The apocalypse came without warning and was not noticed by the humans in the world until the zombies began to start appearing.
What they had missed were many large and dark clouds which had gathered during the night.
What followed it was a heavy rainfall of a muddy black rain which landed on the bodies of those still outside then it spread to all of the water sources.
Most of the open water sources were contaminated so many unsuspected people woke up then went to drink some tap water or took a shower.
Any of the contaminated water that entered their body made them all enter a period of sickness.
Their temperature rose drastically and those that were unable to endure the sickness then died while a few rare people awoken different kinds of abilities.
Those many people that died had come back as zombies then began attacking those around them which spread the zombie virus further.
Those bitten by the carriers were destined to die in a short time because of the volatility of the virus.
Those that evolved would gain a slight immunity to the virus but their immunity was only limited to a certain amount or level of the virus because it was constantly evolving and growing over time.
Humans, zombies, plant life and animals were all evolving or mutating because of the change to the world, if one grew too powerful then there was a chance that one of them would be annihilated with enough time.
In the first week, the human population would drop by half in most places and unless there had been capable survivors or a competent leader, the losses would be even greater.
Water and resources which had become very limited after most sources were cut off or looted had become highly sought after by the survivors.
Those that were dehydrated or hungry would begin to turn on their fellow humans and without there being a major authority to enforce laws, many groups rose up to cause anarchy.
That was the background of the novel and many other novels which were built with a similar setting in the apocalypse.
The black rain came down through the night as many slept but two people had already personally went out to purchase what they needed or had them delivered to a certain destination to be stored so they did not have to worry about their supplies running out anytime soon.
Brick woke up and then lazily stretched his body then started to work out according to the original owner's habits. 'Now with the change of the world, it is even more important to keep my body in the best possible shape.'
The virus was not just in the water but very small traces were already part of the earth's atmosphere so there were a couple of unlucky people who had terrible immunity which would die at random them come back as a zombie.
Brick was just happy that he was not infected like one of those unlucky people. 'Now I need to adjust to this new world's mentality.'
He got dressed and put on some body protectors on his legs, arms and chest then finished it off with his weapons.
As he stepped outside, he spotted a couple of small bowls which were full of blackish water so he carefully picked them up and moved towards the small cages which contained the puppies. "I am sorry but this world.. you cannot survive in it."
Once the bowls were places inside, the puppies ran over on their tiny legs then put their tongues into the bowls to lick up the contents.
Brick took out a broom stick and removed the attachment then started to sharpen the tip.
Inside the cage, the puppies started to become fatigued and started to let out whining noises but Brick just sat and observed them silently for a long time.
He had made sure to wake up early so that he could avoid being called into work as soon as he awoke and he had to make his own mental preparations along with trying to gain a small advantage over others in the apocalypse.
Those that awakened earlier and more time ahead of others to allow them to develop their abilities and stay ahead of them.
It was not until much later that people started to discover the means to evolve and the limitations of each person because those in charge chose to withhold that information for their own benefit.
The only person who was supposed to know the details was the heroine who had regressed but since Brick was a reader of the story, he was aware of those secrets too. "This world is going to be pretty crazy soon so I cannot be too weak in either mind or body. I cannot hesitate otherwise how will I be above to live through the other more difficult challenges?"
The puppies started to become weaker and so did their breathing pattern until they stopped moving completely one after another.
"Urg..hrr."
A weird growl came from one of the puppies all of a sudden as it slowly rose onto its feet.
Its nose sniffed around and it walked towards the cage then bumped into it which caused it to be more aggressive.
He stood up then walked towards the cage which made the puppies more excited and aggressive.
"Hrr."
"Grr."
Brick raised the pointed end he had carved towards the first puppy with a look of hesitation in his eyes. "Sorry.."
The tip pierced the body of the puppy but it did not inflict an instant death blow because he showed a little hesitation towards the end and missed his target.
Brick ran towards the kitchen sink which was nearby and stuck his head inside. "Urk.. hurgh!"
Unlike the heroine who had lived through one life in the apocalypse, Brick still had the mentality of someone who had lived an ordinary life.
Even if he inherited the memories, abilities and regrets of the original Brick who failed to protect Tanya the villainess, there was still his a part of him which had required him to adjust to certain things.
He made preparations because he was not ready mentally and needed to prepare himself but an ordinary target would be too risky while some would have made him hesitate at the critical moments.
Babies, children, women, animals or baby animals would usually make people hesitate to attack even if someone knew they were already a zombie so it was not easy to overcome that mental barrier.
The puppies would have not survived the night and were too small to be kept during the apocalypse especially since they would bark and draw attention towards him.
Even if the puppies evolved instead of turning into a zombie, there were far too many cases where the animals that evolved had started to attack humans, many pet owners were attacked by their own pets unless their relationship was very close.
Most were difficult to tame unless someone had a power that would help with taming them.
He chose the puppies as his first target because they would test his will and help to remove weakness from himself by a lot but they were smaller and weaker while they could be trapped or restrained so they would be an easier opponent which meant his life was not in any real danger.
Brick finally stopped vomiting and then walked back over, the puppy was injured but it was still moving and there was thick black blood coming from the wound. "Hah.."
The next moment, the tip was thrust forward and it pierced through the puppies head.
The puppy fell over and no longer moved, Brick continued to carefully watch it before poking the pointed end into the body once again to make sure it was dead. "That is one, a couple more to go."
A little more time passed as he continued to to repeat the same task until all of them were killed.
Brick sat against the wall and then looked upward as if looking at the author who was the so called god of the world and then raised his middle finger up into the air. "I will survive this messed up place. Hah.."