"How are we going to do this?" Jacqueline asked. "Are you going to do the same thing last time?""If you're talking about whether we will still go to my house, I don't see a reason to change something that's been working. However, the timing might be off since I've already changed things," Billy said as he considered what happened before.Billy had just quit his job, which was a huge divergence. In his previous lives, he had still kept his job, even if he did run off right in the middle of it in one of them. He wasn't sure what they would do. His wife and her family hadn't known much about what happened while he was at work, but the people in charge might contact them about him quitting.In that case, there was a possibility they would confront him once he returned home. There was no way to know until he actually headed there. As he considered what their plan of action should be, the duo had continued walking out of the building. Once outside, he had settled on what they should do, bu
The duo stood in front of Billy's house, but they weren't the only ones there. A large crowd had formed outside. Apparently, Billy had been right to worry that his job would inform his wife and her family of what happened. He just didn't expect that they would be waiting for him outside the house instead of outright banning him from coming in. "Explain yourself," his father in law demanded as he stormed towards Billy. "How dare you quit your job that we worked so hard to get you. Who do you think you are?" Jacqueline bristled at his side. She couldn't believe the nerve of this old man. Even though Billy had told her everything about them, her blood boiled. She was ready to give the old man a piece of her mind, but a raised hand stopped her in her tracks. Looking to see the culprit, she stared up at Billy's stone cold expression. It reminded her that she shouldn't get involved. However, Billy's actions didn't go unnoticed, and his father in law zeroed in on Jacqueline. "Who's this? Y
Instead of thinking about Billy's ex family, the duo focused on gathering as many supplies as they could and finding a new place to bunk down. They had considered setting up base at the old location, but they ended up deciding it was best to find a new place. Since they had more time, they could possibly head to another place and prepare it before the apocalypse started."Do you have any suggestions?" Billy asked as they paid for all their items."Well, I'm not sure." After several moments of hesitation, Jacqueline said, "We could try my place, but it's just an apartment."Billy frowned. "That will be tricky. With so many people living in one place, if too many people get turned, we'll end up being trapped with no way out.""Oh, that's what I thought. It was a silly suggestion," she said as she gave a shaky smile."I didn't say it was bad, but we need to consider the worst case scenario. We can still consider it," he said as they stepped out of the store. "Can you tell me more about y
Billy observed their surroundings as they entered the house. The interior was decent, despite what he had imagined when Jacqueline said the elderly couple was living alone. It wasn't as perked up as his wife's house, but it wasn't in disarray considering there were only elderly people around. They must have a cleaning service that did the bare minimum."Sit," the elderly woman said as she pointed to the couch. "I'll make us some tea.""There's no need, ma'am," Billy said as he raised a hand up to stop her.Jacqueline, who had been ready to protest, shut her mouth as the elderly woman said, "Call me, granny. That's what Jackie calls me."He glanced in Jacqueline's direction and saw her sheepish smile before saying, "IF that's fine with you, grandmother."The elderly woman waved him off. "Granny. Grandmother makes me feel so old.""Of course, Granny," Billy said with a nod.While he didn't see the difference between the two words, he didn't see a reason to point it out when they were th
"Anyway," the elderly woman suddenly said. "I expect that there's a reason why you're here when the zombie apocalypse is about to start any minute now."Billy liked her no nonsense attitude, as it made things a lot simpler for them. "Yes, we came here on Jacqueline's suggestion when we discussed about where we should stay to avoid the zombie.""Well, you came to the right place," the old man said as he stood up and pointed his thumb at himself. "This is the best place to get away from that."There was a cracking sound, and the old man bent over as he put the hand on his lower back. Jacqueline was quick to run over and check up on him. While the enthusiasm was appreciated, Billy really wasn't sure about the house being the best place. He already had many concerns about how they would keep the base running with two elderly people.Something in his expression must have given away his thoughts as the elderly woman asked, "Something on your mind?""What precautions have you set up in this
"That's the last of it," the elderly man said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.There was a cracking sound, and the old man bent over as he pressed a hand on his lower back. Jacqueline rushed from her place by Billy's side to check if he was alright. Billy watched the scene for several moments before turning his attention to the elderly woman walking towards him. It looked like she had finished her part too."Is it normal for him to hurt his back so often?" Billy asked as he raised an eyebrow.She scoffed. "Strangely enough, it doesn't. Apparently, it only happens when we have visitors."Billy recalled the elderly couple saying that they didn't have any visitors except for one person. "So he somehow only hurts his back when Jacqueline is around?""It appears so," she said with a nod.Jacqueline and the old man joined them as the old man said, "You better not be talking behind my back, you old woman.""Oh, shut up, you attention seeker," the old woman said, setting off another a
