Project Alpha
Page 19
I pull up the Skills window and search for options related to Trap Making. Sure enough, there are several skills related to the topic. Of course, there’s Trap Making, a skill that increases the success rate of making traps. However, there’s also Scavenging, which lets someone breakdown ordinary objects into components that can be used in crafting. Additionally, there are related skills that increase the chances of creating specific types of traps. Want to make a laser trap? Well, it turns out it’s a good idea to have a skill related to laser technology. Want a magic trap? Having skills related to magic increase the chances and options of creating those kinds of traps.
I’d been saving the skill points I’d earned from leveling for just such an occasion as this. I don’t have time to practice this skill like I usually would, so I’ll have to level it with the skill points. I have 50 saved skill points and decide to invest ten skill points into Trap Making bringing the skill up to level 4. Yeah, I forgot how expensive it is to raise a skill level this way too. Each level costs that many skill points. So, level 1 costs one skill point; level 2 costs two skill points, etc. I could raise the skill higher, but I’d rather save my remaining 40 skill points in case of another emergency.
Learning and raising Trap Making to level 4 greatly increases my chance of successfully making traps. Not only that, but new types of traps are unlocked. In addition to floor traps, I can now make traps that I can attach to walls. One, in particular, is cool. It uses springs and gears to shoot a wall full of nails when someone steps on a pressure plate. When I test it on one of the random zombie Shamblers outside the walls, it kills it instantly. The only downside to this trap is that it takes a while to reset itself.
I’m having such a good time playing around with traps that I decide to put a point into other crafting skills just to see what happens. The Gadgets skill lets me make personal use items out of scavenged parts. At level 1 I can make a small flash grenade out of flashlight parts or glasses with a magnifying glass attachment. The first level in Weapon Design lets me make some simple weapons out of everyday materials. I can turn a broom handle into a spear, make a knife out of metal, and a baseball bat into a spiked mace by adding nails to it. Armor design, at the starter level, lets me modify existing clothing and add extra protective elements. I take a spare jacket from one of the empty houses and add layers of extra cloth and small squares of metal to increase its defense rating by 5. It looks like something Mad Max would wear, but it’s better than the regular clothes I have on now.
Having made four flash grenades and a full set of Mad Max armor, I get back to making more traps.
It’s not until mid-afternoon that I take a break to eat. As I step outside the workshop, a stiff breeze cools the sweat on my skin, and I take a deep relaxing breath.
“Taking a break?” a voice asks with a southern drawl.
Turning towards the sound of the voice, I see a smiling Suzie with a plate of food and a glass of water. The ceramic plate feels cool in my hand, and the food on the plate makes my stomach growl. There’s no place to sit down nearby, so I sit on the ground and start to eat. On the plate is a selection of greens and vegetables mixed with pink cubes. I Inspect the plate and get a notification.
Spam Salad
This salad, made from a combination of locally sourced lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers and a can of classic Spam. While some may scoff at the canned meat option, you’ll notice there aren’t a lot of free-range cows around here. So, it’s this or nothing!
I can’t help but laugh at the description.
Suzie frowns a little at me, and I quickly explain, “Sorry, Suzie. I wasn’t laughing at the food. I just realized that it had Spam in it. I haven’t had that since I was a kid and it brought back some happy memories.” I quickly eat a forkful of the Spam Salad and tell her, “It tastes wonderful. Thank you for bringing it.”
It’s true too. The salty canned ham mixes well with the juicy tomatoes and other crunchy vegetables. I guess what they say is true: hunger is the best spice. I quickly finish the salad.
Suzie hands me a glass of water to wash down the meal. “I’m glad you enjoyed the meal. It’s the least I can do since you seem to be working hard to help build up our little community.”
The cold water is refreshing, and I’m a little sad when I finish drinking it. Handing the now empty dish and cup back to Susie, I tell her, “You folks are making a stand. I can respect that.” Privately, I think, ‘Besides, the XP is too good not to help out.’ Suzie nods in appreciation of the statement, and a small blue window pops up.
Reputation increased with Suzie.
Well, I didn’t realize I even had a reputation with the NPCs.
Trying to continue the conversation and hopefully increase my reputation more, I ask, “So, how’s the defense effort going?”
“The little boy, Joe, found a bunch of weapons and ammunition in one of the buildings. There’s enough to arm everyone. Nancy and Frank are showing everyone how to use them in small groups, so the building doesn’t slow down.”
I look past Suzie towards the repaired wall, and see shooting platforms being built along the wall. There’s still lots of work to get done, but it should be finished by nightfall.
The conversation about training the survivors to shoot gets me thinking, and I pull up my skill and ability list.
