Late for the Apocalypse

March 16, 2020

It was a sunny Monday morning.

Usually, at this time of the day, the campus of Brightville University was already lively. Students, professors and even outsiders that had some business in the university could be seen everywhere.

However, in the dormitory building 1 of the engineering department, one of the students was still soundly asleep.

Miles O'Connor. An eighteen year old first year engineering student. He came from a province far from Brightville and only went here to study under the scholarship he received. He was not very smart but for someone who spends a lot of time playing games, his grades were pretty decent.

Ddring ddring ddring

His phone vibrated continuously. The sound normally wakes up people but because he did some level grinding last night, he went to bed late.

Ddug Ddug Ddug

Simultaneously, there was a banging sound from the door. It was not someone knocking but something hitting the door.

Miles groaned as he reached out for his phone and silenced his alarm with his half closed eyes.

He then stood up and approached the door while in his pajamas.

"Who the hell is it?" he grabbed the doorknob and pushed the door open. However, he was surprised when it didn't even bulge.

He thought that someone was playing pranks on him so he pushed the door forcefully in one go.

Bam!

The door opened and Miles saw students outside his room.

The moment he saw them, he subconsciously closed the door in fear. Right then, the banging on the door continued and was heavier than before. He was wide awake in a second.

"What the hell is wrong with these people? Hey! If you break my door, you guys are going to pay for it!" He shouted as he tried to look into the peephole and confirmed the students that were trying to open the door.

"Man, they put a lot of effort in their costumes." The students outside his room were dressed as zombies.

They have gray eyes, pale skin, bloodied mouth, a few rotting muscles and wounds on their bodies. They move fast as they slam on the door while growling. Some also move slowly and groan under their breath.

He was still believing he was being pranked on until a person walked by with his neck in a weird position and his innards hanging out from his stomach, dragging it on the ground.

"What the hell?!" Miles stepped back in shock. He looked again and confirmed what he just saw.

He felt goosebumps all over his body.

'That was real! It's too real to be fake.'

Slap!

"Damn, it hurts. So this is real and that-those things outside too are real." Miles was shocked.

He locked the door and blocked the doorknob with a chair before running to the window.

Outside, he saw people like the ones that were outside his room. Everywhere he looked, there were zombies. There was also smoke coming out from some areas. Red stains were scattered all over the ground. He finally smelled the blood in the air and gagged a few times.

He became more nervous.

"David? Sammy? Jason?" He checked the room for his roommates. They were gone. "They might have gone to class."

"My phone!" He took his phone and opened it.

[ 20 missed calls from 'Mom' ]

[ 10 missed calls from 'Dad' ]

[ 10 missed calls from 'Sis' ]

[ 5 missed calls from 'David' ]

[ Mom: Have you seen the news, Miles?]

[ Mom: Are you alright?]

[ Dad: The wave reached our town. Me, your mom and Mina will leave the town after we take your grandparents. They said that there is a safe site north of Sonville. We will go there and if it's not good, we will go to the cabin of your Uncle Rick in the woods. Let's meet there. If not, just stay where you are and I will find you, just tell me. Be safe, Miles. Take care. I hope to see you soon. I love you.]

[ Sis: Brother, are you safe? I hope you are safe! Please! Always take care and make sure to survive! We will also do our best to survive! Let's meet each other soon, okay? Mwah. Love you. ]

[ LNN - The Apocalypse is Upon Us...]

[ 8am News - Unexplainable Events happening All over the World...]

[ Early News - Zombies are Real and They are Here...]

[ BCC - People Awakening so called Systems...]

[ All News - A Game-like world...]

[ Daily Scope - Humans as Players...]

[ QTV - A New Age has just Began...]

[ Crazed Blob - The End of the World...]

[ Emergency Broadcast! - An unknown virus is spreading. It is advised that you stay inside your home, lock the doors and any entrances and don't leave. We will be updating you in a short while. ]

As Miles read and browsed each message and notification, his eyes grew wider and his heart began beating even faster than before.

He was trying to digest the information that he just saw.

Out of nowhere, a zombie apocalypse came and it quickly spread all over the world. A billion people were already killed and another billion were turned into zombies and these numbers were increasing drastically every second.

Another thing was that those who are still alive awakened a system that gave them a panel and status like from the games. People began trying to level up but this only sped up the spread of the infection.

It was currently 9:30 am and the messages and notifications came from the last two and a half hours.

"Damn it. I am late for the apocalypse."

He emptied a bottle of water and calmed himself down.

"My family went to Sonville. I received the message at 7:30 and considering that they went to grandpa's, they will arrive at that area at about 8:45. If there is traffic and other factors are considered, they should be at their destination at 10 am to 10:30. Hmmm. I will wait for their update."

Miles then felt confused.

"People awakened systems right? But why don't I have one? They didn't say anything about doing something to awaken it. Just people suddenly have it. Well, I am still human and I am still alive but why don't I have a system?"

"System! Status! Player Status! Character Profile! Awaken! Open Status! Open Character Profile!" He shouted thinking that something might happen.

"Is this some kind of an error? Am I some kind of a bug?" He pondered.

"sigh.. Why don't I have one? Argh. I'm jealous of every other human that has a system. Man, I wish I could become a real life player. "

After staring at the ceiling and dozing off for a few minutes, he washed his face and changed his clothes. A shirt, jeans and sneakers. He suddenly felt hungry so Miles ate the sandwich that his roommate David prepared for him. David was the eldest among the four and was treated as the leader of the group.

"I don't have a system but that doesn't mean I will give up and just wait for my death to come."

"Panicking won't do anything good at these times. I need to get my shit together. " he slapped both of his cheeks at the same time.

It was a good thing that there's still the internet and he could reply to his family.

[ I am fine. I will go to the safe site in Sonville. If you're not there, I will go straight to Uncle Rick's. Please be safe. I will see you soon. I love you guys. ]

He sent it multiple times to his family. It was a good thing that he knew where his family went. Now, the question was how would he get there.

Sonville was a five hour drive from Brightville. If on foot, that might take days or even weeks. Counting on the other factors, he was thinking about a month of travel.

'I need to plan for my trip.'

He also replied to his friends and asked them where they were and that he was doing fine. When there's no reply, he was a bit disappointed. However, he still thought positively.

"Maybe they are busy or their phones are dead."

Miles took a pen and a notebook.

He first set his destination to Sonville and Uncle Rick's.

Secondly, he decided to take notes of his food rations, set of clothes and essentials. He watched it in movies and read it in some books. Inventory is important. Of course, there were many things missing that he surely needed but unavailable inside their room.

"It's a good thing that there's still electricity. It will be difficult if it's cut off."

He charged his phone, and power banks in case the electricity was suddenly cut off. Miles also searched his roommates' stuff and found their power banks.

He also checked the food that he had. They have a fridge in their room and it always has some takeouts and drinks for them.

He also went back and took out the things from his roommates that could be of use to him.

There was a bat that's owned by Sammy who likes to play baseball.

He also took out the riding gear of Jason. They have almost similar body size so this could fit him. There was also a helmet which was nice.

"I could use these to protect myself. Oh, I should gather info about zombies."

He went back to his phone to collect more information about zombies.