《Zombie Xianxia》 Prologue - Old Men Die Hard BEEP¡­¡­BEEP¡­¡­¡­BEEP¡­¡­ Elijah Lee¡¯s eyes flickered weakly as the ventilator breathed for him. It wouldn¡¯t be much longer now till the end came. His two younger brothers were in a similar condition and lay nearby in beds of their own. Though they had lived hard lives it wasn¡¯t some sudden illness that had struck them down. It was simply age. Elijah was 94 years old and his brothers a few years younger. All three of them should have died long ago, either under a blaze of bullets or the gleam of knife. But the Lee brothers did not die easy. Originally there had been seven of them. They had all enrolled in the war when the call was put out. They were too young to see action at Gallipoli in WWI and the stories of Australians on the frontier had filled their hearts. They were too young to realize there was no glory in war at that stage. The fierce bitterness of a career soldiers would seep into their bones much later. When WWII began they were the first to sign up and got stationed in Singapore in the ill-fated 8th Division. When Singapore was lost to the Japanese all seven brothers ended up interred at Changi in a concentration camp before being distributed to different labour camps to build railroads. When the war ended and they were repatriated of the seven brothers only five remained. When the Vietnam war came around the brothers found themselves on the frontlines again. Older, wiser and semi retired by this stage they still thrived on the battlefield. They fought not because they believed the cause was just, but rather because war was all they knew. After ¡®Nam only the three youngest brothers were left. The youngest three had been named after prophets of God. Elijah was the oldest, then Moses and lastly Abraham. They were of mixed heritage and beliefs. Their mother had been an Aboriginal woman from the Pilbara in the north and their father a Chinese gangster from Dongbei. They had been raised on a mix of Aboriginal spiritual beliefs, Christianity and Taosim. After ¡®Nam the brothers retired from the military and found their way into different occupations. Elijah became an historian, while Moses took to chess and managed to place in the world¡¯s top 100 players. Abraham found it difficult to give up fighting, so he took to training others. He opened up a boxing and martial art gym on the south side of the river and trained disaffected youths and former drug addicts. Now as they had all entered their final years they were again reunited in the hospital, each of them had little time left. Elijah would be the first to go as his body had been failing him for some weeks. He could no longer breath without the ventilator and his physical strength diminished by the day. Still he clung to life. Elijah fought the encroaching death with every iota of his will. It wasn¡¯t that he really had anything left to live for. None of the brothers had had children and they were old, old men. But survival was a deeply ingrained instinct. As his body continued to give out and his mind grew weak he found himself lost in the memories of battles long gone by. He walked old paths in his mind as his primal will to live continued to flare as he fought hand to hand with his very soul against god and fate. He would not let the black easily claim him. It was then, as the smell of death began to seep into his bones that the world changed. And nothing would ever be the same again. <¡­¡­RISE AS AN XIANXIA OR FALL AS A ZOMBIE¡­¡­> What? Elijah thought as the announcement boomed through his mind snapping him out of his reverie. He saw a drop down list begin to scroll downwards in front of him as various options began to get selected. <12 RAINBOW LIGHTNING SERPENT TECHNIQUE SELECTED> <¡­¡­¡­INIATIALISING¡­¡­..> Information suddenly flooded through Elijah¡¯s mind and he immediately began to understand the 12 Rainbow Lightning Serpent method of cultivation. Knowledge of a new world bloomed. One he vaguely recognized from his father¡¯s Taoist teachings. A faint red lightning Qi began to flow in his body and circulate around his veins and for the first time in decades he felt strength begin to slowly flow into his limbs. His body jittered as electricity ran through it and small red sparks began to shoot out of his skin. As the knowledge from the system fed into him a deep sense of crisis emerged. He struggled a hand up in front of his eyes and saw a small white pill in his hand. The pill gave of an amazing scent of vitality and strength. It emanated an aura of vigor and resilience. Divine Pill of Youth! He thought. With a shaking hand he pulled the ventilator mask aside. A tube that went all the way down his throat blocked the passageway and he forced the pill into the side of his mouth. Knowing it would be almost impossible to swallow because he lacked the strength to pull out the breathing tube, he prayed the pill would dissolve. As he put the pill in his mouth his eyes sharpened as the door to their ward creaked open. A pretty face peered in. Pale with black hair and a generous body. Nurse Stevens Except¡­¡­.she was different. Blood ran freely down her mouth and it looked like something mangled and fleshy hung out of it. Her eyes were blood shot and veins pulsated across her face. ¡°ungggggg.¡± She groaned as her mouth opened and she smiled. Cocking her head to one side she sniffed the air and began to amble over towards him. Her left leg dragged as if it had received some kind of injury and slowly she made her way over to Elijah with hungry eyes. Son of a bitch¡­. Elijah felt the pill begin to dissolve as it sat wedged against the inside of his mouth. ¡°arghhhhH!¡± The Nurse groaned as she staggered into Elijah and pressed down towards his face. Weakly he tried to ward her off with one hand but her strength was too great. She battered his hand away and her face fell towards his. Elijah felt a sharp pain as dull teeth began to gnaw on his cheek and he felt flesh ripped away as she fed on him. A sickly green Zombie Qi invaded his body and attacked his cells. He smelt rotten flesh and burnt ashes as the Zombie Qi began to burn his DNA. A normal person¡¯s mind would collapse in terror at this point. But Elijah Lee was not a normal person. He circulated his red lightning Qi in his body into a spear and thrust it at the Zombie Qi in his body. Under this assault the Zombie Qi broke apart and faded before it could penetrate any deeper inside of him. That¡¯s it circulate the Qi Elijah though as he began to put knowledge into practice. