Bzz, bzz!
Zane's phone was buzzing like crazy in his hand, a message from Ava popping up on the screen. He glanced down to see what's up, a text from Ava.
"Zane, you good? Zombies are all over the place, I'm freaking out here. You still kicking?" Zane took a deep breath and hit the screen.
"Still kicking." Ava shot back a message fast, all worried. "I'm stuck in my dorm, running low on snacks. You've got a stash at the supermarket, right? Can you hook me up?"
Zane cracked a small smile as he texted back, "On my way." But deep down, he was torn; he was one of the undead now, and Ava was just walking, talking dinner. But he figured now wasn't the time to snack. He needed to beef up first to make sure things went smooth.
Ava, clueless, was just sitting tight, waiting for her hero. "Zane, you gotta save me, I'm here waiting! Love ya." Zane didn't text back; his eyes were now on the neighborhood group chat, all chaos and SOS calls.
"Yo, neighbors, a zombie's banging on doors down the hall, what's the move?" "Block the door, quick! Don't let it bust in!" "We're running out of eats, can't last much longer!" "Chill, everyone! Zombies ain't that tough, just took one out with a shovel! Who's down to scavenge for supplies?"
Zane just watched all this go down. Even though he was a zombie, he wasn't feeling the munchies for his neighbors. He was all about that beef, said it made him level up quicker.
He was thinking about rounding up some zombie crew, not for chowing down, but to keep his turf chill and free from drama.
Zane grabbed his keys and stepped out. The low growls in the hall told him other zombies were wandering about.
He wasn't planning a big trip, just wanted to recruit a few zombie pals from around the building. He wasn't fussy; as long as they weren't too messy, they'd do.
He hit the stairs and had just dropped down a floor when he caught sight of a figure in the hallway corner. It was a girl, growling low, definitely another zombie.
Zane felt something familiar about her, something from before all this. He remembered her; she lived downstairs, used to be a high jumper.
Even zombified, her legs were still killer, her moves quick.
Zane saw some real potential in this zombie. With the right push, she could be a top-tier undead. He tossed her a bag of frozen steaks, and she was on it in a flash, kneeling down to rip it open.
After she wolfed down the steak, she looked up at Zane, eyes all wide and hopeful.
Zane knew she was looking for a leader. He hit her with a mind message, telling her sticking with him meant more grub. She seemed to get it, nodding her head like she was in.
Zane cracked a small grin; he'd snagged himself a solid sidekick. In the zombie world, that meant—total loyalty.
Zane had just bagged his first minion, and with this zombie chick by his side, they cruised the hallways. It wasn't long before he spotted two more zombies with some serious potential.
One was a gym rat from his past life, muscles for days and strength off the charts—a real beast among the undead.
The other, not so beefy, was a brainiac with a PhD.
Zane dug him for the smart spark in his eyes, a hint of old-school smarts. If you were comparing zombie smarts to dogs, this PhD zombie was like the Einstein of Border Collies.
Besides these two, the rest were just background noise to Zane. He headed back to his pad with his three new crew members, feeling pretty good about his picks.
These three zombies had the makings of something big, though they weren't quite ready to throw down with armed humans yet.
"If only you dudes could handle some weapons," Zane thought aloud. Then, bam, it hit him. It wasn't that zombies couldn't use weapons; they just needed some schooling.
With a flick of his wrist, Zane whipped out three long swords from his stash and tossed them on the floor. The sound of metal clashing caught the zombies' attention. They stared at the swords, totally clueless.
Zane barked at them to grab the swords.
This time, the zombies seemed to get what he was aiming for and did as told. The gym rat, though, grabbed the sword by the blade.
"Ouch!" The blade sliced his palm, blood dripping down. But since zombies don't really feel pain, he didn't even wince. Instead, he looked kinda proud, showing off to Zane like he did something right.
"Seriously?" Zane facepalmed. "You think you're gonna chop folks with that?" Meanwhile, the PhD zombie, catching on quick, smartly grabbed the handle and swung it around a few times, getting the hang of it. Seeing this, Zane let out a sigh of relief.
He told the other two to watch and learn from the PhD. With a role model in sight, the other two got the message and switched to holding the handles.
This proved zombies could totally be trained. But the ones doing the training had to be top-tier zombie bosses.