SkillsLevel
Inventory Management3
Inspect5
Deception1
Dungeon Scan3
Dungeon Inspect1
Dungeon Mapping3
Mapping2
Bludgeoning Weapons3
Guilt Trip1
Cooking 1
Speed Reading4
Mental Math4
Analysis3
Piercing Weapons1
Throw3
Trap Making4
Abilities
Roll
Hammer Time
Flying Kick
Smash
Stab
Fireball
Now maybe it’s my Analysis skill kicking in, but when I think about how I’m planning to fight the zombies, I realize that I don’t have any ranged skills. Sure, I could use Hammer Time, but I only have 20 hammers that I’ve collected. Fireball doesn’t work in this dungeon because of the magic restrictions. I’m ok with a one-on-one fight since I have the abilities Smash, Stab, and Flying Kick. But trying to fight off a horde of zombies up close has never ended well in any zombie movie I’ve ever seen.
I thank Suzie for the food again and excuse myself. I walk around until I find Nancy and Frank. They’re showing a few of the survivors how to use handguns and rifles. I watch and listen as they go over basic firearm safety, how to load ammo, hold the firearms, and give them tips on shooting.
Nancy notices me watching and waves me over. I approach, careful not to walk in front of anyone pointing a gun. When I’m close enough that she can talk over the sounds of gunshots. Nancy asks, with only the smallest of smirks, “Did you want to join the class, Anthony?”
I nod. Admitting to myself at least that Nancy is helping me out by teaching me how to shoot. Otherwise, I’d be spending skill points on unlocking and learning the skill.
Nancy goes over the basics of using both a handgun and rifle with me. She emphasizes firearm safety above all else. I’m shaky and uncomfortable holding the weapons at first, but her calm instruction helps me focus on holding the weapons correctly.
I’m a terrible shot at first; I have a hard time hitting the arranged targets. The gun just doesn’t seem to want to stay still as I hold it.
Nancy suggests remembering the acronym B.R.A.S.S. or Breathe, Relax, Aim, Squeeze the trigger, and Squeeze more for follow-through. Since breathing affects aim, when you’re ready to shoot, draw a deep breath and exhale about half of it. The aim then relaxes and hold your breath as you squeeze the trigger. Squeeze the trigger slowly, don’t jerk your finger. Squeeze the trigger through its full motion, called follow through.
To my surprise, remem
bering the acronym helps. Not only do I get to level 1 in Rifle and Handgun, but I also find that I get skills in Firearm and Ranged Combat. According to their descriptions, the Ranged Combat skill increases accuracy for ranged combat. The Firearm skill gives a percent bonus to damage for all firearms and increases the chance of crafting firearms. Both the Rifle and Handgun skills increase both damage and accuracy for those types of weapons.
After an hour practicing, I raise those skills to level 2 and find that I’m a bit more accurate shooting. However, I can’t spend more time on this skill. I still have to finish creating traps and placing them around the walls of the community.
The rest of the day is spent making, testing, and placing traps around the walls of the community. In addition to the other traps, I also come up with razor blade tripwire. Using my level 2 Gadget and Weapon Design skills, I’m also able to make corrosive gas grenades.
I enlist Frank and a few survivors help in placing all the traps, and by the time the last tripwire is correctly laid, night has fallen. There’s a very tense moment where we all realize that it’s too dark to see all the traps we placed. Thankfully, Nancy and the other survivors shine some lights from the wall to illuminate a path back inside.
There’s a communal dinner, and then everyone heads to the fully furnished homes to get a good night's sleep.
Chapter 26
The next morning is full of tension as everyone makes the final preparations for the zombie attack. A few more traps are laid out, weapons and ammunition distributed, and the makeshift medical center double-checked for supplies.
Everyone takes their positions on the shooting platforms. I look around and see that Nancy, Frank, and Joe are all on the same platform to my left. With me are Suzy and her husband, Thomas. Everyone waits anxiously for the last seconds of the timer countdown.
5…4…3…2…1
The sound of not one but multiple Howlers breaks the morning silence. Zombies start to pour out from the forest and make their way towards Safe Haven. 250 Zombie Shamblers and 4 Howlers make their way slowly towards the walls that protect us. As soon as the zombies appear, everyone starts to shoot. Unfortunately, only Nancy, Frank, and Joe are decent at shooting moving targets at this range. Everyone else just seems to hit the ground more than they hit the zombies. When they hit one of the zombie’s bodies, a red 15 floats away from it and a red 30 when someone gets a headshot.
As the zombies get within 100 yards of the walls, they start to hit the floor spikes and slow down even more. Each step on the spikes only causes one point of damage to the Shamblers, but they slowed down enough for the survivors to pick off more than a few with their rifles.
Only about half the zombies make it to the next set of traps. Lines of razor wire stakes into the ground cause the zombies to trip and impale themselves onto the floor spikes. Another third of the already damaged zombies die, leaving about 80. I expect these to meet their end until the Howlers start to yell. The Shamblers seem to understand some order and begin to line up behind each other as they move forward. The zombies in the front trip, fall and die. But the ones behind them use their corpses as a bridge to walk over the razor wire.
