Author note at the end. Enjoy.
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Alex hated his system due to what happened the second day. He knew it wasn't logical. That it was all his fault for not knowing the capabilities and functions and features of it before jumping in blind.
But one thing he remembered was that the system did answer him once on the first morning. At the time, he had dismissed it and later, forgot about it. But when he tried to ask questions with intent to the system, it remained quiet.
It could be for multiple reasons, but one of them could be a time limit. As long as he sees the screen, he can ask until the invisible timer fades out with the system. But it still does exist and help. The proof of it was the implemented backgrounds that he was getting in snippets.
He would prefer getting it all together but complaining wouldn't change anything. Even now, on day 15, he was throwing a tantrum. Instead of directly going to the farm with the directions he had received. Alex had decided to hit up another camping side and run up another trail for endurance.
The good news in all of this was that his migraines and stomachache had mostly stopped as soon as he found the problem. Minerals. The human body needs a lot of minerals and filtered water from the cities get rid of them alongside any waste.
Meaning, people drink dead water. Water that has no benefit. A way to fix it is to add natural sea salt to the water. Something that has most of essential minerals, though it does lack iodide.
A pinch of sea salt in his water bottle and migraines and headaches were gone. At least, most of them. The other reason as why sometimes he would still get it is his diet. Which was protein powder with a couple of eggs. Afterwards, a couple of his favorite fruits, such as peaches, grapes, banana, and dates. Lots of dates.
He read somewhere that humans could survive on dates and water for the rest of their lives. Keyword being survive. But with eggs, biological eggs that he had bought from a small farm market. Things that literal all a baby chick needs to survive in its shell, he was good.
That was his meal of the day.
For days.
The emergency rations and canned goods were not touched and left in the back of the pickup trucks with the cover covering all of the treasure. Why waste them when they weren't needed right away.
'Enough wasting time.' Alex thought to himself with a sigh. It was time to accept whatever way his system was helping him. And if that way was to grape his brain with new things, then so be it.
Cleaning his camp site, he put everything in the car before sprinting up the new hiking trail. 45 minutes later, he was running it back down. Sweaty, but less winded than 2 days ago. After another nap in the car, he looked at the map in his phone. While he didn't know the address of the Greene farm, he knew which street he had to take to find it. But the problem was, Alex would have to take the highway to get to the street.
So, he needed to look at the countryside roads. By his estimates, only a week was left before the beginning of it all. And while it was distant, even from the inside of Oconee National Forest Park, he could hear the sound of sirens. And even some helicopters heading towards north. And only two major cities were north. Athens and Atlanta.
With that as his cue, he thought about the country roads to get to his destination. After 10 minutes of tracing the roads, he got one. Though the time had increased from two hours of drive to four, he didn't mind it. Better be safe than lose everything in a roadblock or traffic.
Making sure he didn't forget anything; he got on the road with the radio on.
After 30 minutes of drive, he got bored and searched the available channels until he stopped on an emergency channel.
The emergency broadcast hummed through the car's speakers as Alex drove. The voice on the radio was clipped and measured, the kind of tone reserved for when things had already spiraled far out of control.
They were advising residents in nearby towns to stay indoors, avoid crowded areas, and "remain calm." The repetitive message was a recording, meaning the radio host or station had already dipped. Probably.
Alex clicked the radio off with a frown. The silence was better, though not by much. The countryside stretched out before him, the two-lane road winding gently through dense patches of forest.
He caught himself glancing at the rearview mirror more often than he liked, his paranoia manifesting as a near-constant itch at the back of his neck. Was someone following him? Would the roads ahead be blocked? These thoughts kept popping up in his head like fireworks, and he was getting tired of it mentally.
Just as he rounded a sharp bend, something darted across the road. He slammed the brakes instinctively, the truck skidding slightly before coming to a stop.
A deer.
No—more than one.
At least a dozen animals, moving in scattered bursts of motion, emerged from the woods on either side of the road. The first one stopped in the middle of the asphalt in surprise, its ears twitching and its large brown eyes locking Alex. Before continuing and escaping into the forest.
Alex left a sigh of relief and his inside calmed down. Though it didn't happen, the good thing about pickup trucks was that they were solid. If he hit a deer, it would only dent the car instead of totaling it.
He thought about getting back on the road but stopped at groan coming from the forest from where the dears ran away from. At first, he thought it was his imagination. But that's when he heard it. Another groan and snap of twigs and branches. Then leaves shoved aside.
For a moment, Alex felt rooted in place. His body screamed for him to drive, to get moving, but his curiosity held him still. His eyes scanned the line of trees where the sound was coming from.
A faint shape appeared in the shadows—no, several shapes. Dark, shambling forms moved through the trees, just barely visible in the fading light.