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. He softly directed the thin amount of Red Qi remaining into his arm and grabbed the nurse by the throat holding her face away from his. ¡°aggggg!¡± she moaned loudly as she desperately tried to savage him. Snakes of red lightning arced from his hand and began to burn her face. As the zombie realized it couldn¡¯t get free its arms began to claw at his body instead and he felt ribs snap. I aint going out like this Elijah thought as he felt strength begin to surge in his body. Finally, the Divine Pill of Youth began to have an effect. He reached across with his other hand and began to rip the breathing tube from his mouth as he fought off the zombie. Finally it came free and he surged off the bed and dragged the zombie down onto the floor with him. Old fighting instincts he thought long buried surged to the surface as he reared back and began to strike down towards zombies face with all of his might. Fucking still weak as shit Elijah winced as his blows rained down on Nurse Stevens. Despite the damage the zombie didn¡¯t seem affected at all. This is some Walking Dead shit! Thinking smarter he focused the Red Lightning Qi into the end of his fist and slammed it down. His fist exploded through the zombie¡¯s head sending brains and bones everywhere. An announcement echoed in his head. Points? For killing a zombie? Shaking Elijah slowly stood up to see another zombie had wandered in and was chewing on one of his brothers. ¡°Moses!¡± Elijah cried as he ran over. Moses was trying to eat a pill in his right hand as his left was being chewed on by an orderly. ¡°Motherfucker!¡± Elijah cried as he pulled the zombie backwards. A horrible ripping sound accompanied the action as Moses¡¯s arm was shreds. The smell of blood filled the air and the sound of shuffling feet grew stronger. The zombie surged forward and Elijah struggled hand to hand with it as they wrestled. Suddenly the zombie was wrested away from him and he saw Abraham grip the zombie in a choke-hold as he thrust a broken bit of metal directly into his skull. Abraham had always been the biggest out of them and even though he was old and fat his eyes shone with some kind of manic strength. ¡°Secure the room.¡± Elijah ordered without even giving Abraham a second glance. He moved directly over to Moses who looked like he was in some kind of a seizure. Moving with experienced hands he dragged gauze and medical instruments out of draws and began to treat Moses wounds. THWAK THWAK THWAK Dull fleshly sounds echoed in the background as Abraham fought zombies that had staggered in. Though Elijah wanted to assist him his first priority was to stabilize Moses. Seeing that Moses had swallowed a pill which he could only assume was the same as his he breathed a sigh of relief as he staunched the blood loss. ¡°Clear!¡± Abraham¡¯s voice echoed out. Elijah looked over to see four Zombies bleeding out on the ground and two hospital beds wedged against the only door to the room. Abraham smiled as wiped brains of the bed leg. Skin was falling off his face as if some mask was getting peeled off. ¡°What the fuck is wrong with your face bro?¡± Elijah asked. Abraham reached up and felt his face and began to pull loose skin off in large chunks. Feeling his own face Elijah realized his skin was peeling too. He began to pull it off over and over again and it seemed to come off in never ending amounts. ¡°It¡¯s the pill¡­..¡± a hoarse voice croaked out. Elijah looked over to see Moses staggering off the bed. His arm was already healed and his skin was flaking as well. Elijah rushed into the bathroom looked in the mirror. Slowly as he peeled old skin off until he could see fresh young skin underneath. My god. Stripping the hospital robe off he began to tear old wet skin off his naked body over and over again until finally he stood born anew. A face he had not seen for a long, long time stared back at him. His hair was jet black and thick and his face unlined and full of youthful vigor. He looked 18 again. He clenched his fist and felt that old man weakness was gone. His body was strong and fit. He rushed out of the bathroom and saw Moses and Abraham smiling back at him. ¡°I can feel my dick again!¡± Abraham laughed. Abraham had always been a little bigger than the rest, but it was easy to forget his size in his old age. He had gotten stooped and bent in on himself in his advancing years. But as a young man he now stood in front of the others. 6ft 4 and wide as a barrel. Moses was a little different 6ft 3 and thin as a whip. Elijah on the other hand was somewhere in between at 6ft 2 with an athletic build. The door to the room began to shake as zombies tried to force their way in and the hospital beds leveraged against the wall began to slowly shift. Instantly the brothers began to move. Old patterns of working together to survive kicked in. ¡°Status check.¡± Elijah called out. ¡°Zombie Qi infected me when I got bit. It seems to have been neutralized by my Qi. Otherwise 100%.¡± Moses called out. Abraham just smiled. ¡°Cocked, locked and ready to rock.¡± ¡°Weapons check.¡± Elijah called. Abraham put a metal bed leg on the table and walked over to two of the remaining beds. In a remarkable display of strength he ripped two legs off and passed them to Moses and Elijah. ¡°Strategy.¡± Elijah called out. ¡°Let me take point Eli. My cultivation method is Invincible Metal Ogre, high defense, high attack with a specialization in physical based attacks. My Qi can last for a long time.¡± Abraham said. Elijah looked at Moses for his input. ¡°I got Ancient Wood Tyrant as my cultivation path. High defense with flexible attack forms at higher levels. My current Qi is limited, suggest Abe takes point and I take rear.¡± Moses said looking at Elijah in expectantly. ¡°I got 12 Rainbow Lightning Serpent method. Seems like high attack and damage and effective at both close and long ranges. Qi consumption is enormous, I already have very little Qi left.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go with file formation as hallway is too narrow. Abraham takes lead, I¡¯ll take second, Moses you bring up the rear eyes on the back. I¡¯ll call out sliders if any get through.¡± ¡°Stage 1 is evac from room, potential swarm when we jack the door. I¡¯ll play lure, cut my arm and draw them with blood. Abraham take right wing, Moses you¡¯re left. As they enter kill from the back first but leave the first two for me so they funnel.