“So this is some kind of college campus?” Asked Jose.

  “Yeah, it's the main campus for New England Tech. We are in East Greenwich, RI - if the building wasn’t magically relocated, that is,” answered Rashon.

  “But that’s impossible. I live in New York and have never been to Rhode Island. How the hell did I end up here?” Asked Maya.

  “Yeah, I live in Philadelphia… I mean, I have some family here, but I haven’t visited for some months, so not sure how I ended up here either,” added Jose.

  “Figures that something like that would have happened. It’s become a common trope in fantasy novels where magic and systems suddenly become a reality,” answered Rashon.

  “But this is real life. Not some fantasy novel, or anime, or manga, or game,” added Jose dumbfounded.

  “Hhhahhh,” Maya sighed in exasperation. “Monsters seem to be real now, so I guess it’s possible we were somehow teleported around at random or something… What about that screen you saw? What did it say?” She asked Jose after a time.

  Jose stopped and nodded his head in appreciation for the others. It was a testament to their resilience and character, how quickly they seemed to accept the situation and try to help each other maneuver it. “Right,” he said. “It mentioned something about a skill, and it had stats as well. But I’m not sure how I can access them or even recall the screen.”

  “If this is anything like an anime, you have to concentrate on the status screen, and it should come up.” She said.

  Jose closed his eyes and concentrated on pulling up a status, seconds later, it appeared before his very eyes, and even with his eyes closed he could see it. He reached out to touch it and was able to as if it were a tablet. He clicked on the skill name and more information populated.

  [Strike - Your strikes are empowered with lightning, strengthening them and causing shock and electric burns on impact.]

  He read the information for the others, “Well, now we know what the skill does, but still, there is no information on how to use it. I mean, do I just punch something, and it will activate on its own? Or do I need to concentrate like I did for the status info?”

  “Well, if we are using manga or anime as inspiration, you should be able to call out the skill as you intend to use it, and it should activate,” answered Rashon.

  Maya gave him a sly grin with a nod, showing her approval of his knowledge.

  “What? Did you think you were the only one that liked manga and anime?” He said back with a proud grin of his own.

  Either could have broken out into a speech or hours-long conversations about the topic. But considering the situation they refrained, quickly concentrating back on the issue at hand.

  Jose walked over to a door and tried out his skill. “Strike!” he yelled as he punched the door. A current surged through his body and into his fist, enveloping it in red lightning before he connected, and the door exploded, blown to smithereens.

  Everyone was stunned by how powerful the skill seemed to be. But then again, punching inanimate objects always made people seem strong. Its true strength would be shown in battle.

  Before any of them could utter another word, the old zombie in the hall burst through the door and made straight for them.

  Purely on instinct, Jose squared up and delivered a devastating haymaker. “Strike!”

  The zombie’s head exploded, bathing them and the walls with gore and bits of brain. Even as they landed, the body parts turned to ash. A second later, the rest of its body fell to the floor and also turned to ash, a message appeared before Jose’s eyes as it did.

  [You have received nourishment for defeating a Tainted.]

  Jose read the message, then looking around he saw that both Rashon and Maya had jumped back and ducked to the ground. They were breathing heavily and trembling, the sudden fear and adrenaline from the monster breaking through the door rushing through them.

  He couldn’t blame them, it was scary enough just to be near these monsters, but another level of terrifying when one was running at you, intent on tearing you apart and eating you alive. He felt a bit braver now that he had a magical skill, but they still lacked such protection.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “Sorry about that,” he said. “Completely forgot about that thing with all the excitement of possibly having a magical skill.”

  “Can’t really blame you. I think we all got a little worked up,” said Maya as Rashon nodded.

  They both got up off the floor, and Rashon asked, “Do y'all want some water to help with the nerves? I don’t really do alcohol but have plenty of bottled water.”

  After they were more calm, and hydrated, Jose spoke, “It says I received. Nourishment?… For defeating the monster. Apparently, they are called Tainted… Maybe nourishment is the equivalent of experience for this system?”

  “Might be,” the others agreed.

  “Hm… In any case, now that we have a way to fight, we should get to that office and collect whatever weapons we can find,” added Jose.

