Before the apocalypse began, the thing Rhayra wanted most was to turn 18 and move to SC12 with her older brother Rick...
Her brother had only moved to the city for 2 years, but he was now a completely different person... Not only was he mysteriously the strongest of the group of survivors, knowing how to use the new power that few were still learning, but there was a much greater maturity that was not there before...
Her brother had always been a figure of admiration and example for her, who was very young when their father died, and since Rick was a child, he had always been much more mature for his age... But Rhayra thought there was sothing there beyond maturity... Was there sothing in his gaze, a kind of tiredness and sadness? Maybe that was the gaze of soone with a lot of experience? Or was it the gaze of soone who could see the future?
His brother was known by everyone at Pineview Base as the one who had information about the future, and he constantly proved it. He predicted the beginning of the apocalypse, he knew about the crystals, he prepared the base’s defenses and reinforcents for winter... And it wasn’t just about things related to survival... Rick knew almost everything I was going to do in advance, as if he knew even better than before he left for the city...
At that mont, winter had begun, and my brother was giving a lecture in a room for all of us who were level 3 mutants.
Oh yes... I was now a level 3 mutant too, before I could even ask, Rick had read my thoughts and given the crystals needed to increase my power... There were many hunters older and more experienced than I who could have received these quite limited crystals... But he gave them to without even asking.
I had prepared a huge speech to explain why I, a 16-year-old girl, should be chosen among the other hunters and trusted n who protect our walls and go out every day to work and collect resources... But Rick simply placed the crystals in my hands, leaving speechless.
After that, I just focused on trying to master my new powers. After all, if Maya got two of them in less than a month, I saw no reason why I couldn’t get at least one in a few weeks... But to my surprise, I released my first power within the first week, but I still hadn’t told Rick, because this power couldn’t help at all now...
While Rick explained his new plans and requirents for creating new Bases, all I saw was him and all the students in the room moving in slow motion... It was as if it took forever for my brother to finish a single sentence, and when soone asked a question, I got frustrated because it seed like this tedious lecture would never end...
My eyes moved around observing everyone in this room watching my brother’s lecture. Everyone here was the only level 3 mutant at Pineview Base. There was Ethan and Vanessa, who had recently beco mutants along with , there was also a military man who was part of the base where Ethan worked, Maya, Joe, and I.
The only one who wasn’t here was Captain Gustav, who was in SC01... But he was watching this eting from a distance through a cara that Ethan installed in the room.
When I finished looking at everyone, I turned my attention to Rick, and he did sothing a little unusual; he winked at . But it wasn’t a normal blink; it was quick, very quick. Almost as if it was a ssage to that I was seeing everything in slow motion... Did he know again? I didn’t tell anyone about this power of seeing everything in slow motion, but again, how did he know? But then my brother’s next speech confird everything.
"It seems that my little sister has already learned her first Universal Force skill... Maya, you can intensify her training in dicine, give her all the books she would need to read before graduating from college, if you are missing any of them, put them on the "shopping" list for the next ti we visit the city..."
"Wait, brother! How do you know? No... What is my Universal Force?" Rhayra asked curiously.
"The Universal Force of Acceleration, you are a speedster..."
***
Travis had made a deal with the devil...
After consuming the level 3 crystal that the owner of that drone gave him, his foresight and instincts increased greatly after becoming a level 3 mutant. And the first thing he did was accept the deal with the mysterious group... The main reason he accepted the deal was that as soon as he advanced to level 3, he began to feel his death and even the death of his group.
Worried, Travis’s sense of death only disappeared after he made a deal with them. This confird that either he would die at their hands, or he would die from so danger he couldn’t foresee.
The deal was not in vain, and brought imnse benefits to him and his group... More level 3 crystals, accurate information about the apocalypse, vehicles, drones, functional technologies, and even manuals that could help learn more about a power called the Universal Force...
The most valuable of all was a small space energy core, which was capable of supplying all the mansions in the Village where his group of university students had taken control.
But now, all these benefits had co at a price, and the mysterious group had sent out two missions... The first was simple and needed to be completed every month. Your group needed to kill zombies or monsters and collect a certain amount of level 2 crystals. The number was small during the harsh winter, but it was still sothing easy to complete even after it ended.
The problem was in the second mission; He needed to find the whereabouts of two survivors who lived in the Satellite Cities of the region...
The first was a woman nad Azaya, who lived in SC17 but had been missing since the beginning of the apocalypse. She had a fiancée who also lived in SC17 and was missing. Both of her parents’ houses were also checked, and they were not found by this group...
Travis felt danger coming from the woman, but he still prioritized finding her first, sending n to an isolated forest on the outskirts of SC17 where his instincts pointed...
As for the second target, just by looking at his file, Travis felt his death again, and this ti, it was even stronger than when he thought about refusing the mysterious group...
The target was his forr college classmate, freshman Rick...
***
"Sergeant, we brought more wood. We are gathering all the stock we can use in the surroundings of the police station, but we will have to expand the search for more wooden furniture..."
"Here, Sergeant, we also collected so more level 2 crystals."
Fabian looked at the 3 crystals and swallowed them imdiately, his senses expanded in a way he had never felt before and he observed all the surroundings, it seed that he had finally consud the 30 level 2 crystals and beca a level 3 mutant, if everything went well, his new power could sohow help his group prosper even during the dangerous winter. He then turned to the police officer who had given the report and said:
"Well... Rick didn’t give many details, but he said that the worst would happen in the first year. We’ve already used construction materials to make ovens and fireplaces and placed them in strategic positions throughout the police station. Now we need to ensure we have firewood and food for the entire year. If only we could find a second vehicle..."
"It’s a sha that the group of police officers we sent could only bring in a few trees a day in the only working vehicle we have... At this rate, we would still have to work for at least another month in this cold weather before we could complete the quota we needed..."
"SERGEANT, CAN YOU HEAR ?"
Fabian picked up the radio and answered:
"I can hear you, Lieutenant. What’s the problem?"
"Chief, there’s a very strange zombie coming toward the police station from the east. Should I shoot at it or should we hope it changes position?"
"Describe the weird part..."
"Big, almost 3 ters tall, skin as white as snow, and very muscular. I suspect he’s very heavy too..." *1
"You have a sniper rifle capable of taking down armored vehicles, shoot that thing before it enters our territory and destroys our periter..."
After that, there was silence...
"LIEUTENANT LISTENING?"
"LIEUTENANT, WAS THE TARGET DOWN?"
"SHIT!" Fabian swore loudly and sent another radio signal, this ti to all the police officers and even civilians who were in the police station.
"ALL UNITS, REINFORCE BASE’S EAST PERITER NOW!"
Author’s Note below:
If you’re a zombie fan, you know what’s coming...
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