Another tense few minutes of the violins interspersed with apologies and assurances went by.

Gary wondered what Jonathan and the others were talking about. The other guy seemed to calm the group down, which was good. Gary had only known the teacher a few hours, but he felt confident that he could trust Jonathan.

He was just about to twist the base of the glitch stone to break the connection when a voice broke through.

Hello there, thank you for contacting Admin! My name is Juliet and I’m here to answer any of your questions and resolve any problems. Can I have your reference number?

Gary spoke out loud again, then remembered he didn’t need to.

Uh, hi? Hello, can you hear me?

I can hear you just fine. Can I take a reference number?

It was weird having a conversation in his head with another voice.

Hi, I don’t have a reference number, sorry.

That’s fine, do you mind if I just check your character sheet?

Yes, that’s okay, I guess.

The woman’s voice was warm and friendly. Gary imagined she was his age.

Ok, got it. I can see your name is Gary – is that who I’m talking to?

Yes.

Great, hi Gary, so what seems to be the prob... oh. Sorry. Just one second. This isn’t making any sense.

The voice went silent.

Hello? Juliet was it? Are you there?

Hi Gary, yes it’s Juliet, I’m just looking at your character sheet and according to this you are a level 2 zombie, is that correct? Because if it is, then you shouldn’t be able to contact us at all.

Yes, that’s why I’m contacting you, Gary thought/said, I’m not a zombie. I’m alive. There was a mistake, and the system classified me as a zombie.

Oh, Juliet responded, well, I’ve never come across this before. Are you sure you’re, you know, alive?

I mean, I have a pulse and I didn’t die, Gary said.

I see, wow. Okay, that really is a mistake. Can I ask how you acquired one of our glitch reporting stones? We only give those to accredited agents.

I was given it by someone I met, is the quick answer.

I see. Well, Gary, I have to admit this is a new one on me. I’ve only been here a couple of months, but even so. Look, I want to help you out here, but I might have to put you on hold for a while.

Wait, what?

Sorry, but I need to look into this further. Would it be alright if I check your history and activity logs?

I guess so. I didn’t even know I had those.

They’re just simple records of everything you’ve said and done since the initiation. Don’t worry, I’ve seen it all by this point.

Gary didn’t want to think about what “seen it all” meant.

I mean, I guess that’s fine, if you think it will help.

Yes, it will. Or you could explain it all to me yourself?

Honestly, it isn’t an ideal time right now, Gary thought. If you can get all the information from my activity logs or whatever, that would be great.

Thanks Gary. Oh, right, I’m having a look through now. You’ve been having quite a day.

Yeah, I really have.

The entire exchange was surreal. As far as Gary understood things, he was now talking to someone who was responsible for his reality being initiated into the multiverse system. So whoever this person was could be held accountable for over a billion deaths and the zombie apocalypse.

And yet, here she was talking to him like a concerned customer service worker. He’d had worse conversations with his local bank.

Just going back to the start now, ah there it is. A necromancer and... ah, I see. That’s not great.

What isn’t?

Hmm, this could take longer to resolve. Okay, I am going to put you on hold now as I check through this with, I might need to talk to my team leader. Really sorry to do this to you and I hope we can get this resolved.

Well, how long will it take?

Hopefully not more than a day or so in your timeframe. There’s a lot going on right now. Is it okay if I put you on hold?

I guess so, but don’t be surprised if I’m, you know, dead the next time we speak.

Juliet let out a short, pretty laugh.

Oh, I’m sure you will be fine. You’ve been doing great so far, compared to a lot of other people.

So things are bad, then? Gary asked, I mean across the planet? There are a lot of people dying.

Juliet went silent

Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. We’re not allowed to interfere or advise.

Juliet’s voice lowered to a whisper.

But look, okay, you’re having a bad day. So what I can tell you, although I shouldn’t, is that at this rate, your planet will be overrun with undead within the next seven to ten days.

“The next seven to ten?!” Gary exclaimed, forgetting to speak in his mind. “That seems fast. Are you telling me that the entire planet is going to be filled with zombies in a week?”

Well, not just zombies, of course, but yes, based on current projections, that will be the case.

Oh. Oh wow.

Sorry, I shouldn’t have told you that.

No, it’s fine, I’m glad you did. Is there anything, you know, that we can do?

Okay, I’m not allowed to say any more, Juliet responded. Sorry. Okay, look, I’m going to put you on hold now and as soon as I have any further information, I’ll be in touch. You should keep the glitch stone with you. Hopefully, we can get this all sorted out soon.

Yeah, um thanks, Juliet. I, uh, appreciate you looking into this for me.

Gary was too stunned by the latest revelation to do anything more than treat this as an actual customer service call. And in his experience, it never hurt to be polite to the person on the other end of the line. They were usually having bad days themselves.

Great, speak soon. And Gary? Juliet’s tone lowered. Good luck, yeah? I know it’s tough, but keep fighting.

Sure, thanks – oh, wait just one thing, could you….

Gary had wanted to say ‘turn off the waiting music’, but it was too late.