¡± The brothers just nodded as they assumed positions on either side of the door. Elijah dragged the jagged bed leg across his arm and let the blood drip on the floor in a trail towards the back of the room. He stood there for a moment as he looked at the youthful faces of his brothers. ¡°Sure beats dying in bed like an old bastard.¡± Elijah grinned. ¡°You¡¯re still an old bastard!¡± Moses quipped. ¡°Let¡¯s fuck shit up.¡± Abraham grinned. ¡°Go!¡± Elijah shouted as the two brothers kicked the beds aside the door swung open and a group of zombies swarmed in. 1. I, your Grandaddy! As Moses and Abraham ripped open the doors to their ward a pile of zombies burst through almost tripping over themselves at the smell of blood. ¡°Come at me Lame Brains!¡± Elijah shouted drawing them to him. ¡°I, your Grandaddy shall end you!¡± Moses and Abraham executed the plan perfectly. They remained motionless on either side of the door as the zombie¡¯s staggered in. The only problem was the line never seemed to end. Eight zombies had pushed through and more were still coming. Elijah watched as the endless line surged forward and his eyes tightened. All gone to hell¡­.. He let the Red Lightning Qi gently course through his body, neither pushing it nor pulling it. Just letting it gently run through him like a small static charge. As it pulsed he felt a little stronger. Got to manage my Qi reserves. Just need a small constant boost. But it was difficult, oh so difficult. It was not in the nature of lightning to be contained and measured. It wanted to explode and surge ravenously. As the zombies neared he surged forward and stabbed a zombie in the head with the bed leg like a short spear. The zombie was quickly replaced by another one. Moses and Abraham couldn¡¯t wait any longer the funnel method only worked if there was a small swarm, not an army. They sprung into action annihilating zombies as they entered and the bodies began to build up. ¡°I¡¯m cycling left!¡± Elijah called as he began to back up dropping zombies with carefully placed thrusts as he backpedaled. Moses moved as Elijah killed and soon he stood on the other side of the zombie swarm and joined Abraham on the back end. Without any communication they could see what Elijah was trying to do. The swarm had rotated to follow him and were funneling to the far side of the room. Moses and Abraham exploded in with strikes and began to clear a small space on the right side of the exit. As Abraham killed, Moses piled up the corpses to form a small wall that channeled the incoming zombies towards Elijah and left a small gap in the door on the right side to escape. Elijah fought like a maniac as he retreated and saw some zombies peel off to target Moses and Abe. Need noise to continue to draw them to me. Elijah thought. For some reason an ACDC song began play in his head. ¡°Thunder, thunder, thunder, thunder.¡± Elijah began to call out and the trailing zombies began to track back onto him. ¡°I was caught in the middle of railroad track¡­¡± He yelled as he kicked a zombie in the chest and it fell backwards dragging four others with it. ¡°I looked around and I knew there was no turning back¡­¡± The bed leg was slick and covered in blood by now as it penetrated straight through another zombie skull with expert killing precision. ¡°My mind raced! And I thought what could I do and I knew there was no help from you¡­¡± As Elijah backed up further he realized he had almost reached the back corner of the ward. ¡°Sound of the drums.¡± Elijah sang as stabbed a zombie in the face and vaulted on top of bed. ¡°Beating in my heart¡± A zombie grabbed Elijah¡¯s leg only to have its face kicked in. ¡°The Thunder of guns.¡± The bed leg came down from above like a meteor from the heavens and stabbed into one zombies head after another. ¡°Tore me apart.¡± The bed leg stuck inside the head of the zombie and Elijah had to let it go before the momentum dragged him into the horde that was starting to crawl up onto the bed. Elijah stopped trying to control the Red Lightning Qi inside of him and instead incited it to gather. ¡°You¡¯ve been¡­.¡± He began to yell. Moses and Abraham felt a sense of foreboding as they saw flickers of red lightning begin to gather in Elijah¡¯s eyes. They ducked down behind the wall of zombie corpses. ¡°THUNDERSTRUCK!¡± Elijah roared as he let all the remaining Red Lightning Qi in his body explode in one go. All the windows in the room exploded at once as the boom of thunder roared. Lightning snaked out of his body in a powerful arc and slammed into the head of the nearest zombie before jumping to the next in a chain. Zombie head after zombie head exploded as the lightning snaked through the room as if alive. Elijah threw himself off the bed as he leaped in between collapsing bodies. Rolling as he hit the ground he came up on the other side of the zombie congo line and burst through the gap in the door that Moses and Abraham had made. Abe watched as Elijah sprinted out of the gap still holding his hands over his ears due to the enormous boom of thunder the lightning had made. ¡°I think he wants us to follow him.¡± Moses said wryly as Abe sat their slack jawed. ¡°Fucking SOB.¡± Abe cursed as they high tailed it after Elijah. Quickly they caught up to him and saw him beating a zombie to death with a night stick. A dead security guard laid at his feet with his skull smashed open. ¡°Zulu 12 o clock!¡± Abe yelled and Elijah spun smashing a zombie in the face with the stick before thrusting it inside his head. In the NATO Phonetic alphabet Zulu stood for ¡®Z¡¯. As the zombie died Abe took point and moved forward past Elijah. The two other brothers fell into formation like clock work. Moses turned to face the back and Elijah guarded the middle. Like that the three brothers killed their way out of the aged care ward and to the elevator. Elijah pressed the elevator button as Moses and Abe killed the roamers that staggered up to attack while the elevator rose. Ding! The doors opened and three zombies emerged. Elijah clubbed the first one knocking it down while Moses and Abe swarmed in and pinned the others to the ground and thrust the jagged bed legs into their brains. Struggling to get the right angle Elijah bounced his night stick off the zombies head a few times as he held it pinned. ¡°Can¡¯t kill the Zulu?¡± Abe laughed as he stomped his foot down on the zombies head and its skull burst like ripe melon. ¡°Fuck you still got Qi?¡± Elijah laughed. ¡°Still at 50%, but then I¡¯m not shooting lightning bolts out of my ass.