Global Mutation: The Hunger System-Chapter 12: The Pack

The sun came up. It was red.

The light filtered through the cracks in the metal shutters. It looked like blood on the floor.

Ren was already awake. He was sitting on the counter, sharpening the fire axe with a whetstone he found in aisle five.

Scritch. Scritch.

The sound was rhythmic. Calming.

Chloe walked up from the basement. She looked terrible. Her hair was a mess. She had dark circles under her eyes. She was holding the rapier.

"Did you sleep?" she asked.

"Enough," Ren said. He tested the axe blade. It shaved a hair off his arm. "Eat breakfast. We leave in ten minutes."

Chloe looked at the cans of peaches on the counter. She opened one. She ate slowly.

"Where are we going?"

"Across the street," Ren said. "Hardware store. We need wood, nails, and tools. The glass windows won’t hold forever. We need to barricade everything."

Chloe nodded. She looked at the sword in her hand. "And if we see... things?"

"You stick them with the pointy end," Ren said. "Or you die."

He jumped off the counter. He grabbed a backpack.

"Let’s go."

Ren hit the button. The shutters rolled up with a loud clatter.

The noise was too loud. Ren winced.

"First rule," Ren said. "We grease the gears when we get back. Quiet is life."

They stepped out onto the street.

The air was hot. It smelled like burning tires.

Ren activated Heat Sensing.

The street looked blue. The cars were cold.

But in the alleyway next to the hardware store, there were shapes.

Orange blobs. Huddled together. Four of them.

"Dogs," Ren whispered.

"Dogs?" Chloe asked. She liked dogs.

"Not the kind you pet," Ren said.

He pointed to the hardware store entrance. The glass doors were smashed.

"Inside. Fast."

They ran across the street. Ren moved silently. Chloe’s sneakers slapped the asphalt.

They got inside the store. It smelled like sawdust and wet fur.

Ren held up a hand. "Stop."

He used Tremor Sense.

Pat-pat-pat.

Paws on linoleum. They were coming from the back. From the lumber section.

"They heard us," Ren said.

A low growl filled the store. It sounded like a chainsaw idling.

A dog stepped out from behind a stack of plywood.

It was a Doberman. But its skin was gone. It was just red muscle and bone. Its teeth were metal spikes. Its eyes glowed yellow.

[Mutated Hound (Lvl 4)]

"Back," Ren told Chloe.

The hound barked. A sharp, metallic sound.

Three more dogs appeared. They circled. They were a pack.

They didn’t attack all at once. They waited.

"Smart," Ren muttered.

The biggest one—the Alpha—lunged.

It was fast. Faster than the zombies.

Ren swung the axe.

The dog ducked. It went low. It bit Ren’s leg.

Crunch.

Metal teeth hit Ren’s Chitin Shell skin. It didn’t break the skin, but it bruised the muscle.

"Get off!" Ren kicked it.

The dog flew into a shelf of paint cans.

Crash.

Blue paint exploded everywhere.

The other two dogs attacked Chloe.

"No!" Ren yelled.

He tried to Dash.

But the Alpha dog was back. It grabbed his axe handle with its teeth. It pulled.

Ren let go of the axe.

He didn’t need it.

He grabbed the dog’s jaws with his bare hands.

[Strength: 15]

He pulled.

The dog whined. Its metal teeth scraped against Ren’s palms.

Ren roared. He ripped the jaw open.

SNAP.

The dog went limp. Its head hung at a weird angle.

[Target Neutralized.]

Ren turned to Chloe.

She was backed into a corner. A dog was snapping at her face. She was waving the sword wildly.

"Stab it!" Ren screamed. "Don’t wave it! Stab it!"

The dog jumped.

Chloe screamed. She closed her eyes. She thrust the rapier forward.

Thud.

Silence.

Chloe opened her eyes.

The dog was impaled on the sword. The blade went right through its neck. It twitched once. Then it died.

The last dog looked at its dead friends. It looked at Ren.

It turned to run.

"Oh no," Ren said. "I’m not done shopping."

[Skill: Jump]

Ren launched himself over the paint aisle. He landed in front of the fleeing dog.

He grabbed a hammer from a display rack.

Smash.

He hit the dog in the skull. Brains and paint mixed on the floor.

[Target Neutralized: Mutated Hound (Lvl 4)] [Experience Gained: 80]

Ren stood up. He was covered in blue paint and dog blood.

He looked at Chloe. She was staring at the dead dog on her sword. She was shaking.

"Pull it out," Ren said.

She couldn’t move.

Ren walked over. He put his hand on hers. He helped her pull the blade free.

"Good kill," Ren said.

Chloe looked at him. "I... I killed it."

"It was going to eat your face," Ren said. "You won."

He walked back to the Alpha dog. The big one.

The hunger kicked in.

It wasn’t just hungry for food. It was hungry for senses.

Ren knelt down. He used the rapier to cut the dog’s chest open.

He found the heart. It was large. Muscular.

He ate it.

It was chewy. It tasted like iron.

Gulp.

[Gluttony Activated.] [Consumed: Alpha Hound.] [Agility +2] [New Skill: Scent Tracking (Passive)] [Description: You can smell blood and fear from 500 meters away.]

Ren took a deep breath.

The world smelled different now.

He smelled the sawdust. He smelled the paint.

But he also smelled the city outside.

He smelled the rot of the zombies. He smelled the smoke.

And he smelled something else.

Gasoline. Fresh gasoline.

"Ren?" Chloe asked. "What is it?"

"Someone is near," Ren said. "I smell gas."

He walked to the back of the store. To the loading dock.

He peeked through the crack in the door.

In the alleyway, a van was parked. The engine was running.

Three men were loading boxes into the back. They had guns. Rifles.

[Human Scavenger (Lvl 3)] [Human Scavenger (Lvl 3)] [Scavenger Leader (Lvl 5)]

They weren’t looting food. They were looting weapons. The van was parked behind a gun shop next door.

"Ren," Chloe whispered. "Are they friendly?"

Ren looked at the leader. He was smoking a cigarette. He kicked a dead body out of the way. A woman’s body.

"No," Ren said. "They’re competition."

Ren looked at the hardware store. He looked at the propane tanks for the forklifts.

"Grab the nails," Ren told Chloe. "Grab the wood. Go back to the base."

"What about you?"

Ren picked up a propane tank. It was heavy.

"I’m going to say hello," Ren said.

"Ren, they have guns!"

"I have a tank," Ren said. "And I have a match."

He opened the back door.

The scavengers didn’t hear him. The van engine was too loud.

Ren walked into the alley.

"Hey!" he shouted.

The three men spun around. They raised their rifles.

"Drop it!" the leader yelled. "Or we shoot!"

Ren smiled. He held the propane tank in front of him like a shield.

"You’re blocking my driveway," Ren said.

"Kill him," the leader ordered.

The men fired.

Bang. Bang.

Bullets hit the propane tank.

Ping. Ping.

Sparks flew.

That was the plan.

Ren threw the tank.

It sailed through the air. It was leaking gas now. The sparks from the bullets ignited it.

It became a fireball.

It hit the van.

BOOM.

The explosion shook the ground. The van flipped over. The scavengers were thrown back. They were on fire.

Ren didn’t wait.

[Dash.]

He was on them before they hit the ground.

He swung the hammer.

Crunch.

One scavenger down.

The leader was crawling away. His leg was broken. He reached for his gun.

Ren stepped on his hand.

Crunch.

"Ahhh!" the leader screamed. "Who are you?!"

Ren looked down at him. The fire reflected in his violet eyes.

"I’m the landlord," Ren said.

He raised the hammer.