After Paul finished everything, he quickly made his way back. A quick glance at his phone revealed that only 20 minutes had passed since their arrival at the museum, which meant that time must have stood still in the white room with the genie.
He ran back to the others, taking the same route as before. The only difference now was that it was no longer quiet outside; there were loud noises and many sirens, probably from all the emergency services and police vehicles responding to calls about strange figures or people being attacked by others without any apparent reason.
Paul hurried, and his worried expression showed that if he didn't, it could become dangerous for him and the others.
"Thore, Hannes, come outside, we need to leave now before it gets dangerous here!" Paul shouted.
"What do you mean? What's supposed to be dangerous, and why are you so agitated?" Thore asked, concerned about Paul's urgency.
"Are all these sirens because of us? What did you do back there?" Hannes asked, tense and angry at his brother because he didn't know what Paul had gotten them into.
"No, they're not here because of us, but the reason they're here is much worse! We need to leave now, so pack everything quickly, and then we have to go."
"Why are you so agitated? What is it that you're not telling us?" Thore asked.
"You'll see soon enough."
While Paul was trying to convince Thore and Hannes that they had no time to waste, they had already reached the museum's courtyard. Max and Justin stood at the museum gate, worried by the many sirens.
"Are they here because of us?" Justin asked excitedly, not wanting to get in trouble.
"No, they're not here because of us, but we need to leave now, so let's get to the car."
On the way to the car, the group saw a group of people walking down the street.
Paul was sure what kind of people they were. Just by their movements, he could tell they were zombies. He had seen this type of movement thousands of times in his previous life and would never forget it, so he was sure they had to be zombies.
"That's what I was talking about. It's too dangerous here; we need to leave now. As long as they're still somewhat harmless, we can make it," Paul said. He seemed calm yet excited because he knew that zombies in the early stages of the apocalypse were still harmless compared to those in the coming years.
The zombies of the apocalypse grew stronger over time, partly because they devoured other zombies and mutated, and partly because they grew stronger as they aged. They were classified into low-, middle-, high-, and calamity-threats. The zombies standing before them could probably only be counted as low threats. Nevertheless, a small infection would be enough to be doomed, so Paul was still cautious.
"Something's not right here. Move slowly to the car and try not to make any unnecessary noise," Paul ordered.
"That's just a drunk group of teenagers, no need to panic," Justin said, convinced that Paul was overreacting.
"HEY, DID YOU JUST COME FROM CLUB 1? WAS IT BUSY THERE?" Justin shouted, unaware of the trouble he was causing for the group.
Like a pack of hungry wolves, the zombies immediately changed direction and started running towards them. They weren't particularly fast, but still at least half as fast as a healthy human.
"Are you out of your mind? What do you think all this noise in the city is about?"
"Everyone to the car!" Paul shouted, angry at Justin's recklessness.
"What the hell are they? Why are they running towards us?" Max shouted, obviously disturbed by the sight of limping, disfigured people sprinting in his direction.
So, a group of teenagers was seen running towards a car, visibly disturbed by the group of zombies chasing them.
"Quick, get in, I'm driving," Paul shouted. He knew that if they didn't hurry, it could get tight, and he hadn't gone through all this trouble to die here and now.
Once they were in, Paul didn't waste a second. He started the car and, without regard for anything in front of him, drove towards the highway. His goal was to get to his parents' house in the countryside, where he would be safe from the virus and have time to prepare now that he had his system.
Just before they managed to leave the city, an obstacle appeared in their way. A mosquito the size of a head flew alongside them, searching for blood. It rammed into the passenger side window, where Thore was sitting after they had fled from the zombies.
"Ahhh, what the hell is that?" Thore screamed. He wasn't the only one screaming; everyone in the car was visibly disturbed.
"Thore, punch it before that thing breaks the glass!" Max shouted. He obviously wouldn't do it himself, but better Thore take the hit than him.
"No, keep the window up. It'll go away when it realizes it can't get in, and believe me, it probably won't even feel your punch," Paul shouted, annoyed by Max's stupid suggestion. He knew about monsters like these, but he was surprised to find one here. Giant mosquitoes were usually rare; not every animal in the world mutated, mostly just a small number that came into contact with infected blood.
The mosquito, however, didn't seem to have any plans of giving up and kept ramming into the window repeatedly. Paul had to come up with something before it broke the glass. He couldn't drive fast; it was still too curvy, and there was a little way to go before they reached the highway.
"That's it!" Paul said, obviously talking to himself.
"Then do something!" Thore shouted, pressing himself into the seat as much as possible, visibly scared.
Paul still had 6 system points that he had saved up. He immediately whispered, "System, shop, search, pistol."
Various pistols appeared before him, and he simply pressed the nearest one.
"What are you doing, waving your hands in the air?" Thore shouted.
"Shut up."
[Pistol: Steyr M9-A1]
[A good pistol that shoots 9mm rounds, was developed by Steyr Mannlicher GmbH & Co KG, from the World 1001.]
[Quality: Common]
[Quantity: ∞]
[Cost: 5 SP]
[Buy (1)]
Paul wasted no time and pressed [Buy]. Then he whispered, "System, search, 9mm ammunition."
A wide selection of ammunition appeared before him: hollow-point bullets, full metal jacket bullets, deformation bullets... Paul simply chose the nearest full metal jacket ammunition.
[Full Metal Jacket Bullets]
[Greater penetration of soft tissue and good for precise shots]
[Quality: Common]
[Quantity: ∞]
[Cost: 0.1 SP per 10 rounds]
[Buy (1)]
Paul didn't want to wave his hands in the air again, so he whispered [Buy (9)]. By speaking, he could still focus on the road without causing an accident.
In the next moment, Paul opened his inventory and equipped the pistol. As if by magic, a pistol appeared in his hand, much to the surprise of his passengers.
"Wow, where did that come from?" Max shouted, surprised and excited. He had never seen a real gun in his life, only airsoft guns, but this was different; this was a real weapon.
"Give it to me, I'll handle it," Thore shouted, visibly in a hurry, not wanting to get sucked dry.
Paul wasn't ready to give up the gun. Who knew where Thore would shoot? Paul had enough experience with weapons in his previous life and trusted himself the most to shoot the mosquito.
After Paul reloaded, he said to Thore, "No, just open the window after it rams it!"
Paul then aimed the gun at the mosquito. Why didn't he shoot immediately? Because he still needed the window, and driving the whole way without it would be too annoying.
"Wait, almost, 3, 2, 1, now!" The moment the mosquito rammed the window, Thore opened it, and Paul shot. Bullseye.
[Congratulations, you received 20 exp and 1 SP]
"Phew, thank God you have a gun with you. Wait, no, where did you even get the gun?" Thore asked, curious and relieved.
"I found it in the museum."
"Okay, and how did it appear in your hand?" Hannes asked, suspicious of his brother.
"I'll explain when we get there. For now, we need to get home; it's too dangerous here in the city!" Paul replied, obviously not in the mood to answer questions now.
A few minutes later, they had made it out of the city and were already on their way to the countryside.