Chapter 25: Survivors

Odin's face mask rose up and down repeatedly for a few more seconds as he took deep breaths to calm his still racing heartbeat. Then, an easy smile slowly outlined his face when the Origin Order notified him that he'd just learned a blade skill.

But he didn't choose to delve deep into the notification since he had an audience. He quickly dismissed the interface with a mental command and then whirled around to face the survivors.

He immediately noticed that the most conspicuous in the ragtag group were the two armed guards clad in black combat uniforms and a pot-bellied middle-aged man in a grey suit. The others were three young men and four youthful women who seemed to have been employees at the resort. They were even still in their uniforms.

Aside from the two guards, the rest were all in a sorry state, with bloodshot eyes and pale faces swathed in tears and snot. The pot-bellied middle-aged man was in the worst shape, with an apparent wet stain on the crotch area of his grey pants. As for the few surviving young men and women, they even had mucky patches of puke stains all over their garments.

Odin could not bear to look at them anymore. He turned away from the panic-stricken group before facing the two armed guards. "Are you the only survivors?" He asked.

"I'm not sure," the lady guard replied, her eyes narrowing. "We didn't have the leisure to check the cabins and the tavern while escaping. There might still be survivors there."

Odin nodded as his eyes lingered on her for a few more seconds.

She was a stunning lady with sharp amber eyes and a pretty oval face. Her undercut chic and short pixie hairstyle gave her a wild and heroic air, while her plump figure with exquisite curves in the right places could draw even the unwilling eye. She was a true beauty even when going by the strictest of standards.

"How were you able to kill all those zombies without a gun," the lady asked, seemingly not noticing Odin's lingering gaze. "Are you a former member of the special forces or a navy seal? But that is impossible. You look so young, like a student at a university. Who are you?"

Odin's eyes narrowed when he noticed that her finger was still on the trigger of her semi-automatic pistol. Although her gun was pointing towards the ground, she still seemed to be on high alert against him. But he wasn't that scared since he'd already seen her empty her entire magazine while fighting the zombies.

"Calm down," he said, trying his best to flash her an innocuous smile. "I'm Odin McGill, and I'm also a guest here at the resort. The cabin up ahead is where I have been staying with my family."

The lady nodded as her expression relaxed. "I'm Iris Blanchard, an employee of the Black Knight Security company. I'm sorry for reacting with hostility even after you saved us from the zombies. It was just an instinctual reaction. After seeing you cut apart those zombies, I became alarmed."

"I understand," Odin said with a smile. "I would have also reacted the same way if I was in your shoes."

"Thank you for your understanding," Iris replied, raising an eyebrow. "Why are you wearing a face mask, by the way? Is there a new contagious disease spreading around?"

"The mask is just for protection against spraying blood when I'm fighting monsters," Odin replied. "So, don't dig deep into its significance."

"I see. You had me worried for a moment." Iris said with a relaxed smile before turning towards her male colleague.

Odin followed her gaze and fixed his eyes on the tall and buff gentleman holding a long M16 assault rifle by her side. He seemed to be in his fifties with some traces of grey in his neatly trimmed black hair. But putting his age aside, he was an intimidating bloke, especially with the prominent scar that ran all the way from his ear to the bottom of his left cheek.

He didn't immediately notice their gazes as all his attention seemed to be taken up by the slain zombies sprawled about on the ground. He stared at them thoughtfully without bothering about anything else until Iris coughed and kicked him in the calf. Then, he seemed to come back to himself before chuckling heartily and stepping forward to introduce himself.

"I'm Christian Blaze," the tall older gentleman said with a lopsided grin. "I'm also an employee of the Black Night Security Company. Nice to meet you, young friend."

"Nice to meet you too, Christian," Odin said with a forced smile. Just meeting the gaze of the older gentleman had caused his heart to palpitate with anxiety. The man was simply like a ferocious beast in human skin.

