Generation Zombie

Chapter 12: Personal Gameplay Information.

"The first thing you have to know is that everything in here is a virtual reality. If you smack your head on a wall, you'll feel it. If you stub your toe, you'll feel it. As to the possibility of us being sucked in the game and the science, mystery, magic –behind it all, I don't know. Main point is, we're here, and we need to complete the game before getting out." Elham stretched out the blackboard stick in her hand and slapped it on the board, showing a roughly drawn map. "I'll go over the basics of what I know about characterization before moving on to how we're going to get out of the game." Her eyes scanned the tiny classroom to make sure all of them were listening attentively.

Ruby inched closer in her seat; the nerd in her already popping out.

Arthur was leaning on a window frame, to the side of Ruby's seat, waiting for the more interesting parts. He already had a vague idea about their characterization and how to activate your personal gameplay info. What he really wanted to know was the process of getting out.

Ajax lunged on the seat next to Ruby, trying to look interested and capable of understanding what Elham was explaining. In reality, she could've been talking gibberish at that moment and he wouldn't even be able to tell the difference. He felt like everyone in the room had a significantly higher IQ than him, and it made him sad. However, the fact that he had a higher social media following, and a higher net worth than all three of them combined gave him assurance.

Who needs brains when you have two and a half million people interested to know what you had for breakfast, every single day?

Elham cleared her throat and carried on. "Generation Zombie is a multiplayer action-adventure game. Think Grand Theft Auto plus Tomb Raider, but with zombies and location missions that takes you on to the next level when completed." She could remember when the idea had struck her; driving through the bustles of New-York City, eating halal shawarma and playing Bohemian Rhapsody in the car. The idea felt fragile back then; like it with float and fly away if she so much as blinked into another thought. Now it her idea had been made into a reality. Maybe a little more real than she had hoped...

She dropped the blackboard stick and made a small hop; sitting on the top of a desk. "Now, each one of us has a set of personal gameplay info that shows the amount of lives left, the meter of the life you're currently on, special abilities granted, and basic information like name, height, weight, and whatever." She had previous intentions of making the game a little more complicated than that, so she could challenge the average player and make the levels harder.

It was a good thing Escaldo had developed the game before she made the final arrangements. Else, they would have been in actual danger.

"If you press your temple..." Elham raised two dainty fingers and applied minimal pressure to her right temple. The semi-transparent personal gameplay info blipped out of thing air above her head, glowing dimly. It showed her basic information and general health stats, along with a scribble reading 'Engineer and Navigator' on the top left corner of the bar. She pressed her temple again and it blipped out of view. "The info appears hovering above your head. Just like it did now and just like it did when I told Cassini here to press his temple."

Ajax eyed her accusingly. "And then you shot me." He muttered, crossing his arms and huffing as he jutted out his chin into the air and refused to look in her direction.

Elham sighed. Okay, maybe shooting him was a little off the top. He hadn't meant for the comment to be hurtful. But still, if he was expecting an apology, then he had not the faintest idea what a stubborn twenty year-old he was dealing with. "Dude, let bygones be bygones." She replied dismissively. That was the closest her words could come to forming an apology.

Arthur placed his head on the cold glass windows. He had enough sleep, had enough food, but somehow he still felt almost completely drained. After Elham had driven them to the kindergarten nearby where they bunked in and rested then ate, he had felt a sort of dark cloud creeping around in his head. Now it had engulfed him. Now it threatened to crush him. The feeling was familiar. It was that sadness and an emptiness that sneaks into your soul and nestles into your spirit when you're not looking. He glanced around the classroom they were using. Why had the other players gone silent? He didn't like the echoes of silence.

"You only have two life bars left." He directed at Elham, his voice sounding dead to his ears.

"I've been here for about five days before I came to this town and found you guys. s**t happens. And being crushed to death by a stampede of zombies is a horrible way to die." Elhma explained. A tiny, almost indecipherable grimace tugged at the corners of her mouth.

The first three days were the worse. Coming to terms with the fact that she was in a game, and not just any game, but her game which her co-developer, co-sponsor, co-worker, co-bastard-son-of-a-ditch, had stolen from her was the hardest part. And then came escaping the zombies. And then came finding the rest of the players.

It was pure chance that she had stumbled upon them while they were in dire need of help.

The chair squeaked as Ruby lifted her knees onto it and hugged her legs to her chest. Her eyes were glassy and faraway. "Five days? That's... a lot. Do you think the real world knows we're missing? Like... is five days here equivalent to five days there? Does time flow the same way?" The thought of her family returning back to an empty house and frantically searching for her made her chest hollow.

What if she never goes back?

