As soon as Martin died, notifications appeared in front of Gary.

You defeated Martin (Level 1 Survivor)

Martin is dead

Gain 100 XP

A helpful reminder was added that Gary, still at level 2, now had 2150 experience points out of the 3000 needed to reach level 3.

Another notification that appeared.

Assassin’s Nightblades unlocked!

You have slain two people with the Assassin’s Nightblades, unlocking additional benefits and powers, click here to see the additional powers of the Nightblades when used together…

Gary ignored the Nightblades notification. There was no time for him to engage with whatever the benefits were, as he had no intention of using them again if he could avoid it. Plus, the second Nightblade was still in Rain’s stash.

He left the Nightblade buried in Martin’s chest and peered around the edge of the kitchen door.

The soldiers were paying no attention to Gary at all. Martin had positioned himself just out of sight in the kitchen, so even if they had been checking on Gary, they wouldn’t have seen the blade go in.

Gary considered his next move, his mind racing. Like it or not, he’d have to take the soldiers out because they represented the biggest threat. He felt bad about it because they were just following orders, but maybe if he could get a couple of whacks in with Simon, he could knock them out instead of killing them.

He picked up his shovel and charged into the living room, hoping his speed and the suddenness of the attack would catch them by surprise.

Before he hit either of them, though, Gemma jumped up and got in the way.

“Gary, stop! They’re out cold! You don’t need to do anything.”

Gary looked at the two soldiers and realised Gemma was right. Both of them had their heads slumped on their chests. As he observed, one of their whiskey glasses fell from a hand.

“What happened?”

“I found some Zopiclone in the bedroom,” Gemma explained, “When I went to the loo. Crushed it up and slipped it into the whiskey bottle when they weren’t looking.”

“Zopiclone?”

“Sleeping tablets. Looks like one of the McPearsons had trouble getting forty winks. Lucky for us.”

“Well... right,” Gary nodded. “That was quick thinking.”

Gary felt relieved. He really hadn’t enjoyed the thought of knocking out a couple of soldiers.

“Gary, WHAT THE FUCK??” James shouted from the kitchen.

He’d stepped inside and was staring at the body of Martin, with the Nightblade still plunged into his heart.

“You killed Martin?” Gemma asked, her eyes wide with fear.

“No, wait, fuck, I mean, yes but – just listen!”

Gary took Martin’s phone and played his confession back to them.

James and Gemma listened as Gary focussed on his next task. He removed the Nightblade from Martin’s chest and unscrewed the pommel, releasing the vial that contained the Essence of Life healing potion it had drained from Martin.

He stepped towards Rain, still unconscious and tied up on the table and poured half of the liquid into her mouth. Rain coughed, but the liquid went down. Gary felt her life force revive, but not by much.

“Fuck,” Gary said, “Look, you have got to get the bullets out. I think if you do that Rain might stand a chance, but right now my guess is that the injuries she’s sustaining are overpowering whatever healing benefits she might have.”

James and Gemma, having finished listening to Martin’s confession, were looking too stunned to act.

“I don’t get it,” James said. “What did Martin mean he got a hundred experience points? What’s that got to do with your uncle?”

“I think I understand,” Gemma nodded with a grimace, “Your uncle. He must have killed a bunch of people before the system initiated.”

Gary nodded. “It’s the only thing that makes any sense. I already checked, and he’s not a glitch. So I don’t see any other way he could have levelled up so fast.”

“Wait, you think your uncle is a serial killer?” James asked.

Gary shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s always been a bit of a bastard. All I know for sure is that he’s a danger to everyone else. I mean, look at what he’s done – shot Rain for no good reason. Got a group of soldiers to restrain us. Fuck knows what else he’s capable of.”

“And Martin?” James asked. “Did you have to…?”

“He was going to do it anyway,” Gary replied, “You heard what he said.”

James and Gemma absorbed that and shook their heads.

“Okay,” James muttered, “Okay. It is what it is, I guess. This new world and all that.”

Gary felt Rain’s life draining away again. He swore and poured the rest of the Essence of Life into her mouth. Again, he felt a slight improvement in her life force, but it started dropping again almost immediately.

“Look, I know you two have got no real medical training, but right now you’re the best hope, the only hope for Rain, okay? So you’re going to get those bullets out as fast as possible and then we’re going to cross our fingers that her healing is strong enough to repair the damage by itself.”

