies had amassed, some in bird form, some dogs, and about two-dozen human ones. ¡°This is creepy AF,¡± Candace said. ¡°People want to dream about this? I¡¯d probably wake up and forget which was fantasy and which was reality.¡± That was part of TJ¡¯s plan, though. He wanted people to forget. Wanted them to live in his games. He had others in the development stage too. Perhaps a less dangerous game, a slice of life, would have been better. He had a game he called Life. People could buy a home, build a life, get married. Everything. They could do it all, and his micro-bots would take care of their physical needs. They¡¯d only need to wake up to eat. Even then, though, he¡¯d tried to program some sort of feeding system, but hadn¡¯t figured it out. ¡°How long has she been out?¡± Candace asked. ¡°Almost an entire day,¡± Brian answered. ¡°So she¡¯ll need IV fluids. And maybe a feeding tube.¡± Candace gave him a dirty look. ¡°This won¡¯t be easy stuff to get, and I could be kicked out of school and blocked from receiving my license.¡± He knew it was true, but if they couldn¡¯t figure out how to get Beth out of the game, there would be major issues. Major. ¡°Do these bot things monitor her blood pressure, body temperature, heart rate, and all that?¡± TJ looked to Brian, who pressed a few buttons and the stats appeared on the screen overtop of the live-stream of Beth¡¯s game. ¡°Her temperature is low. Can you warm her up?¡± ¡°Of course. They¡¯re synced with the game right now, if she¡¯s cold in the game, they¡¯re programmed to make her cold in real life.¡± TJ smiled, proud of that little invention. ¡°If the bots are programmed to make the game feel real, perhaps you should consider manually controlling them so that she doesn¡¯t get hypothermia from being in that lake.¡± TJ¡¯s eyes widened as he considered giving Beth, or any of his users, hypothermia. That was definitely not his intent. He looked at Brian, who obviously read TJ¡¯s panicked expression. ¡°I¡¯ll get right on it.¡± Candace climbed gracefully out of the tank. ¡°I¡¯ll make some phone calls. How much are you willing to spend?¡± ¡°Whatever it takes.¡± She shook her head with a small eye roll. ¡°And Candace. Don¡¯t tell anyone, okay?¡± Chapter 16: Stuck Beth spent the night under the dock, shivering and praying that she¡¯d make it out of this. The game kept tricking her mind, telling her she was freezing. Around four, she actually started to feel warm. She¡¯d heard that was what happened with hypothermia patients in the last stages of the illness. They began to sweat and feel warm. So much so that they¡¯d found people frozen to death, naked, because they¡¯d stripped their clothes off. A shotgun blast brought Beth back to the present, and she pushed from under the dock and toward the center of the lake. Luckily there were no fish zombies, and the other zombies couldn''t swim. With the sunrise, some of the zombies had dispersed, others had jumped to their death in the lake, but there was still a small group gathered on the docks. She hoped to see Mav behind that shotgun. Hoped her new friend would be the one blowing heads off zombies and pulling her from the lake. But as Helios came into view, Beth rolled her eyes and leveled him with a look. He ignored her, continuing the destruction on the zombies, spraying them with whatever it was that shotguns shot. Shells? Bullets? She really should learn more about guns. And where the hell had he gotten the gun? She¡¯d killed him, buried his corpse, and took the backpack he dropped. As the last zombie dropped backwards into the lake, Beth swam toward the dock. Helios met her there and reached a hand down to her. ¡°Rough night?¡± He pulled her from the water and helped balance her on her shaking legs. As soon as he let her go, she pulled her gun from her inventory and pointed it at his head. Okay, the slide thingy was open, and there were obviously no bullets¡ªerr, ammo¡ªinside, but it helped her feel powerful. ¡°Wake me up.¡± A guilty look flashed across his face. ¡°We actually can¡¯t figure out how.¡± Beth¡¯s legs gave out and she collapsed in a heap on the dock. She blamed the night spent in the water, but suspected it had more to do with the shock. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°You won¡¯t wake up. We¡¯ve tried.¡± Beth looked up at the time over her head. Day: 5, Time: 09:01. ¡°What does that mean?¡± TJ walked over and crouched beside her, grabbing the gun from her loose grasp and tucking it in his waistband. ¡°You¡¯re in a coma.¡± With strength she didn¡¯t know she possessed, she equipped her club and got to her feet. TJ held up his hands. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry, Beth. Truly.¡± She swung the club with as much force as she could. It hit his shoulder, then his forearm as she swung again. ¡°You bastard. Son. Of. A. Bitch.¡± She accentuated each word with a blow to his body. He stood there and took it, allowing her to get her anger out. Angry tears trailed down her cheeks, and if she hadn¡¯t been completely out of stamina, she would¡¯ve run from him to hide them. She hated that her tear ducts seemed to be attached to her fury. She¡¯d worked damn hard to keep people at a distance so she didn¡¯t feel anger. If you didn¡¯t care what people thought, then it didn¡¯t matter what they said. But TJ had put her into a coma. A. Coma. She was in New York, and her mama still had no idea where she was. Celeste was probably happy to be rid of her. No one would be looking. When she realized Mav hadn¡¯t logged on for two days, a sinking feeling filled her gut. ¡°Is Maverick online?¡± she asked, wiping the tears away. TJ shook his head. ¡°He, and all the other betas, went home.¡± Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. She was alone. Pathetically, and completely alone. A thought occurred to her. ¡°Um. How did you know where I was?¡± Did he have some sort of tracker on her? ¡°Your game is live-streaming in my home as my programmers try to figure out why you¡¯re stuck and how to get you out.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re watching me?¡± Beth knew she should still be angry, but she felt oddly satisfied that he, or his programmers, had seen her bury his headless corpse, and mark it with the Tiny Johnson gravestone. TJ cleared his throat. ¡°Yes.¡± She nodded. ¡°Will they be able to figure out how to get me out of here?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He said it quickly, and with too much bravado, and Beth wasn¡¯t convinced it was true. ¡°Okay, then. Let¡¯s go build a base.¡± It was day 5, and according to Maverick, on day 10 was Horde Night. She needed to be prepared for next time. She wouldn¡¯t get caught overnight outside her base again. As they were heading back to the base, they came across a silvery stone. It looked suspiciously like iron. It was one of the metals Mav said they needed in the later game stages. She pulled up her map and figured out how to create a waypoint so she could come back later. ¡°Do you have a forge yet? Or a cement mixer? Or a bike? Those are items we should get right away.¡± Beth shook her head. ¡°We should spend time clearing buildings and getting items then. What level are you?¡± Beth looked at her character sheet. ¡°Level five.¡± ¡°Great, where have you been focusing your points? You¡¯re a fighter?¡± She nodded. ¡°Um.. What points?¡± ¡°The ones you get with each level.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Beth shifted uncomfortably. She didn¡¯t want to tell the man who was paying her to play a game that she didn¡¯t actually have any gaming experience, and therefore had no idea where or even HOW to spend said points. ¡°I¡¯ve been saving them up.¡± ¡°For what?¡± Beth shrugged, and her voice sounded small when she said, ¡°For later.¡± ¡°Well use them, ¡°TJ said with a note of exasperation. ¡°You¡¯ll need the extra stamina, strength, luck, and intelligence.¡± Beth clicked on her character sheet and noticed a small red 5 icon on the top left beside her name. She clicked it. Stolen novel; please report.
Intelligence Strength Luck Stamina
Caveman (1 point) String Bean (1 point) Jinx (1 point) Weakling (1 point)
Minor Moron (2 points) Soccer Mom (2 points) Even Steven (2 points) Two-minute Turbo (2 points)
Street Smarts (3 points) Fit (3 points) Happy-go-lucky (3 points) 5k Walker (3 points)
Bright (4 points) Body Builder (4 points) Lucky Larry (4 points) 10K Runner (4 points)
Einstein (5 points) Roid Rager (5 points) Jackpot (5 points) Marathoner (5 points)
She went right across the top of the board, giving herself a point in each of the first tier, and unlocking the second. She still had one point to spare. They stopped at the base, and though she didn¡¯t want to, Beth reluctantly gave back all of TJ¡¯s items. When he was taking the backpack from her hand, she didn¡¯t release it, waiting until their gazes collided. ¡°You¡¯re gonna get me out of here, right?¡± She searched his face, his drawn brow, his pinched lips, the slight lines around his eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll do my very best.¡± And she believed him, which was the only reason she didn¡¯t shoot him in the head again when he handed her the gun back and she reloaded it with the bullets she found in the storage boxes. ¡°Hey, is there any way to fix my club? It¡¯s down to 36% durability.¡± ¡°Yeah, there are repair kits. We can loot some, or make them if we find the schematic.¡± She nodded. ¡°Okay.¡± She could do this. She could do whatever it took to get through this. Beth was a fighter, and had been her entire life. She¡¯d had no choice but to be. She decided right then and there to build her base as good as she could get it, if for no other reason, then to give herself something else to focus on. Some way to get through this until they could figure out how to wake her up. =|==> They spent the rest of the day killing zombies and clearing buildings. The small town they were next to had a hardware store, and they managed to get a cement mixer, and several pallets of cement to fill it with. They also scored more guns and ammo, several machine parts and coils of wire. Other nonsense she had no idea what to do with, but TJ seemed pleased to get. And she got an item that she was pretty excited for.