Vivaldi’s Spring had returned.

Its upbeat tune, now stuck on repeat in his head, was starting to grate.

“Terrific, that’s just what I need.”

“What did they say?” Rain asked.

“They’re looking into it,” Gary said. “They’ll get back to me.”

“That sounds about right.”

Gary’s brain was reeling, and not just from the incessant tune stuck on a loop in his head.

“Look, I don’t full understand this. These admin people, the game-like system, are we... I mean, is this all a game? Are we in some kind of virtual reality?”

It wasn’t the first time the thought had crossed his mind.

“Virtual reality?” Rain asked.

“Like, a simulation. An illusion. I mean, are we real?”

“Do you fell real?”

Gary sniffed the air and smelled petrol. A cool breeze swept across his face. He remembered the pain he’d experienced and the horrific sights.

This wasn’t some game. It was all real. It was just that the rules of reality had been updated.

“What I mean is, if we die, do we wake up, you know, somewhere else? In another reality?”

“Not unless you believe in the Gods, and even then no-one is sure,” Rain replied, “If you die, you die.”

“So we don’t wake up or anything?”

“This isn’t a dream, Gary, nor is it a game. This is just reality.”

“Okay. And the admins? Do they die?”

“Everybody dies.”

“Right. So I’m asking stupid questions?”

Rain shrugged. “No more stupid than a five-year-old. Our companions are returning.”

Gary glanced across to the Big Burger Bar to see that the group was returning.

“Everything okay?” he asked Jonathan.

Jonathan nodded. “Sure, no problems. Nothing in there worth taking. We’ll have to make do with what we’ve got. We need to take an inventory as soon as we get to this farmhouse of yours.”

“Yeah, that’s smart. I don’t know what we’re going to do for food after these supplies run out...”

“Let’s worry about that later.”

“Turn on the radio!” Peter called from his car, “Radio 4 is back on!”

Gary reached into the van and switched the radio back on.

“... we’re getting further reports from across the globe. New York has been overrun. Washington DC is in flames. Paris, Lisbon, Dubai, here in London, it’s the same everywhere. Across the globe, the dead are attacking the living. Here in the UK the military are trying to fight back and... just one second... we’re getting reports from our security staff here in the studio... there are zombies at the entrance, and I don’t think we can fight them off, oh god, they’re here in the studio, this is Kayleigh, reporting for Radio 4… no, noooo….”

The sound of screams cut the report short.

Gary switched the radio off.

“It’s worse than we thought,” he said.

Jonathan nodded, “We should go, now.”

He pointed at the headlights of three cars that were driving towards the motorway exit that led to the service station they were in.

“Everyone get in the car or van, now,” Jonathan called out, “We’re leaving.”

The group did as they were told. Less than a minute before the other cars reached the service station, Gary and Peter had driven out.

*

It took another twenty minutes of driving through the night before they reached the converted farmhouse. After a certain point, Gary had turned off the motorway onto a side road, and from there through a village and onto the track that led to the isolated building. He had to stop once to open the gate onto the private property and then there was another five minute drive past that down the dirt track.

“You weren’t kidding. This is out of the way,” Jonathan said.

“Yeah, that’s why I figured it was the safest place for us,” Gary nodded.

He parked in front of the garage that was separated from the main building, and Peter parked beside him.

Gary knew there was a spare key to the front door hidden beneath one of the plant pots, and he retrieved it.

“Right, here we are then,” he said to the assembled group. “This should give us a bit of breathing room as we work out what to do next…”

*

St Mary’s Church

The corpse of Zafier, lying on the stone floor of the church, twitched.

You are a Revenant. Kill the person who killed you.

Death is a learning experience!

You have reached level 6.

The Zafier-revenant stood up, hatred and fury burning through it. Its character sheet flashed up, its hit points were twenty points higher than before, and it had additional powers of draining life-force at its disposal.

It would keep coming back until either it killed Gary or Gary killed it. Any other death and it would return, more powerful than before.

“Gaaaaaaryyy...” Zafier groaned.

It looked around at the scattered corpses in the church. It remembered the sweet feeling of Gary’s throat in its hands before it had been stabbed in the back. It needed more help to kill Gary.

The Zafier Revenant cast Raise the Dead.

Beside it, the corpse of Morgan twitched and rose from the ground.

You are a Revenant. Kill the person who killed you.

The Morgan Revenant looked at the Zafier Revenant and hissed, “Gaaaaaaryyyyyy...”

The corpse of Forge rose from the ground.

You are a Revenant. Kill the person who killed you.

“Joooooonnnnaaaaathaaann...” the red-bearded revenant hissed.

Zafier and Morgan looked at Forge with reproachful eyes. Despite being dead, he was aware he had committed a faux pas.

“Gaaaaarrrryyyy….” Forge hissed.

Annabel rose next.

You are a Revenant. Kill the person who killed you…

And then various scattered corpses picked themselves from the ground, all with one goal:

Killing Gary.

Still, there was no rush.

There was plenty of time to stop for snacks along the way.