Victor stared at the five zombies slowly approaching him.
They shuffled forward with stiff dragging steps, their jaws hanging open as they groaned softly.
Victor sighed.
"Alright…"
He lifted the rusty knife the system had given him.
"Five of you."
He looked at the knife.
"…One of me."
He scratched his chin.
"Statistically speaking this feels like a terrible idea."
System:
Your statistical analysis is correct.
Victor pointed the knife anyway.
"Well I already killed one."
System:
Correction.
You accidentally killed one.
Victor rolled his eyes.
"Still counts."
He stepped forward.
Then something at his waist started screaming.
BEEP
BEEP
BEEP
Victor blinked.
"Oh right."
He pulled out the Beginner Core Scanner.
The screen flickered.
Scanning…
Victor frowned.
"Okay what does this thing actually—"
The screen suddenly turned black.
The scanner began screaming like a fire alarm.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
Victor froze.
"…Uh."
System:
WARNING.
Victor frowned.
"Warning about what?"
System:
Threat level detected: EXTREME.
Victor slowly turned his head.
"…Extreme?"
System:
Recommendation:
A pause.
System:
RUN.
Victor nodded.
"Good idea."
He turned and tried to run.
Immediately his legs dragged awkwardly behind him.
He moved like a broken shopping cart.
Victor looked down at his feet.
"…Oh."
System:
Reminder.
You are a zombie.
Victor dragged his legs faster.
"COME ON!"
System:
Running speed: extremely poor.
Victor groaned.
"This is the fastest I can go!"
System:
Updated recommendation:
RUN FORREST RUN.
Victor pointed angrily at the sky.
"I HATE YOU."
He looked around frantically.
Then spotted a collapsed car and a pile of rubble.
Victor dove into it and shoved himself underneath the debris.
He dragged loose metal and concrete over himself until only his eyes peeked through a small gap.
Victor whispered.
"…Please work."
The scanner kept screaming.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
Victor smacked it.
"SHUT UP!"
Silence returned.
For a few seconds everything was quiet.
Then—
SCREEEEEEEEEECH!
The sky exploded with a deafening scream.
A massive shadow tore across the street.
Victor's eyes widened.
"...What the hell was that?"
Something dropped from the sky like a missile.
BOOM
The ground shook violently.
Dust blasted across the street.
The five zombies didn't even react.
Gigantic talons slammed into them.
One zombie was ripped completely in half.
Another had its skull crushed instantly.
Victor stared through the crack in the rubble.
"…Holy shit."
The creature landed heavily on a chunk of broken concrete.
It stood nearly three meters tall.
The monster spread its massive wings slowly.
Feathers rustled like blades scraping together.
Its body was muscular and feathered like some prehistoric predator.
But the head…
The head was pure nightmare.
Long reptilian snout.
Rows of serrated teeth.
Burning red eyes.
Victor whispered in disbelief.
"…That thing looks like a velociraptor time travelled just to fuck an American eagle…"
The creature tilted its head.
Then crushed another zombie skull beneath its talons.
CRACK
Victor swallowed.
"…and give birth to this monster."
The creature ripped open the skull and swallowed the glowing core inside.
Victor didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
Then he whispered quietly.
"…If I could shit…"
"…I'd shit my pants right now."
The creature finished devouring the remaining zombies.
Then it climbed onto a piece of broken concrete and perched there.
Like a king surveying its territory.
The wind blew through its massive wings.
Victor stared in silence.
The system spoke quietly.
System:
Threat identified.
Species: Unknown Aerial Mutant.
Designation: Sky Reaper
Threat Level: BLACK
Victor blinked.
"…Black?"
System:
Meaning:
Run immediately.
Victor whispered.
"Yeah that tracks."
The system paused.
Then another message appeared.
System Calculation:
If you ever defeat this creature, probability of evolution increases by 2300%.
Victor stared at the bird.
Then at the system.
Then back at the bird.
"…Yeah let's circle back to that idea in about ten years."
The Sky Reaper suddenly stopped eating.
Its head snapped upward.
Its glowing eyes scanned the street.
Victor froze completely.
The creature sniffed the air.
Victor whispered internally.
Don't move.
Don't breathe.
Don't exist.
The monster slowly turned its head toward the rubble where Victor was hiding.
Victor muttered under his breath.
"Oh great."
He clenched his teeth.
"That Devil asshole throws me into an apocalypse full of monsters…"
He looked at the Sky Reaper again.
"…this is like some horror movie with a billion-dollar budget."
The creature stepped closer.
Victor continued whispering.
"…and somehow it still flopped harder than The Mummy with Tom Cruise."
The monster stared at the rubble for several seconds.
Victor didn't blink.
Didn't breathe.
Then suddenly—
The creature spread its massive wings.
WHOOSH
With one powerful leap it launched into the sky.
The gust of wind blasted debris across the street.
Within seconds the monster disappeared into the clouds.
Silence returned.
Victor slowly crawled out from under the rubble.
He looked at the shredded zombie corpses.
Then at the sky.
"…Nope."
He picked up the scanner.
"Next time you say run…"
He nodded seriously.
"…I'm running."
Far away…
In the depths of Hell…
The Devil leaned forward in his throne.
And smiled.
"This," he said quietly,
"is going to be fun."