Level 1 Mining Helmet
+10% load when mining Durability: 100% Enhancement Slot: (Empty) Enhancement Slot: (Empty)
As the sun started to go down, Beth placed the flashlight mod into the helmet, and switched it on, then descended into the mine they¡¯d dug below the base. She spent the entire night mining, only stopping when she heard the telltale signs of zombies that her noise had attracted. She climbed the steps to find Helios slumped next to Maverick. ¡°Wimp,¡± she muttered, hoping he was listening. Beth grabbed her gun and sprayed the zombies attacking the pillars below. A dog looked up at her with reflective intelligent eyes, and she shivered. It was creepy as all get out, and the dog looked like a real German Shepherd. It was more than a little unnerving. She put a bullet right between its eyes, and kept shooting the zombies. When the sun came over the horizon, she went to the cement mixer that they¡¯d brought back yesterday. She unloaded the wet cement that TJ made yesterday and placed it into a brand new storage container he¡¯d created that was labeled cement. Then she loaded it up with the next bag. She drank water, and ate a stick of beef jerky, then climbed down the ladder. Her plan was to spend the day trying to find useful things for her base, maybe another hardware store, or something of the like. She walked through the town to the trader. ¡°Hi, Skip.¡± Would you like to buy and sell? Go on an errand? Never mind. ¡°Go on an errand,¡± she said.
Tier 1 Clear .6 miles East
Tier 1 Clear .2 miles West
Tier 1 Retrieve .4 miles North
Beth selected the clear that was just west of her, then left the trader. She followed the yellow bouncing arrow to the house, then stepped on it and entered through the front door of the small double-wide. Beth tried to ignore how much this particular trailer reminded her of the one she¡¯d grown up in. Down to the chipping teal paint on the exterior of the home, to the TVCR¡ªTV VCR combo¡ªon a worn table in front of a couch. It was unnerving. And quiet. Too quiet. Beth quietly walked into the dated kitchen that looked straight out of the 80s, and screamed when a hand gripped her ankle. She bashed the zombie, which dragged itself toward her by its hands since the lower half of its body was missing. She refused to think of the woman as anything other than an it. It¡¯s just a game. When she got the experience notification, she rummaged through the drawers and cabinets, finding food, ammo, mail that she could use for kindling, and a wooden spike schematic.
Wooden Spike Schematic¡ªRequired Intelligence: 1
50 Wood 10 Wire
Beth seemed to remember getting wire last night at the hardware store, too. She finished clearing the trailer, which was only two more zombies, then stopped at the trader to collect her reward, which was a waterskin that she could insert into her backpack like a Camelbak. Curious about her new find, Beth went back to base to see what the wooden spikes looked like. She found the wire in one of the storage boxes, then created the first wooden spike. It was two feet by two feet. The wood criss-crossed at the center and created a spike on each of the four corners, with wire twisted between them. Maybe she could create a perimeter around the base to keep zombies out. Grabbing her ax, she went toward a tree line to the north, chopping down trees until she had four stacks of 5000 wood. When she got back to her base, her muscles ached. She made a hundred and twelve wooden spikes, using up 5600 wood and all but eighty of her 1200 wire. Working quickly, Beth placed the spikes in a perimeter around the base, leaving a space for the ladder that she placed on the outside pillar. The sun set, and Beth climbed the ladder, letting her stamina refill. ¡°Tell Tiny Johnson I want Maverick back!¡± she shouted. Someone was probably watching her and could pass the message on to TJ. Chapter 17: Where theres a will ... TJ forgot all about his research to leverage information to change Beth¡¯s mind, and instead turned his attention to trying to make sure she didn¡¯t sue him when she finally got out of the game. If she got out of the game. ¡°Sir,¡± one of the programmers said. TJ turned to the man with short, dark hair and a scraggly beard. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°I found some code that indicates once she finishes day one-hundred, the game will automatically kick her out. So if we can¡¯t find a way to get her out before that, at least we have that small safety net.¡± TJ nodded. ¡°Good work.¡± But that begged the question, what happened if she lost both of her lives and didn¡¯t finish the game? Did it kick her out then too? He voiced his concerns to the programmer. ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can find.¡± He pulled a pair of blue light glasses on and dropped back into his chair. Would changing the programming right now have an effect on Beth? Surely tweaking the code couldn¡¯t hurt. He could change the game duration to eight days and get her out of there by tomorrow. ¡°What do you think about changing the coding to shorten the game?¡± TJ asked. His techs exchanged a glance. ¡°We¡¯ll look into it. I don¡¯t think we should do anything yet, until we know how her body is reacting to the implant. It might affect her in ways we certainly don¡¯t want it to,¡± a red-headed tech said. TJ nodded and waved away any more comments. ¡°Figure it out.¡± A headache was building behind his eyes, and he was frustrated that this wasn¡¯t working out how he¡¯d planned. He rubbed his eyes and walked back into his bedroom to watch Beth. She¡¯d built another set of columns around the outside of her base, equidistant to the previous set, making it significantly wider. She¡¯d also framed it in on the second floor and added wooden grates. TJ was only sorry he hadn¡¯t thought of that himself. Shooting through the wooden grates was an excellent idea. Brian leaned back and pushed away from his desk. ¡°I need a break. I texted Gary, he¡¯s on his way.¡± TJ climbed back into the micro-bot tank. They automatically shuffled and shifted to make room for him. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Hey, Mr. Carothers?¡± Brian leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. TJ raised an eyebrow. ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Since you started from the master mainframe, we should be able to get you more lives.¡± A smile tugged the corner of his lips. ¡°You know, in case she shoots you again.¡± TJ nodded. ¡°Noted.¡± He laid back and closed his eyes, ignoring Gary coming in to take Brian¡¯s place. }}}====> Helios woke and stood, pushing his weight onto Maverick. Nyx had already left the base, and Helios decided to build it up to help her out. He opened one of the storage boxes and found tree seeds, then went outside the base, hopped over the wooden spikes, and began planting them a few yards from the base. The trees would mature in 7 days and they could chop them down. It was a tree farm, and one of his favorite ways to get wood without having to travel too far. He climbed the ladder to the second floor and continued building the columns up, making them tall enough for a third floor. Then, he went around the perimeter of the second floor, building grates up like an exterior wall. They¡¯d be able to see the zombies approaching and snipe them from afar. It would be awesome. They were already on Day 7. Only three days until their first horde night. Helios filled in the second floor¡¯s floor with wooden blocks. They¡¯d have to have a ladder in the center that allowed them to go from one floor to the next, but in the later game stages, there were military zombies that had guns. He certainly didn¡¯t want two grated floors that would give the zombies a clear shot to them. They should also consider building outward and making a garden area on the second or third floor, out of reach of the zombies. He didn¡¯t have time, or resources to do it right now, but he would do it in the future. As the game progressed, food got harder to find, so they¡¯d need to plant it. By the time he finished building the second floor, Nyx still hadn¡¯t come back, and it was almost 22:00. She was going to get herself killed if she wasn¡¯t more careful. ¡°Nyx!¡± Helios shouted, reminding himself of Stanley, in A Streetcar Named Desire. It played on Broadway last year, and he¡¯d been twice. He started placing storage crates. They¡¯d have to build a roof on this thing before horde night, the zombie birds really came hard from the top. For now, though, they were good. Helios sorted through his inventory; they really needed a forge. Something to make iron into iron ingots that they could use to reinforce the wooden grated floor downstairs. Iron ingots turned to steel, which would come in handy after they turned the stone into cement. They also needed to consider finding a vein of lead so he could start making ammo. Helios decided to play as if Nyx would need to make it through all 100 days, giving her as many advantages as possible. TJ shook awake, looking up into the startled face of Gary. ¡°Wha¡ª¡± ¡°It¡¯s the Poky testing site. It¡¯s been robbed.¡± Chapter 18: Scum Beth hadn¡¯t planned to get stuck inside this stupid meat packaging plant when the sun went down, but she also hadn¡¯t thought through the whole situation. If it had been in the middle of the day, she could¡¯ve ignored the notification telling her she was encumbered, and waddled her chubby ass back to base. But as it was, she had to stop to recover her stamina every minute or so, and she was moving considerably slower. Now, she found herself on the roof of the building, and it luckily only had one entrance point, so she sat with her back against the ductwork and a gun pointed at the door that gave roof access. As the world grew darker around her, she attached the flashlight mod to the handgun and clicked it on.
