“This should be enough,” Ace mumbled, gathering any weapon he could find inside the house and putting them in his dimensional storage. He let out a sigh of relief when he didn’t feel the weight of the objects inside his storage.
Ace wasn’t sure how to use his newly found ability aside from making it his invisible storage. He was certain that nobody could steal anything inside the dimensional storage. It only activated whenever he thought about it, making it impossible for others to use it.
“Hah! I can’t believe they’re growing in numbers in the blink of an eye,” Ace heaved as he watched the zombies scattered outside. He closed the door and took out an ax to use. It was supposed to be a decoration so the edge of the blade was a little dull, though with enough force, it could render the enemy unconscious or shattered their skull.
Ace swung his hand with an ax until his arm got used to its weight.
“I’ll have to leave as soon as I can,” Ace muttered to himself before kicking the door open. He rushed to the zombies and slashed their heads with an ax, their brains splattered on the ground, and a foul odor spread in the air.
“Oh, crap.” Ace held his breath as he continued to clear his way to his old truck. He was glad that Mike and Hannah didn’t take it when they escaped.
Ace was getting used to slaughtering the undead when he noticed a small scarlet stone dropped every time he killed them. He finished off the zombies first before picking up the stone.
“What’s this?” he asked, staring at the stone that came from the zombie’s head. “Is this like their magic core?” Ace mumbled and decided to put the stone in his storage.
[Ace! You have acquired 16 mana stones]
“Huh?”
[Ace! Dimensional storage capacity is available for upgrade]
[15 mana stones will be used for the upgrade. Do you want to proceed?]
Ace blinked twice when he heard a voice in his head. “Mana stones? Are those the ones from the zombie’s head—Oh damn! I don’t have time for this.”
Ace ran to his truck and started the engine. He kept cursing under his breath as more zombies were heading his way. The moment the engine roared, he stepped on the gas pedal and sped away from that place.
“I should get home in more than 2 hours. Mom and Dad should be safe since they’re far from the city,” Ace mumbled while checking the time on his watch.
He was glad he made a call at his parents’ home earlier to check on them. His parents heard about what happened and even witnessed the city’s destruction on live television before it was cut off. When Ace asked if there were zombies there, his parents said nothing had changed yet.
“It would be safer to stay in the countryside than the area around the city. I don’t know what happened but this is just like the end of the world in the movies,” Ace grumbled, tightening his grip around the steering wheel.
He arbitrarily stopped the truck when he noticed an abandoned supermarket on his way. Ace roamed his eyes around like a fierce hawk before driving his truck inside. He couldn’t afford to leave the truck outside while he was gathering supplies. The possibility of zombies coming to block his way was high.
“Good. There’s a lot in here. I should be quick and get everything I can. It would be hard to get food at this time though I’m not sure if it’s still convenient to farm in the countryside,” Ace told himself while filling his storage with food, water, medicine supplies, batteries, emergency lights, and anything that could be used for fighting.
After filling his dimensional storage, Ace started putting groceries in a huge backpack he brought with him. He checked the surroundings and nobody seemed to be around, but he decided to use the backpack as plan B in case someone was hiding and watching him gathering supplies.
Ace was convinced that he wasn’t the only one who awakened with an ability. Even so, he wanted to keep his dimensional storage a secret as it was not only convenient but also the safest place to hide important things without worrying about thieves.
“It’s done. I should get out of here and meet my parents,” Ace zipped his backpack and carried it on his back. He was on his way back to the truck when three men approached him with a clear hostile intent.
“Oh! Look who’s here. A brazen runt who dared to empty our storage house,” one of them said, shaking his head while holding a piece of wood.
The other two grinned and positioned themselves around Ace who wasn’t surprised by their approach. Ace knew it couldn’t be avoided to encounter people like the three considering the situation they were in. However, he also needed the supplies he took to feed himself and his family.
