Axel threw up everything in his stomach.
Thankfully, it was already empty, so only stomach acid burned his throat, leaving an unpleasant aftertaste. Still, the pain in his chest, the numbness in his tongue, and the dizziness. Everything made it hard for him to refocus.
"Argh..." He wiped the mix of drool and stomach acids from his lips, frowning hard. "Fuck this shit...!"
He didn't feel good.
The smell and the fact that he "took" someone's or something's life made him want to throw up again. However, he also knew that he had no time to dally like that. The barricades continue to creak under the weight of the zombies pushing against them.
He couldn't be sure how long they would last.
He was alone, with enemies surrounding him on all sides. If a situation where the barricades gave up comes, then that'd also be the end of his life.
"U-Uraaaagh!"
With a fake shout to psyche himself up, letting the adrenaline pump, he stabbed the spear once again.
He could feel the sharp tip going through rotten flesh, hitting and breaking bones as it went right through. The zombies were more fragile than he thought.
"Yuck!"
Axel groaned as he pulled the spear back, watching as another zombie melted into an inexplicable, smelly goo.
"So one stab and they're dead..." he analyzed, before tightening his grip even further.
His palm was already white from holding the shaft, and no blood was flowing to the tips of his fingers anymore. "Haap! Yah!" Without rest, he continued stabbing the zombies, moving around the pentagonal fence in a clockwise manner.
He was felling zombies at a rate of one every two to three seconds, but that still felt too slow.
"Faster...!" he thought, speeding up his steps.
But his impatience led to tragedy.
As he stabbed the spear forward, offing another zombie, Axel tripped on his own legs and fell forward, crashing against the barricade.
"Shit... That stings...!"
He complained lightly as he tried to stand up, but...
"...!"
Suddenly, a rotten hand extended through the gaps, grabbing his hair.
The strength was beyond what he had expected. It felt almost as if his hair was getting pulled by a lathe machine going berserk!
"L-Let go...!" Axel cried, trying to pry the hand off him.
However, the only thing he pried off of it was the skin and a few pieces of rotten meat. But that wasn't the worst of it. More hands reached through the gaps, trying to grab him, scratching his skin with sharp nails, and pulling on his clothes.
Injuries started appearing on his body. Although light, it still hurt all the same.
Just as he was getting scared that his scalp would get pulled off, or that he'd get hit in a worse place...
"Keep your dirty hands off me...!"
He finally got the spear through the gap and hit the assailant!
As soon as the one holding his hair turned into goo, leaving a few residues over his head, he dropped back and panted. "You, you, and you...! Die!" But his hands didn't stop, thrusting the spear nonstop, killing zombies who were nearby.
After he stabbed about ten of them in one go, he finally had time to confirm his injuries.
His scalp hurt, maybe got a bunch of his hair pulled off, leaving it bleeding. He got a few deep cuts across his shoulder and arms. And his inner coat was now a mess, ripped here and there.
"This shit cost me over one grand!" he grumbled, anger welling in his heart, overpowering the pain and fear he felt. "And you, fucking zombies, dare destroy it!"
Then, as if possessed, he ran around the barricade, stabbing any zombie he saw. He ran and ran until he was out of breath. Stand in place while resting, still stabbing nonstop, before running around once more.
He continued killing zombies as if he were in a trance until it finally arrived. The moment that...
"There's... no more zombies..."
The barricades were now all quiet.
Only the flesh, juice, or goo polluted the surroundings of his camp. If his nose were still working, he would've found the stench unbearable.
[Yes, Contractor! Congratulations, you survived the first night's wave~! Not only that, but you also completed your first quest! Please check your rewards!]
The little penguin popped up suddenly, announcing in a lively voice.
Axel listened to Navi's words but didn't really pay attention.
He didn't even bother pointing out how lazy it was not to put up an announcement the moment he completed the quest. Instead, he just fell on his bum, letting out a deep, long sigh.
"Fuck... It's finally over," he whispered, lying down directly on the ground.
Unfortunately, there were no stars in the night sky.
Only pitch darkness and the faint, flickering flame of his burning campfire. The crackling of the firewood filled his ears, a relaxing tune to accompany his rest.
"...Right. Rewards."
He remembered the quest and also recalled what he could get from it. Particularly food and water.
"Food..." he thought, before looking around and shaking his head. "Nah, I'd do that tomorrow. First is water. I need to drink water..."
After sitting up, he checked his inventory.
"Hmm... Log, log, log... sticks? More logs... Where's the damn reward?" He grumbled as he kept scrolling down before finally stopping.
He found the rewards at last!
There were fifteen pieces of French bread, each about half a meter long at least. Then, there were 15 gallons of water. Quite generous amount for a single quest reward.
Lastly, there are two unfamiliar items.
One was a... sword. It was like a common medieval longsword, with a long pommel and a two-meter-long blade. If wielded creatively, it could be used the same as a spear, too.
"This will make killing those zombies easier..." he muttered, the corner of his lips rising ever so slightly.
However, he pushed that aside. He'd rather not think of those stinkbugs right now, or he might lose his appetite to drink water.
With trembling hands, he withdrew one of the fifteen gallons of water he had.
To his surprise, it was in a plastic container. Not something you'd find in a not-so-modern world setting. It was weird, but Axel didn't bother with such minor details.
He twisted the gallon's cap off, poured a bit to wash his hands, and took a mouthful and rinsed his mouth before proceeding to drink just enough to sate his thirst.
Water dripped down his lips, toward his neck, and wetted his chest. "Puhah...! Ah... I feel alive...!"
Feeling the icky feeling of wet clothes sticking to his skin, he quickly removed his long sleeves, stripping his upper body bare.
"Now, let's wash off the residue..."
And using the water he had, he washed off the pieces of rotten meat stuck to his hair and body. Especially to clean his wounds.
After he was all clean, he sat before the fireplace, hugging his now-clean spear... and stayed awake the entire night.
After all, who said that no more zombies would come?