Level 1 Glock .22
Damage: 50-150 Durability: 82% Enhancement Slot: Flashlight Mod Enhancement Slot: (Empty)
She didn¡¯t know if it was a good idea or a terrible one. Would it draw more zombies to her or just help her see better? The music shifted as darkness took over, the violins screeching eerie notes, and the piano more haunting. It was accompanied by the low moans of zombies and clanging in the building beneath her. She¡¯d just cleared it and now the zombies were back? Ugh. A bird cawed, and Beth pointed her flashlight in the air, scanning the skies for the zombie bird. She caught a glimpse of its wing and squeezed the trigger, blowing the thing out of the air. The sounds of zombies intensified. Great. A dog barked, and a wet thud hit the opposite side of the door Beth was guarding. Her heart jumped and she aimed her weapon at the danger. She could see a zombie¡¯s arm glitching as it tried to break through the steel door. If it broke it down, she wouldn¡¯t be able to hold them back. She needed some way to limit the number of zombies she let through. The door was sticking up through the roof like a finger, and Beth built a stack of wooden blocks directly in front of it. If the zombies broke through the door, they¡¯d still need to break through the blocks to get to her. She cast around for something else to help her, and realized she could break through the ceiling of the stairway and shoot the zombies from above. They wouldn¡¯t be able to get to her¡ªor at least, she hoped they wouldn¡¯t¡ªand she could thin them out before they even reached the door. Beth leapt atop the staircase roof and used her ax to chip away the ceiling. Broken cement rained down on the zombies, and Beth exchanged the ax for her gun and began to shoot them. From this angle, she was easily able to get their head with her first or second shot, and she made short work of the four zombies trying to get out. Before she¡¯d killed them, she¡¯d noticed they¡¯d turned their attention to the walls on either side of the door, trying to break those down in addition to the door. If Beth was going to be stuck here, she might as well reinforce the walls, too. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. She built wooden blocks on either side of the door, encasing the entire roof access in wood. Then she built up and around herself, so she could stay perched in relative safety, leaving only a couple of wooden grates above her head so she could shoot any birds who approached. She was extremely glad for the pile of firewood she¡¯d destroyed just outside the plant¡¯s door. Maybe TJ was right, maybe starting with a building was a smart way to stay alive. Beth spent the rest of the night shooting birds and any zombies who wandered up the stairs. By the end of the night, she¡¯d obtained everything she needed to build her bicycle, the only problem was that she¡¯d left some of it at her base. Day 8: Time: 05:03 Beth stared at the time as the sun came up. The music shifted, and instead of the eerie caw of crows, there was the soft chirping of songbirds. She dropped from her perch above the staircase and walked back through the meat-packaging plant. At the exit, she had to stop to let her stamina refill. It took her nearly an hour to get back to base. When she arrived, it looked different. A roof had been built over the second story, and the ground beneath the base had been filled with wooden spikes. She jumped over the perimeter of spikes she¡¯d placed and climbed the ladder. Mav¡¯s avatar was still slumped in the corner, and she could hear the clang of metal in the mines below the base. So TJ had done all this? He¡¯d built this? Her storage boxes were missing and she climbed the ladder to find at least a dozen boxes, all labeled, on the second floor. The cement mixer was turning, and a stack of rocks that almost looked like a makeshift oven was glowing with fire. She stepped closer and saw a pool of liquid iron inside of it. Okay, so it was a forge of some sort. She climbed back down the ladder and to the mine¡¯s entrance inside the bottom floor of the base. ¡°TJ?¡± The clanging stopped. ¡°TJ?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Helios,¡± came his echoing reply. Beth clenched her hands into fists and closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths. ¡°Helios?¡± she finally said, proud when it didn¡¯t sound like she was going to snap his head off. ¡°Yes, Nyx?¡± ¡°I want Maverick back,¡± she said. He cleared his throat and his helmet-clad head appeared through the trap door. There was a feral look on his face that had Beth taking a step away from him. She glanced at her gun, she only had a couple of bullets left, but she¡¯d put TJ¡¯s name on them if he kept his murder face on. ¡°If my predictions are correct, he should be here before horde night.¡± He managed to keep his tone even, but Beth didn¡¯t miss the slight sneer to his lips or the way his eyes narrowed. Definite murder face. ¡°Did something happen?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Nothing you need to worry about.¡± She stared at him, letting her silence speak to her annoyance. TJ shifted. She quirked an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. C¡¯mon TJ, crack already. His adam¡¯s apple bobbed, and she narrowed her eyes. ¡°One of my labs was broken into. Three pods were stolen. If I¡¯m right, your buddy Maverick, and his two friends will be joining us.¡± ¡°But Maverick said they were in the intermediate map, or server or something like that?¡± She really needed to shut her mouth before her rambling clued him into her lack of gamer knowledge. He climbed the rest of the way out of the mineshaft and closed the trapdoor over top of it. ¡°If they log in, we¡¯re merging them here. We¡¯ll need all the help we can get.¡± Beth did not like the sound of that. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because, as of now, the only way to get you out of here is to beat the game.¡± She felt weak. Like the little girl who hid in her closet to get away from her mama¡¯s boyfriends. She hated it. Beth pulled the gun from her inventory. ¡°Now, wait. Nyx¡ªBeth. Wait.¡± He backed away, but in the confined space, he didn¡¯t really have anywhere to go. Beth aimed right at his forehead and squeezed the trigger, killing him, and the fear that had coated her tongue. All that was left in its place was a sense of power. Chapter 19: Death by a thousand cuts TJ jerked awake with a curse. Gary shot him an apologetic look that was tinted with amusement. ¡°Brian said he figured a way to get you more lives.¡± ¡°Yeah, but Beth doesn¡¯t know that. For all she knows, she just killed me permanently.¡± Which was what bothered him the most. And dammit if he didn¡¯t like her all the more for it. If they had met under different circumstances, he would¡¯ve swept her off her feet. But as it was, she was stuck with him, however unintentionally it had been. ¡°I¡¯m going to log back in.¡± TJ laid back down in the tank. Gary¡¯s eyebrows shot to his hairline. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Won¡¯t she just shoot you again?¡± TJ glanced at his watch. It was almost four in the afternoon. ¡°She¡¯ll need help on horde night.¡± ¡°That¡¯s tomorrow morning. I¡¯d wait until then to join her again.¡± TJ sighed dramatically. ¡°Fine. Any word on the stolen pods?¡± Gary shook his head. ¡°They haven¡¯t logged in yet. As soon as they¡¯re attached to a power source, we¡¯ll get a GPS ping on their location. I have the police in Poky ready to close in as soon as that happens.¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Hold on.¡± TJ held up a finger. ¡°Let¡¯s see what they do. If Jack is as good as he says, Beth might need his help to get through the game. Has there been any new developments on whether we can change the code to shorten the game?¡± Gary shook his head, again. ¡°They¡¯re still working on it.¡± ¡°Let me know as soon as they know.¡± TJ climbed out of the tank and stripped his clothes off as he went into his bathroom. He needed to think. Needed to clear his head and figure out a way out of this mess. If Beth died, it might actually be better for him in the long run. She hadn¡¯t knowingly authorized the implant, though he wondered if they could claim she had. Perhaps she¡¯d forgotten authorizing it due to the anesthesia the doctors used. He¡¯d have to ask Candace about it. He turned on the shower and waited until the steam billowed out of the stall before stepping in. If he was planning to kill Beth, if that really was the best way to handle things, maybe with a settlement to Beth¡¯s mother to let it go quietly, it would be disastrous for Maverick/Jack to log back into the game. He couldn¡¯t know. As he let the water spray over his head, he made up his mind. Beth had to die, but it couldn¡¯t look intentional. It had to look like the game had killed her. He¡¯d contact Beth¡¯s mother as soon as it happened, explain his version of events, and offer her a pittance of what her daughter¡¯s life was actually worth. Or ¡­ Or ¡­ TJ could just tell Heather Anne that her daughter was in a coma. That she¡¯d been in an accident and he was using his advanced medical technology to care for her. He could be the hero in this scenario. But that also meant not allowing Jack to log back into the game. Chapter 20: Out of the frying pan Beth hauled TJ¡¯s corpse up the ladder. She dragged it two floors so she could watch him splatter on the spikes below. It probably made her sound like a serial killer, but she didn¡¯t care. The bastard could die a hundred times and it still wouldn¡¯t be enough. She watched him drop over the edge to the two zombies attacking her pillars below, they immediately changed course and began feasting¡ªthere was no other way to describe it¡ªon the corpse. Like last time, she picked up his backpack and threw the items into her storage bins. From there, she grabbed a level 1 bow and a sheath of twenty arrows, she had no idea where the arrows came from, but she wouldn¡¯t complain. She then aimed through the grates and picked the zombies off. As she watched the day turn to night, she contemplated what she was supposed to do. Beth was stuck. In. A. Game. How? That was the question. Couldn¡¯t they just take the stupid electrodes off her face? Couldn¡¯t they just pull her from the dumb tanning bed? These were questions she intended to get answers to. What would happen to her? She was already into day nine. Which was three real days. She obviously needed food and water if she was going to live. Could they feed her? Could she eat? Would she start to feel the physical effects of being starved? And would she die? TJ wouldn¡¯t let her die, right? Maybe she should be nicer to him so he didn¡¯t just let her die. Did her mama know? Was anyone else stuck? Or just her? There were too many questions, and obviously not enough answers. ¡°TJ?¡± she whispered, trying to avoid attracting any zombies. ¡°Please get me out of here.¡± She had to kill three more zombies before the night was over, and as day broke, she opened the storage box labeled ¡°Weapons¡± and found a battle ax.
