Michi: We should set up rounds to stand guard.

Gabriel: Yes, I will sleep from 6 to 10. It is not good to close your eyes especially at night.

Michi: Why does the night have you so worried? After all we have my detection, so I doubt that any of those ungodly beings can surprise us.

Gabriel: In that you are wrong . . . during the night a special variant of infected becomes active, even your radar can detect. Many people died for this creature thinking that it was safer to loot at night due to the limited field of vision of the infected. I honestly think that I am being a little paranoid since this thing started to appear within a week.

Michi: I agree you should not let the paranoia consume you, your mental health is as important as the physical.

Gabriel: You're right Michi. I'm going to cook something while you do cat things, just be careful if you hear some strange noise.

Michi: Hey can you lend me your smartphone? When I drank from the fountain of knowledge I realized that I am a heavy drinker.

Gabriel: Sure.

Then Gabriel left his cell phone in the bed and the cat went to investigate it. Michi didn't have thumbs, so the task was quite difficult but using his genius he could find a way to navigate the hundreds of documents the survivor had stored. There were several topics that caught his attention but the one that pick his interest was chemistry. There was a certain beauty in the chemical reactions and their components. Not only to see the particles in a static state but to see them react was like watching a play where each chemical element was an actor. Although there was a lot of mathematics and memorization Michi enjoyed reading about it until the animal's stomach began to roar. The cat got up and approached to the kitchen.

Michi: What kind of meal are you doing?

The thing he was doing even disgusted an animal that was used to eating mice and pigeons. The survivor wasn't very good in the kitchen but at least his food was safe to eat and that was quite an achievement for Gabriel.

Gabriel: Don't worry, you are going to eat canned tuna for the rest of the month.

Michi: Excellent for a moment I worry about my delicate liver.

Gabriel: Hey at least it fills the stomach and has all the nutrients that your body needs. So did you find anything interesting?

Michi: Yes, the chemistry is extremely interesting to me. All the possible reactions among countless substances really pick my curiosity.

Gabriel: Great you should read about Thermite, a substance easy to make and incredibly useful.

Michi: I'll give you a look then.

After a quick dinner the first day of Gabriel's new life finally finished.The next morning both were ready to continue cleaning the building and had to take advantage of the sunlight now that the electricity had been cut off.

The cleaning of the remaining 4 floors occurred without problems despite having a larger number of infected but luckily not in large groups. They even found another Fat man who wasn't a problem thanks to the sling of Gabriel. The Runners being alone weren't a threat either because of the mutations they both had. By noon the team had finally reached the lobby of the apartment building, thanks to the insecurity of the country this was quite safe. In Argentina riots were quite common in the capital and therefore most of the buildings were prepared to withstand this type of punishment. There was almost no window and the few were reinforced with metal bars. The door was a thick steel plate that could even withstand the attack of several Fats. Undoubtedly the building was a fairly safe fortress once it was cleaned but there was still a detail.The garage in the basement was a gold mine. Not only did it have essential tools to create equipment, but he also had the ideal vehicle for the apocalypse.

The duo went down the stairs to garage, it was really dark down there. Gabriel had a powerful flashlight to light his way and Michi was using his radar to the fullest. They reach a wooden door that separated the stairs from the sub floor.

Michi: Detecting three infected ahead.

Gabriel: I think we can take them.

The words of Gabriel were fill with confident. As preparation, he leaved the lantern on the floor, load his sling and began to rotate it in the air. He kicked the door open and a few meters away were the three zombies. The vision of these creatures destroy his confident. In front of him were three extremely dangerous zombies, the infamous Brutes.

The Brutes were an extremely dangerous variant of zombie, all their muscles had enlarged to the point where they break the skin and give them the look of a skinned bodybuilder. The enormous amount of muscle mass made them extremely strong to the point where they could calmly break bones with a single blow. Having a fracture in this new world was a death sentence during this period of time so a single strike of these creatures was enough to ruin Gabriel's future. He knew perfectly well that his cloth armor wasn't enough against the raw power of these creatures and he had to think quickly about what to do.

The unique mutations of the infected weren't their biggest strength, the problem lies in their numbers. There were approximately 7 billion infected worldwide, counting only the human race and not the rest of the mammals. Because of this knowing how to fight against groups was more important than knowing how to fight against individuals.

Gabriel fired his sling quickly at the knee of the nearest zombie. His goal wasn't kill it but to dismantle this mini horde in order to not be overwhelmed by the numbers. The kneecap of these creatures were their weak points since they were the only part of their bodies that wasn't covered by their deformed muscles. The hit of the stone was enough to shatter the knee and make this creature collapse on the floor. It was still alive but for now that Brute wasn't a threat.

He reserved his Explosive Strength to use against the second creature, as he didn't have time to use his sling and generate the necessary momentum Gabriel simply threw the stone. Despite the use of his mutation this was not enough to break the creature's knee but the force of the blow caused him to stumble and fall on the floor.

Quickly the survivor overcame the pain of his mutation and took a few steps back on the stairs while pulling out his metal pipe. As he had told Michi, height is one of your best allies in the fight against these abominations. Using this strategic advantage of the high ground when the third arrived he was able to kill him with two quick blows to the head.

When the second zombie had recovered from his fall Gabriel was in an advantageous position so it was also an easy kill. Finally, from a safe distance he killed the third with his sling that was crawling towards his position.

In less than a minute the warrior had cleaned the garage but for some reason he could not stop shaking. Most of the infected didn't scare Gabriel but this specific type brought back traumatic memories. After all these creatures are the preamble to another much more terrifying that will evolve from the Brutes in a couple of weeks. They were a reminder that he should hurry because the apocalypse doesn't wait for anyone.