“I didn’t take much. My family needs them,” Ace said in a calm voice. He didn’t want to start a fight over some supplies. “There’s a lot left so why don’t you share some with me?”
The three looked at each other before laughing hard. “Did you hear what he said? Oh, boy. Sharing isn’t part of our vocabulary.”
Ace clenched his fists. “Then how about I pay?” he compromised, although he didn’t have enough cash, he got a diamond ring in his dimensional storage that could be worth more than the supplies he took, though he didn’t want to take it out in front of them. “If that’s okay with you, please total everything so I can pay.”
One of the men groaned and grabbed Ace by the collar. “Oh, no. If you have the means to pay, you should leave all your money and that backpack before you can go.”
Ace scolded himself when he realized the world had turned into a place where money couldn’t solve most of the problems anymore. He knew he shouldn’t have mentioned ‘paying’ in the first place. He regretted what he did, but it was too late to take back what he said.
“Dan, he’s probably not around here. Look at his clueless face. He must have thought he could get supplies from this supermarket,” the shortest guy among the three said, he took out his knife and licked it while looking at Ace.“I want to rip off that annoying face. I dislike good-looking rats,” he added and glared.Another guy with a tiger tattoo on his arm patted the shorty’s head. “Calm down, Simon. Once we get rid of him, I’ll carve out his face and make a mask out of it. You can have the mask if you want,” he told Simon and grinned.“They’re out of their minds,” Ace whispered, holding the strap of his backpack tightly. He examined the tattoo on the guy’s arm, trying to remember where he saw it.“Enough. You’re making me lose my appetite with that poor imagination of yours, Greg. His build isn’t that bad. We could use him as our errand boy. The boss will be happy to have a useful slave,” Dan, the biggest among the three, said.Ace pressed his lips when the men gave him a nasty look
“This is awesome!” Ace exclaimed as he accelerated his speed.On his way out of the supermarket, he found a jeep parked just a few meters away from his truck. He contemplated at first but after checking the ‘abandoned’ vehicle, he realized it was modified and would be more useful than his old truck.Ace didn’t hesitate and drove the jeep since the previous driver could no longer use it. He had to go back to the bodies he killed and take the key, making him decide to get rid of the bodies out of the supermarket. He thought that other survivors might get their supplies inside and it wouldn’t be pleasant to find three corpses next to the grocery section.“I should be home in two hours. Mom and Dad should be safe until then,” Ace mumbled and maintained his speed. Somehow, he felt like a reckless driver, ignoring the traffic lights.“There it is,” Ace said when he saw the nearby gas station in the area. He needed to store a lot of fuel and fill up the tank before going home. “How I wish I c
“Hey! Where are you going?”Ace didn’t reply after dragging the teens out of the car. He wondered how they’d react when they found out that he was going to leave them for real.“You should start praying that your phone still has a battery and signal to contact your family before the zombies come to get you,” Ace said and went back to the driver’s seat.The girls placed their hands on their waists, screaming profanities in different languages.“I suggest you save that energy to call for help instead of yelling at me,” he told them before driving, only to step on the break when the boys blocked the road with their arms spread.“Damn it! Do you want to die so badly?” Ace screamed through the window. “Get out of my way or I’ll bump you for real,” he threatened, but none of the boys seemed to take his words seriously.They even laughed together, thinking that Ace wouldn’t do it.“Let us in and we’ll forgive you for trying to abandon us,” one of the boys said and the others agreed. “My fathe
