Rapture (Apocalypse Gates Author's Cut Book 1)

by Daniel Schinhofen

  “Not important,” Alvin hissed through clenched teeth. “You all need to get out and quick.”

  “We can help you,” A lanky teen wearing glasses came forward with a first aid kit, “You helped us, after all.”

  “Not important. I was sent to help you. Once you’re off school grounds, I’ll be fine.”

  “He’s obviously delirious,” the disdainful voice cut in. Alvin’s eyes paired the voice to a chubby gothic girl who was looking over the nerd’s shoulder. “No one would send a guy who looks this pathetic to save us.”

  “I hate to agree with Becky,” the cheerleader behind them added, “but she’s right. We should get out of here.”

  Alvin winced as the nerd prodded gently at his ankle. “I said go, kid. Leave me and go.”

  The jock nodded, “We’re leaving. You can stay if you want. See ya, dead guy.” The jocks and the cheerleader took off down the hall, while the nerd and goth girl stayed.

  “Assholes. They wouldn’t even be alive if not for your bomb, David,” Becky said as she glared at the retreating backs of the other teens.

  “We never would have made it to the chem-room without them,” David replied as he began to wrap Alvin’s damaged ankle with a splint.

  “Seriously, you two should go,” Alvin told them. He bit back a cry of pain as David wrapped his leg. “This level is done once all kids are dead or gone.”

  David eyed him for a second, “Level? You said someone sent you? Do you think this is a game?”

  “It is to me. A death game, but a game,” Alvin replied as David helped him to his feet and helped support him. “How did you make a bomb and get it to go through the door, instead of just generally exploding?”

  “Shaped charge,” David replied. The trio started down the hall, David partially supporting Alvin. “My dad is sergeant of the bomb squad for the local police force. He’s shown me a lot of stuff over the years.”

  “You might survive this, then. The world has gone to hell. Who’s the goth girl who seems to want to stay with you?”

  “Becky, she’s my sister. My twin sister, actually. She was the first one to react to the zombies, probably the only reason Chet and his friends were able to help us.”

  Becky had picked up his bat as they began to move down the hall, and now carried it over one shoulder. “Who sent you to help us? I mean, come on, a guy in jeans with a bat? How is that helpful? An axe would be way more useful, like a fireman’s axe. Or better yet, a gun.”

  “The people in charge of this fucked up game,” Alvin grunted as he hobbled, his one leg not wanting to support any weight.

  “Tell me,” David half demanded as they continued to move slowly.

  Alvin shrugged and explained what he’d gone through as they limped towards the parking lot. Next to the closest exit was a beat-up station wagon that Becky headed for.

  “Sounds like a bad movie,” David replied. “Kind of like Transient Decay, but with you as the main character.” David seemed to be chewing over the story Alvin had told them.

  As Becky got close to the car, a zombie stood up from behind it and lurched towards her. With a cry of fear David shoved Alvin away as he ran to help his sister. She didn’t need help as she calmly brained the zombie, though it took her two swings to do it.

  “Fucking pansies,” Becky snorted. “Not even fast zombies, just the old shufflers.”

  David let out a deep breath before he looked back at Alvin, only to see Alvin resting against air. His jaw went slack as he stared at Alvin, who seemed to be leaning heavily on empty air. “What the?”

  “The wall I can’t get out of,” Alvin replied to the dumbstruck look. “Now you both get out of here. When you go, I’ll either disappear or have to go back into the school to find another kid or two.”

  Becky walked over to hand Alvin his bat, “Get an axe, or some solid metal object. That bat is about done, I think. And thanks for the assist,” her lips twitched at the last comment. She turned back to her car, “Come on bro, time to go.”

  “But?” David stammered as he went towards the car. “Are we really just going to leave him?”

  “Go,” Alvin added making a shooing gesture. “Get out of the city, find a small defensible place in a small town. Cities are going to be charnel houses with this shit going on.”

  Becky nodded as she got in, rolling her window down, “I hope you survive for another day. What happens to us if you die?”

  Shrugging, Alvin shook his head as he leaned against thin air. “Got me. Maybe you all get a happy ever after, or the world descends into true hell on earth.”

  She snorted as she started the car, “I hope you get a gun or something soon, then, because you look like shit.”

  “Cute. Thanks for the pick me up, Gothy. Keep your brother safe. He has skills to help you.”

  Becky smirked, accelerating out of the lot. She looked back in the rearview to see a bright light envelop Alvin, and then he was gone. “Huh, so he wasn’t lying.”

  Alvin let the flash take him, then collapsed to the floor of his room as his ankle buckled under him. “Motherfucker,” he yelled in pain. He pulled open the store, quickly buying a medkit and applying it to his ankle. A piercing cold enveloped his leg for a second, then the pain was gone.

  “Well, at least that works,” Alvin said, rolling onto his back. “I’m home, honey.”

  “Asshole,” Scot laughed. “What broke your ankle?”

