Dark Fate: Book 1 – A New Fate

(Elsewhere)

Rachel Adams cursed silently as she hid behind a car on the side of the road with her boyfriend, Bill Turner. It was looking like the damned apocalypse, and it was just her luck that the public busses were one of the first things to shut down in the chaos. The… what was it, System? The System’s activation had hit everyone in the city, all at once, it seemed. Maybe everyone around the world.

Regardless, even if people were in some kind of weird area where time was stopped while they picked their class and profession, that didn’t mean people who had been doing tasks like, say, driving moved seamlessly back into things when time started going again. Just outside the university alone there had been four separate wrecks or fender benders. She didn’t even want to think about what might have happened to the people who were undergoing surgery when the System started up.

“GRAAAAAA!”

She shuddered as she heard the moaning sound, and couldn’t help but wonder if she had made the wrong choice. She had chosen the Priestess class, because the idea of having healing magic and the like was like something out of a fairytale. But having the Heal spell did nothing to help against zombies!

Bill took a breath, to steady his own nerves, and cautiously poked his head over the hood of the car, risking a look at the horde. Slipping back down into safety, he said, softly, “Five of them. And there was blood on the windows of the shopping center, so there’s probably more inside. Too many to fight with just the two of us. We’ll get bitten for sure. Fortunately, they don’t seem to be spreading from that area, for the moment.”

Rachel nodded. Like Bill, she didn’t whisper, but spoke softly in reply. His class, Rogue, had taught him that whispers actually were more noticeable for some reason than simply speaking softly, so she followed his advice and just kept her voice down, instead of whispering. So far, it had been working. “Then that gives us a chance, right? We can go down to the next street, and try and get around them.”

The Rogue nodded to her. “Sounds good. Lucky that your apartment was only a few miles from the University. I live on the other side of town! At least we’ll be able to sleep in a familiar place, right?”

Rachel smiled knowingly at him. “Yeah, ‘sleep’. The last time you came over to my place to sleep, we kept Talia up all night, you know! She was quite upset with me about that! But, yes, I do want to get home, and sleep in my bed.”

Bill smirked. “Well, perhaps we should use the gag this time? I know you liked it when we visited that sex dungeon on a dare from Halley and her friends. They were shocked when they saw the pictures of you being so ‘not vanilla’.”

Somehow, she managed to stifle her urge to giggle at Bill’s antics, and swatted him on the arm. “Bill! The zombies are still there!”

Bill held up his hands in surrender. “Fine, fine.” He took another look over the hood of the car. His hand tightened around the handle of the kitchen knife he’d managed to grab as they fled the slimes that had appeared in the university dining hall. It was a shitty weapon, really, but as a ‘System’ item, it somehow was more damaging than guns to the monsters they were facing. “The zombies are looking away right now. On three, make for the next street over. Quick and quiet as you can. One, two, three!”

Together, they got up, and walked as quickly as they could. That was another thing Bill’s Rogue training had taught him. A quick walk, especially when you were taking care of how you stepped, allowed you to be stealthier than if you were running. It seemed that sneaking around was going to be important, so, when they’d gotten to level 2 after taking out single monsters they’d come across, she had picked up the Stealth skill, which had appeared under her General Skills list.

The second skill she’d picked up was another General skill, Staff Mastery. The long mop handle she’d grabbed when they had passed by a janitor’s closet became her System item, giving her an unbreakable staff. At least, with the skill, she’d be able to fend off attackers somewhat.

That didn’t mean they could be reckless, however. The zombies they’d faced were like the ones in the movies. Well, the older movies. They were the ‘slow’ zombies, not the ‘fast’ ones, thankfully. But they still seemed to be able to turn anyone they bit, making fighting them a bad idea, unless they were two on one. Two on five, with more possibly behind them, was completely out of the question.

She knew her Priestess magic could, eventually, heal more than just damage, allowing her to cure diseases and poisons, among other things, but she had to learn those spells, either through trial and error, or with the help of either Skills or Spellbooks. Unfortunately, they hadn’t found any spellbooks, and they hadn’t had time for trial and error, not with everything going on.

For now, they just had to keep moving. As they made it around the next corner without drawing the attention of the zombies, Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. Still, it was odd. “Where is everyone?”

Bill shook his head. “They’re probably hunkering down wherever they’re at, until the police or the army or whoever get a handle on things, and make the streets safe again. But staying put is a problem, too. This is like some kind of sick game. We need to get stronger if we’re going to survive.”

“I know, Bill. I’m just worried about Talia. She’s a brat, but she’s still my friend. And she is all alone. What if something happens to her?”

“Don’t worry, babe. We’ll find her. I’m sure she’s just fine. You’ll see.”