¡± Moses pressed the ground floor button and the elevator began to descend. Soft tunes began to play out of the elevator speakers. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down.¡± ¡°Never gonna run around and desert you.¡± ¡°Never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye.¡± ¡°Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.¡± Ding! The elevator doors opened and Abe surged out like a bar room brawler. He clocked a zombie in the face, kicked another in the chest and skull-fucked a third with the bed leg. When Abe left a small gap Elijah would automatically fill it and swing his night stick sending zombies sprawling. Moses efficiently dispatched anything that entered the rear kill zone. He didn¡¯t fight like Abe who still had some flash to his movements. Every strike Moses made killed. Not a single wasted movement. ¡°The front of the building, left side. Murdoch Cop Shop.¡± Elijah whispered. Abe nodded as he bee-lined and hugged a side wall. The zombies seemed thinner as they slowly worked their way out of the building and out in the car park. Abe ran up to a car and elbowed the side window smashing the glass. ¡°Bad pick Abe.¡± Moses said as he strode past. ¡°Too much electronics.¡± He strode through the car park and finally stopped at an old beat up Volvo. Smashing the window he unlocked the door and disappeared. Elijah scoped the car park as they waited. ¡°Speed it up Mo!¡± Elijah whispered as he clocked a zombie in the face. The more he looked the more zombies he saw. Some were trapped in their cars while others were roaming the car park but had been difficult to see. Abe slid across the bonnet of the car and covered the other side as he dispatched a couple of roamers. After a couple of minutes the engine began to sound as Moses popped back up and slid into the drivers seat. ¡°Shotgun!¡± Abe yelled as he jumped into the front passenger seat. Elijah jumped into the back. Moses gunned the gas and they reversed out of the car bay as more zombies closed in. ¡°Zulu everywhere!¡± Abe laughed as bodies banged against the car. Moses dropped the car in gear and cranked the gas. The Volvo shot out of the bay and began to maneuver around the carpark at high speed. Abe turned on the radio and a DMX song began to boom out of the old sound system. ¡°Knock knock, open up the door, it¡¯s real¡± ¡°Wit the non-stop, pop pop and stainless steel¡± ¡°Go hard getting wit it, but I got such a good heart.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll make a motherfucker wonder if he did it.¡± ¡°Hey Eli give me that night stick!¡± Abe yelled. Elijah tossed it over to him without thinking. Abe wound down the window and hung out the side as Moses drove. A zombie wandered near the car as they cruised past and Abe swung the night stick like a baseball bat and knocked its head clean off its body. ¡°Boo yah!¡± Abe yelled as they snaked down the carpark. ¡°First we gonna rock, then we gonna roll!¡± Abe rapped. He swung and cleaned up another zombie. ¡°Then we let it pop, go let it go!¡± Moses pumped the accelerator and the brake slightly as he drifted around the corner with a perfect slide. A few zombies wandered in front of the car and Moses jacked the gas. BUMP BUMP BUMP The Volvo rocked as it smashed into the zombies and hit them like speed bumps. ¡°You really want into that cop shop Eli?¡± Moses said calmly. ¡°We need to secure weapons.¡± Elijah responded. ¡°Well put your seatbelt on then.¡± Moses said as he pressed the accelerator flat to the ground and the engine roared. ¡°ohhh shiiiit!¡± Abe yelled as he climbed back into the car and buckled up. In the distance the Murdoch Police Station could be seen. The front of the building was surrounded by a thick wall of zombies. ¡°Moses just pull up out the front I¡¯ll lure them away.¡± Eli said as he desperately fumbled for his seat belt. ¡°No can do el capitano.¡± Moses said as the car sped faster and faster. Moses flipped open a pack cigarette¡¯s that were sitting near the dashboard and dragged a ciggie out. The engine sounded like it was straining as it hit 150km as Moses drove like a madman with one hand on the wheel. He flicked the lighter a couple of times and took a long drag of the cigarette. ¡°What the fuck Moses why?¡± Abe yelled as he gripped the car door. ¡°Why? Fuck yeah that¡¯s why.¡± Moses laughed manically as they shot towards the cop shop. It had been so long it had been easy to forget. It wasn¡¯t Abe that was the crazy bastard. It was Moses. BLAM! The Volvo smashed through a wall of zombies and straight through the front door of the Police Station. Twisted metal and broken glass went everywhere as a powdery mist pervaded the air. Stunned from the impact Abe staggered out the passenger side. He had reinforced his body with Metal Qi before impact and his body had worn it well. He swung out the night stick and killed a zombie that still clung to the car with half its lower body missing. Eli rolled out of the back and Moses calmly exited the drivers seat. His face was a bruised mess as it must have bounced off the steering wheel. Despite this his cigarette was still hanging from his mouth. ¡°FREEZE!¡± a voice yelled as the three brothers looked over. Behind what must have been the reception booth seven cops stood with pistols aimed at them. Moses simply strode forward as he took a long drag on his ciggie. ¡°The last person who pointed a gun at me was a Viet Cong. It didn¡¯t end well for him.¡± Moses said with an emotionless voice. ¡°You sure you wanna do this?¡± 2. The Real Monsters ¡°Drop to the ground¡­..NOW!¡± The cops yelled out again. They seemed to be led by the big man in the center with red hair. Their guns mostly aimed at Moses, though some were also trained on Abraham and Elijah. Elijah stepped back slightly so he was a bit more obscured by the powdery mist in the air. Standard Australian police issue. Glock 22. 15 round capacity .40 caliber pistol. Elijah thought as he gazed at the guns. Instead of dropping on the ground Moses simply stood there as if daring them to fire. ¡°Fucking Noongar''s. There is a zombie apocalypse and your still stealing cars.