Level 2 Battle Ax
Damage: 45-90 Durability: 71% Enhancement Slot: (Empty) Enhancement Slot: (Empty)
Beth sorted through the rest of the weapons. There were guns, 30 rounds of 9mm ammo. Forty rounds of 40 cal, and forty-four shotgun shells, not to mention seven sheaths, each with twenty arrows. She wasn¡¯t sure about her aim, or how many zombies would attack the base that night, but she didn¡¯t want to run out of ammo. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Day: 10 Time: 06:21 She exited the base and walked a little ways out until she could see the entire thing. To the south several small trees in perfectly straight rows had broken through the ground. TJ, perhaps? It did seem like he was actually trying to help her. She decided to make more of an effort to be nicer to him, even if he was a vaginal turd. Beth walked into town, determined to find as much ammo as possible. Grass grew between the cracks in the pavement, and somewhere in the distance, an animal of the canine variety howled. She walked past the trader and turned north, toward an area she hadn¡¯t explored yet. The houses became a strip mall of boarded up stores with broken windows. She passed a clothing store, a fabric store, a souvenir shop, then a restaurant. Beth didn¡¯t know what she was looking for, but she hoped she¡¯d know when she found it. Across the street, she saw an Acme Hardware store, and she shook her head at the lack of originality. ¡°Acme? The least you could¡¯ve done was come up with your own brands, TJ.¡± Maybe he was watching, and her criticism, no, she¡¯d call it a critique¡ªshe was a beta tester, after all¡ªhelped him. She crossed the street and stopped in the parking lot in front of an old car. After getting out her wrench, she began unscrewing bolts beneath the hood. Each turn gave her some sort of loot, from scrap metal to engine parts. A burst of blood splattered across her vision, and her health, which was 140 points, dropped to 115. She spun and bashed the zombie dog¡¯s head with her wrench. The impact pushed it backward, and Beth scrambled onto the car¡¯s roof. As the dog¡¯s bloody front paws scrabbled on the trunk to get to her, she pulled out her Glock and shot it in the head. +635 experience Her breaths came in fast pants, and the experience notification assured her it was dead, but she was still on edge. Still felt as though she were being watched. A chill went down her spine, and she drank half a bottle of water, then carefully climbed off of the car. When she started disassembling the car again, that feeling didn¡¯t go away. Someone was definitely watching her, though she wasn¡¯t sure who, or why. ¡°Hello?¡± she whisper-shouted. ¡°Is anyone there?¡± The only response was the low moan of a zombie. After a few more cranks, she¡¯d dismantled the car and moved toward the hardware store¡¯s entrance. The boards had been torn and brownish finger marks dragged across the wood. That didn¡¯t bode well. When she opened the door, a bell chimed, and Beth winced, getting her battle ax out and ready. Against the right wall was a plastic-wrapped pallet with white fifty pound bags of cement. She¡¯d head there after she made sure the building was clear. On the left was a pair of cash registers, their drawers opened and empty. The aisles looked well picked-over. Only a couple of things remained. Beth walked past the registers and the last thing she heard was the distinct creaking of the floor before it gave out beneath her. Chapter 21: And into the fire Beth lay on something lumpy and wet. Her breath wheezed in and out of her lungs, and pain radiated from her head. A quick glance at her health told her it was down to 80. Zombies moaned around her, their feet scraping on the ground as they approached. The only light streamed through the hole she¡¯d just fallen through. What the frack? She groped around semi-blindly for her battle ax; she¡¯d had it in her hand when she fell. It had to be around here somewhere. Her fingers curled around the slick handle and her stomach roiled as her brain filed through the possible sticky liquids that could be on it. None of them were good. One of the zombies reached her as she yanked the ax free with a slurp. She swung the blade wildly, gripping the handle with both hands. As the zombie stumbled backward, headless, Beth got to her feet, the light blurring as her head swam. She really needed a better light source, and the zombies were too close to give her time to put on her stupid helmet. A hand gripped her shoulder, and she spun with her battle ax extended. It scored a gash across the obese zombie¡¯s stomach and blood splattered all over her. She gagged and switched her ax for her Glock. She fired almost blindly into the fray, shooting at the slightest movement or sound around her. Welcome to level 6! You¡¯ve received 1 skill point. Beth only stopped when she was out of .22 rounds. Trading the gun for her battle ax again, she spun in a slow circle, her chest heaving with her breaths. ¡°That was the coolest thing I¡¯ve ever seen,¡± a familiar voice said from above her. Beth jerked her gaze upward, and Maverick was silhouetted above her. ¡°Mav!¡± ¡°Hey, Beth. Need some help out of there?¡± She couldn¡¯t see his smile, but she heard it in his voice. She wiped the blood from her arms and put on her mining helmet, then switched the flashlight mod on. As she¡¯d suspected, Beth landed on a zombie in her initial fall and had killed it with her ax. ¡°Looks like a bloodbath down there. I¡¯ve got a rope, want me to pull you up?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± There was a set of stairs, but the boards were broken and jagged nails stuck out of them. Could she die of tetanus in a VR game? The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The rope hit the floor, and Mav disappeared for a couple seconds. ¡°K, I¡¯ve secured the rope, tie it around your waist and I¡¯ll pull you up.¡± Looking around wearily, she tied the rope around her hips so she could sit on it like a swing as he pulled her up. Slowly, he began to lift her; she could feel the jerking hand-over-hand motions. When she finally got to the top, Beth grabbed the floor and heaved herself over the edge. Mav collapsed next to her. ¡°I¡¯m out of stamina.¡± She laughed, then as her thoughts drifted to TJ she got serious. ¡°How did you get back in here?¡± She glanced over at him and his cheeks pinked. The actual detail in this game was insane. ¡°I stole a couple pods from the Poky test site.¡± Beth raised her eyebrows. ¡°Stole?¡± He shrugged sheepishly. ¡°I kinda thought TJ was holding you captive. It was pretty fishy that he didn¡¯t let me talk to you, and then you didn¡¯t reply to any of my texts.¡± She didn¡¯t know how much to say. Someone was probably watching them right now. TJ was probably watching them right now. ¡°You can¡¯t be here. It isn¡¯t safe.¡± He flinched as if she¡¯d slapped him. ¡°What I mean is, they¡¯re watching. They can see my live-feed.¡± ¡°Are they treating you okay?¡± Maverick rolled onto his side and stared at her. Beth shrugged. ¡°No.¡± Tears burned her eyes, but she refused to cry. She didn¡¯t want to show TJ how much he¡¯d hurt her. How much she hated being in here, and how weak she was. ¡°Want me to come back to New York?¡± She laughed, but there was no humor in it. ¡°There¡¯s no point. I¡¯m stuck in the game.¡± ¡°What do you mean, stuck? Can¡¯t they just take the electrodes off? Wake you up?¡± A traitorous tear tracked down her cheek and she wiped it away with her blood-smeared hands. ¡°They said they¡¯ve tried. I¡¯m not coming out of it.¡± ¡°There¡¯s got to me more to it than that. You wouldn¡¯t be stuck in the game unless they gave you a permanent implant. Did they?¡± She shrugged, but the hair on her neck stood on end. ¡°Not that I know of.¡± ¡°Was there an update?¡± His serious gaze bore into hers, and she had to swallow down her fear. ¡°Yes,¡± she whispered. ¡°Fucking hell. I¡¯m going to kill him. I¡¯m going to fucking kill him.¡± Beth leaned forward and put her hand over his mouth. ¡°Don¡¯t talk like that.¡± Not only could TJ hear them, but he could probably track them, too. That thought scared her more than anything. ¡°Wait! He can probably find your location while you¡¯re online. Like tracing a phone call or something.¡± She had no idea how any of that worked, but she¡¯d seen movies. TJ was probably trying to find him right now. Maverick pushed himself to his feet, then offered Beth his hand and pulled her up too. ¡°I¡¯d like to see him try.