The world would have never thought this would actually happen one day, but looks like it did. Out of nowhere, seemingly dead walking creatures appeared on the roads of the city, as if out of a movie.
People didn't think it was real at first, but those who were taking pictures on the sidewalks to upload it to the net slowly started to notice the creatures change the direction of their seemingly mindless march to these unfortunate passer-by's. Instantly, the creatures' vacuous eyes got filled with fury and charged towards their prey, all hell broke loose.
Countless people deceased as a result all around the continent. The dead bodies inhumanely rose from the ground and barged along with the endless horde of Strugglers.
Humans didn't just watch, of course, but fought back with all their might to try and stop the devastating attacks of the Strugglers.
Still, mundane humans didn't even stand a chance.
That's when the Valiants first appeared. They have been blessed with the abilities to battle the Strugglers.
One or two Struggler didn't prove to be much of a challenge, but since the Valiants' powers were not that developed, a smaller horde could already pose a big threat to anyone inexperienced in combat.
This is how humanity tried to hold on for their survival.
…
2 years later…
Zane was just woken up by a ray of sunlight shining through the cracked windows.
The first thing he does every morning is a cold shower. He remembered how the Spartans used to believe that warm water makes you weak, and cold water makes you strong. Also, there was no hot water coming from the tap anyway.
With his body desperately trying to unfreeze him, he stepped out of the shower cabin and took a look at himself in the broken mirror of his small bathroom.
There was a young man with rugged brown hair and a fair complexion with a bronze tone staring back at him. He was of average stature and had an athletic build. He quickly dried himself and stepped out of the bathroom.
Walking through his small apartment on the third floor of an abandoned block of flats, he felt ready for the day.
The first thing on his list was always scavenging for food, because that was the most scarce resource, since he left the Shelter.
'Uh, I don't even want to think about that place' frowned Zane, while dressing up in his usual clothes.
He liked to wear clothes that were comfortable, light and didn't limit his movements.
...
Walking down the broken stairs of the desolate block of flats, which were already overgrown with vines, the thought of how much time has passed since the apocalypse popped into his mind.
The zombie-like creatures that they just called Strugglers, were wandering all around Perrington, which was the name of the city he resided in since the start of all this.
The ones on the streets were the lowest evolution, the Spawns. They were mindless and when a human appeared in front of their eyes, they went into a frenzy. Their physical capabilities were equal to the human when it was alive, or maybe a bit weaker.
Still, they were quite difficult to deal with for a mundane human. Thankfully, Zane was not just some mundane person. He has yet to awaken, but he was very experienced with the Spawns, since he spent almost every day fighting those dregs from the beginning of the apocalypse.
He heard that the more you kill, the better your ability will be after you awaken, which was supposed to happen when you get on the brink of death in a fight and you still have a strong will to live. He couldn't wait for it, and didn't want it to happen at the same time.
Stepping down from the last set of stairs, he made sure there were no Spawns around and made his way out of the building.
The scene looked just as what you would expect from a post-apocalyptic city. The offices had their windows broken and the walls had large cracks flowing through them.
The streets were also in chaos. Cars pointing in all directions, poles fell on the roads and there was a mess everywhere.
A few Spawns also wandered the streets, but if you didn't make noise or got close to them, they usually wouldn't notice you.
Still, Zane made sure that he avoided being in an open space, so he crossed through smaller alleys. He wouldn't risk getting the aggro of more than one or two Spawns at a time.
Especially today, since he had to travel a bit further than usual.
The local supermarkets were looted from everything edible, so he chose a bit larger one a few blocks away.
He hoped to find lots of canned sardines, since those were his favourite. They also made him feel fuller for longer and provided him with proper nutrition.
Arriving at the ruins of the store, he successfully avoided the Spawns. It's not that he didn't want to fight them at all, but he just preferred to do it in a place where he had the advantage of the surroundings. Fighting on the streets was not a wise decision for many reasons.
You could easily get ganged up on, which would be hard to survive if you are not awakened. The escape route could also be blocked by a Spawn and if you are very unlucky, you could run into a Struggler Leader, the next evolution of Strugglers.
Those were the real problem. Instead of being mindless, they had a hint of intelligence. Not to mention the fact that their physical capabilities were also much superior. A mundane human would never even stand a chance.
Zane ventured into the remnant of the supermarket. Entering the large space made his throat dry.
He usually only visited smaller stores, which he could see in its entirety, so the lack of transparency made him a bit anxious.
Some shelfs were on the ground, but it looks like the food was still relatively untouched.
'I wonder why nobody exploited this place yet.'
He heard that the evolutions above Spawns like to be territorial, which could potentially mean that the reason for this supermarket being mostly untouched could be that it's ruled by a Leader.
'Well, let's hope to not find that out.' Thought Zane, while shivers went down his spine just at the thought of having to face such a creature.
Proceeding into the aisles, he quickly found his first prey. The Spawn was alone around twenty meters away from him.
The repulsive looking creature with rotting flesh and dangling arms was limping in his direction.
Getting ready for the skirmish, Zane unleashed his weapon...