9 Fortification and School
The System: [Now, it is time for you to start studying different things that might be useful in the apocalypse. But before that we should fix the factory.] And so, they did, they fixed all the holes in the building and reinforced the building. When Josh started to think about how to make defences, he first thought of a big, thick and sturdy wall. But this wall would have some weakness, like an entrance for Josh. But those could at least be worked on. So, Josh got the System to erect a wall, 13 meters tall, 7 metres thick, with steel in it. He also made an entrance for cars, but the door was made of titanium and was almost 1 metre thick. This was because it is stronger than steel, don't oxidise and was harder to temper with.
Josh than got the System to make a thick door of titanium, about 7 centimetres thick. He then went to the loading part of the ground floor and touched the garage door. In front of him a notice appeared, where it stood: Ordinary garage door, made of plastic, weak. Josh asked the System: "What is this?" The System: [That is the appraisal system, a part of me. It appraises items, and let you see different things about the item you touch.] Josh was a bit amazed that the System had something like that but thought if it can temper with space and tie, an appraisal system should be a small thing.
They were finished after an hour with the basic fortification work. After a short rest Josh asked the System: "Hey System, can I give you a name?" The System: [Depends on the name.] Josh then said: "Can I call you Tom?" The System: [Sure, now we should start with teaching you stuff. And since learning stuff in your world is slow, inefficient and just a mess, il send you to a subspace where time is two times faster with hologram teachers and environments from another worlds. And we will begin now.] Suddenly, a black hole appeared and sucked a surprised Josh into it. Josh fainted after being sucked into the black hole, and when he woke up, he didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but when he looked around him, he saw black walls and an old man, just staring at him.
Josh felt creeped out and asked: "who are you"? The Old man answered: I am your teacher in combat and urban survival, James Moriarty. And now, we will start first class. Suddenly, the walls around them became brick buildings, and Josh could smell fire, piss and alcohol. . Josh could also hear moaning and screams. He turned around and asked James: "What is going on?" James said: {first lesson kiddo, adaptability. I will see for how long you can survive here, what you do and what you need to improve. Too begin with, you should get a weapon}. James then disappeared in white smoke. Josh looked around him and saw a fire ladder. He decided to loot the apartments there first, before looking after a safe place.
He climbed on the container and barely got a grip on the cold iron ladder. He dragged it down and climbed until he came to the first floor above the ground. He looked around and saw no one, not in the building, nor on the streets, he could only hear screams and moans that got gradually closer. Josh tried to push open a window, but it was locked. He looked around to check that there was no immediate danger, took of his shirt, wrapped it around his hand and punched the window.