¡± The man with the red hair said with a look of scorn on his face. The brothers had forgotten they were 18 again. In Perth, Western Australia there was a common stereotype that Aboriginal youths were all car thief¡¯s and criminals. The brothers were not strangers to racism. They had grown up in an era where Aboriginal people did not have the right to vote or have many basic civil rights. In fact when they came back from WWII they were not even allowed to march in the ANZAC parades. ¡°Firstly, we aren¡¯t Noongar. You got the wrong tribe mate,¡± Moses spat. Noongar¡¯s were the collection of Aboriginal clans in the South west of Western Australia. Their mother was from Pilbara region in the north west of the state. Their tribe was Palyku. ¡°Secondly, if you put those Glocks down and slide them over here I won¡¯t have to kill you.¡± ¡°Like fuck we will you little bastard. You circulate so much as inch of Qi and I¡¯ll blow your fucking head off.¡± Elijah began to relax his breath as he felt the tension in the room build. For the three brothers an apocalypse was nothing new to them. They¡¯d lived through WWII and Vietnam. They had survived the end of the world and lived to see what was on the other side. They knew the ruthless precision that was required to survive. A minute passed as the brothers faced off against the Cops............... The red haired Cop stared down the barrel of his Glock as his stomach flipped. The eyes of the three kids across from him were cold and empty. They looked like messengers of death. They¡¯re just punks¡­..just fucking punks. The Cop kept repeating in his mind as if trying to convince himself. Despite having their Immortal Path¡¯s unlocked not all the Cops were as strong of heart as the red haired man. Their guns wavered slightly as the tension built and their arms began to feel heavy. Tension caused a lot of wasted energy and it was easy to fatigue while in a state of high tension. Not only did Moses know this, he counted on it. The longer the stand off drew out the more relaxed he was and the more tightly wound the Cops became. ¡°warghhh.¡± The muffled sound of a random zombie echoed as it crawled into the middle of the room. Its legs were shredded and it slowly pulled itself across the floor towards Elijah. No one even looked at the zombie as they gazed at each other across the room. Moses eyes tightened. Fingers on triggers began to twitch. ¡°Don¡¯t do it maaaan.¡± One of the Cops pleaded as he saw Moses¡¯s left hand shake. Like a spark next to kerosene it didn¡¯t take much to cause the room to explode. Moses flicked his cigarette butt out of his right hand and it flew through the air as if in slow motion. The eyes of the Cops tracked it as it rose high in the air before falling with unerring accuracy towards one of the cops. Ping! It bounced off his left eye and caused him to wince as the ash flew. The Cops finger twitched. BANG! A bullet shot out towards Moses. BOOM! A wave of Green wooden Qi exploded from Moses and his skin changed into withered bark and a bullet ricocheted off his chest. A second explosion rocked out and the taste of Metal Qi filled the air. Abraham had already leaped into the air the moment the cigarette left Moses''s hand. He burned his reserves of Metal Qi and it caused his skin to shine with a silvery sheen as he hurtled through space like some kind of mad angel. Elijah slid on the ground and picked up the crawling zombie and held it front of him as a meat shield. A wave of bullets sped his way and collided with the zombie. THUNK THUNK THUNK The first two rounds were absorbed by the zombie¡¯s body, but the third splintered through and grazed the side of his face. Unlike the other brothers, he had already spent his Qi reserves back in the hospital. He threw the zombie as he closed and it landed face first on a cop and sunk its teeth into his face. ¡°Arghhh!¡± the cop screamed as Elijah exploded over the counter. A gun rose to his head to the right and he spun chopping at the cops arm. The move knocked the shot astray as the bullet left the chamber and the gun went sprawling. The cop with the zombie on top off him put a round in the zombie¡¯s head and began to struggle free. No hesitation. Elijah thought as his body moved on muscle memory. He struck again at the Cop to his right as his fingers jabbed the man¡¯s throat. Just as his fingers struck flesh they bounced off and Elijah felt a finger break. The Cops eyes lit up with glowing stars and the eternity of time and space glowed inside them. Ohh fuck. Elijah dropped low as a beam of light exploded out of the man¡¯s eyes and tore a hole through the wall. A bright flash of light shone and the whole room heated up. Elijah leaped to the side and over to the loose Glock on the ground. As he grabbed it he turned and began to pop off rounds. Three rounds hit the Cop in the head and bounced off so Elijah put the fourth round in his chest and the fifth round in his nuts. ¡°unghhh.¡± The Cop grunted as the glow in his eyes dimmed and he dropped to his knees holding his groin. Only the fifth round in his nuts had gotten through. Elijah sprung up as bullets sprayed towards him. He used the kneeling Cops body as a shield and popped a round into the head of the Cop he had thrown the zombie at. The bullet went straight through the Cops head and brains exploded out the back. Not wasting time, Elijah turned his gun point blank towards the kneeling Cop and blew his brains out. A surge filled Elijah¡¯s body and the Red Lightning Qi poured into him as he felt a small Core sea begin to form deep inside his body. The sea was a deep scarlet red and it flickered with an electrical charge. What the fuck? As the man¡¯s body keeled over, Elijah looked up. All the other Cops lay dead. Some were riddled with bullets while others necks and bodies were simply broken askew. Red lightning flashed in Elijah¡¯s eyes for a moment before fading away. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°You guys level up?¡± Eli asked. ¡°Yup.¡± Abe replied and Moses nodded his head as well. ¡°It¡¯s weird, seems like a lot more experience and points for killing humans.¡± Abe said. ¡°Scavenge first then evac.¡± Elijah said and the brothers went to work with a practiced expertise. Bullet-proof vests were stripped off the cops that had them and were equipped. Side and shoulder holsters for multiple guns were strapped. Abe checked the back and came out with a duffle bag filled with more guns and ammo as well as flashbangs. In under 5 minutes they had picked the Police Station dry and were locked and loaded. ¡°One of these guys had this on him.¡± Abe said tossing some kind of jade scroll to Elijah. ¡°What the fuck is this?