1 The beginning of the end and the start of the beginning

Technology had become everything and then some jerk uploaded a virus into the world's systems causing mass system crashes everywhere and if that wasn't bad enough someone released a biological weapon that turned 90% of humanity into zombies the upside is those who were immune suddenly found that they now had a system that basically granted them superpowers. I am a survivor of the tech plague I was literally a nothing just some gamer geek who looked like a ghost because I didn't see much sun in fact the first time I realized something was going on was when I flipped on the tv and got nothing but static.

I turned on my radio and listened for the emergency broadcast and finally found out that the world as I knew it had been utterly destroyed most infected had turned into some form of zombie the majority of which were either sprinters or walkers sprinters are from the more athletic people in life who jogged or ran while walkers are just the average person body builders became tanks literally undead beasts that have so much mucle they are nearly impossible to kill with a firearm though thankfully only the ones on steroids seemed to bulk up to proper tanks and then the people who were seriously overweight became walking bombs all the fat in their bodies converted into toxic plague ridden gases one hit and they explode. The special undead who still retained their memories some even gained the abilities reserved for the living and now the living most are simply mundanes no special abilities to speak of yet still they became stronger and faster than they were originally and finally the specials who got every kind of psionic ability unlocked though most only had one or two of them everything from remote viewing to pyrokinesis and telepathy it was exciting to find out though I didn't learn it from the emergency broadcast but the ramblings of a pirate radio station.

I didn't feel any stronger or faster so I figured I'd not gotten infected yet but just to be sure I browsed the Internet and looked up a wiki on the hows and whys surprisingly the internet was still up. I found out that the more zombies you kill in melee combat the better your chances of not becoming a zombie and of getting your psionic powers unlocked. I decided to search through my place to find anything of use and found a replica sword that was both blunt and heavy made to be displayed but could probably kill a couple zombies if I tried though I'd have to reinforce the handle and put an edge on it before I did and I also found my autographed baseball bat that would certainly work for killing zombies so I doubled up on shirts put my toughest jacket on and put longer shorts on over my pants and duck taped newspapers around my forearms then I put on my toughest set of gloves which happened to be open finger type leather motorcycle gloves and then I set out to kill some zombies.

My first encounter went terribly I met a sprinter and he rusher me before I could get a swing in luckily I managed to fend him off long enough to draw my dull sword and stab him with my dull blade which slowed him down enough to get a connection with my bat. I recovered my sword and looked for another line zombie to kill and quickly found another this one a walker and it turned out to be an easy fight after all how strong can a disease make a 90 year old grandmother who had been my neighbor for years. I was starting to get the hang of killing zombies and got a little cocky so when I spotted three walkers I tried to take them all on bad idea I managed to take the first zombies head right off with my sword but then it broke and the blade impaled the third zombie not slowing it in the least my bat easily took out the second zombie but by then the third was trying to bite me so I pushed it back and sliced my left hand open on the broken sword blade. I managed to finish the last zombie and retreat to my apartment to deal with my wounded hand using some dishrags and duct tape I even doused it with alcohol before I put it on boy did that not feel good ouch. I sat down after performing some first aid and contemplated what it would take to heal up my hand time wise and winced I'd killed 5 zombies and now I had a crippling injury that might take a month to heal I was not happy in the least and now I was half as effective with my baseball bat.

My situation wasn't looking good but I had to keep killing zombies before the plague took me so I dug out what food I had and found some jerky and beef sticks which I devoured and then I grabbed my biggest steak knife and went back out. My next encounter was perfect a lone zombie and a walker too I quickly dispatched it and went apartment by apartment killing zombies with my knife which proved far easier than looking for them in the lobby and safer as they were usually alone. I quickly racked up twenty five zombie kills in a few hours and started getting tired so I headed home to rest and recuperate my energy.

For 5 days I continued killing zombies at about the same pace racking up an impressive 124 zombie kills in melee combat and I decided to check the wiki and see how many I'd need to kill to be guaranteed to get a super power and found a whole list of complaints and comments saying that it was a scammer and a prank etc and I just sat there stunned like a fish out of water. I had been scammed why who would come up with a scam to make people risk their lives to kill zombies I was so frustrated that I threw my keyboard and smashed the monitor and then I put on my zombie killing suit and went to go kill some zombies to take out my rage and frustration.

By the end of that day I had added 41 zombies to my kill count now at 175 zombie kills and I spent that night curled into a ball crying from exhaustion and rage I was going to kill every single zombie I found and I didn't care how many that was I had run out of food and even the neighbors had been wiped out it was time to go to the store and I just knew it would be zombie central. I woke up the next day and I hurt everywhere and was lethargic and then I knew I had contracted the disease and I wouldn't have to worry about food again I'd probably become a zombie so I made myself a proper last meal and lay down on the couch as I ate it eating mechanically I knew that I would be changing in a couple hours and I didn't care anymore though I did unlock my door and open it before I crawled into bed to await my fate.

I passed out at some point and woke up totally disoriented and tired but completely aware could I have survived the infection and become a mundane or hope against hope become a special human gifted with powerful abilities. I stumbled my way to the bathroom feeling stronger with every step and flicked on the bathroom lights and turned to the mirror and screamed. I had transcended my base humanity I had gained something unlike anything else that I'd ever had or been.