It was odd how peaceful the next couple of days were. Billy always woke up ready to go through the daily routine he had established previously or to defend himself from zombies, only to realize he didn't need to do either of those things. It was such a sudden shift from the previous lives that a part of him wondered if this was a dream or the calm before the storm.The others treated this seclusion as more of a vacation than the apocalypse it was. He couldn't blame them for relaxing and being unable to take the situation seriously. Even though he had told them about the threat and they had seen the zombies themselves, it wasn't the same as living through it. None of them had to face a horde of zombies trying to kill them."Is something wrong, Billy? You don't look so good," Jacqueline asked as she looked away from the toast she was eating.Snapping his attention back onto the present, he said, "I'm fine. I'm just thinking about several things.""If you're worried about the zombies, ha
Billy left the dining room with mixed feelings. He hadn't expected that the elderly couple had mistakenly thought they were dating. He was pretty certain neither of them had done anything to make the elderly couple think they were, and Jacqueline wouldn't tell them a lie. It had taken a lot of convincing before the elderly couple were finally convinced.Well, it didn't really bother him that much. Whether or not they were in a relationship wouldn't change things. He wasn't going to get shy or embarrassed about it, unlike Jacqueline had. He supposed it was because she was much closer to the elderly couple than he was. They did treat each other like family. At least the misunderstanding was resolved.Entering the security room, he took a seat to check the cameras. He instantly saw something that caught his attention. The zombies weren't acting like their usual selves. They were slowly surrounded by the building. This wasn't something they had done before, or at least it wasn't something
Hello everyone. I just want to thank all my readers who have been following along because it sure has been a doozy. Also, there are several things that I want to let you know.Billy's story has ended, and I'll have to admit that I didn't think it would end so soon. I had a lot of things planned, but after some careful consideration, I ultimately decided to end it early.Just like with Rise of the Demon King: Caleb Gonzales's Rat Race, I might do a rewrite or remake of it.If I do go through with this idea, then I'll just immediately go to eBook and paperback, and it would be very different from the one here. We will have to see, and I'll let everyone know.For now, I'll be focusing on finishing Johnny's story in Rise of the Commoner: Johnny Burns's The Lost Heir, which can be found here: https://www.meganovel.com/story/Rise-of-the-Commoner-Johnny-Burns-s-The-Lost-Heir_31000695378 .It's also going to be ending early. I'm not sure by how much. It might even be shorter than this one. We'
After hearing what the woman had to say, Billy released her. She took the chance to elbow him in the face, making his nose bleed, before putting some distance between them. There was a dark look on her face. He scowled, but he didn't retaliate for it. Instead, he went over everything he had learned from her. It had been a lot, and that had only been the surface."Well, what are you going to do now?" she asked."Well, I'll be accepting that proposal of yours," he said as he stood up and brushed the front of his pants.The woman huffed. "See. I told you. I don't know why you insisted on picking a fight when there was no need to fight.""However, I have some conditions," he said.She stared at him in disbelief before blurting out, "What?""You heard me. I won't accept your proposal without my own terms," he said."You can't be serious. You can't just add your own terms. You're already lucky enough to be spared in the first place," she said."It's not like you wanted to. You're only doing
"Hold it," Billy said as he held up a hand."Yes?" she asked."Why are you doing this? Why are you preparing to unleash a zombie apocalypse?" he asked."Why?" She took a moment to consider his question before saying, "It's for entertainment."Billy felt the veins in his head bulge from sheer anger. "What?""All of this is meant for entertainment for our followers. Unforunately, we've been having issues making it work, hence the number of tests we performed," she said."Followers? What are you talking about? Are you saying this is a game?" he demanded."A game? No. I guess you can view it as a game, but it isn't. You don't really need to know the details since you don't have the clearance for that information," she said.He gritted his teeth. "Then what can you tell me?""As stated before, we were running tests when we noticed some things were not progressing properly. One of them happened to be you," she said as she poin
