Global Mutation: The Hunger System-Chapter 13: The Gun Shop

The alley was hot. The burning van warmed the air.

Ren stood over the scavenger leader. The man was crawling backward. His leg was twisted. He was crying.

"Please," the leader sobbed. "Take the guns. Take the van. Just let me go."

Ren looked at the leader’s status.

[Scavenger Leader (Lvl 5)]

[Status: Broken]

"You shot at me," Ren said. He raised the hammer.

"I didn’t know!" the man screamed. "I thought you were a zombie!"

"Liar," Ren said. "Zombies don’t carry propane tanks."

Ren swung the hammer.

Thud.

The screaming stopped.

[Target Neutralized: Scavenger Leader (Lvl 5)]

[Experience Gained: 100]

Ren didn’t feel bad. These men were wolves. They would have killed him. They would have taken Chloe.

He looked at the other two bodies. They were burning near the van.

"Waste of meat," Ren muttered.

He looked at the leader. The head was a mess, but the chest was intact.

Ren knelt down. The hunger was there. Always there.

He cut the shirt open. He used the rapier.

He ate a piece of the chest muscle.

Gulp.

It was tough. Gritty.

[Gluttony Activated.]

[Consumed: Scavenger Leader.]

[Charisma +1]

[New Passive: Intimidation (Low)]

[Description: Weaker enemies are more likely to flee. Your glare causes fear.]

"Intimidation," Ren tested the word. He liked it.

He stood up. He felt taller. His eyes felt colder.

Chloe ran into the alley. She was holding a bag of nails. She saw the fire. She saw the bodies.

She stopped. She didn’t scream this time. She didn’t cry.

She looked at Ren.

"Are they dead?" she asked.

"Yes," Ren said.

"Did they have guns?"

Ren pointed to the duffel bags near the van. They hadn’t burned yet.

"Grab them," Ren said.

Chloe walked past the dead body. She didn’t look at its face. She grabbed a black bag. It was heavy.

"Ren," she said. "The fire. It will attract them."

Ren looked at the black smoke rising into the sky.

"You’re right," Ren said. "We have five minutes before the swarm comes."

He grabbed two rifles from the ground. AR-15s. Civilian models. But they fired 5.56 rounds.

He checked the magazines. Full.

"Let’s go," Ren said. "Back to the base."

They ran.

They crossed the street. They ducked under the broken shutters of the grocery store.

Ren hit the button.

Clank. Clank. Clank.

The steel curtain rolled down. It locked into place.

Darkness returned.

"Safe," Chloe exhaled. She dropped the heavy bag on the floor.

Ren didn’t relax. He started unpacking the bag.

Five rifles. Three pistols. Ten boxes of ammo.

"Do you know how to shoot?" Ren asked.

Chloe picked up a pistol. A Glock 19. "My dad took me to the range once. I was okay."

"Okay is better than dead," Ren said. "Keep that one. It’s light."

He picked up a rifle. He racked the charging handle.

Click-clack.

It felt good. Powerful.

"We need to barricade," Ren said. "The explosion will bring every zombie in the block."

They went to work.

Ren used the hammer and nails Chloe brought. He nailed plywood over the broken glass doors behind the shutters.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Chloe pushed heavy shelves in front of the entrance. She was stronger than she looked. Or maybe she was just leveling up.

Ren checked her status.

[Chloe (Lvl 2)]

[Class: Survivor]

[Strength: 4]

She had leveled up from killing the dog.

"Good," Ren thought. "She’s growing."

They worked for an hour. They fortified the front. They blocked the back door.

Then the noise started outside.

Scratch. Scratch.

Fingernails on metal.

"They’re here," Chloe whispered.

Ren went to the peephole in the shutter.

Outside, the street was full. Hundreds of them. They were drawn by the noise and the smell of blood. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

They were banging on the shutters.

BANG. BANG.

The metal groaned.

"Will it hold?" Chloe asked. She gripped her pistol.

"Yes," Ren said. "For now."

He walked away from the door. He went to the basement stairs.

"We rest," Ren said. "We take shifts. Two hours on, two hours off."

They went down to the bunker. The generator was humming. It was warm.

Ren sat on the couch. He put the rifle across his lap.

He opened a can of beans. He ate them cold.

Chloe sat on a sleeping bag. She was cleaning her sword with a rag.

"Ren," she said softly.

"Yeah?"

"What happens when the food runs out?"

Ren looked at the stacks of boxes. "We have food for months."

"I mean... your food," Chloe said. She looked at him. She looked at his violet eyes.

Ren stopped chewing.

She knew. She knew the beans didn’t fill him up. She knew he needed meat. Fresh meat. Powerful meat.

"I hunt," Ren said.

"And if there’s nothing left to hunt?" Chloe asked. "If it’s just us?"

Ren looked at her.

He felt the hunger. It was quiet now. Satiated by the leader and the dog. But it was watching her.

She was warm. She was alive. She was Level 2.

Ren closed his eyes. He pushed the voice down.

"There’s always something to hunt," Ren said. "The world is full of monsters now."

He stood up.

"Sleep, Chloe. I’ll take the first watch."

He walked up the stairs to the dark store.

He sat by the door. He listened to the scratching outside.

He touched the notebook in his pocket. Arthur’s notebook.

He opened it to a fresh page.

He took a pen from the counter.

He wrote:

Day 4: We have a base. We have guns. The girl is getting stronger. The hunger is getting stronger too.

He looked at the door.

I am not a wolf. I am the dragon.

Ren closed the book.

Outside, a scream tore through the night. It wasn’t a zombie. It was something big. Something flying.

The dragon from the tower was hunting.

Ren smiled in the dark.

"Soon," he whispered.