¡± Chapter 22: Decisions TJ was torn between logging on to help Beth with horde night and getting on his private jet to Jack¡¯s location in Tijuana, Mexico. He knew he shouldn¡¯t have logged off when he did. If he¡¯d stayed online, he could¡¯ve killed Jack¡¯s avatar as soon as he¡¯d logged in. The game mechanics made it impossible to kill his avatar unless he was online. Two virtual bullets could¡¯ve solved all TJ¡¯s problems. It had only taken TJ¡¯s team a few minutes to pinpoint the pod¡¯s GPS location as soon as it had been connected to a power source. He still hadn¡¯t made up his mind on what to do with Beth, but now that Jack knew about her, killing her was out of the question. Or he¡¯d have to kill them both. ¡°Here¡¯s an idea,¡± Gary said, as if reading his mind. ¡°What if we pay them all to log in, we merge the servers to Beth¡¯s server, and the five of you get her through day 100, then we pay them off, figure out why she was stuck, and fix it. We don¡¯t have to be derailed by this. It¡¯s a learning experience. As long as we learn from it, there¡¯s no need to spiral.¡± And TJ had been spiraling. Had he actually considered murder as an alternative to taking responsibility for his actions? Yes. Yes, he had. He took a deep breath and tried to shake off the gloom. ¡°You¡¯re absolutely right, Gary. Thanks for bringing me back to reality.¡± ¡°What¡¯s our first step then?¡± Gary asked. Merging the servers, like Gary had suggested, seemed like the best option. ¡°Bring them all back. The ones you can find, anyway. We¡¯ll merge the servers so that they can help Beth finish.¡± ¡°How much do we tell them?¡± Gary shifted, adjusting his glasses. That was the question, wasn¡¯t it? Admitting fault could be looked at as noble. Wanting to do what was right, even though it hurt, especially financially. But it could also mean accepting the consequences if something happened to Beth. If, heaven forbid, they couldn¡¯t figure out how to fix this. ¡°TJ?¡± Gary pulled his glasses off and rubbed the bridge of his nose. ¡°Don¡¯t lose yourself now, man.¡± Gary¡¯s words shook TJ out of his thoughts. ¡°Sorry. Tell them we had a problem with the next stage of beta and we need their help to get Beth through this.¡± ¡°You got it.¡± Gary¡¯s hands moved over the keyboard of his phone, and TJ took a deep breath. He¡¯d picked the high road after wandering down the dark path. TJ could always count on Gary to be his own personal Jiminy Cricket. ¡°Thanks again, man.¡± Gary only nodded as he continued to type on his keyboard. ¡°I don¡¯t think we can get any more help in time for horde night. You should probably get in there.¡± TJ sighed and climbed into the micro-bot tank. Just before he fell asleep, Candace walked in with a tray of items to give Beth a feeding tube. ?{{ If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Helios spawned in the center of his sleeping pallet. He climbed the ladder to the second floor and rummaged through the storage containers, taking back his backpack and a bunch of the items that were in it. Nyx had stolen his battle ax, but he still had a club and a stone ax. He grabbed his M16 and 5.56 ammo. Dawning his clothes and shoes, Helios climbed down the ladder and out into the world. They¡¯d need a truck load of ammo tonight going into horde night. Helios had the advantage of knowing the map, so he skirted the city limits until he hit the northern border. The gun shop was just east, and he made it without running into any trouble. He pulled out his stone ax and bashed in the wood covering the glass doors, then shattered the glass and chipped away at the chain that looped through the handles until he broke it off. Zombies shuffled around inside the dark room, and he waited out in the daylight. He¡¯d rather fight on his own terms. As the first zombie shambled out, Helios took all his pent up anger out on it, smashing its head until he got the experience notification, then a few more times for good measure. Helios worked his way quickly through the gun store, then looted every single box inside. Along with the plethora of ammo he¡¯d gotten, he also got a level 1 turret with an AR-15, two 100 round magazines, and several hundred 5.56 ammo. Those would definitely come in handy. Day: 10 Time: 18:52 He had to get back to base and get it set up quickly if he wanted to have it in use before horde night started. He hoped Nyx and Maverick were already back at the base, and that they¡¯d stopped being all ¡­ cozy. It was hard for Helios to watch it. Hard for him to understand that a woman might prefer a low-class, low-income loser to him. You were planning to kill her only a few hours ago. Okay, there was that small, slight issue. But he knew it was wrong, and was changing. Changed, even. Better now than a few hours ago. And it was because of Nyx. She made him want to be better. He just had to prove to her that he was better. On his way back to the base, Helios ran into a shambling horde just outside the city. There were several walkers, a crawler, a traveler, and a prowler. Helios killed the prowler first. They typically snuck up on you, and walked almost normally, so it would ambush him from behind. Then he turned his attention to the traveler. They had more HP and hit a helluva lot harder. Helios made short work of them, and ran the rest of the way back to the base. Maverick and Beth were inside, sitting on the storage containers on the second floor and laughing. Their laughter abruptly stopped as soon as he came into view, and Helios resisted the urge to shoot Maverick, but just barely. ¡°We should be building up the next floor,¡± he snapped, and immediately regretted his tone. If he was going to win Nyx over, he had to talk nicely. Maverick stood and practically growled at Helios. ¡°Believe me, Maverick, the feeling is mutual. But if we¡¯re gonna save Nyx, we have to work together.¡± ¡°What did you do to her?¡± Helios ignored Maverick¡¯s question and opened one of the storage containers he¡¯d labeled ¡°Ammo¡± then started filling it with the things he¡¯d just looted. The cold barrel of Beth¡¯s gun pressed into Helios¡¯s neck. A thrill shot through him, and he sucked in a breath. ¡°He asked you a question.¡± Her words were so even and deadly that Helios¡¯s blood pumped hot. Helios moved quickly, grasping the barrel and leveraging the gun from her hands. He twisted until her back was pressed into his chest. She fit perfectly there, felt right. He must¡¯ve been too lost in the feel of her, because she sidestepped, and a second later, pain shot through his groin. ¡°Fuck!¡± he shouted, as he bent over and his avatar hurled. Chapter 23: Horde Night Beth elbowed TJ in the gonads so hard, he tossed his cookies all over. Satisfaction swelled in her chest and she grinned as he doubled over, cradling the goods. ¡°You okay?¡± she asked. Not that she particularly cared what the answer was, but it felt like the thing to do after she¡¯d emasculated him. ¡°Peachy,¡± he groaned. Maverick held up his hand and Beth met it in in a silent high-five. ¡°What¡¯s the next phase of your plans, TJ? Was there an implant? Beth wouldn¡¯t be stuck if there wasn¡¯t an implant. Come clean, so we at least know what we¡¯re dealing with.¡± When TJ didn¡¯t answer, Beth stepped between the two men, seeing Mav¡¯s drawn back foot ready to kick TJ in the stomach. ¡°Give him a second to recover,¡± she whispered, patting his muscled arm. Too muscled. She didn¡¯t know she was such a fan of muscles. Beth had always thought guys who spent so much time in the gym did so because they didn¡¯t have anything in their heads and had to compensate for it. She¡¯d seen Maverick in real life, and while he wasn¡¯t the divine specimen that the game had made him out to be, he also wasn¡¯t hard to look at. She tried picturing his face in her head, but could only see his avatar when she closed her eyes. ¡°She signed the paperwork for the implant,¡± TJ eventually said, his voice still a little strained. Beth pulled out her Glock again and aimed it at his head. ¡°You sonuva bitch,¡± she screamed. ¡°You tricked me.¡± He sat up, both hands up in the surrender gesture. ¡°You should¡¯ve read the document, you just signed it.¡± She squeezed the trigger, putting a bullet in TJ¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Fuck! Stop that!¡± TJ opened his backpack and started wrapping his shoulder with an ACE bandage. ¡°We need to get you through this damn horde night, then you can kill me again, if you must.¡± ¡°How many lives do you have, anyway? You¡¯re like a cat.¡± Maverick had told Beth that they only had two. She¡¯d hoped that killing him the second time and feeding him to the damn zombies would¡¯ve been the end, but no. Here he was in front of her. Living. Breathing. Pissing her off. ¡°Not enough for you to just shoot me every time you feel like it.¡± He climbed to his feet, hands still out. ¡°Listen, the horde is going to be starting any time now. We need to get ammo and get ready to defend ourselves. In the next couple of days, I hope to have located all of the compatible players that you started with, and get them all here to help Nyx. Including your friends, Maverick.