Alex's stomach dropped.
"Walkers." He whispered to himself; voice barely audible over the sound of his heartbeat. They were disgusted looking. Filled with blood, dirt, and their skin was already rooting. Meaning, they were dead for about a week. Another thing to notice was that it wasn't just one or two of them. There was at least a dozen. Meaning, there was a possibility of this turning into a horde. If it wasn't one already.
While they struggled to walk a couple of meters, Alex had already dug into his bag and took out his slingshot. The thought of getting into the melee range wasn't even present. Once slingshot in hand, he drove a dozen meters away from the Walkers and got out of his car.
Alex scanned the ground for suitable ammo, his eyes darting between the gravel and the tree line. The walkers weren't moving fast, but they were surely getting to him, their groans carrying an almost hypnotic rhythm that was frightening. His fingers found a fist-sized stone, rough and weighty enough to cause damage. It would have to do.
He loaded the slingshot quickly, his hands shaking with the thunder in his chest. But taking a deep breath, steadied his aim, Alex drew back the band, the tension in his arms mirroring the tension in his gut. He aimed for the walker closest to the road, a woman—or what had been a woman—draped in tattered clothing, her face barely recognizable beneath the grime and rot.
Snap!
The stone flew through the air, striking the walker squarely in the chest.
"Oh… Sorry." He muttered to himself, embarrassed.
To lighten the tension, he continued to himself. "Not a pervert. Just wanted your head."
And instead, chuckled to himself. "Well, that's worse." He spoke, taking another stone.
Before drawing the band and letting it go.
Snap!
This time, it got the head. The sickening crunch of bone echoed in the stillness, and the figure collapsed instantly. Alex allowed himself a moment of satisfaction as one or two walkers tripped, which started a chain reaction of most of the ones on the back were held back.
"Huh." He thought to himself. "I can use that."
Without much hesitation and tension, Alex continued his course. Load up, aim, and let go. This was perfect for him because he could finally practice in the real situation without much pressure. If they got too close, Alex could simply get in his truck, drive away for a moment, then restart.
It was still a mystery as to why or how the world's military lost against this. But trying to get the answer to that question would be useless. It was happening now.
Half an hour later, he had killed the two and half dozens of walkers and was back on the road. The main reason it took that long was simply because he was searching for good stones on the road. Though he did have the steel ball ammos that he purchased with the slingshot, he didn't want to waste them yet.
He wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand, his chest still rising and falling from the exertion. It hadn't been physically taxing—certainly not compared to his runs up the hiking trails—but the psychological weight of dealing with the walkers left him drained. He would get used to the tension mentally soon with time.
Alex glanced at the rearview mirror one last time. The road behind him was clear now, but the sight of those walkers lingered in his head. They truly were ugly. And smelt bad. Really bad.
He turned his attention back to the road ahead, forcing himself to focus. If this was what the countryside were like, he couldn't imagine what chaos was already unfolding in the cities. The emergency broadcast earlier hadn't offered much in terms of specifics, but the warnings were clear enough: stay out of populated areas.
Immediately, he frowned. 'Glen.' The name came and he took his phone to call him. He had completely forgotten his best friend until the situation with the walkers.
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Author note:
Hello again.
So, I kinda had to change the plan a bit. I wanted to bring the farm in this chapter, but while writing, I remembered about Glen's situation back at the Atlanta. From the series, he was still in there until he met Rick and the groups. And since I don't have the votes yet for if I shoulder include them or not, I'll keep his side of the story vague.
And decided to end it with that. While the chapter is short, I kinda used up all of my creative juices for now, since I was writing for 2 days now constantly. I don't want to keep going despite it and burn out.
Regarding the Walking Dead simulated world, I'm thinking of making it about 40-50 chapters long. Meaning, after the 50th chapter, I'm thinking of going to another fiction. While I do have some kind of idea on which one, I'm free to suggestions and see if they meet my rough plan for this massive Crossover: What-if fanfiction.
Another thing that I will be asked frequently, if I'm not being asked right now, "What about love interest."
The answer is, I'm not sure. Alex is between 18-20 years old. So Clem is out of the question since I'm not taking this story in that direction. For those thinking dirty thoughts, I meant reducing age of mc or go for adult Clem which is in the future. (You sick.. sickos.) But you can suggest matches and I'll see. Though I will not announce it due to it being spoiler and takes out the fun of you guys guessing.
Also reminder, No one is safe.
For all you know, the real mc could be Glen and Alex could just die all of the sudden.
So, don't get too comfortable.
Anyway, what do you think of this so far?
Am I doing a good job or a poor job? Let me know.
Hope you enjoyed it. Stay safe.
Author out.