Chapter 2: Ch 2 – Skeleton Sentry

My name is Jack Corvo. I'm a 21 year old man who lives with his parents, though not because I'm a parasite of a son. It just makes sense financially for me. I mean, how can I get an apartment in this kind of economy? I'd rather bid my time and save money, moving out when I finish college. 

Anyway, I grew up with three siblings, two sisters and a brother, as well as two loving parents. 

My life was good, aside from the normal set backs one gets in life. Regardless, I was on track to use my track career as a scholarship acquisition tool and get myself a stable job with a degree. 

I was a normal man, if not a well accomplished athlete, in this normal world. 

So when I opened my eyes and saw someone chewing on the arm of another person, I was quite shocked. 

"Hey! Get up!"

"Huh?"

I closed my eyes after hearing a shout, processing the noises around me. 

But Kevin was pulling on my arm with shocking strength and scary urgency. So I stood up groggily. 

"Kevin? The hell are you doing?"

"That... thing! It's a zombie!"

"Zombie? Those aren't realistic. I mean, just sustaining such a body-"

"Shut up and get away from it!"

Kevin yanked my arm, causing me to fly behind him. I barely maintained my footing as he dragged me back. 

That's when I fully opened my eyes and took in my surroundings. That person eating another person was in fact real in all its gory detail. I felt my stomach turn when I smelled the stench of flesh and blood. 

Around me were several dozen people, the entire track team in fact. The coaches were herding all the athletes, keeping us together and away from the zombie that was still munching on the corpse of a boy. 

It was quite voracious. 

"What... Kevin?"

"It just started eating that person. Everyone is pretty sure it's a zombie, so nobody wants to get close."

Kevin was solemn, barely keeping it together as he watched. Nobody could tear their eyes away from the zombie. It was far too vivid, too stimulating to avoid watching. 

I felt my adrenaline spike as the reality set in on me. 

Those words, that burning and chilling feeling before falling asleep. Was this some kind of precursor? Did it trigger a zombie apocalypse or something?

The world was changing...

Suddenly, I looked to my bag. At some point, everyone became quiet and started backing away under the coach's direction. 

There were no other unconscious people, so it seemed like I was one of the last to wake. The girl and boy who had beat me were also rousing from their sleep, having been dragged away earlier. 

Our movement seemed to trigger the zombie though. Suddenly, it looked up, staring at us before opening its mouth. 

*Screech!!!*

It let out an inhuman noise before charging. It wasn't fast, and didn't look coordinated. It still had the body of one of the men though, so it was big. 

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At this attack, two of the coaches and four of the men stepped forward. A man's fight or flight response could enable them to kill anything, and I saw their violent expressions in vivid detail. 

One of them kicked the zombie away, the body stumbling backward and on its back. The others came around with swinging kicks. The zombie swiped at them, trying to grab them, but they avoided it as best they could. 

At that moment, I sprinted toward my bag as my instincts seemed to kick in. I opened one of the pockets inside, taking out a knife, and unfolded it while half the team stared at me with odd expressions. 

Then, I charged toward the fight. Part of me just wanted to hand the knife off, letting them fight the zombie. But I didn't want to be seen as some kind of coward or hypocrite. So despite my thoughts to just stand back and be safe, I stepped forward. 

My adrenaline surged as I approached. The other men had pinned the zombie down by its limbs and head, keeping it from thrashing around. That's when I moved over. 

"I got it! Move!"

I pushed through between them. Then, without the mind to wait for instruction, I pushed the hand holding the zombie's head down out of the way. Even as it began to wave its pale head around, I stabbed down. 

The knife buried itself in its skull, right through the forehead. It instantly stopped moving, falling silent. 

My breath was hurried as I pulled the knife back out. The feeling of it so easily sliding out made my stomach twist. 

It was too much, and I spun around, dry heaving in disgust. The others pulled themselves off the zombie while I did so.

I coughed up nothing since I already emptied my stomach earlier. But shockingly, while I was bent over, I saw something in my mind.

---

{You have killed [Zombie - Type 1]}

{As the Grace Period is still in effect, you have gained [Ectoplasm - Type 1] (x1).}

{Congratulations. You have been awakened.}

---

With those words, I felt something inside me stir. Within my mind I could 'see' a small globule of some kind of liquid. It was totally white, a pure kind of energy. I couldn't do anything with it though, and soon, I saw more prompts in my head. 

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{Generating Archive...}

{Generated}