Date: April 21st, 2027
Place: New York City – Lower East Side – Toward the Safe Zone
---
The glow wasn't natural.
It shimmered faintly against the clouds, pale blue against the ashen sky. We saw it first from the fourth-floor pharmacy window, and even from blocks away, it looked wrong — too steady, too precise, like the city itself had been cracked open and the System poured light into the wound.
Miguel stared, wrench slung over his shoulder, a grin tugging his lips. "Well, shit. If that ain't neon heaven, I don't know what is."
Henry spat on the floor. "Heaven doesn't come with a scent like that."
And he was right. The closer we drew, the worse the air grew. Rot, ash, something sweet and cloying beneath it — like spoiled fruit.
Claire clutched her knife close, her hazel eyes fixed on the light. "It's… beautiful."
Her voice was small, but steady.
I tightened my grip on the hammer, HUD glowing faintly in my vision.
[Elias Cross – Level 4 Laborer]
HP: 160/170 | SP: 90/130 | MP: 20/20
Essence: 95/100
Beautiful or not, I didn't trust it.
---
The streets thickened as we moved closer. Not with people — with corpses.
Some were fresh, bodies torn open in the last day or two. Others were rotting husks, half-melted into the pavement. A few were just bones, gnawed clean.
Miguel wrinkled his nose. "Christ. Smells like a slaughterhouse."
Henry muttered, "That's because it is."
We moved in silence, every shadow alive with the possibility of claws and teeth.
It didn't take long before the silence broke.
---
It started with a crash.
We'd ducked into a gutted deli to cut through the block when the ceiling above us groaned. Dust rained down.
Then it collapsed.
Three corpses fell with it — half-dead, jaws snapping as they dropped straight onto Miguel and Claire.
Miguel cursed, wrench swinging upward as one landed on him.
[Miguel – SP -6 → 86/110]
[Zombie skull crushed.]
Claire screamed as another lunged for her throat.
"Claire!"
I swung sideways, hammer crunching through its ribs and spine before it reached her. It hit the ground twitching.
[Elias – SP -10 → 80/130]
[Zombie slain. +10 Essence distributed.]
But the third slammed into me, claws raking across my shoulder.
[Elias – HP -14 → 146/170]
It snapped for my throat. I shoved upward, hammer lodged under its chin, teeth gnashing inches from my face.
Henry's crowbar stabbed clean through its skull from the side. Black ichor sprayed across my face.
[Henry – SP -6 → 72/92]
[Zombie slain. +10 Essence distributed.]
I shoved the corpse off, panting.
Claire's hands glowed faintly as she pressed them against my shoulder.
"Minor Heal!"
Light surged through the wound, sealing it shut.
[Claire – MP -10 → 25/55]
[Elias – HP +12 → 158/170]
[Claire – Support Contribution: +10 Essence]
Her hazel eyes met mine, trembling but steady. "You're okay."
I managed a small nod. "Thanks."
Miguel shoved the corpse off him, laughing breathlessly. "Well. Guess the ceiling's alive now. Good to know."
Henry scowled. "Shut it, kid. That wasn't even the start."
---
He was right.
The deeper we went, the worse it got.
Two blocks later, the moans started — dozens of them, echoing between the buildings.
A horde poured out of an alley like a flood. Twenty, maybe more, all eyes locked on us, jaws snapping.
"Back!" I barked.
Miguel roared, wrench swinging wide.
Henry muttered a curse, crowbar raised.
Claire pressed against the wall, knife clutched but her hands already glowing.
The horde surged.
---
I swung heavy, hammer cracking two skulls in one arc.
[Elias – SP -14 → 66/130]
[+20 Essence distributed.]
Miguel smashed one aside, then roared, "Brutal Swing!" His wrench glowed faintly red as it crashed into another's head, spraying black gore.
[Miguel – SP -18 → 68/110]
[Brutal Swing: +25% damage dealt.]
[Zombie slain. +10 Essence distributed.]
Henry's crowbar stabbed sharp, conserving energy but precise. One skull, then another.
[Henry – SP -10 → 62/92]
[+20 Essence distributed.]
But there were too many.
Claws raked my leg.
[Elias – HP -12 → 146/170]
Miguel staggered as two piled onto him, dragging him down.
"Claire!"
Her voice trembled but rose steady. "Minor Heal!"
Golden light surged, sealing his bleeding chest.
[Claire – MP -10 → 15/55]
[Miguel – HP +15 → 115/115]
Miguel roared, wrench swinging wide, cracking both skulls in one arc.
I slammed my hammer down, blood spraying across my arms. My lungs burned, arms shaking.
[Elias – SP -12 → 54/130]
Henry cursed, crowbar smashing teeth away before they closed around his arm.
The horde thinned. Slowly, painfully, it thinned.
And finally, silence.
We stood panting, covered in black ichor, corpses piled around us.
Claire's face was pale, sweat dripping down her brow, but she moved instantly. She dropped her knife, pulling bandages from her pack, wrapping Miguel's side where the light hadn't fully closed the wound.
"Hold still," she whispered.
Miguel winced but stayed still, his grin faint. "Didn't know angels knew first aid too."
"Stop talking," she muttered, her voice shaking but focused.
I leaned on my hammer, breathing hard. Henry wiped ichor from his crowbar, muttering. "That wasn't the worst part."
I glanced toward the glow in the distance.
He was right. The closer we came, the worse it would get.
And the Safe Zone was still ahead.
---
The light grew brighter with every block.
It wasn't sunlight. It wasn't fire. It was something else — cold, steady, unblinking. The kind of light that didn't belong to nature.
When we reached the end of the street, the source finally came into view.
