[Dexterity Check: 0/3. Failed.]
She tripped. Over a stone.
"I swear to--" Hana grumbled, stumbling back up and brushing herself off.
The failed ability check hovered in front of her face all the while, and Hana sneered at the innocent blue text box. The system was mocking her.
Hana was certain this whole thing was a giant coma dream, and surprisingly, the continuous mockery by the system made it obvious.
It emphasized every mistake she made and poked fun at her for it. Only her own imagination would think up something as cruel as a numerical count for everything she did wrong.
The pity point for Intelligence was the icing on the cake.
Hana had falsely assumed that, given this being her own mind, it was similar to a lucid dream. She'd control the world and no one would judge her. But this odd situation was closer to a nightmare than anything.
It makes her wonder what would have happened had she stayed in those chains.
A cold breeze howled through the corridor, bringing a rush of wind that swayed the empty picture frames on the wall, and she swore she saw the flickering apparition of a ghostly figure at the end of the hall. The torches lighting the way quivered before going out completely, dimming the area around her.
Hana shivered.
The slam of a door echoed in the distance.
Without thought, she scrambled over to the nearest room, with a splintered wooden door, and twisted the door knob. It didn't budge.
She hurried to the next one and it opened up without a fight. Hana slid into the room and shut the door behind her, before closing her eyes and counting to ten.
Her breathing had picked up and become erratic, fighting to get inside of her lungs, and her heart was, well, it wasn't pounding since she was a zombie, but the phantom heartbeat in her ears made her think it was.
One. Two. Three. Four. She didn't make it to ten, instead repeating four over and over until she calmed down.
'Everything is fine,' Hana said to herself.
Her shoulders relaxed and she opened her eyes again, observing the area she had walked into.
The room was...peculiar.
The scent of blood clogged her nose and made her tongue feel heavy, as if it had been poured down her throat.
Browning splatters of blood had dried against the cobblestone floor and fresh blood still trailed down the walls like droplets of rain on a wet window. Hana had to wonder, where had all this blood come from?
She scrunched her nose and stepped further into the room, taking note of the ten wine barrels that sat in the center. Inside, gallons of red, viscous liquid shimmered under the low lighting of the purple-hued torches.
Something dripped from above, creating ripples in Hana's shadowed and murky reflection.
She looked up.
The dead bodies of goats hung by their necks, dangling from the wooden beams crossing the ceiling. They were hairless, their fur shaven off presumably for this purpose, knife wounds gouged into the pink skin. Blood slowly drained from their corpses, into the wine barrels.
Hana stared deeply at the flesh, her eyes widening by the second, and her cracked, purple lips fell open. A growl rumbled at the back of her throat.
She wanted to...she wanted...wha--
Hana wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Her fingers glistened with drool.
"What was I--" She rasped, gazing blearily at the gleaming string of saliva dripping from her lips.
Her throat was dry and an ache curled through her stomach. She was hungry.
[Hint: Zombie's must eat flesh, whether it is human, animal, or otherwise. As time passes, if a zombie does not eat anything, the zombie will gain Levels of Hunger. Each level increases their mindlessness until they are nothing but ravenous, brain-eating monsters!]
[Upon reaching the final Level of Hunger, the zombie will perish. To avoid gaining Levels of Hunger or to decrease the amount of levels you have, eat something!]
[Hunger: 1st Level. 14 days until next Level.]
The system was getting worse and worse. Hana groaned, staring up at the dangling goat bodies. Still, she couldn't afford to turn into a ravenous monster.
A wooden ladder was propped against the wall, likely what the cultists used to hang the bodies, so Hana grabbed it and began to struggle as the ladder scraped across the floor.
[The system has awarded +1 Strength for your continued physical efforts.]
The ladder became a little easier to drag. Hana propped it up and climbed it slowly, careful of her missing arm. There was space in the noose to fit the head through, so she wrangled the dead goat by the neck with her only hand and attempted to tug it out.
Hana's arm jerked as the weight of the goat threw her off balance. The ladder tilted to the left, her foot slipping, and she slammed into the cobblestone floor. The goat smacked into the wine barrels and some of them fell, coating the ground in a thick layer of blood.
[Dexterity Check: 0/15. Failed.]
[Strength Check: 1/30. Failed.]
"That was a disaster." Hana sighed, flicking the blood off her hand.
She stumbled onto her feet and dragged the goat over to a blood-free spot on the ground - sure, she was a zombie, but who wants to be completely soaked in blood?
Still, she was about to consume a raw goat. There wasn't any room to be queasy.
Hana shuddered and inched closer. The body smelled awful, like cold chicken and death, but she brought it to her lips and bit down.
Squelch.
It took five minutes for Hana's mind to clear, and the process of eating the goat was a blank space in the back of her mind after the body had been reduced to bone.
The system pinged.
[Hunger: None. 14 days until next Level.]
Hana swallowed. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth.
She scooted away from the remains but her eyes stayed glued to its figure. A subtle tremble settled in her hand. The back of her eyes burned, like tears would pour fourth at a moment's notice, but her eyes stayed dry.
It was laughable how quickly her sentiment had changed. What kind of game was this? What kind of dream was this?
It had to be a nightmare.