Nancy gives the order to focus shooting on the Howlers giving orders. The four Howlers die quickly, but the damage is already done. Over 70 zombies make it past the razor wire. Thankfully, we have one more set of traps. As the remaining zombies approach the wall, they step on pressure plates that trigger the wall traps. Nails shoot out at over 90 miles per hour, impaling themselves into the rotting undead flesh. Several zombies take headshots and immediately drop to the ground. The rest continue forward, only to be shredded by the nail projectiles. Each nail seems to do about 8-10 points of damage. Between the survivors increased accuracy at this range and the traps, no more zombies are standing.
A cheer goes up as the last zombie falls. Not a single one even touched Safe Haven’s walls.
A new blue screen appears before, me tallying up my contribution, experience points earned, and the time till the next wave hits.
Congratulations you’ve survived the 1st wave of zombies.
Contribution
Trap kills52
Personal kills13
Total XP earned1625
Time to next wave: 01:00:00
Seeing the amount of experience I earned is amazing. I had no idea that damage done by the traps I built would be credited to me. I feel even better when a white light bursts from me, showing that I earned enough experience points to get to level 7. Woot, woot! That means more stat skill points.
Anthony Tinoco
Level 7
Unspent stat points: 4
Unspent skill points: 47
Health 160
Mana270
TP250
Strength8
Dexterity12
Constitution9
Intelligence20
Wisdom18
Charisma9
I focus on my level and see that it’ll take 5985 more experience points to get to level 8. If things go well for the rest of this dungeon run, I may even make it to level 9. No wonder people pay to run this User Dungeon.
Looking at my character sheet, I decide not to waste too much time figuring out the perfect stat to increase. I drop all four stat points into Wisdom to increase my TP pool as much as possible. That brings my Wisdom up to 22 and increases my TP to 290. With less than an hour till the next wave, I have to start using Absorb as quickly as possible to get all the monster abilities I can. The area outside the walls, already littered with corpses, and I have to run to get to them.
Using the excuse that I need to reset some of the traps and clear away bodies, I run outside the gates and start to use Absorb as quickly as possible. Because the zombie Shamblers are lower level than me, it only takes absorbing 23 of them to get all of their abilities leaving me with just 135 TP. Bite only costs 2 TP and takes a portion of the victim's health and transfers it to the biter. However, I’m not sure I’d want to use it in a fight. It seems like a gross way to heal yourself. The ability Iron Grip is used by the zombies to keep hold of their prey while they devour them. I don’t know how I’d use that in a fight, but it’s a free ability.
I don’t get any abilities from the corpses of the four Howlers, but that’s not a big deal. The only ability they have that’s different from the Shamblers is that howl ability. I don’t think my neighbors would appreciate me getting that one anyways.
Having reset the traps and cleared the zombies blocking traps, I head back inside the walls. Since no one was hurt this attack, the only thing that’s happening is the distribution of more ammo while we wait for the clock to countdown.
While I wait, I consider my strategy. Most of the kills that counted towards me were caused by the traps I set. Only 13 were from me shooting with my rifle. My Analysis skill kicks in and calculates that at 300 yards I only make 1 in 10 shots. At 100 yards, where the traps start, I make 1 in 5 shots. At 50 yards I make two out every three shots. That means I waste a lot of ammo by even trying to pick off targets as they exit the forest. Instead, I should wait until they hit the traps and are slowed down. Sure, I’m still going to miss, but not nearly as much; especially since the zombies get bunched up as they go through the traps.
Howlers start to scream from the forest, indicating that the next wave of zombies is on their way. I grab my rifle and see that Suzie and Thomas are both already lining up shots. I remember my plan and refrain from shooting the zombies as they come out of the forest.
The stream of zombies is much more significant this time around, and I estimate that there are at least 500 zombies this time around.
Nancy shouts orders. “Everyone focus on taking out the Howlers as soon as possible to prevent any organization!” Shots ring out in response to her order, and several of the Howlers drop from the barrage of bullets.
I start to fire my rifle as the zombies reach the first traps. Shamblers and Howlers alike drop as they try to cross the traps. Nancy and her broth
ers take out the rest of the Howlers with their spectacular shooting.
As more and more of the rotting Zombie Shamblers fall into the traps, I think it just may be possible that they won’t reach the walls again. But my wishful thinking is ruined when I see five creatures sprint out of the forest. They’re moving so fast that it’s hard to tell what they are, but they’re quick. I Inspect them as fast as I can.
Zombie Scaler
Level 8
Health 100/100
TP 20/20
The Zombie Scaler is an uncommon zombie that is both intelligent and deadly. It uses its special abilities to reach any prey then uses its sharp claws to slash it to death.
Abilities: Bite, Slash, Spider Climb
Weakness: Fire, Attacks to the Head
I yell and point out the new monsters, but no one besides Suzie and Thomas can hear me over the sounds of the gunfire. The three of us take aim and fire at the quickly approaching creatures. We take one down, but the other four are already past the floor spikes. I think the razor wire is going to trip them up, but the Zombie Scalers are more intelligent than that.