A dome.
Translucent, pale blue, shimmering faintly across cracked buildings and scorched pavement. It rose high, at least three stories, and stretched wide — a perfect half-sphere enclosing the remains of a plaza.
Inside, the air looked clearer. Smoke bent around the dome instead of through it. The broken shops and stalls within were untouched by decay.
Miguel whistled low, awe in his voice. "Holy shit. Disneyland couldn't make something prettier."
Claire's eyes widened, glowing faintly in reflection. "It's… real. It's really real."
Henry's jaw tightened. "Yeah. And nothing's free."
He was right.
Because circling the dome like wolves at a fence were monsters.
---
At first I thought they were just more zombies. But these were different.
They were swollen, twisted — muscles stretched taut, skin gray and blistered. Some had elongated arms dragging across the ground, claws gouging the asphalt. Others crawled on all fours, their backs split with bone-like ridges jutting through skin. Their movements were jerky, animalistic, nothing human left.
And in the center of the street before the dome stood something worse.
It was huge — at least twelve feet tall, its body a grotesque mix of swollen flesh and armored bone plates. Its arms ended in jagged claws the length of swords. Its head was a split maw, opening vertically like a grotesque flower of teeth.
The HUD burned red.
[System Alert: Tier 2 Mutant Detected – "Dome Guardian"]
[Level: 12 | Threat Rating: Lethal]
Miguel swore, wrench slipping in his hand. "Oh… no fucking way."
Claire's face drained of color. "Elias…"
Henry grunted, grip tightening on his crowbar. "Told you. Cages always got teeth."
The Guardian turned slowly, its split maw opening in a guttural, inhuman roar that shook the glass in shattered windows.
The other mutants stirred, heads jerking toward us.
And then they charged.
---
"Back!" I barked. "Claire, cover!"
Miguel roared, wrench glowing faintly. "Brutal Swing!" He met the first crawling mutant head-on, his wrench caving its skull with a sickening crunch.
[Miguel – SP -18 → 50/110]
[Mutant Zombie slain. +20 Essence distributed.]
Henry swung precise, his crowbar hooking one's jaw, ripping it sideways before jabbing through the temple.
[Henry – SP -8 → 54/92]
[Mutant Zombie slain. +20 Essence distributed.]
I took the hammer two-handed and met another head-on. Its claws scraped across my chest, raking deep.
[Elias – HP -18 → 140/170]
I swung upward, hammer cracking its jaw clean off, then smashed down again until it stopped moving.
[Elias – SP -14 → 40/130]
[Mutant Zombie slain. +20 Essence distributed.]
But more poured from the alleys — ten, twelve, maybe more.
Claire pressed against a wall, eyes wide, hands glowing faintly. "Minor Heal!"
Golden light wrapped around my chest, closing the claw marks.
[Claire – MP -10 → 45/65]
[Elias – HP +18 → 158/170]
[Claire – Support Contribution: +10 Essence.]
"Bandage, now!" she cried, pulling one free from her pack. Even as the light sealed the skin, she wrapped the wound tight, reinforcing it. Her hands shook, but her focus was iron.
Miguel barked a laugh as blood sprayed across him. "Hell yeah! Our angel's got claws after all!"
"Shut the fuck up and move!" Henry snarled, stabbing another mutant through the spine.
---
The Guardian roared again.
Its massive claws slammed down into the asphalt, shattering it, sending cracks spiderwebbing outward. The ground shook.
A mutant hurled aside in the shockwave slammed into Miguel, knocking him off balance.
[Miguel – HP -12 → 103/115]
He cursed, swinging wildly to shove it off.
Henry spat blood, crowbar flying in an arc that caved another's ribs. "We can't fight that thing!"
"Then we don't!" I snapped, hammer smashing through another's skull. "We cut through and get inside the dome!"
Miguel roared, "Best plan I've heard all day!"
---
The fight became chaos.
Zombies swarmed from both sides, claws scraping, teeth snapping. Miguel swung wild, his SP dropping fast, his chest heaving. Henry was precise, every strike efficient but slower now. I pushed forward with heavy swings, each one costing more breath than I could spare.
And through it all, Claire was everywhere — pulling Miguel back when claws nearly tore his throat, bandaging Henry's arm mid-swing, casting healing light over my chest when I faltered.
[Claire – MP -10 → 35/65]
[Henry – HP +10 → 120/120]
[Claire – Support Contribution: +10 Essence.]
Her face was pale, sweat dripping, but her hazel eyes burned steady.
The Guardian roared again, claws slamming into the street, sending corpses flying. It lumbered forward, slow but inevitable. Every step cracked asphalt.
"Move!" I barked.
We carved a path, bleeding, panting, every swing buying us inches.
And finally, the dome was before us.
The light shimmered faintly, humming with energy. The mutants stopped just short of it, circling.
The Guardian raised its claws high.
And then slammed them down — but the dome flared bright, repelling it in a burst of energy. The shockwave knocked us sprawling, corpses scattering.
The Guardian shrieked, a sound that scraped the air raw. But it did not enter.
Miguel panted, sprawled on the ground, laughing weakly. "Oh… oh thank Christ."
Henry spat blood, pushing himself up. "Not Christ. The goddamn System."
Claire knelt by me instantly, glowing hands on my chest. "Stay still. I've got you."
Her voice shook, but her touch was steady.
The HUD shimmered faintly.
[System Notice: Safe Zone entered.]
[Combat Contribution tallied.]
[Essence distributed.]
The light wrapped around us, cold and alien, as the Guardian prowled outside, claws scraping against the dome.
We weren't safe. Not truly.
But for the first time, we were inside.
---
End of Arc 1