“Hold your weapons!” Ace shouted as he accelerated the car’s speed. “Where’s the helicopter?” He asked the girl beside him while pushing their way through the hordes of zombies. “We’re not going to last more than ten minutes like this. We have to kill them all,” he decided, his grip tightened on the wheel.“We? I haven’t killed anyone before!” A boy yelled from the back.“Well, congratulations. You’re having your debut right now. It’s either kill or be killed! A moment of hesitation will be your death. Make sure you don’t get bitten or scratched! Otherwise, your friend will be the one to kill you if you turn into a zombie just like them,” Ace warned, his foot never leaving the gas pedal.“The helicopter will be here in three minutes!” the girl informed them, her hands shaking while holding a phone and an ax.“Great. We have to survive for three minutes. You’re old enough to fend for yourself so do your best to survive. Good luck!” Ace braced himself as he made up his mind to confront t
“A child?” Ace blinked twice when he heard a child’s voice. He thought it was a zombie but the zombies he encountered weren’t talking at all.He stopped the car and watched as the figure ran in his direction. “How come there’s a child in the field with zombies? I should have noticed him earlier when we were taking a break and waiting for the helicopter,” Ace mumbled and sighed.He got out of the car to check what it truly was. He started to sweat coldly when he thought of what he was going to do if the child was indeed a zombie.“Hey! What’s your name?” Ace asked as he slowly approached the small figure that stumbled on the ground. He couldn’t help but frown when he heard a soft groan from the child.Ace didn’t waste any time and helped the child get up. He could just kill him if it was a zombie, but if it was a human child, he’d be swallowed by guilt if he didn’t do anything but watch him roll on the ground.“Hungry…” the child mumbled when Ace held him up.“Are you hurt?” he asked th
“Aw!” Nicola groaned when the car hit the metal gate.Ace grunted when he didn’t manage to push through the gate. On the other hand, he was glad that even with the car, he couldn’t open it. It only meant that his parents and other people were safe behind the gate.“Cover your head, Nicola. We’re going to try again,” he told the child while driving backward to gain momentum.“Can’t we just get down and enter normally?” Nicola asked with a scared look in her eyes.Ace almost laughed seeing the girl scared by a possible collision than the zombies outside. “We can’t get out. We’re surrounded by the zombies,” he said, clicking his tongue.“I can use purification,” Nicola suggested.Ace also thought about that but he was worried Nicola would get hurt if she tried to face the zombies. He couldn’t let the child take care of the problem if there were other alternatives.“Or I can just break the gate. Now that it comes to this, we’ll have to get rid of all the zombies to feel safe,” Ace mumbled,
“I didn’t know you'd bring me a grandkid when you returned. I’m glad to live until today to see that beautiful child.”Ace groaned. “Mom, Nicola isn’t my child. She’s a girl I found on my way here,” he said, wiping the gun his father gave him. “She’s the only survivor of their town. I’m not sure if others survived aside from her but I saw the town burning earlier,” Ace explained.“What is going on? We felt an earthquake in the morning. It was too strong then a few hours later, those things appeared,” Jonas, Ace’s father said. He felt better after Nicola’s ability healed his wound.Ace stopped what he was doing. “I’m not sure. But after that huge explosion, the world has suddenly become like this. The situation here is better than in the city. I was there when everything was ruined,” he mumbled, clenching his jaw.Eula, Ace’s mother, rubbed his back. “I’m glad you made it home safely, Ace. We wouldn’t know what to do if something happened to you,” she said, hugging her son.Ace gently p
Everyone’s eyes were wide open as soon as they saw the fence upgraded to a wall and the fixed and more durable gate. Ace finally understood the ability he had, not fully, but a little that helped him make use of it.“Isn’t this nice? Now, I can go without getting too worried about you. Just stay inside the wall and avoid causing a loud noise. Zombies might get attracted to the loud sound so do your thing quietly unless there’s an emergency and you have to scream,” Ace explained.“Are you going now? Please be safe. I’ll pray that you return with your sister,” Eula said and hugged her son.Ace hugged his mother back and smiled at him. “You, too. Keep safe. Do not engage in any battle against the zombies unless necessary. As long as you stay inside the wall, nobody should be able to harm you,” he added and bobbed his head at his father.“Make sure to fire properly and only use that gun against the enemy. Do not harm another person, Ace.” Jonas firmly held his son’s shoulder. “Save your si