Aiden's legs burned, but the futility of it became clearer with every stride.
No matter how much he pushed, the zombies closed in at the same steady pace.
Their slow, dragging steps were deceptively relentless, chewing away at the distance between them.
Running wasn't going to save him.
He skidded to a halt, spinning around to face them, breath heaving.
His fists forward, trembling more from adrenaline than fear. He steeled himself.
"Fine," he muttered under his breath. "If running won't work… then I fight."
The first zombie staggered forward, arms stretched out stiffly.
Aiden darted in, fists flying. Punch after punch slammed into the creature's chest and face, each blow jerking its body back slightly.
He stepped away as he struck, trying to keep some kind of buffer between them, but his strikes lacked the satisfying crunch he wished for.
The second zombie shuffled closer, and Aiden's stomach tightened.
'Crap. This isn't working. The more I slow this one down, the other catches up.'
Sure enough, the second zombie lurched ahead, its groan vibrating in the cool night air.
Without thinking, Aiden pivoted, switching his focus.
His fists slammed against the newcomer's torso, but the first zombie was already recovering.
Their persistence was terrifying, more mechanical than human.
Zombies didn't hesitate. Zombies didn't flinch.
And Aiden was running out of stamina.
Sweat slicked his forehead, his arms aching as he alternated between the two of them.
Each punch chipped at his endurance, his breaths coming sharper, faster. His body felt heavier with every strike.
But then—
The first one fell.
It crumpled into pieces with a dull pop, vanishing in that strange game-like way, leaving only scraps behind.
Aiden froze, fists mid-air, staring in shock. A flicker of hope ignited in his chest.
"I… I actually killed one." His lips curled into a shaky grin. "My first kill."
The triumph was short-lived. The second zombie was still on him, groaning, reaching.
Aiden gritted his teeth and pushed himself harder, landing blow after blow with renewed vigor.
His arms screamed, his lungs burned, but he didn't stop until—
Pop.
The second zombie collapsed into nothing.
For a long moment, silence pressed in. Aiden stood bent forward, hands on his knees, chest rising and falling like he'd just run a marathon. His pulse thundered in his ears, but slowly, slowly, it began to settle.
And then he saw it. Floating on the grass in front of him.
Rotten flesh.
"Eww," he muttered, recoiling instinctively.
Seeing rotten flesh in the game was never a big deal, it was just another ugly texture, barely worth thinking about.
But here, in person, its greenish hue and faint shimmer made his stomach twist.
It wasn't just pixels. It smelled faintly too, an acrid, sour stench that made the back of his throat tighten.
Rotten flesh in Minecraft was almost useless.
You couldn't cook it into anything edible. You couldn't really upgrade it into something better unless you had mods.
Sure, in the game he'd sometimes eat it just to keep his hunger bar up, ignoring the risk of food poisoning.
But here? In real life?
He gagged slightly at the thought.
"Not happening. No way I'm eating that."
He carefully sidestepped it, determined to leave it on the ground, but the universe had other plans.
The chunk of flesh shimmered, lifted, and zipped into his body like a magnet finding metal.
Aiden froze, blinking at his empty hand.
"…All that effort wasted," he muttered darkly.
Sure enough, the familiar text blinked faintly in his vision.
===========
Inventory
Oak Wood (64)
Oak Wood (30)
Rotten Flesh (2)
===========
He sighed, dragging a hand down his face.
"Just what I needed. Zombie jerky."
The woods around him were still quiet, but the silence no longer felt safe.
His heart was steadying, but his nerves were still frayed.
And the night wasn't over. Not even close.
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A/N: Please check out my other novel "Awakening Starting With The Villain System"
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