chapter two

{ A LOST WORLD }

WEEK THREE

Rick woke up and saw the ward door was barred. He remembered trying to reach for a letter and quickly got up. He unplugged the machine he had stopped working and looked around. The hospital was a mess. " what happened here?" Rick asked himself as he walked closer to the window that was closed. Looking outside the hospital, Rick saw a lot of people walking up and down in circles. He was confused. " Why are there a lot of people at the hospital? is there an emergency?" He asked himself walking back to his bed

He looked at the bed where he had seen a letter from Martha but it was no longer there. Looking at the beautiful flowers, they all seem old now and withered. " How long have I slept for?" Rick looked at the calendar right in front of him. " Have I been asleep for three years? l or three weeks?" He asked himself checking out the year on the calendar. The static television began to make some weird sound causing a little bit of noise. Rick looked up and quickly went to have its volume reduced. He heard a loud bang at the door and wondered why his ward was locked.

" Who is that?" Rick walked cautiously toward the door.

He opened it slowly and noticed it was the nurse that was having him tested.

Rick was about to open the door but he noticed something different about her. Her clothes were soaked with blood and her face was different. It looked worn out and awful. They looked like the face of a zombie. " What? I am dreaming? is this even real? Rick snapped all of a sudden locking the door behind him with the snarl getting louder at his door. Rick's mind went back to the herd he had seen right outside the hospital. " What the fuck is happening to me?" Rick hit his head severely looking at the mirror right in front of him. Everything seemed like it wasn't real. He remembered being taken into the ambulance and now this.

Rick backed away from the door, his heart pounding. He felt a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. "This has to be a dream," he muttered, his mind racing to make sense of the surreal nightmare he found himself in. But the thumping and snarling at the door were all too real.

He looked around the room, searching for anything he could use to defend himself. The room was sparse, with only basic hospital furniture and the now-silent television. He grabbed an IV stand, gripping it tightly like a spear.

The snarling grew more loud, and the door shuddered as the nurse pounded against it. Rick knew he couldn't stay in the room forever. He had to find a way out, but he needed to think fast.

"The window." He rushed over to it and tried to force it open, but it was locked tight. He smashed the IV stand against it, hoping to break the glass. It took several swings before the glass finally shattered. The noise was deafening, and he knew it would attract more attention, but he had no choice. He needed to get out of the hospital

Rick carefully cleared away the remaining shards of glass and climbed through the window. He dropped to the ground below, landing awkwardly and feeling a sharp pain in his ankle. He winced but pushed himself up, hobbling away from the building as quickly as he could.

Outside, the scene was even more chaotic than he had initially thought. People were indeed walking in circles, their movements jerky and unnatural. Their eyes were vacant, and their clothes were tattered. It was like something out of a horror movie. The whole city looked deserted and many cars were seen parked without proper monitoring. The whole place was in disarray. Many burnt corpses were seen littering the street

Rick's mind flashed back to the letter from Martha. Where had it gone? He needed answers, and he had a feeling that finding that letter might help him understand what was happening. He took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves, and started to make his way through the throng of zombie-like people.

He moved cautiously, avoiding drawing attention to himself. His eyes scanned the area, looking for any sign of life or anyone else who might still be sane. He reached the edge of the hospital grounds and saw a small group of people huddled together near a burned-out car. They didn't move like the others; they looked alert and scared.

Rick approached them slowly, raising his hands to show he wasn't a threat. "Hey," he called out, keeping his voice low. "I'm not one of them. Can you tell me what's going on?"

A woman from the group stepped forward, her eyes wary but hopeful. "You don't know?" she asked, her voice trembling. "It's been years since the outbreak. The infection... it spreads so fast. We thought you were one of them when we saw you in the hospital."

Rick's mind raced. "Outbreak? Infection?" He struggled to understand the information. "I was in a coma. I just woke up. Can you tell me in detail what you mean by infection?"

" No one can say how it started but people started behaving abnormally tearing flesh and eating their fellow humans. Like some cannibal. " One of the women looked at Rick

" Cannibalism you say?" Rick moved closer his face a little pale. He clutched his stomach as he felt a sharp pain from the jump he had made. " I think I have missed a lot. can you please bring me up to details?"

The woman nodded, understanding dawning in her eyes. "That explains it. You've missed a lot. Come with us. We'll explain everything, but we need to get out of here before more of them show up."

They were about to move when Rick had the sharp pain in his heart again. He remembered he had seen a system and he clicked yes. The encrypted message came again.

" Can you see that? " Rick asked the woman standing next to him. " see what?" She looked scared.

" I am not losing my mind and I am not turning into one of them."

[ ZOMBIE SYSTEM ACTIVATED ]

[ SYSTEM BOOTING IN 9,8,7,6,5,R, 3,2,1 ]

[ TYPE OF SYSTEM: ZOMBIE SYSTEM ]

[ NAME: RICK STILES ]

[ AGE: 30 YEARS ]

[ SKILLS ; NONE ]

[ WEAPON; SILVER BULLET]

[ OCCUPATION ; COP ]

[ SYSTEM MISSION; KILL FIVE ZOMBIES TO ACTIVATE THE SYSTEM ]

[ SYSTEM REWARD; YOU WILL BE GRANTED WEAPONS TO AID YOUR MISSION IN KILLING THE DEFECT ]

Rick looked at the system and back at the woman who didn't understand what he was seeing. They heard a snarl beside them. Rick looked at the woman beside him and he felt scared. She was no longer humane. She was something else, plunging at Rick, he fell to the ground looking scared.

Rick remembered he had been. given a gun by the system. He tried to push the zombie aside asking for the help of the woman whom he had been speaking with but noticed she had run away. Rick remembered he had been given a silver gun by the system. He tried guiding the zombie that wanted a piece of him and brought out the gun. Aiming for the heart. The loud noise of the gunshot makes the Zombie fall off him. Getting up, Rick saw the zombie get up too. " What? I shot the heart isn't this the part where it dies?" He asked himself as he noticed a herd of them were coming for him.

Rick picked to his heels trying to find shelter for himself but everywhere he turned to had been blocked and the exit cut off. With his back pinned against the wall. He brought his gun and looked at the bullet. He was having just five rounds. "I need to make this count." He said to himself as he shot his first zombie in the head. It came down with a loud thud. Rick saw he was able to have his first kill and he saw an encrypted message.

[ SYSTEM; CONGRATULATIONS ON KILLING YOUR FIRST ZOMBIE. KILL FOUR MORE TO UNLOCK A NEW WEAPON ]

Rick fired his next shot until he was left with just a single bullet. Not knowing what to do, He gave up closing his eyes as the zombie got closer to him. The loud snarl became louder, Rick felt scared and wondered if this was real. Part of him wanted to find out if it was real or was just some plot to scare him. He felt a hand draw him and landed a blow to his face. Rick collapsed and passed out.