This is Ridiculous

After a few tries, Matt was able to channel his new ability well enough that harder materials like metal racks and glass cases were being absorbed. After absorbing enough material, he sculpted the energy to rearrange into a thin but sturdy iron machete. It looked a little rough, but should be strong enough to deal with regular zombies and since he had sculpted his body to be stronger, it would allow him to begin with the first step of his plan.

The first thing he had to do was to escape the store and secure supplies such as food and water. Following that thought, he unlocked the door and peaked out to see the situation in the store. Upon looking around the store, he noticed several zombies lingering around and that the metal shutters of the store had been shut. This could only mean that survivors had run into the store and bared the entrance only to have someone in their group be bitten and turn the rest.

This was actually good news to Matt as it would give him the opportunity to test not only the weapon that he had made, but also his body and his ability with the help of the zombies. There were 8 zombies total in the store. The closest to him was almost directly in front of the storage room door while the rest were scattered around.

Using the machete, Matt swung it from above and neatly split the zombies head down the middle. This caused the zombie to slump directly to the floor with as little noise as possible. Pulling the zombie into the storage room, Matt used his power on the zombie to absorb it for its energy. In the process of doing so, Matt discovered that he could feel his ability getting stronger as well as the quality of the energy that he was absorbing becoming better.

After thinking about it, it all made sense to Matt. If the infection that was spread by the zombies had given him this power then absorbing the zombies would only further increase the power that had. Who knows, maybe he would reach the point of being able to absorb materials instantly upon contact if he wished.

After getting a decent amount of energy, he decided to adjust his plan some what by first modifying his weapon. The machete soon became a short steel sword with a similar design to a certain role playing game with dragons. Now that his preparations were complete he exited the room again, making his way to the next nearest zombies.

These two zombies were standing side by side giving Matt the perfect opportunity to make a single sweet of his sword and behead both at the same time. Noticing the commotion, the remaining five zombies in the store all rushed forward.

Matt was taking metal notes at this time as he noticed that only two of the five were fast while the other three were rather slow. The conclusion was that the other three were either in worse condition when they turned or were killed and then reanimated. The latter scenario seemed most likely has they had holes drilled in several spots on their bodies. He did a quick spin to create force and ended up bisecting both running zombies at the waist. Moving toward the other three, he proceeded to behead them one by one. Once that was finished, he turned back to the zombies that he had cut in half. Both were still crawling on the floor with their hands making them easy targets. Matt wanted to test whether or not it mad a difference if he killed a zombie with his power or not.

Placing his hands on the heads of both zombies to hold their faces against the floor, Matt used his ability and discovered that the bodies were absorbed much slower, but the amount of energy that he received was far greater. Using this as a basis, it could be assumed that as long as something was "alive" then it would give far more energy and benefits to his ability than if they were already dead.

After a successful experiment, Matt went around absorbing everything that he could in the store so that he would have enough energy to create a few means of defense for himself. After absorbing a large number of materials, he noticed that there was a bit of pain beginning to accumulate the more he absorbed. Taking note of this, he figured that his body must have a limit to the amount of energy that it could hold.

Using the energy that he currently had stored, thin metal hand and forearm guards were created as well as shin guards, and a tight fitting amor that covered his back, shoulders, and chest areas. This this complete, Matt finished off the items in the store which caused him another round of pain and a newly acquired crossbow as well as several bolts.

Thinking of his escape route Matt noticed another door aside from the storage door. He went over to investigate it and noticed that it was a corridor for the employees to enter and exit through while the store was closed. Using the corridor, Matt found his way to the food court that he had been eating at. Opening the nearest door, Matt looked out to see large number of infected surrounding fountain in the middle of the food court. At the site, Matt could only think, 'This is ridiculous.'