Billy coughed up blood as he struggled against the giant zombie's grip. He could hear the others screaming as they fought off the other zombies that surrounded them down below. Unfortunately, he was in no condition to help them as he fought to stay alive. Billy couldn't believe how quickly things had gone horribly wrong.One moment, they were trying to stealthily sneak away. Then the next day, the giant zombie was rushing towards them like a maniac. They had tried to run away when they realized the giant zombie was coming for them, but it easily outpaced them. Whether it was because of its long legs or because it was simply faster than them, it easily caught up to them in no time.If Billy hadn't shoved Jacqueline away, she would have turned into paste beneath the giant zombie's foot. However, the force from its mere step had knocked everyone off their feet, giving the giant zombie time to grab him. The giant zombie's grip tightened, and he could feel his bomes creak i
A sound caught everyone's attention, and all eyes turned to the doorway. They didn't see anyone or anything, but after what they had seen from the system, none of them were calm. The tied up woman was even more frantic to get out of the ropes. Unfortunately for her, they held fast, keeping her from getting away. Billy vaguely wondered why she didn't use her power."We're going," Billy declared."Wait," the woman wailed. "Don't leave me."Billy didn't give her a second glance as he walked away from her. He didn't want to stick around to see if the noise was actually something to be worried about. Jacqueline's gaze shifted between the two of them. She clearly didn't want to leave the woman behind, but she could also tell that Billy wasn't going to do that. Then the last person any of them expected to protest spoke up."I think we should let her go," Joshua said.Everyone turned to him as Billy said, "What?""We should let her go," Joshua said.
"Are you kidding me?" the tied up woman shrieked, voicing what was on everyone's minds.What was the system thinking? This was basically telling everyone to die. Billy had no clue how many awakened there were, but their group had three awakened, if he still counted as one. That meant the zombies would receive a boost three times greater than if none of them were awakened, and what did they mean by boost? It was so vague that it could mean anything.Were the zombies stronger, faster, smarter, or what? It was impossible for anyone to counteract it without more information, which the system didn't seem to care to give. Billy could feel everyone's gaze on him, as if looking to him for answers that he didn't have. He could understand why Jacqueline and Joshua were doing that, but why was the tied up woman also looking at him?If anything, he should be the last person she should be looking to, considering how he had just threatened her. Well, he supposed that there we
Billy studied the woman's face as the others stared dabsmacked with their jaws hanging. He was just as shocked as they were, but he was better at keeping it off his face. Out of all the things he expected her to say, he didn't expect the woman to tell him that things had gotten off the rails for everyone who had gotten a system and power."Are you really telling the truth?" Billy asked.The woman frantically nodded her head. "Yes, I am. You've got to believe me. I have no reason to lie. When I realized that I could hide from everyone, a screen appeared in front of me, telling me I was one of the awakened."Something had seriously changed this time. In previous lives, no one could receive their power until after their first wave was over. He wasn't sure what had made such a huge difference, but that meant the system had no right to take his power away from him. If anyone could get their power before the first wave ended, he shouldn't have his power removed.<
"Billy?" Jacqueline called out.Billy frowned as he recalled telling her to stay quiet and out of sight until he said the coast was clear. She must have heard his knocking out the woman and got worried, but that didn't change how dumb it was. Jacqueline was basically announcing her presence to whoever was nearby. If he had been the one who had been taken out, she would have been in trouble.Even now, it wasn't a guarantee that they were in the clear just yet. He remained silent as he dragged the unconscious woman away while keeping an eye on his surroundings. After dragging her into another part of the house, he found some rope to tie her up with and searched her for anything valuable. Unfortunately, she didn't have anything on her except for a knife.He narrowed his eyes. It didn't make sense for someone to only go around with a tiny knife. Just imagining someone trying to fight a bunch of zombies with it was ridiculous. Even against another person was a joke.
Billy stared as his mind whirled with indecision. A morally good person would run back to save them because that was the right thing to do. Leaving a woman who was someone close to him and two children to the zombies would be a monsterous thing to do. On the other hand, a realistic person or someone with self preservation would immediately leave them behind.Honestly, if it wasn't for Jacqueline, he would have hightailed out of there without even looking back. However, this was Jacqueline. If he left, he didn't think she would follow him. As she was now, she wouldn't abandon the kid to save herself. She would die. There would be no second chance for her since this was his only life left. On the flip side, because it was his only life, he had to be even more careful."Billy!" Jacqueline screamed again as she knocked another zombie away.He gritted his teeth and made his choice. Billy rushed over and grabbed Jacqueline's arm before shoving her away. She stumbled b