  “Half a zombie grabbed it, then another half tried to eat it through the jeans. A goth chick and her brother saved me. Once they were off school grounds I came back here.”

  “And you used what XP you had left before the mission to heal up. Wow, you’re good…” The sarcasm dripped from Scott’s voice.

  “Who’s supposed to be the asshole here?” Alvin grunted as he sat up, noticing that the bandage hadn’t come with him. “Guess I should see what that fiasco netted me.”

  Mission Summary: Story Mission Successfully Completed.

  Total Experience Earned: 1,400 XP

  Breakdown: Story Success 450 XP, Shamblers killed 350 XP, Extra Teens Saved 600 XP.

  “Huh, made it all back plus some,” Alvin muttered as he got to his feet. “Weird Story Mission, though. Why go through that kind of set up?”

  “You are getting closer to unlocking World Mode,” Scott replied. “As soon as you start getting the save as many as you can Missions, it is gearing up for World Mode. Everyone you save in a Story Mission has the chance of being encountered in the World Mode.”

  “Ah, well fuck,” Alvin said as he slumped onto his bench. “I was hoping to get a gun before that unlocked.”

  “You will have opportunities during World Mode to acquire one. You already have a fanny pack that you can store it in.”

  “Once it comes back with me once does that mean it’s mine, and can go back and forth without having to be in the fanny pack at the start?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, that’s good at least,” Alvin lay there considering for a few minutes. “Going to have to splurge on a weapon again. The wait for World Mode to open is way too slow.”

  “It’s a learning process, and many don’t learn,” Scott replied with a sniff.

  Alvin shook his head and rolled over so he was curled up on his bench. “Fuck you too, Scott. I’m taking a nap now.” The light in the room dimmed as he closed his eyes.

  Chapter Seven

  Alvin woke and stretched, only to have his back spasm severely. Wincing, he slowly began to twist and stretch his back muscles. After a few minutes of careful movement his back seemed better.

  The lights kicked back up a moment later, “You’re awake again. What plans do you have for today?”

  “I’ll do another Story Mission or twelve. Even with having to buy the medkit, the mission put me ahead over all. Have to buy a new bat first. Going to go with a metal one, probably.”

  “I would think another wooden bat would suffice.”

  “They degrade really fast,�
� Alvin sighed. “Then again, I am using them to break skulls open. It’s hard getting enough force into the swing to break the skull and partially mush the brains. Maybe I should go with an axe like Gothy suggested.”

  “Gothy?” Scott asked.

  “Her name is Becky and her brother is David. Never did get their last name. The two who bandaged my ankle.”

  “Ah, two of the ones you rescued.”

  Alvin checked through the store and found an axe, but not a fireman’s axe. Frowning, he looked at his bat which was showing considerable signs of wear, which meant it wouldn’t last much longer. He considered what weapon he should buy. Another wooden bat, the metal one, or maybe the axe?

  “Fuck it,” Alvin picked up another wooden bat and put it into his fanny pack. He left the ibuprofen behind, in case he needed an empty spot in his pack.

  “Don’t die,” Scott said as Alvin’s fingers hovered over the job board.

  “Won’t say good luck, huh?”

  “Last time I did, the person died,” Scott replied with a trace of sorrow in his voice.

  “Must have been Scott, then. You’re going to enjoy being Betty instead.” Alvin quipped as he selected the Story Mission, letting the light envelop him.

  When the light cleared, Alvin stood outside a hospital. He pursed his lips in thought for a second, as walking into a hospital with a weapon was normally a bad idea. He couldn’t stash it in his fanny pack since the new bat was in there. He considered his options as he approached the front doors. A man came rushing out, apparently talking to himself in a panicked voice.

  “The whole maternity ward, all the kids just stopped breathing all at once. All over the place, people suddenly just fell over dead. The staff is in a panic. I am so out of this.”

  Story Mission: Medical Nightmare.

  The hospital has an undead issue. Kill as many zombies as you can while people flee.

  (Did you bring your insurance card? This is a timed mission, you are locked to the area for four hours.)

  Alvin watched the man depart, having overheard the ramble. Figuring that staff was going to be busy anyway, he carried the bat loosely in his left hand as he entered the building. As he approached the doors, they opened slowly. The normal buzz of electricity heard in the city was missing, he realized, easy to miss with the noises of horns and tires from the street out front.

  The emergency lighting was on, which meant there were probably working generators somewhere in the building. Alvin paused to consider which way to go when he heard screams coming from above and below him. A moment later people came pelting from the emergency stairwell, running for the doors. Alvin stepped well out of the way as people went by. Only a handful were staff, most of those fleeing seemed to be patients or visitors.

  Once the stream had abated some, he could still hear yells and screams. He considered for a moment, then went to the stairwell and went down. The morgue was likely down after all, and that seemed like the prime spot for most of the initial zombies to come from. He got to the bottom floor to find the door open and a man in lab coat and scrubs laying on the floor, dead eyes staring up at nothing. Alvin pulped the skull, stepping over the body and into the hall beyond. He could make out a person yelling for help from down the hall. Unfortunately, about thirty zombies stood between him and the door the zombies were besieging.

