The gym doors were bending inward.
Wood splintered. Screws popped. Something heavy slammed against them from the other side — again and again.
Zack stood in the middle of the gym floor, pistol loose in his hand. Ten Tactical Points glowed in the corner of his vision like a bank account he couldn't wait to spend.
> [Weapon Summoning Menu — Available Unlocks: Handgun, SMG, Combat Knife, Machete]
[Warning: First summon will bind weapon type for 24 hours.]
He scanned the options.
Cute.
He tapped the SMG.
The air in front of him shimmered, heat rippling in waves. Metal began to form out of nothing — magazines, barrel, receiver — snapping together with mechanical precision until a sleek black KRISS Vector hung in the air. It dropped into his hands, perfectly balanced, smelling faintly of oil and ozone.
> [Weapon Summoned — Vector .45 ACP SMG. Equipped with holographic sight and suppressor. Magazine: 25 rounds.]
The gym doors burst inward.
The first zombie stumbled through — a linebacker from the football team, jaw hanging at a wrong angle, neck twisted but somehow still moving.
Zack raised the SMG.
Three-round burst. Skull fragments hit the floor like wet confetti.
The rest poured in.
He moved like water, stepping between bleachers, weaving through the stampede of infected. Every shot was clean, deliberate — no panic, no wasted movement. The Vector's suppressor turned the chaos into a muted thup-thup-thup, almost polite.
Bodies dropped in heaps.
The System chimed over and over.
> [+3 Tactical Points]
[+5 Tactical Points]
[+2 Tactical Points — Critical Elimination Bonus]
Somewhere above, the PA system crackled: "All students—" A scream cut it off.
Zack ignored it.
He was counting shots, swapping magazines, glancing at the windows for his exit path.
One of the infected was different — skin darker green, muscles swollen, veins glowing faintly. It roared, charging straight at him.
The System pulsed.
> [Hostile: Mutated Variant Detected — Reward Multiplier x5]
Zack's lips curved. "Now we're talking."
He braced, aimed for the knee — the giant fell forward — then walked the rest of the magazine into its skull until it stopped twitching.
> [+25 Tactical Points]
The gym was silent again, except for the soft hiss of the green mist outside.
Zack slung the Vector over his shoulder and headed for the shattered windows.
Normal life was over.
The hunt was back on.