¡± He said as he unrolled it. The scroll was covered with countless strange characters that he couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of. Some strange instinct compelled him to press it to his head. He held it there for a moment but nothing happened. Thinking for a moment he injected the tiniest trace of Qi into the Jade scroll and a burst of power lit up the scroll. Instantly knowledge poured into his mind. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BASIC GUIDE TO THE IMMORTAL PATH ¨C 10 POINTS LEVELING Killing provides experience. Experience provides levels. Groups of levels correspond to stages of cultivation: ¡¤ Qi Condensation ¡¤ Foundation Establishment ¡¤ Core Formation ¡¤ Nascent Soul ¡¤ Spirit Severing ¡¤ Dao Seeking ¡¤ Immortal Ascension UPGRADING CULTIVATION METHOD Killing provides Points. Points are used to purchase upgrades to your cultivation method. At higher levels your cultivation method will develop new applications which can be purchased. THE SHOP Cultivators can purchase pills, weapons and other upgrades through the shop interface. All purchases require points. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ¡°Holy shit.¡± Elijah said as he flung the scroll to Moses. Moses copied what Elijah had done and absorbed the knowledge. ¡°Shop.¡± Elijah said and a drop down screen appeared in front of him. He had 20,000 points which could be used to purchase random items. All sorts of items seemed to be in the shop, most of which he did not understand. As Elijah was looking at an almost infinite list of items zombies began to stagger into the Police Station. ¡°Zulu¡¯s back.¡± Abe said. He pulled out a knife he had taken of one of the Cops and went about dispatching the roamers. As Abe cleared, Elijah assessed the situation. ¡°Alright first things first. Mo, no more Jabberwocky shit please.¡± Elijah said seriously as his eyes bored into Moses¡¯s. Driving a car through a Police Station window was only the tip of the iceberg of what could happen when Moses got loose. ¡°Don¡¯t go back their bro.¡± Jabberwocky was a monster in a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll. Abe and Elijah had first coined the term to describe Moses¡¯s murderous side back in Vietnam. Moses wasn¡¯t built the same as Abe and Elijah, while he wasn¡¯t a complete sociopath he wasn¡¯t far off. The more he killed the worse he got. Elijah¡¯s mind cast back to a village in Vietnam. Not a single soul was left alive by the time they had found Moses standing over a pile of corpses. All he kept saying over and over again was that he had neutralized the threat. Logical. Precise. Borderline inhuman. But fuck he was a magnificent killer. Elijah thought. That was the day they had called him Jabberwocky. Moses returned Elijah¡¯s gaze with unfathomable eyes. They had been through this so many times that the exchange had lost meaning. Only old age had taken the edge off as Elijah''s memories had dimmed. When it came to War, Moses only knew one thing with certainty. He would survive. And his brothers would too. ¡°Don¡¯t go back there?........Unlike you I never left.¡± Moses said simply. ¡°Let it be Eli, please let it be.¡± Abe said. Elijah gazed at the zombies slowly making their way into the building as he sighed. What will be will be. Trying to preserve his brothers soul in the middle of an apocalypse was not achievable. ¡°Elijah you know what the difference between us and these cops is?¡± Moses said as he reloaded a Glock. ¡°What?¡± Elijah replied. ¡°They thought they were trapped in a world of zombies.¡± ¡°So how is that different from us?¡± ¡°Heh, we aren¡¯t trapped in a world of zombies. The zombies are trapped in a world with us.¡± Moses looked up with a glint of a stone cold killer as he slid the clip back into the gun. ¡°Haven¡¯t you worked it out yet brother? We are the Jabberwocky¡¯s.¡± Elijah saw himself reflected in Moses eyes and he didn¡¯t like what he saw. The rush of the Divine Youth Pill had started to fade and the reality of war came roaring back. The blood. The death The murder. Worst yet¡­¡­. The joy of killing. A long suppressed memory surfaced in his mind. The village back in ¡®Nam and the fall of rain that couldn¡¯t disguise the stench of death. Moses hadn¡¯t been the only one in that village. They had all been there, even Abe. Elijah watched in his memory as the blood flowed down his face as he hacked person after person down. Smiling, he was always smiling when he killed. ¡°Beware the Jabberwock, my son. The jaws that bite, the claws that catch.¡± Elijah whispered as he remembered the massacre. Moses was right. We are the monsters. 3 Blinky Bill By the time the brothers were ready to roll out the sun was setting in the sky. ¡°Going to get dark soon.¡± Abe said as they exited the Police Station. ¡°Yup. We need to hole up for a bit and then re-deploy in the morning, too many unknowns in the dark.¡± Moses said. ¡°Eli you did your university degree over at Murdoch Uni right? Any ideas?¡± Abe said. Elijah rubbed his chin as he thought. Directly across from Fiona Stanley hospital they had escaped from sat Murdoch University campus. ¡°Well it was a long fucking time ago. There aren¡¯t really many secure buildings on the campus and the population density will be higher which means more zombies and cultivators.¡± ¡°The closest building just over the road is probably the best bet. It¡¯s the Wesfarmers building. If we clear a section we should be able to secure it for the night.¡± ¡°What¡¯s our policy on cultivators?¡± Abe asked as they made their way across the road. Elijah looked at Moses for an analysis. ¡°Statistically it is unlikely many people will be armed. Our tough gun laws in Australia mean hardly anyone in metro area will have a gun at home. Potentially some small firearms in the hands of organized crime.¡± ¡°In terms of earth based weapons the motherlode will be found in Police or Military installations. We will be ahead of the curve with our Glocks in that regard.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s the weird cultivation powers that are more unpredictable. Take Elijah¡¯s Red lightning for example at full tilt it could probably kill one of us almost instantly. One of the cops I killed manifested a void type power that made my hair stand on end. If I hadn¡¯t of killed him before it could activate it fully I¡¯d be vaporized.¡± ¡°I suggest we treat everything as hostile unless it is clear there is no threat. Standard 21 foot kill zone.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Elijah said. All three brothers were also equipped with knives they had found in the Police Station. Along with the Glocks and other equipment they were starting to build up a small arsenal. ¡°Zulu¡¯s incoming.