6 Pumpkin Spice With A Shot Of Zombies!
Elena was driving her black BWM M2 custom while pouting because the man sitting in the back seat with his legs crossed with a smug look refused to go to moon-bucks and sent them on some wild drive to the coffee shop on the outskirts of town only a few miles from the abandoned Marshal family Estate.
"Why do we have to go to some stupid backstreet coffee shop when you're so damn rich?"
"Because I love watching you drive. So cute and lovely."
"Hah!?"
The car almost swerved into the next lane as Elena's face was red.
In the past, Seth was always cold to her and lacked any sign of affection, and since she met up with him, he has always complimented or flirted with her, exposing her paper-thin guard.
Meanwhile, because he enjoyed her reactions, Seth teased her while checking out the functions of his system, which not only gave him an infection report showing the global infection rating in real time...
⁜ Global Infection Rate: 2% ⁜
⁜ Local Infection Rate: 5% ⁜
'What... Have they already infected two percent of the world!?'
Seth felt chills travelling up his back while finally finding the most important part of the Apocalypse Survival system...
It had a method to improve the user and their party members constantly.
⁜ You Gained 10 Experience from the Optional Task: (Save Mother)
—LEVEL UP!
STR + 1, DEX + 1, AGI +1
⁜ Status Display ⁜
Name: Seth Darkwood
Race: Human (Idiot?) Lifespan: 140 Years
Level: 2
Exp: 0/20
Class: None
Condition: 20/20 (Healthy)
STR: 12
VIT: 10
DEX: 11
AGI: 11
INT: 10
DEF: 10
CHA: 25
Average Human Male: 10
Villain Points: 40
Item: Uncommon Quality Handgun (Large Magazine, Self Maintenance)
∟ Current ammunition: (100) .45 ACP
Skill: Basic Marksmanship Skill, Basic Martial Arts, Intermediate Business, Intermediate Stock Exchange, Advanced Driving.
⁜ Status End ⁜
He looked at Elena, wondering if he was silent too long, but her face seemed strange as she sometimes put her hand close to her holster and slowed the car down to a crawl.
Her eyes changed from the gentle and cute girl before and became sharp as her atmosphere changed completely.
"Mr Darkwood, there seems to be something strange in this neighbourhood."
[Exposed your future wife to the horrific realities of the coming future: +50 VP]
[Your Fiancée's heart is filled with panic, desperate to protect you: +100 VP]
The moment he heard these two lines, there was a feeling of regret that spread through his body, but shaking his head, this was something he must do.
I would rather her heart be broken and she can adapt now than when it truly starts!
Seth realised that maybe his actions were very cruel to Elena, for she may have been expecting a lovely date together, enjoying the new pumpkin-spiced latte rather than drinking it with a shot of a zombie.
He wasn't sure how this was covered up in the novel so long—maybe a blockade would be created once the disturbance grew, or did they cover it up with the Parasol corporation's power?
As the houses became more run down, the streets were littered with more garbage and disused community parks and smashed stores with wooden boards instead of real repairs done to them.
"Elena, from now on, do not let a single person approach within four metres of you other than me, no matter who or what they might seem."
"This is an order from your employer."
There might be an accident before she sees the reality; I cannot allow that to happen!
Something was wrong when there was hardly anyone in the parks with their children during the mid-afternoon on a public holiday. It wasn't like they had money to go on holiday.
The system in the novel took one bite to turn—how will it be handled in this world?
⁜ Host the people in your Partner system will only turn after reaching zero health and Hazard.
⁜ However, others will turn with a single bite or wound.
Brrr!
The car's engine seemed to stop as we approached the current spot on the system with an infection rate of over twenty percent.
With the crack of the handbrake, Elena looked back at Seth with her eyes hidden behind the black sunglasses. However, he could feel it. This was a girl he had memories of when they were only four years old.
She's scared... Hopelessly scared and is only here because of me...
This girl in the side story showed how she suffered in the first month of the outbreak before finally coming to terms with everything...
But I don't want her to suffer that loss and those scars again.
"Elena, can you believe in me?" His eyes were gentle but filled with concern and confidence as he reached out and gently stroked hers.
"Why did we come here... Seth?"
She is trying to avoid the sights we saw on the way—in honesty, and I was too... the image of humans being eaten on the side of the road made me feel a sense of terror that no novel page could...
This was reality, and I had stepped willingly into hell.
"Listen to me, Elena—I swear to do anything you want after we spend two hours here. No matter what."
"I-I-I'm scared... Seth... they're eating that girl... like monsters...!"
Her eyes were teary, but at least with the anchor that was Seth Darkwood, her will hadn't crumbled or dropped.
Seth opened the door to her car and stepped out, holding the handgun the system gave.
It was heavy but smooth to move—his thumb slipped off the safety while practising squeezing the secondary safety.
Easy to use...
Elena pursued him out of the car and kept her keys safely in a zipped pocket to avoid losing them like an idiot.
She walked towards him while holding her gun lowered because she felt unsafe. I knew this neighbourhood for its gun crimes at the best of times, but the strange sights on the way caused her to be on high alert.
"Mr Darkwood... why do you have a custom pistol... that's an extended magazine... what is happening? It should be illegal, right?"
He looked back at her, wanting to test his basic marksman skills, wondering if they were the level of a complete rookie or were like novels where basic was usually close to five years of shooting experience.
"My lovely bodyguard, look over there, and you will understand: the laws we live by are about to become worthless words on toilet paper."
Their faces turned forward as a middle-aged male suddenly stumbled on a few boxes—his movements were slow, staggering with a strange posture—but the most noticeable thing was that his jaw hung loosely, dark flesh and blood oozing from the broken and sharp teeth as he shuffled like a zombie movie Seth had seen as a child.
"Z-Z-Zombie!?" Elena gasped while raising her gun, pointing towards the man, who seemed to hear her yell and staggered forward with bloodshot eyes.
However, Seth remained calm—his eyes focused on the target as he raised his gun, remembering the instructions given by the system's memories and the fake trainer in his mind—his finger squeezed the trigger twice with a loud bang ringing out, causing Elena to wince.
Bang! Bang!
The bullet ripped through the man's forehead, exploding brains across the sidewalk, and without hesitation, Seth fired again in quick succession as it dropped to the ground, only taking a deep breath when he saw the head was no longer intact.
⁜ Killed Stage One Zombie
∟ Gained 1 experience point (1/20)
'It is like that movie and game... Evil Tenant.'
'I can still feel a slight ache from the recoil... and helplessly watching the man's head explode into a pile of flesh, blood, and grey matter honestly made me feel sick...'
He could only turn back to see the lovely Elena's face now pale and filled with terror as the loud sound and echo from his heavy calibre bullets echoed through the entire neighbourhood.
"Elena, the apocalypse we used to make jokes about..."
"It has already started."