James and Gemma both nodded.

Gary picked up Simon.

“What are you going to do?”

“Me? I’m going to have a serious discussion with my uncle. If there’s even half a chance that what I suspect is true, then all the others are stuck there with a psychotic magician who will do whatever the hell he wants.”

“Right,” James nodded.

Gary was halfway out of the door, his trusty shovel in hand, when something his uncle had said to him made him pause.

You’ve got to play the game, Gary.

He stopped and considered.

He was a level 2 zombie Heavy, his uncle was a level 3 magician and Gary had no way of knowing what other tricks he had up his sleeve. So far, he seemed to have been using powers that involved messing with other people, some kind of Jedi mind tricks. Gary’s best guess was that they wouldn’t work on him, the same way Zafier’s attempts to command him as a zombie hadn’t worked – because Gary wasn’t exactly undead, but he wasn’t exactly a person either.

But that didn’t mean his uncle couldn’t have other spells. So if it was going to come to a showdown between the two of them, he needed every advantage he could get.

He walked back into the kitchen and stood over Rain’s body.

“Loot body,” he said, but nothing happened.

“What are you trying to do now?” Gemma asked.

“I need the other Nightblade. Martin was able to take it out of her stash.”

“Right, yeah. it’s giving me that option. You can’t see it?”

Gary swore, “Must be because I’m undead.”

James and Gemma looked at each other. Their trust in Gary was, for want of a better phrase, on a knife’s edge.

Then James nodded. He stepped over to Rain.

“Yes, loot body.”

James removed the second Nightblade from Rain’s stash and handed it to Gary. Gary took it and flipped to the last notification, mentally clicked on yes to see the additional benefits of the unlocked Nightblade.

Nightblade

+50% attack against the living, 10-15 damage (Critical Hit: 30)

+50% attack against the dead, 15-25 damage (Critical Hit: 50)

Collects Essence of the Living, refresh up to 60 hit points per vial

Use the Nightblades together on the same target to gain an automatic double critical hit.

The Nightblades can be thrown +50% attack chance

Aside from an increase in the damage dealt, the Essence of the Living amount had increased, there was now a double strike option and a throw option

Gary slipped the blades inside his trouser belt, one on either side of his hips. He hoped he wouldn’t have to use them again, but if he was forced to, he would. His uncle had almost killed Rain. If Gary used the blades on his uncle, he’d get more Essence of Life.

Trading his uncle’s life for hers was something Gary felt comfortable with. Also, he guessed if he had to kill his uncle, he’d get at least 300 experience points, pushing him closer to level 3.

How’s that for playing the game, Uncle David?

He glanced over at the soldiers and considered risking taking one of their guns, but decided against it. He had no experience shooting guns and there was no skill listed on his character sheet to suggest he would have any aptitude for it. Plus if they woke up as he was trying to retrieve their weapons, he’d be in trouble again.

He had Simon and he had the knives, with their new attack skill for throwing. That was going to have to be enough.

He left the McPearson’s house. The night had closed in as he made his way as fast as he could back towards his uncle’s farmhouse.

James and Gemma got to work, unwrapping the bandages around Rain and doing their best to prise the bullets out of her body one at a time.

“This is hopeless,” Gemma said.

“No, look,” James noted as he prised a bullet out of Rain’s leg. The wound started to close up. “She’s recovering.”

“Okay, okay,” Gemma said, “Let’s work on getting the next one out.”

They worked for ten minutes using basic kitchen implements.

From the living room, one of the soldier’s radios crackled into life.

“Sykes, Phillips, I want a status update.”

One of the soldiers, Sykes, jolted awake. He looked around blearily, then stood up, his eyes out of focus. He scanned around the living room. Realising that something was wrong, he struggled out of the sitting chair and stepped into the kitchen. Even as drowsy as he was, he could see something was wrong. He waved his gun at James and Gemma, motioning for them to step back. Noticed the corpse of Martin on the floor.

Sykes struggled to focus. Exhaustion, alcohol and Zopiclone caused his voice to slur.

“Sir,” he slurred into his radio, “The zhombie, Gary, he’sh eshcaped and I think he killed one of the shivilllianssshh…”