  Rashon went into one of the rooms and returned with two swords, which, as he had stated, were clearly meant to be used for decoration. But in the absence of anything else, they would have to do until they reached their objective. He gave the longer katana to Maya and kept the shorter ninjato for himself, while Jose had his new skill to lean on should it come to a fight.

  ***

  Beyond the apartment door, they found streaks of blood leading down the hall toward the stairs. It seemed the old Tainted had dragged her meal down with her at some point. Not wanting to witness such a gruesome scene again, they made their way down a different set of stairs.

  It was an excruciatingly slow walk across the street into the building. Unwilling to be too exposed, they kept low and dodged between cars stopping every few feet to take in the surroundings.

  When they reached the remains of the officer from earlier Jose forced himself to grab the metal baton the officer had dropped earlier. “Insurance,” he said as the others looked at him questioningly. He wasn’t sure how often he could use his new skill, but a backup plan was a smart thing to have.

  Rashon had plenty of water in his apartment, but they lacked bags to distribute that and any nonperishable items they would find into carriable packages. So, the second objective in the building would be to acquire the biggest backpacks they could find.

  The first thing they saw upon entering the building was the body of the young man they had witnessed being attacked earlier that day. There was blood all around him, the skin and clothing had been mostly torn off, and large portions of him were stripped bare, revealing organs and bones.

  Tearing themselves from the scene, they made for the hall that would lead them to their destination. The first door to their left led to the library, and as they passed it they heard the unnerving laughter of the Tainted. Looking inside, they noticed three Tainted attacking another person.

  Rashon and Maya made to go fight them, but Jose quickly grabbed them by the arms and held them back, shaking his head. There was nothing they could do to help, the person was already dead or would be by the time they reached them. There was also the possibility that the weapons they held would not hold up in a battle against the Tainted, which would ultimately lead to their deaths as well.

  Begrudgingly and despondently, they accepted the truth and made their way down the long corridor to their destination.

  They had found plenty of large duffles and backpacks on the way to the office, each grabbed one to carry the weapons and other items.

  Luckily, the door to the police office was open, and so was the weapons cage. This was clearly where the officer from earlier had come from, as there were signs of a hasty grab for weapons and ammo. The guns were messily strewn about, while some ammo boxes were open and bullets were all over the table and ground.

  In the office the team grabbed as many guns and ammo as they could find, which weren’t much. In all, they were able to secure three handguns and six mags of ammo with one shotgun and several shells. Before they had a chance to discuss how to split the weapons or leave the office, they heard a shuffling noice outside the window.

  The window was frosted chicken wire glass, making it hard to distinguish exactly what was out there, but its shape and size were unmistakable. The beast from earlier had returned and was much too close for comfort.

  They ducked under the table and stood still; the beast was walking around outside the building sniffing anything that seemed like food. The back doors were completely broken off the hinges, providing just enough space for the beast to enter the hallway right next to the office they were in, should it want to.

  With a bead of sweat rolling down her forehead, Maya began slowly loading the shotgun. Just remembering how tough it seemed against the zombies earlier made Jose think a couple of shotgun shells would probably not be enough to take it down. Maya likely agreed, considering how nervous she looked.

  Luckily, they wouldn’t have to find out. The beast had found a suitable corpse before entering the building, picked it up, and scampered off happily back the way it had come.

  “That thing is definitely feeding something nearby,” Jose whispered, not wanting to risk talking loud enough to draw it back to them.

  “We need to get the hell out of here before it comes back,” whispered Maya, nodding her head.

  “The only problem I see is that the pharmacy and the entrance to the highway are in the same direction it went,” stated Rashon.

  “We’ll have to cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, we need to get the hell out of here before it or those Tainted find us,” added Jose.

  Agreeing, they finished stuffing the weapons into the duffles while taking one handgun each and making their way back out of the building. Considering the location of the last three Tained, they took a different route this time. One which led them through the cafeteria.

  Before they got too far, Maya asked, “Do either of you know how to use a gun?” It was clear, to her at least, that Rashon had never held one and that Jose was not comfortable holding one.

  Rashon and Jose both shook their heads, and she quickly explained where the safety and mag release were while showing them how to properly hold and fire them.

  The weapons they held were .45s, and though she was no expert in all things gun-related, she did know how to use a .45. Circumstances in her life had led her to pick up a gun and join a firing range long ago, and this was her preferred weapon of choice.