¡± Mav ran a hand through his hair and went to adjust glasses on his nose before he realized he didn¡¯t have any and dropped his hand awkwardly. He glanced at Beth and she looked away, pretending she didn¡¯t notice. Beth glanced at the timer. Day: 10 Time: 21:49 It was almost nighttime. The sun was just about to drop below the horizon. They probably ought to get ready. ¡°Fine. Temporary truce.¡± Beth put her gun back in her inventory and held her hand out to TJ to shake it. ¡°But if you do anything else shady, I¡¯ll make you wish¡ª¡± Maverick put a hand over her mouth, stopping her words. ¡°We¡¯ll be on our best behavior. Thanks for this chance to help out.¡± She bit his finger and spun on the traitor. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± she hissed. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Later,¡± he mumbled. Beth shook her head and smacked Maverick¡¯s shoulder. ¡°They¡¯re watching my live-stream. There is no privacy later.¡± ¡°Shit.¡± She smacked him again. ¡°Yeah, ¡®shit.¡¯ Just say what you mean.¡± ¡°Fine. I don¡¯t trust him.¡± TJ¡¯s boots scraped on the grates as he stepped closer. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you trust me. We have a common goal, get Nyx out of here alive, therefore, we¡¯ll work together. You don¡¯t have to like it.¡± Mav muttered something under his breath that sounded a lot like ¡®prick.¡¯ And walked out of the enclosed space of the second floor and onto the grates. ¡°They¡¯re coming!¡± he called. Beth grabbed some ammo out of the storage bin, along with another quiver of arrows. The three of them spanned the east side of the base, shooting through the grates at the zombies as they approached. Some died on the spikes below, while others began beating at the pillars. ¡°We need to try to spread out their damage. If we see them breaking through pillars, we need to move. They¡¯ll follow. They can collapse the whole side of our base if we aren¡¯t careful,¡± Mav said as he sprayed into a group of about ten zombies all beating on one pillar. The spikes apparently only did so much damage before they disappeared, which seemed really shitty, but Beth tried not to complain. They were working, after all. She used her bow and arrow, frustrated when she had to account for the arc of the arrow. She aimed slightly higher than the zombies¡¯ heads, then released the arrow. It was annoying, and she missed more often than she hit, but they had a lot more arrows than bullets. ¡°They broke through a pillar over here, let¡¯s shift west,¡± TJ said. They ran across the base to the west, the zombies being dragged over the remaining spikes as they pursued. ¡°How long do the horde nights last?¡± Beth asked. ¡°The first one is only 90 minutes.¡± Beth glanced at her time again; it had only been fifteen. She switched the bow for her Glock and put her helmet on, using the flashlight to help her see the zombies below. She regretted the decision almost instantly. Several pairs of dead eyes slowly raised until they were locked on her. They climbed over each other to try to reach her. Dogs howled in the background, and the eerie music raised the hairs on her arms. This isn¡¯t real. This isn¡¯t real. She repeated it over and over, trying to convince herself. ¡°Another pillar is missing a block on this side!¡± Mav shouted. ¡°South!¡± TJ ordered. They moved south. The last of the spikes beneath the base disappeared as Beth sprayed into the fray. Welcome to level 7! You¡¯ve received 1 skill point. Her aim was crap, and she needed to figure out whatever skill it was that would help her better than, and put some points there. Beth looked at her clock again. They only had to make it eleven more minutes. ¡°Two blocks down on this corner, and another being taken out now,¡± TJ said, ¡°Go north!¡± With her heart hammering in her chest, Beth crossed the base a final time, hoping they could make it out of this unscathed. Hoping the last ten minutes would trickle down and they¡¯d be fine. ¡°Another wave incoming!¡± TJ shouted. Beth had learned that her Glock couldn¡¯t pick off the zombies from very far away, so she focused on the half-dozen zombies still attacking the pillars below. TJ was the only one with a weapon good at ranged attacks, and he picked off a couple of them while Beth and Mav killed the ones beneath them. When the zombies were close enough, they started pummeling a pillar on the corner of the base. ¡°How many do they need to destroy before the whole base collapses?¡± Beth asked. ¡°If they get all three in the corner, or all of them against one side of the base, that section will fall, but the rest will still be up. The problem is, once they¡¯ve collapsed that section of base, they can use the rubble to climb up and get to you.¡± Frack, that was bad. She filed the information away for later use. Finally, she squeezed the trigger and killed the final zombie. Welcome to level 8! You¡¯ve received 1 skill point. Beth dropped her gun and slumped onto the grate next to it. It took a little bit of stamina to shoot the gun, but her stamina regenerated fast enough that it hadn¡¯t affected her ability to kill the horde. ¡°First horde night down, nine to go!¡± TJ said. Beth glanced at her stamina. Was it worth it? Yeah, it was. She picked up the Glock and aimed it at TJ¡¯s head. ¡°See ya later.¡± And she squeezed the trigger. Chapter 24: Anna May ¡°Something¡¯s wrong.¡± Beth groaned and dropped onto the grated floor. ¡°I have a pounding headache.¡± Maverick knelt beside her and put a hand on her back. ¡°Are you dehydrated? Infected? Do you see any symbols on the top right of your vision?¡± Beth looked, but it hurt to even move her eyes. ¡°Nothing.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get you some food, water, and medicine. Sit tight.¡± Maverick disappeared inside the enclosed portion of the base and came back a few seconds later with a bottle of pills and a waterbottle. ¡°Here.¡± Beth held out her hands and took the proffered items. After she¡¯d taken the aspirin and chugged the entire bottle, Maverick produced an apple and a can of stew from his inventory. ¡°I just want to sleep,¡± she said. ¡°TJ?¡± Maverick shouted. ¡°Any ideas what¡¯s wrong with her?¡± Obviously, they weren¡¯t going to get an immediate answer, especially if TJ was out of lives. Did he ever say how many he had? Beth couldn¡¯t remember. ¡°I¡¯m tired.¡± She yawned and tried to get to her feet. Her avatar swayed and fell back to her knees. ¡°Shit.¡± ¡°Maybe the game isn¡¯t designed to have you logged in for three days straight. You might need to try to sleep in-game.¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± Maverick put a hand under her elbow and helped her to her feet. They hobbled together to the sleeping pallets. ¡°I¡¯ll repair the base while you rest.¡± Beth lay on the pallet, and within seconds, she passed out. ~*~ When Beth woke, she still felt a little groggy. Her vision blurred at the edges and tracked slowly as she turned her head. ¡°Mav?¡± Her voice slurred. The headache, thankfully, was gone, and in its place was the feeling that she was floating. Was she high? She waved her hand in front of her face and laughed. Holy shit. She was high. ¡°Maverick?¡± she mumbled again. A figure appeared in front of her and smoothed down her hair. ¡°Shh. I¡¯ve got you.¡± ¡°Mama?¡± Beth¡¯s eyelids grew heavy and she grabbed the hand drawing soothing circles on her shoulder. ¡°Hold me.¡± A second later, the body curled in behind her, pulling her against a feminine chest, and Beth fell back into the darkness. ~*~ The second time she woke, Beth turned and looked at the person still curled against her. The woman was blonde, with a cute button nose, full, red lips, and huge green eyes that were staring at her with a satisfied haze. Above her head was the name Anna May. She wore a black lace bra and leather booty shorts, then completed the outfit with black combat boots. Beth blinked. ¡°Carrie?¡± ¡°Close,¡± the woman said. ¡°It¡¯s me, Warren.¡± Warren¡¯s feminine hand came up and brushed the hair off Beth¡¯s forehead and tucked it behind her ear. ¡°Warren?¡± Beth repeated, dumbfounded. ¡°Warren? As in, Warren from Poky?¡± Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. She nodded. Beth pushed the female avatar away and got to her feet. It¡¯s just a game, Beth reminded herself. But the problem was, it was more than a game. Beth felt things. She remembered Warren¡¯s hands on her bare stomach while she slept. She remembered cuddling deeper into Warren¡¯s arms. Frackin¡¯ hell. ¡°What the hell, Warren?¡± Beth had half a mind to shoot him, like she had TJ. ¡°What?