The horde numbers just over twenty and as more and more notice us their howls grow louder. My eyes dart above the heads of the crowd causing my spirits to rise when I see no red lights.

The group clusters towards the other end of the gated area that is the garage. A chunk of the gate lies on the ground leaving the area open to any other groups of zombies. Police and civilian cars dot the lot.

My mana flares in anticipation of the fight. The tingle in my mind tells me that the gate should be the first priority.

“We need to get that gate up.” I say.

I lock eyes with Kyle and an understanding passes between us. I summon a tendril of mana from my left hand and fashion it’s tip into a blade. The tendril of mana is thin and fast but won’t have the same push back power that my thicker tendrils do.

I race forwards keeping my eyes on the fallen piece of fence. Kyle races next to me and pulls ahead. Through my Magical Sonar I can feel the muscles in his legs working over time to propel him forwards. And not just that, I can feel the muscles in his torso flex and relax as they keep him upright. The muscles in his chest and arms twitch with each swing of his hands.

He reaches the gate first and with ease lifts the metal chain link. I make it there a second later and examine the edges of the fence. I don’t find anything to connect this section of fence with the others.

My heart starts racing at the thought that the fence is going to stay open. My eyes fall onto the thin metal wrapped around each other making the diamond like shapes in the fence. Then an idea hits me.

My thin Mana Scythe snaps out cutting bits of the metal mesh making up the fence. I take hold of the metal wire and unthread it from the fence. Then I wrap it around the pole of the other section of fence. I twist it as tight as I can befor racing to the other side.

Through the corner of my eye I see Kyle twisting the metal even tighter. Through my Magical Sonar I can tell that the horde has split off into two groups. One marches towards Kyle and I while the other heads towards Abby and Andy.

I feel regret fill me as I imagine Abby alone with the unreliable Andy. Thoughts of him using her as a meat shield against the undead flash in my mind.

Abby starts forming Rifle Rounds as I finish twisting another part of the fence. Once done with this part I bend down to the bottom corner of the fence and start unthreading metal here too.

I split my focus as I form a few Rifle Rounds behind me. As I twist the section of metal around the post of the other section I shoot out with the spinning ball of energy. Using my Magical Sonar to aim for the heads of the monsters.

I follow the racing energy as it crashes into the skull of one zombie. The energy explodes on contact quickly burning itself out of existence. I feel the zombie fall just as I finish twisting the metal as tight as I can.

I let loose another Rifle Round as I race back to the other side of this section of fence. Kyle no longer holds up the fence and is instead focused on making sure that the fence is tight. I make my final cut in the bottom corner and twist off the section of fence.

Once done I take a step back. It’s short work and will probably only hold off a few zombies but it’ll make sure nothing sneaks up on us. I turn on the spot and face the small group coming after Kyle and I.

The group numbers just over ten even though I’ve already taken care of two. My eyes dart to the group growing closer to Abby and Andy. It number just over eight and is quickly being handled by Abby. Blue bolts of energy race out from her pointed fingers. They strike true, killing the zombies. Andy stands at the ready with his bat but makes no motion to charge the group.

I ignore the growing anger at me at his cowardice and place my full focus on the group before me. I can easily just create Rifle Rounds to handle them all but that isn’t the most cost efficient way to dispatch them.

Creating a thin Mana Scythe costs even less than a Mana Saw but it doesn’t have the same cutting power to dig through the skull like paper. However, it is sharp enough and quick enough to cut their spine in their neck.

With all of that in mind I summon another thin Mana Scythe and pull in my Magical Sonar to cover a radius of ten feet. With the cloud of my energy no longer spread over a wide area I can perceive a lot more detail.

The individual sections of their spines become clear as day to me. I focus on the napes of their neck where the spine is closest to the skin. Then I zone in on the gaps between the sections.

I leap forwards lashing out with the scythes. My energy slices through the air faster than my eyes can see. The blades of energy easily separates the brain from the rest of the body, causing the zombie to drop like a sack of potatoes.

My next target suffers a similar experience as I get close to it. I could easily have the tendrils of energy snake out and keep me at a safe distance but that would require more mana to maintain.

Another Zombie has it’s skull pierced by the wooden shaft of Kyle’s spear. He’s finished tightening the fence and has joined me in the fight. Together we make quick work of the group. I paralyze the majority of the group while Kyle stabs into the rest.

Once I feel that the group after Kyle and I aren’t a real danger I turn my attention back to Abby. My Magical Sonar spreads back out covering the distance between us. Her eight now numbers three but have gotten quite close.

Abby lunges out with her spear while Andy reluctantly swings his bat at another. The third growls it’s horse battle cry as it leaps at Abby. She doesn’t notice the incoming zombie as her gaze is locked on her spear that appears to be stuck in the skull of the other zombie.

A Rifle Round sprouts from my finger as I point at the zombie bearing down on her. It screams through the air as I focus on the head of the monster. It crashes into the zombie just as Abby manages to pull her spear free.

With only inches to spare the zombie dies before it could manage to sink its teeth into Abby. She looks up in shock as the zombie above her falls to the ground. Her eyes dart to me and I see her mouth ‘Thank you’.

I turn away from her feeling like my stomach is doing flips. Andy bashes the brains of the last zombie into paste for a few seconds before stopping. Once satisfied he pulls up and looks at us as if he deserves some kind of reward.

I ignore him as I turn to the paralyzed zombies around me. I pull my Mana Scythes back into me as I walk to the nearest zombie. I swing down with my tire iron until the light above its head flashes black. Then I move onto the next one.