Among all this fight Michi ran up the stairs to escape the group of infected. Seeing that everything was safe the cat return but noticed the clear altered state of his partner so to break the pressure he began to speak.

Michi: Another one bite the dust.

Gabriel: Yea . . . my skills are a kind of magic.

Michi: Is like your body was made in heaven.

Gabriel: Well don't stop me now, we have a loot of job to do.

Michi: We are champions after all.

Gabriel: Ok I run out of Queen references you win this time.

Michi: What can I say i just want it all

Gabriel sighed as Michi looked at him with a smug face. Now that he felt less stressed, he went to make sure these Brutes didn't get up again.

Gabriel: Alright . . . lets take out the crystals first.

Something strange happened when the survivor took out Hell Crystal from the first zombie he had executed. This was larger than average and had a greenish color unlike the typical gray.

Michi: That looks a little different.

Gabriel: Hmmmm I recognize this, there are special types of Hell Crystals that give you access to very useful special mutations. This is a Helheim Crystal and if I remember correctly it is quite rare.

Helheim Crystal

Gives a special mutation, useful only in the first stage of evolution.

Michi: Excellent you should absorb immediately.

Gabriel: Not so fast . . .it's good but it's not what I'm looking for. What it gives is quite interesting but it's not suitable for my build or yours but I think I know someone who would give it a lot of use-

Michi: What It does? Who is that person?.

Gabriel: It's a surprise.

Michi:Come on Gabriel don't be a jerk.

Gabriel: What is life without a little mystery? I mean funny mysteries, not those that if you know them you could go crazy.

Michi: Fine but I hope it's worth it.

Then Gabriel grabbed the flashlight and with his partner began to explore the garage. In it they found a huge truck, one of those that puts environmentalists to scream for all the pollution they generate due to their unnecessarily large size.

Michi: So this is the treasure you were looking for?.

Gabriel: What? No, that crap is a deadly trap. Something so big has many chances of crash, the fuel consumption is astronomical and the maintenance cost is absurd.

After saying those words, he pointed to some bicycles that were in a corner next to a rather old van that seemed to be falling apart.

Gabriel:That is a sight for sore eyes.

Michi: You must be kidding me.

Gabriel: The bicycle is the best means of transport to move around the city. It does not consume fuel, it does not make any sound and even a child can keep it functional. They can even become faster than a car if the person who uses them has the right mutations.

Michi: That explains the bicycles but what is the use for that pile of trash?.

Gabriel: While that truck has no uses, its components are another case. In the past, automobiles were made of steel of excellent quality to better withstand traffic accidents. Taking out the rust a bit this vehicle is a gold mine of materials and with these I can finally make myself a decent weapon. So Michi go and looks for the tools that the janitor has around here, we have a full afternoon's work ahead of us.

When they had everything in place they began to dismantle the vehicle and manufacture the survivor's new weapon. The van was so old that it did not even have an alarm system. The pieces of metal he took out were even in the correct shape to be used without having to melt them.

There were several weapons that Gabriel could use from katanas to sabers, even an axe would be useful but there was in particular that was his favorite. The Falchion was a sword invented during the Middle Ages, it was basically the bastard son of a machete and a longsword. It has a slightly curved blade that widens as it approaches the tip and only one of its sides has a single edge. The perfect weapon to perform decapitations.

After several hours of work and a small break for lunch, the amateur blacksmith had finally finished his blade and was putting the final touches on it with some red paint he had found. Some simple lines, nothing fancy but its look fine with the darker contrast of the Falchion.

Michi: You're painting it for some reason?.

Gabriel: Because it looks cool, you should enjoy the little things in life.

Scrap Falchion

It's not pretty but it can decapitate an average person without problems in one fell swoop.

Michi: That make sense. What is the next step?.

Gabriel: We should make some paper armor, get some new mutations and get rid of the corpses before they starts to stink up the place.

Michi: It sounds like a good plan. . . wait a second paper armor?

Gabriel: Yes, super light, quite cheap and easy to make but unfortunately not very durable. It will serve for what I plan to do.

This type of armor was used in ancient China as a defense method due to its easy manufacture and relatively low cost. The modern version was several layers of folded paper glued together to form the basic structure of the armor.

They returned to the apartment to have more natural light and spent the rest of the afternoon making the armor with the materials that they had looted. Once done, Gabriel replaced his multiple layers of clothes with his new one armor.

Paper Armor

Although its durability is garbage, it is quite effective against sharp attacks.

Michi: We finish with the crafts for today?.

Gabriel: Yes ,lets get some mutations.Level up Radar until level 3 and when you get there choose Specialized Radar. This will give you the ability to identify the type of zombie you detect if you've seen them before, avoiding problems like today's.

Michi: Excellent what are you choosing? .

Gabriel: I'll Grab Explosive Agility and Explosive Speed.

Michi: Only two?

Gabriel: Well you Radar as priority over my mutations so you get more Crystals. Information is always better that brute force.

As was tradition, both began to consume the crystals they had collected. Although the bodies of the duo did not change physically, they could feel how their abilities were strengthened thanks to these mutations.

Michi evolved:

Radar 2: You can detect infected in to 20 meter radius.

Radar 3: You can detect infected in to 40 meter radius.

Special Radar: You can identify the type of infected if you have previously seen it.

Gabriel evolved:

Explosive Agility 1: For 6 second you can have extra agility, your body become agile as a cat. This mutation has 1 minute cooldown.

Explosive Speed 1: For 6 second you can have extra speed, your run at 80 km / h. This mutation has 1 minute cooldown.