¡± Abe said as he crossed the road. Four zombies moved towards their group while another closed in on the left. Moses cut to the left and knifed the three zombies in the head, while Abe silently killed the other four. Elijah threw his knife at a random zombie and it flew through the air perfectly and sunk into the zombies head killing instantly. As Elijah pulled the knife out and wiped it off he noticed something. Since the upgrade to Qi Condensation level 1 he felt a bit stronger and faster. There must be some kind of minor physical upgrade that accompanied the growth in level. ¡°Get away!¡± a voice screamed. The brothers flanked towards the noise carefully dispatching zombies as they moved quietly and efficiently. A woman in a green surgical gown ran in the distance carrying something in her arms. A big zombie burst out of nowhere and sprinted down the road and flung itself on her back. As it landed on her it ripped her head off her body and began to stuff it into its mouth. Elijah squinted as he watched the zombie feed. The zombie was bigger than a normal zombie by a significant margin and its speed was considerable. ¡°Some kind of zombie boss?¡± Moses whispered. Out from under the woman¡¯s body a small form crawled out. It was a baby Koala. ¡°Is that¡­...¡± Abe asked. ¡°I forgot at the back of the campus here is the Veterinary science school. That lady must have been a Vet.¡± Elijah whispered. The baby Koala began to hiss at the zombie boss as it ate the Vets head. At first the zombie just ignored it as it scraped at its legs with its tiny claws. Suddenly the body of the Koala began to swell and it expanded to around 6 feet tall. It looked an enormous bear with a powerful body. Sensing a threat the zombie boss swung out at the Koala. ¡°Nyaaaahhh!¡± the Koala bellowed as it battered the zombie with its claw. The zombie boss staggered back as its head was shorn off its body and it collapsed on the ground. The Koala chased the zombie boss¡¯s head and pressed down on it with its claw until the head popped and a small black marble rolled out. The Koala licked it up and ate it and strange aura seemed to pulsate in its body. ¡°Nyahhhh!¡± it wailed one more time before its body began to shrink back to normal size. ¡°holy shit.¡± Abe exclaimed. ¡°Death by Drop Bear¡­..that¡¯s as Australian as it gets.¡± Moses laughed. Elijah drifted to the side of the body of the zombie boss and saw a milk bottle had rolled out when the Vet had been killed. He picked it up and held it out to the baby Koala. It eyed him angrily at first before it hopped over and began to suckle on the end. It seemed like the transformation had exhausted it as it collapsed after drinking. Elijah picked it up and carried it as he rejoined the group. ¡°You seriously gonna bring that as pet. It could kill all of us.¡± Abe asked. ¡°I still remember that tiger cub you started to raise in ¡®Nam so don¡¯t get fucking started bro.¡± Elijah hit back. Moses simply looked bemused by the situation. ¡°From today on Blinky Bill here is part of our team.¡± Elijah declared. ¡°Blinky Bill? You¡¯re really going to name it that?¡± Abe laughed. ¡°Mate don¡¯t you fucking worry. When you see me riding old Blinky into battle like a chariot of war you won¡¯t be laughing!¡± Carefully they worked their way across the street keeping noise to a minimum. The appearance of the zombie boss had raised a new element to consider. All the zombies they had seen so far were slow and weak. But the zombie boss had been fast and appeared far stronger. Slowly they made it to the Wesfarmers building before making their way into the foyer. Behind the reception desk sat a man in an immaculate suit. He looked up as the brothers entered as he filed his nails. ¡°Gentlemen.¡± The man said. ¡°What brings you to my humble lodgings?¡± Though the man had no weapon he seemed to exude an aura of power. ¡°Name¡¯s Elijah, and these are my brothers Abe, and Mo. The sun is setting and we planned to hole up here for the night.¡± The man stopped filing his nails and slowly stood up and put his hands on the table. ¡°You want to camp in my castle?¡± he asked in an odd tone. ¡°Reckon I do.¡± Elijah replied. The red lightning qi in his body began to circulate slowly. His right hand cradled the baby koala while his left rested on top off his holstered Glock. ¡°We can help you clear the building. Make it safe.¡± Abe added. The man looked at them with a smile. ¡°Ohh its safe in here alright. I already cleared the whole building of both zombies and cultivators. Just me and you three boys here now.¡± ¡°Found out a funny thing too. Seems killing cultivators makes me a hell of a lot stronger.¡± The man trailed his finger along the table as he slowly walked out. ¡°And you know what¡¯s funny? Just when I was wondering where to get some more points look what the cat dragged in.¡± It was a small movement out of the corner of Moses¡¯s eye that alerted him. Without a thought he drew his Glock in one motion and fired without aiming at a side stairwell. A body dropped to the ground with a hole in its head. Abe dropped on one knee as he popped rounds down the central corridor and clipped three other men. The man in the suit disappeared out of thin air and reappeared behind Elijah before he could react. An explosion of energy rocked out and blew Elijah across the room and into the wall. He hit it with a sickening thud and slid to the ground unmoving. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Moses popped two rounds at the man but he flickered and was gone. A pulse of green Qi expanded out from Moses and the shape of the suited man flickering across the room appeared. ¡°Come get some mother fuckers!¡± Abe screamed as pulled out two Glocks and popped off rounds down the corridors. As he tracked the flickering man in the suit Moses calculated the trajectories at high speed as his mind went into overdrive. He shot a path of bullets that seemed random as the man flickered. What the man did not realize was as he dodged each one of the bullets he was travelling along a path pre determined by Moses. With his off hand hidden by his sleeve Moses drew his second gun and shot underhanded off into an empty space. Just as the bullet whipped into the empty area the man flickered into being and the bullet caught him. ¡°Unnng.¡± he grunted as the bullet caught him stomach and sent him sprawling. Moses calmly walked up the man and put a bullet in his head. Elijah awoke groggily on the ground. The sounds of bullets flying could be heard and he instantly got a sense of the situation. He began to slide along the ground around the back of the hallway. ¡°Status.