They cremated Martin’s body the same night.

“We’ll need to do the same for the McPearson’s,” Gary noted.

Half of the survivors gathered enough wood to make a funeral pyre, whilst the other half dug kill-pits at strategic points around the McPearson’s farm. There was no room for tiredness, complaints or hesitation. Everyone knew what needed to be done to make themselves safe. After a brief discussion, they divvied up the responsibilities and got to work. In groups of two, they also scouted the surrounding area, making sure their maps were filled in and they could see if anyone was approaching, living or undead. The two soldiers that had been tied up had freed themselves and left. After a brief search, the survivors concluded the pair had deserted.

In the distance, Gary’s uncle’s farmhouse burned. Any chance of the dead there coming back was incinerated.

Fran dug around in the rules and found a miscellaneous sub-class called artificer, which could be used for creating magical wards and other items. After some hesitation, she opted for that, deciding that the group would need whatever protection she could engineer.

“There’s nowhere near as much space here as the other place,” Peter noted.

“Well, we’ve lost two and gained one,” Jonathan replied. “We’ll have to make do with the sleeping arrangements as best we can. Perhaps we can look at converting one of the barns.”

“As soon as one of you reaches level 5, you’ll be able to improve the defences,” Rain stated.

“Then that has to be our priority,” Jonathan said. “We all need to level up as fast as we can. It’s the only way we’re going to survive this. We’re going to need some more undead to kill. A lot more.”

“Gary could help us with that,” James said hesitantly. “He could bring the dead back. If we were smart about it, we could use that to our advantage. Using the kill-pits and so on.”

Jonathan nodded. “Yeah, that would work. Where is Gary, anyway?”

“Digging a kill-pit over in the north field, I think.”

*

Jonathan found Gary standing in a field, staring at the dying embers of his uncle’s farmhouse in the distance. He’d completed a six foot deep by six foot wide pit, but since it wasn’t intended as a grave, he’d gained no experience points for it.

“You worked fast,” Jonathan said.

“I don’t seem to get tired anymore. I can feel my muscles straining, but it doesn’t affect me. Another benefit of being undead, I guess.”

“How are doing?”

“Just thinking,” Gary said, “I’ve got some peace in my head after the last day. No more music playing, no more undead voice trying to twist me. No more admins talking to me.”

“Right. We’ve been thinking too, about your new power. We can make that work of us…”

Gary cut Jonathan off.

“I’m not staying.”

“What do you mean?”

“Here. I’m not staying here.”

Jonathan was taken aback.

“Why? I know things went mad back there, but we’re all good. Things have worked out, more or less.”

“Maybe, for now, yes. And if Rain is right, then in a week or so, all of this will be over. Most of the undead will leave, off to fight in the war, wherever that is. Everyone will be safe. For a while at least.”

“Right. So all we need to do is hole up here and wait it out, surely?”

“And what about everyone else that’s out there? There are millions of people getting slaughtered. We just leave them to it?”

“Christ, Gary, what are you saying? That you want to go back out there and look for other survivors? I mean, you barely survived us. I doubt it will be any better with other people who don’t even know you. The living will see you as one of the undead, remember?”

“Yeah, I know. And I’m okay with facing that problem.”

“Is this about your parents?”

“No. I’m pretty sure they’ll be dead by now. I’ve resigned myself to that. There’s something else. It’s something you said last night. What do we really know? All the information we have is second or third hand, none of it is reliable. At best we think that in one week’s time this will all be over, but that’s according to Rain and even she isn’t sure. So what if that isn’t the case? What if the dead stay? Then we’re going to need more people to fight them off. Plus, I need to level up. If I can do that, I can get more powers, including the ability to control the undead. That could come in very handy at some point.”

“I can’t believe you are thinking about going back out there. You’re a mad bastard, Gary, you know that?”

“Maybe,” Gary shrugged, “It’s not just about helping other people. I want answers to all of this. And I won’t get them here. Who started this war? Why are the admins not doing anything about it? And what the hell were all those slug things about? And what is this system all about, anyway? Did the admins create it? If they did, they why did they rain hell, quite literally, down on our world? They must have known what was going to happen. They must have known that the necromancers would show up, and we’d all be slaughtered, so what the fuck was that all about?”

“Well, I don’t know about that,” Jonathan said. “I mean, that’s just part of the system. You can’t change the system, Gary.”

Gary frowned and looked at Jonathan as he said that. It sounded odd. Forced, almost. As if someone had told him that was the case.

“No, probably not. But maybe I can have a chat with whoever running this shit show. Who knows?”

Gary had already checked the glitch stone, his only connection to the admin. Its ochre hue and dulled, and twisting the base did no good. Juliet had been true to her word and severed any connection he had to the mysterious admin.

“What do you want us to do? Come with you?”

Gary shook his head. “No. I’ve got one massive advantage that none of you have, which is that the dead will leave me alone. I can slip between them. Maybe find some more of the necromancers, get some answers, find some allies. I can’t do that with someone living with me.”

“Point,” Jonathan nodded, “Anyone you took with you would just become an instant liability.”

“So you need to stay. Help the others, get stronger, level up. Defend this place.”

“I’m not sure we’ll be able to do that without you,” Jonathan said. “We’re just a group of normal people.”

“No, you’re not,” Gary said, “Don’t you get it? You’ve all got a head start on most people on the planet. You only survived because of the system error that created me, and you only levelled up because of me as well. If I was a glitch, a mistake, then you all are as well, by a process of association. Maybe not actual glitches. But according to the way things usually work, none of you should be here, never mind having levelled up.”

“So you’re thinking that we’re all anomalies now, because of our connection to you?”

Gary nodded. “That’s my theory, anyway. Normally you wouldn’t have survived, but now that you have, you’ve got a fighting chance. Maybe a bigger one than anyone else left alive.”

Gary paused.

“There’s something else. I can’t honestly say it’s safe for you all to be around me. Back there, in the field, I almost lost it. I was counting what you’d all be worth in terms of experience points, calculating what it would be worth to kill you all.”

“I have to admit, I’ve done the same. And I think it’s understandable you were angry with us all. The point is that you reined it in.”

“Maybe. But I need to figure some stuff out and I can’t do that here, either way.”

There was something else bothering Gary, but he didn’t say it out loud. His uncle had been a serial killer. Gary shared some of David’s DNA. What if that meant that whatever had twisted his uncle was part of him as well? That moment in the field, where he’d been considering killing everyone, what if that came from the same dark place that had been in his uncle?

He shook his head, pushing the thought away.

“It doesn’t matter. As things stand, the best information we have is that there’s a week of this left. Which gives me a week to head out there and break some heads, get some answers, level up and find some more survivors if I can. Anyone I find, I’ll bring back here whilst you focus on building the defences and getting stronger.”

“You’ve made your mind up,” Jonathan said.

“I have. And honestly, I’m used to doing things by myself, anyway. Just the way I’ve always been wired.”

“That all sounds like a plan, I guess.”

The two stood in silence as the glow from the farmhouse faded, leaving nothing but a burnt-out shell.

“When are you leaving?”

“Now. I don’t need to sleep. I’m not injured despite everything. Time to make a move.”

“You should tell the others,” Jonathan replied, “You can’t just vanish into the night, or everyone will think I killed you.”

Gary chuckled.

“I doubt it. Everyone knows I’d have kicked you ass.”

Jonathan grinned.

“My sword versus your shovel? Come on.”

Gary glanced across at Jonathan.

“Are you disrespecting Simon?”

Jonathan held up his hands, palms facing outwards.

“Wouldn’t dream of it. Come on, you at least need to say some goodbyes.”