Level up Zombie

Hearing the names that Zain had given to the evolved zombies, Shark felt like they fit well, so he took the black marker that was in its holder along the bottom and scribbled the names Spitter and Titan under the two illustrations on the whiteboard.

"It seems like you have gone through quite a lot yourself." Shark said while putting back the marker, "I have only seen the Spitter once, but as soon as I saw one, I decided it was my cue to get out of there."

Once again, Shark's words and what was written underneath the Spitter didn't make sense. Mainly because there were notes as to what the Spitter could do and how it was able to spit a type of liquid that could attract the zombies in the area, and about the Boil Zombies it could create as well.

"The Titan seems to be the most common 'Stage 2' Zombie, and thankfully due to their slow movement, it's easier to avoid them. As for the third type of Evolved... I would say it's the most dangerous of the three."

The drawings weren't great, so it was hard for Zain to imagine what it looked like. But it had a normal human figure, or a normal Zombie figure, apart from these strange long parts that were sticking out from the arms, back of the legs and other places.

"Their bones." Shark explained. "Extremely sharp bones. The Zombie is able to sprout them out of its body and use them to slice and cut everything while at the same time, they're solid as well. The most worrying thing about it is its speed.

"Going one on one against this is impossible, and it would be best to deal with it from a long-range and in some cases, retreating would be the best option."

This certainly did sound like a hard stage 2 Zombie. Going through his head, Zain was thinking of how he would defeat it, and he could only think of using his guns as well. There was another way, but right now, that was impossible.

"How did you survive," Zain asked.

There was a pause from Shark before answering.

"At the time, I was with a group of humans… I ran away, leaving them."

As Kun stated before, everyone had their own story. Zain wanted to know more, but as the new guy in the group, he didn't want to push or step on anyone's toes. There was no rush to leave this place. It was safe for them, and a good system had been set up.

An organized group like this would do well for their survival, and with time, Zain could learn whatever it was that Shark was hiding.

"While you are here, I might as well update you on some information, although you might already know some of this. Actually, I am not sure, but from the sound of it, Kun thinks you're a good fighter, and we need good fighters to survive. So I want you to live, Zain."

When hearing Shark talk for a while now, he talked like an officer of some kind, perhaps a sergeant who had men under him. This made Zain understand why Kun and the others were willing to give him the lead role and why they thought the former might be some sort of a government agent.

"If two Stage 2 Zombies ever come across and you're also at the scene, that is your best chance to get out of there because at Stage 2, the zombies fight amongst each other. We don't know why this is, but it might be a similar situation to us, the Reborn.

"The regular zombies don't go after us, and the Stage 2 Zombies don't go after them either. Yet, the stage 2 zombies do go after each other and us. I have a feeling that it might be linked to those crystals, and maybe inside of us, there is a crystal as well.

"Fortunately, none of us has died yet to confirm if my theory is true, and I hope it stays that way."

It was interesting because somehow, Zain and Shark had come to a similar conclusion, only Zain was basing it all off because he had the system.

"And the last but the most important thing: We will not step out at night." Shark pointed to the words written in capital letters. There was no image, though, just a question mark. "I call them Demons. We don't know much about them, other than the fact that they kill everything, humans, Zombies stage 2, anything they can find. I will leave it at that, but it is one rule that must be obeyed. I will not let a single person get killed in this group by them, so you too must follow this rule."

Zain nodded, showing he understood, but he was a bit disappointed that he didn't find out more information about them. So far, he had survived all the nights, even when out on the streets. So just what was this threat?

"I understand. While I'm here, I will follow your rules. I wanted to ask though, have you seen any military personnel in the city at all, or do you know anything about them? I saw them before meeting Kun." Zain asked.

Tapping his chin, it looked like Shark was trying to think for a second.

"There were a lot of military camps in the city at the start, but because of what we looked like, we would get attacked the second we stepped in front of them. And I don't think our existence is known to others. However, after the second day in the city, everything seemed to calm down, mostly silence but a few things here and there."

"And the meteorites?" Zain asked. "Have you approached one at all or been close to one."

"That's actually on my bucket list." Shark pointed toward the board. "At the moment, we need to focus on enough food for ourselves before trying to figure out this whole situation. Zain, I have to say I'm impressed by you for only being a student and thinking this much. I like you."

After giving the tour, the two walked back to the others, who were all hanging around the bar area and sitting on the stools. They had been captivated by Kun's story of everything he said.

"Hey, is it really true that you can heal your body in seconds?" Pink asked.

Zain was surprised by the sudden question and how close Pink had gotten to his face.

"Yeah, my bones and wounds heal. As long as I eat some flesh after, it will be alright," Zain replied.

"OHHHH, I want to see it, I want to see it so badly!" Pink imitated her wrist breaking and then the bones mending themselves.

​ "That's quite interesting to know." Shark smiled and sat down. "Come on, Zain, you plan on staying here, right? After giving you the tour, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself? I'm really interested to know how you got that zombie friend of yours to follow you. He doesn't seem like us."

During the whole tour, Skittle had been following them the entire time, and Shark would take glances. At the time, he could hear Skittle make noises, but most of it was gibberish, making it obvious who these were.

"Alright," Zain said. "Well, I do plan on staying." He sat on a stool and looked toward them.

Kun then pulled out glasses and filled them up with alcohol behind the bar handing one to each of them.

"To the new member of our Reborn Group!" Kun cheered.

They all raised their glasses and cheered together, taking a sip. They could hardly taste anything, but it went through their bodies as it normally would.

"So go on, tell us about your past!" Pink asked.

"My past?" Zain replied. But suddenly, something clicked in his head at that moment, and his vision started to blur. The next second, he felt his whole body swaying to the side as he fell off his chair and onto the ground.

Everything happened so suddenly that others couldn't even react, and Zain himself was confused at what was happening, and soon his vision went black.

*****

Thank you, everyone, for supporting LUZ so far, and I Hope you can continue to support LUZ in the WSA journey by voting for the story! Please continue to use your Stones and Tickets!