Elham shook her head. "I hope not. I'm guessing it's roughly about five minutes." Of course she had no evidence to back it up. Just a strong gut feeling and a reference to a children's book she had read at seven.

Arthur nodded to himself. "Just like Jumanji."

"Just like Jumanji." Elham agreed. Did that mean her game was somehow cursed? Or had a vengeful genie accepted her wish that the game becomes Escaldo's ruin after he stole it from her? If so, then the genie must've conspired with karma because now she was the one in trouble.

Ajax shifted in his seat. He knew he wasn't the brightest tool in the... toolbox, but he could put two and two together and get a square root of something. "What happens when the life meters and the bars finish? What does game over mean?"

She fell silent for a while and Ajax could swear he heard a faint eerie orchestra playing the background.

"Either we're transported back to the real world, or... we die in here, and never go back. We can't risk finding out."

Dying in the game was more likely. There was something sinister about it all. Like the game itself was demanding for blood... their blood. Elham had made the blueprint of the game brutal. The whole idea had been brutal itself; born out of the rage of creativity and fashioned by a ruthless, success-driven master. The zombies would be endless. The gore, the blood, the violence, will surpass any other and rise to the ranks of phenomenal games like God of War. The choices made by the players would be crucial to the ending.

She had planned out everything.

It would be her greatest creation yet. It would be the Mona Lisa of her career. And then the idea got stolen. And then everything went downhill from there.

A thick, solemn silence dominated the room. This was perhaps where reality had finally, truly slammed into them. They collectively, and at the same time individually came to the understanding that going back home wasn't guaranteed. It wasn't just a byproduct of their panic attacks, or their sleep medications, or their sneaky sadness. This wasn't just a game. They could die. They could get stuck here forever. The possibilities of the horrors were endless.

Ruby felt her skin begin to itch. Arthur felt himself slowly shutting down. Ajax tried to retreat back into memories of happier times; when he felt safe and protected, just so he wouldn't lose the hope that he might have that again.

Elham brightened from the gloom of the room and sighed a little too loudly, with the intention of pulling them out of their thoughts. "Go ahead, press your temples, and let's see what y'all got."

Ruby was the first to comply. She pressed her temple and instantly felt like an i***t, but the personal information appeared and it distracted her. Apart from three full life meters, and the stats, 'Astrophysicist and Engineer' were scribbled on the top corner. The titles made her feel like the reincarnation of Einstein. Her 'B' grade in Chemistry wouldn't matter anymore. At least not in this virtual reality...

Arthur's info blipped into view and he craned his head upwards to read the words under his three full life meters.

"How come he gets survival mode brain?" Ruby complained. Must he always be competition to her? It was like they were constantly running a race; hastening to see who is smarter, who gets better grades, better gold stars, better appreciation from the adults, better skills, better talents. It didn't mean much to Arthur Halifax, but to Ruby, having another brain trying to be brainier than hers was irking.

Can you imagine that a brain came up with this?

Arthur sighed. "You're an astrophysicist, Ruby." He reminded her. And an engineer! Imagine what she could do with those skills. Maybe even build a spaceship, if given the right equipment. His survival mode brain was probably only important in finding ways to survive during danger. Other than that, he was still boring old Arthur.

Ruby pouted. But it made sense to her now. That was why he could think so fast and save them from the zombies. That was why he had been able to be so quick on his feet and quicker in his strategies.

The thought of the baby zombie popped into her mind. When they went back to get their items from the truck, the box had vanished. Wiped away by the game or found by others of its kind and taken to a zombie orphanage.

If they had those here...

"Seriously? Charms? I already have that." Ajax grumbled, looking up at his info that said 'Pilot and Charms.' Could he charm the zombies? How was that even a skill in a survival game?

"How charming." Elham commented sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Anyways, back to the game." She said louder, and hopped off the table, picking up the blackboard stick again. "First, we have to get to find the fifth player. That's our top priority. But we can't stay inactive until we find them, so we're going to move on ahead to the first location and find the actual map."

The three listeners nodded in unison.

She pointed to a circle drawn with chalk and labeled 'bakery'. "The Bakery; we're going to save the daughter of the scientist who created the virus, and then she'll take us to her home and we can find her father's journal there."

"She's a non-playable character?" Ajax questioned.

"Obviously, and she's programmed to lead us to the journal after we save her." Elham moved the stick to other circles. "There are six other locations we have to get to, complete the missions and objectives, then finally find the cure and hopefully be transported back home."

Ajax nodded. "Easy peasy."

"Let's hope s**t doesn't escalate before we finish it." She said and dropped the stick. "Get ready. We'll leave for the bakery in half an hour."