"Open fire! Don't let them step on the concrete of this warehouse!" Zane's shout cut through the air.
The horde was a slow, but immense, tide. The system mission hadn't just attracted a few zombies; it had funneled thousands toward this single point. Time was running out: 30 seconds remained on the counter, which was the estimated time until the zombies breached their zone.
Zane launched into action, his newly boosted stats (DEX 7, STR 3, REC 3) feeling like a suit of armor. He was fast, ridiculously fast to the eyes of those present.
"This feels better... still not enough, but I don't feel like I'm carrying a thousand pounds anymore." Zane yelled powerfully as he slid behind the vehicle barricade.
"Chloe, Liam, shoot to kill! Make sure you decapitate!"
Liam and Chloe took positions behind the SWAT trucks. The clack-clack of shotguns joined the dry sound of assault rifles. Shooting into the mass of Walkers was like firing bullets into the ocean.
Zane knew the light weaponry wouldn't be enough to decimate the horde, but it was enough for the front line. He leaped over the barricade.
"I'll handle the first wave! You guys get the XP!" he roared.
With a Dexterity of 7, Zane was a whirlwind of steel. His two machetes spun in a deadly dance. He didn't just strike; he cut and he severed. Every blow was aimed at the base of the skull or the neck.
CHUK. CHUK. Heads bounced on the floor.
+1 XP +1 XP +1 XP +1 XP +1 XP +1 XP +1 XP +1 XP +1 XP +1 XP +1 XP +1 XP
The adrenaline was flowing, but he knew he could only hold the front line for so long. The strategy was clear: keep the zombies at bay and let his team gain the necessary experience points to level up and refresh themselves.
Inside the barricade, the tension was unbearable. Sarah was firing a shotgun, trembling, but reloading religiously, her hands shaking as she fumbled to pick the spent shells from the ground. Mark, on the roof of the van, landed precise shots on those that got too close.
The other four women, Anna, Carla, Stella, and Martha, were behind the vehicles, frantically shouting at their children.
"Thomas, don't look! Cover your eyes!" Anna yelled.
"Mommy, I'm scared!" a child shrieked.
The noise was deafening: gunshots, groans, and the choked cries of pure panic.
The chaos worsened when the Walkers found a small opening on the side of the warehouse. A flow of rotten bodies began to squeeze through the gap.
"Right flank! They're getting in!" Liam screamed.
Zane was too busy with the frontal assault. He slid across the floor, slicing the ankles of four zombies before rising and beheading two more.
Carla, the mother of little Thomas, was next to the breach. She had an assault rifle, but she was paralyzed by terror. Three Walkers stumbled toward her.
"Carla, shoot!" Sarah yelled.
Carla raised the rifle, but her hands were shaking too violently to aim. One of the zombies lunged, its putrid teeth nearing the woman's neck.
Just as time seemed to stop, Thomas, seven years old, who had been sitting inside the prisoner van, crying, saw the terror on his mother's face. He saw the handgun that Sarah had left nearby.
The boy reached out, gripped the 9mm pistol with both trembling hands, and aimed. He closed his eyes and pulled the trigger.
BANG!
The bullet, fired by luck and pure childish terror, struck the Walker attacking Carla right in the temple. The head exploded with a wet splat, and the body fell.
A bright blue light enveloped little Thomas.
[Congratulations! You have Gained 1 XP.]
[Congratulations! You have Leveled Up to Level 1.]
[Your fatigue is gone. You have gained 5 Stat Points.]
Carla collapsed, weeping from shock, but alive. Thomas looked at his hands, no longer shaking, and then at his mother.
The effect was immediate. Seeing the child gain a level and save his mother injected a dose of brutal reality into the group.
"You see! Kill! Kill if you want to live!" Zane roared.
Liam, motivated, yelled an insult and emptied a rifle burst into the wall of the horde. Chloe decapitated a zombie that had gotten too close with a well-aimed shotgun blast.
A bright light enveloped Chloe. Level 1!
She gasped, feeling her body empty of fear and fatigue. "Zane, it worked! I feel... amazing!"
The remaining group, knowing that XP was life, began shooting with more precision and less doubt, hunting for the final blow.
Zane, taking advantage of the horde's momentary distraction, leaped forward again and executed a double-cut that decapitated two Walkers simultaneously. The system rewarded his efficiency. The wave paused, confused by the sudden aggression and the barrage of gunfire.
The horde's front line had been eliminated, and the rest were slowly backing away, returning to their slow, aimless flow. The first mission wave was over.
"We did it..!" Chloe shouted excitedly.
Only Zane wore a look of intense worry as he watched the zombies retreat. The warehouse was safe... for now. The "Protect Your Zone" mission timer was still running: 23 Hours Remaining.
"Shit... zombies aren't supposed to get smart until Stage 2. I wonder why they retreated..."
"!GROOOAAARRR...!"
An even more massive scream echoed in the distance, causing Zane to clench his machetes even harder.
"Not you... Damn it...! It's too early!"