¡± He heard Moses yell as he stealthily slid across the floor. ¡°Tracking four.¡± Abe yelled as he held two Glocks out with rock steady hands covering both hallways. Fuck feels like half my ribs are cracked. Elijah thought as he crawled. Peering around the corner he saw the three men gathered that Abe had pinned down. A smile formed on his face as he began to rotate his core sea and drew the red lightning into his hand. It flickered into existence like a small red snake and began to circle around his fingers as if it was alive. It even looks like a snake! Elijah thought in shock as he stared. A serpent¡¯s head was clearly visible as the lighting flashed. Leaning out slightly into the hallway Elijah aimed two of his fingers and released his hold on the red Qi. BOOM! The sound of thunder echoed out as red lightning exploded down the hallway and into the heads of one of the men. His head exploded in a shower of blood and bone and his body dropped lifelessly to the floor. Elijah followed up the Qi with several rounds from his Glock and a second man died. The third man backed up and extended his hands in front of him and something purple began to glow. Just as the purple glow looked ready to release it suddenly faded out and the man dropped to the floor. Behind him stood Abe with a bloody knife in his hand. ¡°You tag the fourth?¡± Abe yelled out as he continued to cover access points with his Glock in one hand and knife in the other. ¡°Clear.¡± Moses said as he emerged into the hallway with something in his arms. Elijah dragged himself up and rejoined the group and couldn¡¯t help but laugh when he saw Moses held the Koala. ¡°Think you¡¯re a Sith lord now? Blowing people up with that dark jedi lightning shit?¡± Abe laughed. Elijah smiled as he caused a few red sparks to appear on his fingertips. ¡°Didn¡¯t stop me getting my ass handed to me by that bastard in a suit. I didn¡¯t even see him move.¡± Moses pondered a moment as he listened. ¡°There appears to be a wide variety of cultivation methods, each geared to different modalities. Some more inclined to defence or offence and others strange and unpredictable.¡± ¡°My guess is that guy in a suit was either teleporting or moving at an incredibly high speed in short bursts.¡± ¡°Ammos getting low already.¡± Abe said. ¡°Let¡¯s get set for the night and take a stocktake.¡± Elijah ordered. The brothers worked their way up a few flights of stairs and didn¡¯t find any zombies. ¡°Those guys really must have cleared the whole building out.¡± Moses noted. ¡°Aww and we didn¡¯t even get the chance to thank them.¡± Abe laughed. They found a corner office that could be barricaded and pulled furniture into the room to seal of the entrances. Elijah grabbed a canvas bag and put a number of plates and glass cups from a kitchen area into it before smashing it repeatedly on the ground. Then he spread the small bits of glass around the entrances and the outer room. Anyone that tried to sneak into the area during the night would give themselves away by the sound of glass underfoot. Finally as the last of the light died they sat down to rest. Moses handed out some cigarettes he had found and everyone lit up while they kicked back. The baby Koala had woken back up and Elijah began to feed it milk. ¡°So what do we know?¡± Elijah said. ¡°Well for one not all zombies are created equal.¡± Abe said. ¡°Look at that zombie boss, bigger, faster, stronger. If we can evolve, its possible zombies do too. That could mean a race against the clock.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Moses said. ¡°No matter what way you look at we are in a race of evolution. Both humans and zombies will get stronger as time passes.¡± ¡°These guns? They are only partially effective even now. Unless we have methods to upgrade their damage they will become useless after another few levels.¡± ¡°I also have a couple of theories. I got a lot more points from killing a cultivator than a zombie, but I got different amounts from different cultivators. I suspect that when you kill a cultivator you get any of their unspent points.¡± ¡°Wow that could be a game changer.¡± Elijah said. ¡°Exactly. Hunt zombies for the volume killing, but pound for pound killing other humans will get you more bang for your buck.¡± ¡°Unless it¡¯s a zombie boss. You¡¯d have to think that zombie boss the Koala killed was worth some serious exp and points. Also it looked like it ate something that was in the zombies brain. We should start checking the for that.¡± Abe commented. ¡°What¡¯s to stop someone simply nuking a country and getting shitloads of points?¡± Elijah asked suddenly. ¡°Maybe nothing.¡± Moses replied. ¡°Though there could be some limiter at play. Perhaps you can¡¯t gain benefit from killing more than a certain amount of targets at once. Or equally there could be some kind of proximity limitation.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get our hand on a rocket launcher and test it out.¡± Abe said. ¡°Well I know where to get one.¡± Elijah said. ¡°We need to think strategically, right now the most critical thing is farming exp and points. In these early days weapons make a huge difference in kill potential.¡± ¡°Tomorrow we need to hightail it down to Jandakot airport. It¡¯s about a 10 minute drive south of here. There is an area they use to train helicopter pilots. We jack a chopper and take it to Campbell barracks in Swanbourne.¡± ¡°This is the base of the Australian Special Air Service. SAS shit, you remember old Tommy Bindoon? He used to be the main man out there before he retired. They got live-fire ranges and sniper towers for training so they will definitely have weaponry that we will want to raid.¡± ¡°We stock up at the SAS base and then redeploy over to Garden Island. It¡¯s the largest naval base on the western side of the continent. Only connected to the mainland by a long bridge. Probably like 30 minutes in a chopper.¡± ¡°You got all sort of military infrastructure out their, gun boats, submarines, weapons the whole lot. Plus the island is off the coast so no zombie swarms. Harder to defend against cultivators in boats, but these can be taken care of with snipers at the higher access points.¡± ¡°Agreed.¡± Elijah nodded as he pulled up the shop interface. Scrolling through the potential items his eyes stopped on something that made his heart race.