  Not thinking it worth the risk, Alvin stepped back out of the hall carefully, and cautiously moved the body out of the doorway. He closed the door softly, then propped the dead guy against it. It wouldn’t stop the zombies for long, but a closed door might deter them for a bit. He climbed the stairs, going up to the second floor. The door was open, a quick glance showed him a couple of zombies milling around. One was a nurse, her throat torn out. The other was an elderly man with tubes in his arms.

  Alvin stepped into the hall as quietly as he could. He could hear people from down the halls that split to either side of the stairs. The nurse’s station was ten feet to his left, he moved toward it. He was only a foot away when the old zombie turned towards him. Alvin brained it with a hard swing. The crack of the skull breaking caught the attention of the second zombie. It let out a loud groan as it lurched at Alvin. As there was a counter between them, it was easy enough for Alvin to kill the second zombie without it being a big threat. However, the zombie’s loud groan apparently alerted the other zombies on the floor.

  Zombies started shuffling out of open rooms, while a few muffled screams could be heard from closed rooms. Alvin started towards the closest zombie, hoping to catch them singularly so they would be easier to deal with. He cracked the skull of a middle-aged woman who had a hard-plastic shell on her torso, as if she had just had back surgery. Her throat was torn open raggedly. He followed up with a backhand that broke the skull of a nurse who was missing part of her thigh.

  “Why do they seem to go for major arteries?” Alvin muttered as he killed the next zombie, a skinny guy with an IV still in his teenage arm.

  He went down the hall, able to kill them one at a time. He bypassed the three rooms with closed doors and voices inside. He turned back the way he had come to find another horde of zombies coming towards him from the other wing of the building.

  “Fuck, I could use some help here,” Alvin cursed as he took a step forward. He jerked back as the door next to him cracked open, a green eye peering out at him.

  “Who are you? Are you with the police?” The woman’s voice was surprisingly calm. “Are they dead?”

  Alvin glanced back at the oncoming horde, “Not yet. Can you swing a bat?”

  The door slammed shut just after he asked the question. “I’ll wait in here with my father, while you deal with them.”

  Alvin sighed as he turned back to the zombies, waiting for them to come to him. As he waited the door next to him shot open, causing Alvin to step back in a momentary panic. A grey-haired, crew cut figure stood in the doorway in a paper gown. The man’s most notable feature was his thick handlebar mustache.

  “Give me that bat, son. I’ll deal with these ones here,” the man’s gravelly voice carried the tone of a man used to being obeyed.

  Alvin gladly handed over his older bat before stepping back a pace and pulling his newer one from his fanny pack. “I’ll cover you. Step back if you need to take a second.”

  The older man nodded as he padded forward on bare feet. The blood and bodily fluids squishing under his feet didn’t seem to faze the man. “Dad, no, don’t go,” the woman with green eyes caught Alvin’s attention. A pretty auburn-haired woman stood clutching the now open door. Tears spilled from her eyes and her overly endowed bust was heaving as she pleaded for her father to come back. “Please, dad. You don’t have to fight anymore.”

  “Stay in the room, dear. I’ll be done with this trash in a moment. Then we should go to the cabin,” her father replied with eerie calm as he gave the bat a small swing with one hand. “Feels a little like ‘Nam all over again.”

  Alvin started after the older guy, looking back over his shoulder at the woman for a second. “I’ll do my best to keep him alive. You need to shut that door and wait for us to finish.”

  The woman nodded once as she sniffled and slammed the door shut. Her father looked back at Alvin with a stern gaze, “You better not be thinking improper thoughts about my daughter, otherwise these zombies won’t be your biggest issue.”

  Alvin raised a brow at the steel in the old man’s eyes, “How about we deal with the walking dead before we get caught up in other matters?”

  “Good plan,” the old man grunted as he swung the bat down hard, pulping a zombie’s head. Instead of the indented skull and small spray of blood that Alvin caused, this was splashy. Blood and brain matter traveled for a few feet from the hit, and the zombie’s head was all but completely caved in from the strike. “Yup, just like ‘Nam.” With each swing, Alvin was regrettably given a free show of old man’s unclothed backside as the gown opened up.

  Alvin blew out a silent whistle at the sheer streng
th the man had displayed by so easily dispatching the corpses, all while keeping his eyes high so not to see old man butt. Stepping along behind the grey-haired gent, Alvin waited to assist or to switch out. “What’s your name?”

  “Call me Bill,” the guy replied while smashing another head with brutal force. “Any idea why these here corpses have gotten up? The Pope was all over the TV a few minutes ago, talking about the End Times.”

  “Because this is happening all over the world,” Alvin suggested as he trailed along behind Bill, a little impressed at how nonchalant the old man was about what he was doing.

  “Huh. Corpses rising from the dead,” with a snort Bill dispatched another zombie. “So why are you here?”