¡± Warren got to his/her feet. Beth didn¡¯t even know how to classify him anymore. She refused to think of him as a woman, but everything about him screamed woman. From the giant boobs and the perfect hourglass figure, modelesque face, and slender fingers that he/she was currently using to seductively trail up and down his/her arm. This was hella confusing. ¡°Just, don¡¯t touch me, okay?¡± Warren¡¯s pouty lips pulled up into a wicked smile. ¡°Why? Did you like it?¡± ¡°No,¡± Beth said. And she meant it. She absolutely hated being touched by people she didn¡¯t give permission to. ¡°Are you in one of those bot tanks?¡± ¡°What?¡± His/her perfect eyebrows drew down. ¡°Are you in one of the bot tanks or the tanning beds?¡± She laughed, a musical sound that grated on Beth¡¯s last nerve. ¡°No, they aren¡¯t upgrading anyone to the implant, so you and TJ are the only ones allowed in the bot tanks. It¡¯s too bad, too. I bet you could really get off in one of those.¡± Beth stared at him, trying to piece together what he just said. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You know, robots that can do everything for you.¡± Warren¡¯s eyebrows wagged suggestively. Screw it. Beth pulled out her gun and aimed it at Warren¡¯s head. A massive arm came around her from behind, wrapping her up and pulling the gun from her hand. ¡°Uh uh uh,¡± TJ said, releasing her and stepping back as she spun on him. ¡°Don¡¯t kill him, he¡¯s just here to help.¡± Beth glanced at the Glock in TJ¡¯s hand. Stupid, infuriating man. ¡°Give me back my gun.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Anna May is just here to help. You can¡¯t shoot her.¡± Anime? Beth glanced at Warren¡¯s name over his head again. Yup. Anna May. Anime. She focused back on TJ, grabbing the battle ax from her inventory and holding it like she was going to swing at TJ. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll just kill you, then.¡± ¡°Nyx, you¡¯re starting to hurt my feelings.¡± She stared at him completely dead-eyed. She couldn¡¯t care less about his feelings. He¡¯d given her some sort of implant that had decided she was going to live inside of a zombie apocalypse game. ¡°Besides,¡± TJ continued, ¡°you need her.¡± ¡°Tell him not to touch me again.¡± TJ looked over Beth¡¯s shoulder and raised an eyebrow. ¡°You¡¯re touching her?¡± Beth sidestepped so she could see them both. Warren just shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t want to.¡± TJ lifted the gun and the sound of the shot had Beth covering her ears. She looked over at Warren¡¯s body. There was a spray of brain matter on the wall behind him. Beth didn¡¯t know what to say. Thank you? Yeah, she¡¯d shot TJ a few times, and yeah, she¡¯d debated shooting Warren, but seeing TJ do it for her. She didn¡¯t know how to feel. She was a strong woman who didn¡¯t need someone to look out for her, but it was nice that he had. Not that she¡¯d ever admit that to him. ¡°Help me drag the body over the edge. You¡¯re getting good at disposing of corpses.¡± There was a twinkle in TJ¡¯s eyes that made her uncomfortable. Beth left Warren¡¯s backpack and grabbed one of the avatar¡¯s arms while TJ grabbed the other. Together they dragged it to the edge of the base and tossed it over. ¡°Team work makes the dream work.¡± TJ held up his hand for a high-five, and before Beth knew what she was doing, she¡¯d complied. Seconds later, Anna May¡¯s throat cleared behind them. ¡°Having fun?¡± Beth spun to face Anna May, expecting her/him to shoot them. ¡°This is your final life, and the last time I¡¯ll warn you. Do. Not. Touch. Her.¡± ¡°Or what?¡± Anna May put a hand on her hip and shot TJ a flirty smile. ¡°Are you gonna spank me?¡± Holy shit. TJ returned the smile and walked¡ªno, stalked¡ªtoward Anna May. When he was toe to toe with her, he ran a finger from her shoulder across her collar bone, then down between her breasts. It was like a train wreck, Beth didn¡¯t want to watch, but she couldn¡¯t look away. TJ¡¯s boldness seemed to embolden Warren/Anna May, too. Anna May stepped closer and pressed herself to him. ¡°I¡¯ve been very naughty.¡± ¡°Um, TJ?¡± Beth felt the need to remind him that despite Anna May¡¯s sultry curves and sexy feminine voice, behind that avatar was a pimpled, perverted twerp who probably still lived in his parent¡¯s basement and the only action he saw was his right hand. ¡°He¡¯s a dude.¡± TJ glanced back, a smirk on his lips, then he stepped away from Anna May, putting some distance between them. He cleared his throat and pointed at Anna May. ¡°You do it again and you don¡¯t get your bonus.¡± Chapter 25: #$&%! Sometimes being himself was exhausting. There were days he just wanted to disappear into one of his games and stay there. A place he could do whatever he wanted without real consequences. Just virtual ones. Helios rubbed his eyes and opened his map. As he took in the gray circle around the perimeter of the map, he cursed. ¡°What?¡± Nyx asked. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back. Brian, wake me up.¡± Seconds later, TJ was staring at Brian¡¯s concerned face. ¡°What do we do?¡± ¡°Can we unmerge the servers? How did we overlook that?¡± Gary walked through the door, a cup of coffee in his hands. ¡°I¡¯m here to take over for Brian, what did I miss?¡± ¡°When we merged the servers, we merged the Nightmare server with all the others.¡± TJ ran a hand through his hair. ¡°Maybe we need to just kill Nyx and see if there are any consequences. She has two lives.¡± Gary shook his head. ¡°No. Have you seen her vitals when she gets hurt? I don¡¯t think it¡¯s wise to just play around with her life like that.¡± ¡°What if we take her out of the tank?¡± TJ looked at Brian for help. ¡°No,¡± Brian said. ¡°The tank is the only thing keeping her body temperature regulated.¡± ¡°Shit.¡± TJ glanced at the screen and rolled his eyes when he saw Anna May feeling herself up. Beth had taken the Glock from Helios¡¯s hand and was pointing it at the other woman. ¡°That dude is a perv. We should get rid of him just for insurance purposes.¡± TJ gestured to the screen. It didn¡¯t help that jealousy was slowly crawling its way up TJ¡¯s body like a tight, green vine. Gary coughed to cover what TJ thought might¡¯ve been a laugh. ¡°What?¡± TJ spun on Gary. His eyes widened and he sipped from his mug. ¡°Nothing.¡± ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t nothing. Why are you laughing?¡± Maybe TJ¡¯s feelings were as apparent to Gary as they were to TJ. He liked Beth, despite not wanting to. Despite knowing all the reasons why it was a bad idea. Candace told him more than once that he was sick in the head, and he¡¯d always told her to mind her own business. But thinking about Beth made him both want to kiss her and kill her. He just wasn¡¯t sure which side would win. A gunshot rang out over the speakers and TJ whipped his head toward the screen again. Anna May lay on the ground, a bloody hole in the center of her stomach. Beth walked over and stood over Anna May¡¯s twitching form. ¡°If you touch me again, I¡¯ll kill you.¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Yeah, he definitely liked her. His body reacted and he lay back in the tank. ¡°I need to get back in there. Any word from the rest of the test subjects? Looks like Warren is out.¡± Brian stood and stretched, speaking while he did. ¡°I have no contact with Jack or Joseph. I did hear back from Carrie, she said she can¡¯t help until the end of the semester.¡± ¡°Did you offer her enough money?¡± TJ asked, ready to double whatever she¡¯d been offered. ¡°No, you weren¡¯t here to help with that.¡± ¡°Double it. How did Candace say Beth¡¯s feeding tube implant went?¡± TJ asked, changing the subject. Gary sat in the seat Brian vacated. ¡°She said it went well. She¡¯s been checking in to make sure everything is working right and switching out fluids and stuff.¡± ¡°Good. What are we going to do about the map?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll have no choice but to work as a team and move to the center.¡± TJ cursed again. In nightmare mode, they¡¯d made it impossible to stay on the outskirts of the map for the duration of the game. The perimeter shrank daily, upping the concentration of zombies. By the final horde night, there would be a sea of zombies to kill. If they wanted Beth to survive, they needed to get to the center of the map as soon as possible and start building. ¡°Get Carrie to agree, I don¡¯t care how much you have to offer her.¡± TJ sank deeper into the tank, getting ready to go back under. Glancing at the screen again, TJ saw Nyx hold a bandage over Anna May¡¯s stomach and a water bottle to her lips as she swallowed a couple of healing pills. Maverick was staring at her with amusement and admiration in his eyes. ¡°Did she piss you off?¡± Nyx jerked her head toward the newcomer and a smile spread over her beautiful lips. She made sure Anna May had the water bottle firmly in her hands, then stood to face Maverick. ¡°Yeah, but I doubt she¡¯ll be any more trouble. Err ¡­ he. This is Warren. You remember him?