Chapter 8: Ancient Egypt Theme

Although, Oakley couldn't use his other plants for the time being, he though that in the future the theme would change again. And, whether the themes occurred in the sequence on the game? He didn't know, everything that's happened so far was behind his comprehension.

Oakley would just take everything that came in strides, and with that he started wandering the desert aimlessly after picking up the pomegranate plant, knowing that could last for hours without being in the soil.

As for the infusion of mana provided by sunflowers and plants to that effect, that kept other plants, like the pea shooter, alive? It seemed like his theory was flawed, or maybe the conditions have changed.

Even after walking for a while, the pomegranate showed no signs of degradation or weakness like he remembered with the pea shooter. Though he didn't know why, he knew that the change with the world definitely had to do with it.

Oakley shivered as he walked trudged along the sand, which had long since made its way into his shoes. He had to take them off to dump out the sand often.

Shhh… shhh…

More tombstones rose from under the sand meters away from his location, immediately drawing the attention of the energetic pomegranate.

The long stem on the pomegranate arched back with the large seed, and launched it in the air in the next second.

Crack! Thump!

Most of the tombstones were quickly dealt with in succession, but a few mummified zombies managed to make there way up.

Swoosh!

Oakley placed the pomegranate down, rushing forward with speed that would put professional athletes to shame, and this wasn't his top speed due to the him having to be mindful of the sandy terrain.

He threw out a punch that was followed by another, taking down two zombies. By no means did he have any experience in close combat, hence the heavy reliance on him plants and the simple attacks.

The pomegranate had fired off two shots with uncanny precision, which hit the two zombies closest to Oakley. Contrary to what one may think, the sandy terrain didn't help the bandage-wrapped zombies.

Oakley found it funny that the very terrain the mummies came from was a detriment to them, slowly them down.

What of the bigger enemies then?

'Piece of cake.' Oakley thought, while punching a zombie into another, followed by the finishing shot from the pomegranate.

Swoosh… swoosh…

But, it seems he thought too soon.

Oakley heard sounds behind him, but wasn't in a hurry to check, thinking that it was just more tombstones.

"RAAAUUGHHH!" A loud roar sounded out behind him.

There were two gargantuan monsters, slowly rising from under the sand, about half of their body were visible. Even then, they were already bigger than him, towering several feet into the air already.

The pomegranate fired off some shots, and it seems to do practically nothing, akin to someone throwing an egg at a boulder.

"Well, f*ck." Oakley's face visibly lost color, a stark contrast to earlier, but he didn't lose hope, 'maybe I can kite them, the sand should hinder their speed significantly due to their hulking figures.'

Swoosh… swoosh…

Several zombies, gathered in groups of three spawned with large slabs of stone in their hand, and there was a picture of each that made up the picture of a camel.

Oakley immediately made a run for it in the opposite direction.

The reason? The gargantuars, as was their name from the game, were now protected by the zombies holding the stone.

Though he could just make more pomegranates, he didn't want to end up in a situation where he wasted his mana for naught.

What if he made all those plants, exhausting himself of his mana and then lost the battle? He would have no way of defending himself later, even if he escaped, not to mention that exhausting all of his mana put him in a temporary state of fatigue, fatal for the current situation.

And, he knew that the gargantuars that had yet to surface were powerhouses in their own right.

The combinations of enemies were too powerful for him right now, and he was not ready. First, Oakley would have to destroy the beefy stone-bearing zombies, that always came in threes, each holding a thick slab of stone. Then, he would have to take down the gargantuars that were even more tanky.

'No thanks.' Oakley thought to himself as he dashed, pomegranate in hand.

It was still shooting the same gargantuar from earlier, littering it's head in pomegranate juice and flesh. It couldn't accept the fact that it did little to no damage to it.

"RAAAUUGHHH!"

Oakley could faintly see the mentioned gargantuar bellowing out in his direction, probably wanting to smash Oakley into meat paste. And, the pomegranate into, pomegranate paste?

'Don't worry, you'll get your chance.' Oakley caressed the pomegranate.

Oakley knew what fights to pick, and this was not one of them.

…

Swoosh… Swish…

About an hour after he left, more tombstones spawned, this time with several other types of zombies.

There were somehow zombies that were bearing lit torches, zombies mostly encased in sarcophaguses, and normal zombies among others.

If he had stayed and fought in a battle of attrition…

…

Thump!

"Hah… hah…" Oakley was sprawled on the sand, he had been running as fast as he could for a while. Even though the zombies were slow, he wouldn't grow complacent again.

He was just fickle like that, sometimes rational in one moment and irrational in another.

Crunch! Crunch!

He was munching on the flesh around a large pomegranate seed, thinking about his next move, 'I should probably rest first, and I can use the pomegranate as an alarm of sorts to warn of any incoming danger.'

He placed the pomegranate down, and decided to sleep for now. Despite the chill of the night, he actually felt quite hot due to the running, and there was the enhancement from his power being pretty high.

Swish…

He wasn't even asleep yet, and the zombies had decided to come.

The pomegranate sprung into action, shattering the tombstone.

Oakley knew more would come, so he grabbed the pomegranate and made started jogging in another direction.

He would try to conserve more stamina this time by jogging, rather than the desperate sprinting he did earlier.

Whenever he rested, he would reflect on his mistakes, and try to not make them again.

The mistakes so far could have cost him dearly, so he made it a point to not repeat them.

…

Such instances occurred over and over, till morning.

Oakley's eyes were bloodshot, and he felt too tired to even move.

He had been trying to rest all night, only to have to wake up and run from the tombstones repeatedly. Sure, the tombstones were easy to deal with at first, but he knew that the difficulty would ramp up every time.

He wasn't going to waste his time on fighting that unless he was farming for experience, something he had already exhausted him over prior to obtaining the pomegranate plant.

He was only human, and as such, he needed rest.

Only now did he know the true colors of this seemingly easy theme. Sure, the zombies were weak, but they would keep coming at you over and over, not giving you an ounce of rest.

Anyone would be worn down, and Oakley speculated that millions of people must have perished already, if they had survived up till this point.

He sat there for a while, having already eaten.

The fact that his plants could provide food and water was a big advantage for him, giving him the energy he needed to keep going.

The expected 'swishing and swooshing' sounds didn't come.

'No, no, they must be waiting for when I'm about to fall asleep.' Oakley had long since suspected that the zombies knew when he was about to fall asleep, hence why they appeared at those times to further wear him down mentally, 'Dr. Zomboss if you exist, don't ever appear before me.'

Such were the thoughts that he had been having throughout the night.

Little did he know that it was his luck to not appear in front of Dr. Zomboss…

He waited for another hour, and even then, there was none of the expected sounds from the tombstones rising from under the sands.

His eyes darted around warily, waiting. If it came to it he would make a final stand here, but none of that happened.

Thump!

Oakley immediately collapsed, he was worn down physically and mentally to his very limits.

He believed that that zombies wouldn't attack during the day, or they didn't appear as often during the day.

Either way, he was too tired to move, and trusted the pomegranate enough to deal with any stragglers that may appear.

He didn't even take the time to make anymore pomegranates, that was how fatigued he was.

And even after he went fell asleep, there were no zombies within the vicinity.