Kyle and Abby soon join in as their spears race down smashing to the paralyzed zombies’ skulls. Andy stands off to the side as if cleaning up the rest is beneath him.

“Those blue blades are really handy.” Kyle says.

“Yeah you have to show me how to make them.” Abby says.

“Push your mana out but don’t make an orb. Instead imagine it taking on the shape of a blade. If your willpower is high enough you can give it an edge, but I don’t know how high that has to be.” I tell Abby.

“Man I really should have picked Mage. Do you think there’s any way to change our classes?” Kyle asks.

I shrug my shoulders.

“Well remember how in order to pick a class we had to complete some quest?” Abby asks.

Kyle and I nod.

“Well if you think ‘Quest Log’ A window will pop up. But mine is empty and I have no clue how to get more. Maybe if we can get another quest the reward might be to change classes or something.” She continues.

I freeze on the spot. Did I really miss something so big as a Quest Menu? This whole system has acted so much like a game and even gave rewards for some quest that I completed. Why did I never think back to that or question it at all?

I take a second to call forth the Quest Log. A blue light appears before me as my vision is filled by a floating blue box.

Quest Log:

Quest Name:

Difficulty:

Reward:

N/A

N/A

N/A

I shake my head as disappointment in myself fills me. While it’s not particularly useful information right now it’s important to figure out this system that is now governing our lives.

“How did I not notice this?” Kyle asks.

I nod in agreement with him.

“I only found it this morning messing around. Did you know we also have a list of skills? Mine only has mana Manipulation.” Abby says.

“What? No way.” Kyle says.

His eyes glaze over as he focuses on windows in front of him. Behind him I notice Andy’s eyes also grow hazy.

“All I have is Battle Focus.” He says.

Kyle stabs down at the last paralyzed zombie as he talks to Abby. With a quick survey of the lot I find no more zombies. However, on the street I notice a few being drawn in by the commotion.

“We should probably head back inside before anymore are drawn here.” I say.

“Good idea.” Abby says

She gives me a quick smile as she yanks the spear out of the zombie's head. She turns back to the station and starts walking. Kyle and Andy follow, leaving me in last. I take one more look at the street before following.

It feels as if someone is watching me as I walk back to the police station. I don’t see anyone in the street or in the building towering above us. I push the sensation out of my mind as I make it back to the building.

Two doors sit in the wall of the police station. One is open and leads to the hallway with the locker rooms. The other is closed and has lockboxes set in the wall next to it.

The group walks towards the closed door. A large square piece of glass is set in the center of the door. Looking through it shows what looks like a holding area of sorts.

I unlock the door and we walk back into the building. We find ourselves in a small lobby-like area with a heavy door set into the other side of the room. A window sits next to it with an intercom placed into the window.

“Before we go any further I need to try and recover my mana.” Abby says.

“Alright this is probably a good place to rest up anyways.” I say.

Chairs sit against a wall. I make my way over to them and plop down.

“So do you know of a way to recover mana quicker?” Abby asks.

I explain to her how I pull more mana into myself. I also explain to her that her Intelligence stat will boost her mana pool. It takes her a while but the glowing blue lines on her body grow black. As they do I feel the air around me stir.

I can see why the other people thought I was becoming a zombie. The black veins criss-crossing her body are very reminiscent of those on the zombies. As I examine them the tingle in my mind flares up.

Does that mean those black lines on the zombies have something to do with mana? The tingle almost screams at me as I think of that question.

So then are they constantly drawing mana in? If so, why can’t I feel it? If I focus on the mana in the air around me I can feel it being drawn towards and into Abby. I don’t get that feeling when I’m around zombies. Granted I’m usually preoccupied by the threat of the zombies to focus on the mana in the air around them.

Knowing that it’s going to take her a bit to replenish her pool I pull out the radio that Decker gave me.

“Hey this is Joel here. Anyone there? Over.” I say into the radio.

I wait a second and then hear static.

“This is Decker, is everything okay kid? Over.”

“Yeah but I wanted to see if you knew that we have Quest Logs. Over.”

The radio remains silent for a few moments. I assume Decker is looking through his Quest Log. A few seconds later the radio comes to life with static.

“Interesting. When you were going through the Zone Management screen did you see the Quest Board? Over”

“No I didn’t. Granted I didn't look through it too closely. Over.”

“Fair enough. I ignored it after seeing how much it cost. 500 kill points. I thought it was just some billboard for people to pin up requests but maybe it’s more.”

Decker falls into silence. A few seconds pass as I grow more and more curious. What if that board can grant us quests and what if we can get new classes or different skills as rewards. Or what if we can get new weapons or resources. Maybe we won’t have to scavenge for stuff if the reward for some quests is something like food.

“We only have just over 300 points. When we get to 500 I’ll purchase the board. Hopefully it’s not going to be something useless.” Decker says over the radio.

“Sounds good sir. We’re resting up before continuing. I’ll contact you if anything changes. Over.”

“Alright be safe out there. Over.”

With the conversation over I place the radio back onto my utility belt. I close my eyes and pull mana into myself too. No point in wasting this break.

After a little under an hour my eyes open. Abby sits next to me, her knee bouncing at a fast past. Andy sits in a different chair on the other side of the room while Kyle stands looking outside the window in the door to the parking lot.

“Is everyone ready?” I ask.

Standing up causes a wave of pleasure to run through my muscles as they are stretched out. Abby stands up and stretches too.

“I’ve been ready.” Kyle says.

“I’m good to go. Refilled my pool and boosted it.” Abby says.

“Let's just get this over with.” Andy says.

I turn my focus on the thick locked door before me. It’s time to continue hunting.