'Eliminate all threats.'
"What?"
Smile's voice cracked. He stared at the panel. At the words that glowed and pulsed.
"You've got to be kidding me."
The zombies kept coming.
The two from behind were ten meters now. The security guard's jaw swung lower with each step. Drool or blood or something worse dripped from its mouth.
The three from ahead shortened the distance to eight meters. The businessman's briefcase dragged on the ground. Scrape. Scrape. Scrape.
The one from the side—six meters. Its one good eye never blinked.
"You want me to fight them?"
His voice rose. Pitched high with panic.
"I don't have a weapon! I don't have—I can barely stand!"
The panel didn't respond. It just hovered there. It kept glowing.
[PROBABILITY OF VICTORY: 50%]
"Fifty percent? That's—that's a coin flip! That's—"
"RARGH!"
The businessman zombie lunged.
It covered five meters.
Smile's body moved before his brain caught up. He threw himself sideways. His shoulder hit the Mustang's hood. Pain shot down his arm.
The zombie's hand swiped through empty air where his head had been.
Four meters.
Three.
'Run. I have to run. I have to—'
But where? The square was open. Too exposed. Buildings surrounded it but their doors were dark. Their windows were broken. Who knew what waited inside?
And the zombies were everywhere. Behind. Ahead. To the side.
'The car. Get on the car. Get above them.'
His hands found the hood. Still warm from the sun. He pulled himself up. His legs screamed. His arms shook.
The businessman zombie grabbed his ankle.
"No!"
Smile kicked. His boot connected with its face. Bone crunched. The zombie's grip loosened.
He scrambled onto the hood. Then the roof. The metal buckled under his weight. Boomed like a drum.
The huge zombie inside went berserk.
"RARGH! RARGH! RARGH!"
It threw itself against the windshield. The cracks spread. Wider. Deeper.
'It's going to break through. It's going to—'
The five zombies surrounded the car.
The security guard reached up. Its fingers brushed Smile's boot.
The faceless woman clawed at the door.
The businessman circled around the back.
The teenagers pressed against the passenger side.
The old one with one eye just stood there. Watching. Waiting.
Smile's breath came in gasps. His chest heaved. Sweat poured down his face. His hands trembled so badly he had to press them flat against the roof to keep steady.
'I'm going to die. Again. I'm going to die and this time it's permanent and I'll never know if Rilly and Liv are okay and—'
[PROBABILITY OF VICTORY: 50%]
The panel still floated there. It had a sense of calmness. Coldness. Uncaring.
[REWARD: 700 CREDITS]
Seven hundred credits.
When he was human, one zombie gave him a hundred. Enough for a knife. A spear. A machete.
Seven hundred could buy... what? Better weapons? Armor? Food for weeks?
'But I have to survive first.'
The businessman zombie grabbed the bumper. Started pulling itself up.
The teenagers did the same on the other side.
'I can't fight six at once. I can barely stand. My body feels like it's made of lead and my hands won't stop shaking and—'
The security guard's fingers closed around his ankle.
Smile kicked again. Harder this time. The zombie's grip held.
'Think. Think. There has to be—'
'Take out the weak ones first. Even the odds.'
But how? He had no weapon. No—
Wait.
His hand went to his belt. His fingers found it. It was still there.
A screwdriver.
He'd grabbed it seven days ago. Before everything went to hell. Before the horde. Before the alpha's bite.
It wasn't much. Six inches of metal. Flat head. Worn handle.
But it was sharp.
The businessman zombie's head appeared over the hood. Its mouth opened. Its remaining arm reached.
Smile didn't think.
He drove the screwdriver down.
It punched through the zombie's eye socket. Slid in smooth. Until hit something solid. Thats when it stopped.
The zombie went rigid. Its mouth froze mid-roar.
Then it collapsed. Slid off the hood. Hit the pavement with a wet thud.
[DING!]
[1 D-RANK ZOMBIE ELIMINATED]
[100 CREDITS EARNED]
The panel updated. The numbers changed.
[5 TARGETS REMAINING]
Smile stared at the screwdriver. At the black-green blood dripping from its tip.
For unknown reason, his hand had stopped shaking.
His heart still raced. His breath still came hard. But something had shifted. Something cold and sharp had settled in his chest.
'I can do this.'
The teenagers reached the roof.
Smile kicked the boy in the face. His boot caved in the zombie's nose. It fell backward. Took the girl with it.
The security guard pulled itself onto the hood.
Smile jumped.
He landed on its back. Drove them both to the ground. The zombie's face hit concrete. Its jaw shattered. Teeth scattered like dice.
Smile raised the screwdriver.
Brought it down.
Again.
Again.
Again.
[DING!]
[1 D-RANK ZOMBIE ELIMINATED]
[100 CREDITS EARNED]
[4 TARGETS REMAINING]
He rolled off the corpse. His chest heaved. His arms burned.
The faceless woman lunged.
He sidestepped. Barely. Her fingers caught his shirt. Ripped it.
He spun. Drove the screwdriver into the base of her skull.
She instantly dropped.
[DING!]
[1 D-RANK ZOMBIE ELIMINATED]
[100 CREDITS EARNED]
[3 TARGETS REMAINING]
The teenagers were getting up.
Smile ran at them.
The boy first. Screwdriver through the temple.
[DING!]
The girl reached for him. Her fingers tangled in his hair.
He grabbed her wrist. Twisted it. Bone snapped. She didn't let go.
He drove the screwdriver up through her chin.
[DING!]
[2 D-RANK ZOMBIES ELIMINATED]
[200 CREDITS EARNED]
[1 TARGET REMAINING]
Silence stretched.
Smile stood in the middle of the square. Five bodies at his feet. The screwdriver dripped black-green blood onto the pavement.
His whole body shook now. Not from fear. From adrenaline. From exhaustion. From something else he couldn't name.
The old zombie with one eye stood ten feet away.
It hadn't moved. Hadn't attacked. Just watched.
Now it tilted its head. Studied him.
Smile raised the screwdriver.
The zombie turned. Limped away. Disappeared between the cars.
[MISSION FAILED]
[5/6 TARGETS ELIMINATED]
[REWARD REDUCED: 250 CREDITS]
"Wait—"
But the panel was already fading.
[CREDITS EARNED: 250]
[CURRENT BALANCE: 250]
[HP REMAINING: 62%]
The purple light winked out.
Smile stood alone in the square. Surrounded by corpses. Covered in blood that wasn't his.
His legs gave out.
He sat down hard. Right there in the street. The screwdriver clattered from his hand.
His whole body trembled. His breath came in ragged gasps. His vision blurred.
'I did it. I actually did it.'
Five zombies were dead. He had killed them permanently this time.
He felt changed. Exhausted. Partially terrified.
But alive.
He looked at the Mustang. The huge zombie inside had gone quiet. It pressed its face against the cracked windshield. Watching him.
Smile met its eyes.
Then he started to laugh.
It came out broken. Half-sob, half-giggle. The sound of someone who'd just stared death in the face and somehow walked away.
He laughed until his sides hurt. Until tears ran down his face. Until the sound echoed off the empty buildings and faded into silence.
Then he wiped his eyes. Picked up the screwdriver. And stood.
Two hundred and fifty credits.
A cracked windshield between him and shelter.
And a city full of the dead waiting beyond this square.
'Rilly. Liv. I'm coming.'
He walked to the Mustang's driver side door.
The huge zombie inside tracked his movement.
Smile raised the screwdriver.
"Your turn," he said.
And opened the door.