¡± Maverick nodded. ¡°How¡¯s it going Warren?¡± Without waiting for an answer, he turned his attention back to Beth. ¡°I told Goose to meet us at the trader.¡± Nyx grinned. ¡°Awesome, let¡¯s go.¡± She held a hand down to Anna May, the other woman unwrapped the bandage from her bare stomach, revealing perfectly smooth skin. ¡°That¡¯s really trippy,¡± Anna May said, taking Nyx¡¯s hand and getting to her feet. As the group exited the base, TJ glanced at the time. Day: 12 Time: 11:32 ¡°Who was responsible for merging the servers?¡± TJ asked Brian, who was on his way out of the room. ¡°I believe it was Jason.¡± TJ nodded. ¡°Fire him.¡± ~#!@%~ Helios climbed out of the base and headed straight to the trader. He wasn¡¯t sure how long it took him to fall asleep after he¡¯d ordered Jason to be fired, but they needed to get their crap together and move. Maybe hopping from building to building was the best way to get them to the center of the map, holing up each night inside one until they could move again. Of all the things they¡¯d talked about adding to the game, the cheery music was what grated on his nerves the most. It was the same tune over and over, and honestly, if he were Beth and stuck in the game, he would¡¯ve already blown someone¡¯s head off. Then he remembered that Beth had blown his head off. ¡°We need to do something about this music,¡± he said to Gary, knowing his friend and assistant would be listening. ¡°It¡¯s going to drive me fucking crazy.¡± Ironically, it was the change in the music that alerted Helios that he wasn¡¯t alone. Helios spun in a slow circle in the tall grass behind a row of houses, seeing nothing. He turned his gaze to the sky and scanned for birds. Blood splattered across his vision and he tumbled to the ground, a zombie firmly wrapped around his legs. ¡°Shit.¡± The biohazard symbol appeared below his health bar, and he pulled out his gun, aimed it at the zombie¡¯s head, then squeezed the trigger. A shriek sounded behind him, and before he knew it, Helios was surrounded by zombies. Chapter 26: Nightmare Beth, Maverick, Anna May, and Goose, aka Joseph, walked back toward their collective target. At the trader, Maverick had invited them all into team Top Gun, and the group accepted an errand to clear a school east of them, away from their base. ¡°So, Mav tells me that you¡¯re stuck here and that Lord Fuckwad is hiring us to keep you alive.¡± Goose grinned and rolled the toothpick around in his mouth. Beth laughed. ¡°I call him Tiny Johnson instead of TJ.¡± Not to his face, of course, Beth had learned the hard way that people didn¡¯t like to be called unflattering nicknames. For a moment she was transported back to high school. Ninth grade. Living with her mama¡¯s boyfriend, Bucky. He was a giant of a man with dark hair that he used to comb over the bald spot at the back of his head. Beth only called him Bucky Baldy once, and he¡¯d slapped her so hard that she¡¯d had to miss school for two days until the swelling went down. She covered-up the bruising with makeup. Fracking Bucky Baldy. The man could kiss her ass. They stepped over the broken chain-link fence and onto the school grounds. It felt too real. The layout was too close to Century High, where she¡¯d attended high school. ¡°This is eerie AF,¡± Joseph said. ¡°Seriously,¡± Anna May whispered. Maverick stepped on the button beneath the yellow arrow and took the lead, walking up to the steel doors. The music changed, getting lower and adding the creepy drawl of the violins. The windows were shattered, but still inserted the top half of the door, and a board had been secured over it from the inside. ¡°How creepy would it be to be stuck inside the school, securing the doors when you realize you¡¯re trapping the zombies in with you?¡± Beth suppressed a shudder. Anna May stepped closer, looping their arms together. Beth pulled away and glared. ¡°Equip your weapons.¡± Maverick shot Anna May an annoyed look. Beth grabbed her battle ax out of her inventory and looked at the durability: 56%. ¡°If we find any repair kits in here, I need one for my ax.¡± ¡°Your ass looks fine to me,¡± Anna May quipped. Beth rolled her eyes. ¡°Thanks.¡± She ignored his stare and used said battle ax to cut a hole in the boards and rip out the window remnants on the front door. The men stood back and let her work, covering her back. Zombies moaned inside the building, and a dog howled somewhere to their right. As soon as the hole in the wood was big enough, zombies grappled for position, trying to climb out. Using her ax, Beth cleaved their heads. Cleaved was such a weird word, but it felt right; they split open like watermelons. ¡°Incoming,¡± Joseph said. Beth kept her attention on the zombies in front of her, but the sounds of fighting raged behind her. ¡°It¡¯s a shambling whore,¡± Anna May shouted, along with some ridiculous ¡°hi-yah!¡± that Beth never would¡¯ve done in a million years. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°It¡¯s horde,¡± Joseph said. ¡°Shambling horde.¡± ¡°Whatever.¡± The last of the zombies just inside the building dropped to the ground, and Beth turned to see about a dozen dead zombies on the ground in a semi-circle around her team. Maverick pulled out a bottle of water and drank it. ¡°We should keep an eye out for cola and coffee. Caffeine regenerates your stamina faster.¡± Beth checked her stamina, she was low as well. She pulled out a bottle of water and chugged the contents. ¡°I¡¯m low on water.¡± ¡°Yeah. We need to just start filling up on supplies.¡± It wasn¡¯t like Beth hadn¡¯t been looting everything she found, but she also hadn¡¯t made it a point to go out and collect supplies. Someone had to build the base. Then again, she was a fighter, Mav was the builder. Now that he was back, hopefully she could pass that task to him. One by one, they crawled through the opening into the school. ¡°This just seems like a bad idea,¡± Anna May said. ¡°What if they ambush us?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯re that smart.¡± Joseph stepped forward into the school. The entry had high ceilings, which looked to be cracked. The white and maroon linoleum floors didn¡¯t appear to have any damage, which Beth made a point in checking for so she didn¡¯t fall into another zombie pit. On the left was the front office, broken windows lining the entire thing. ¡°Should we split up?¡± Anna May suggested. Maverick¡¯s lips formed a hard line. ¡°Teams of two. Stay together. Shout if you find anything.¡± Anna May grabbed Beth¡¯s elbow. ¡°I¡¯ll stay with Nyx.¡± Beth took a deep breath and rocked her head from side to side, trying to ease the tension building there. ¡°Okay. We¡¯ll head North, you guys head South, when we¡¯re done, meet back here.¡± Mav nodded, and he and Goose disappeared down the south hallway. ¡°Have you played this game before?¡± Beth asked Anna May as they broke down the office door. A zombie sprung up from the ground behind the counter and rushed toward them. Beth decapitated it with a single swing from her ax. Nice. Anna May leapt over the counter and began rifling through papers and filing cabinets. ¡°No, I¡¯ve played one similar, but it was a PC game. This is the first VR I¡¯ve done, and I love it.¡± Beth realized the music was still low and creepy. ¡°Watch out for zombies, I don¡¯t think we¡¯re alone.¡± She glanced out the office door and up and down the hallway, immediately spotting the problem. A zombie in an electric wheelchair careened down the hallway toward them. She was maybe in her early teens, and was missing her legs, which were boney and bloody stumps. Bile rose in Beth''s throat and she pulled out her Glock. Was it a bad idea to shoot a zombie and attract more? Probably. She stepped back into the office and equipped her ax while she waited for the buzz of the electric chair to get closer. Timing it just right, Beth stepped out and chopped the zombie in the stomach. The top half of the zombie flew toward her, landing on top of her. Blood splatters covered her vision and pain tore up her shoulder. ¡°Shit!¡± Anna May was to Beth in a second, bashing the zombie and dealing the killing blow. Beth checked her health and realized she was only down 35 points, but below that was the small biohazard symbol. ¡°I¡¯m infected.¡±
Infected with Pithovirus. 15% infected. Get an antibiotic before you reach 50% infected.
¡°I don¡¯t have an antibiotic. Isn¡¯t the baseline 4%?¡± Anna May helped Beth to her feet. Beth seemed to remember being infected at 4% the first time she¡¯d gotten it. But now, for some reason, it was higher. ¡°15%.¡± Anna May¡¯s brows furrowed. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Beth double-checked. ¡°Yes.¡±