"Where did you guys come from exactly?" Odin asked after a moment.

"The restaurant," Iris replied with a bitter sigh. "Many people were having their breakfast when mayhem broke loose. We tried to save a few, but our efforts were in vain. The people who'd turned into zombies soon overwhelmed the rest and feasted on them. In the end, we only managed to escape with a few. But as you noticed, the zombies chased us and continued picking off the survivors at the back. That's why you see us in such a sorry state."

"I see," Odin said, sinking into a moment of contemplation. The two guards should have dealt with a rough estimate of twenty-five to thirty zombies. If he added on the sixteen zombies he'd slain, there should be less than twenty zombies remaining in the resort. He only needed to slaughter those, and he would create a haven without zombies for the time being.

"Young friend," Christian said, interrupting Odin's thought process, "You really surprised me by making quick work of all those zombies. Can you tell us how you managed to become so strong?"

Odin smiled and replied with a question. "Have you heard about the cases of mutated creatures rampaging around the globe over the past few weeks?"

"Yes, I have," Christian replied, his eyes narrowing slightly. "There was news of mutated wolves and rats attacking people last week."

"Like wild animals, humans can also mutate to gain powerful abilities," Odin said. "I'm just one of those among the first to evolve in the new era that has just descended and brought many changes to our ecology."

"I see," Christian said, his dark eyes flickering with anticipation. "Do you have any idea of what we need to do in order to evolve and become as powerful as you?"

"I have no idea," Odin replied honestly.

He didn't know everything since he had only glimpsed some bits and pieces of the future when he used the prophecy stone. He was only aware that humans and other creatures would continue to evolve and become stronger with time. But he didn't know how they would accomplish the feat. Otherwise, he would have already used the knowledge to help his sisters and adoptive mother become more powerful even before the descent.

"You don't know," Christian mumbled as his eyes appeared dull and blank for a moment. "Damn it! How're we supposed to fight off these monsters then? Should we hide and wait for the army to save us?"

Odin was startled by his over-the-top reaction. "You don't need to worry," he said. "The evolution process in humans might be random. So, you may wake up tomorrow and find yourself in possession of meta-powers."

Christian smiled and opened his mouth to reply. But just then, the port-bellied middle-aged man, who seemed to have wet his pants, stepped up and interrupted their conversation.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, ladies and gentlemen," he said, zeroing his gaze on the guards. "Could you please escort us to Missoula? The police there could protect us better."

Iris immediately excused herself before stepping toward the group of survivors. "Mr. Moretti," she called out, facing the pot-bellied middle-aged man. "Give us a few minutes to plan a few things. We'll then consider whether to escort you and the other survivors to Missoula."

"Are you insane?" The man shouted, waving his arms about in the air. "You said that you were out of ammo before. What if those monsters come back? What will you use to fight them? Instead of wasting time here, we should travel to Missoula as soon as possible. We should seek protection from the police there."

"Sir, please calm down," Iris said. "Let me discuss your proposition with my colleague before getting back to you. Okay?"

The pot-bellied man nodded. "But you better hurry. Don't forget that our resort is one of the biggest clients of your security company. If you can't protect us, there's no use for us to enter another contract with you next year."

"I understand, sir," Iris replied patiently. "Let me discuss this with my colleagues before getting back to you."

The pot-bellied gentleman nodded again, and Iris stepped away and returned to Odin's group.

Odin wrinkled his nose slightly as his eyes narrowed. "Who is he?" He asked.

"Billy Moretti," Iris responded. "He's the general manager of the resort. Do you think we should consider his suggestion and travel to Missoula? Maybe, we can get help from our colleagues and seek help from the police."

"Going to any city at this time is like committing suicide," Odin said, shaking his head. "Even a city as small as Missoula has over 70,000 people. Consider a scenario where three-quarters or even half of those have already turned into zombies. How will you fight such a horde?"

"I'm also against traveling to the Missoula," Christian echoed. "The forty zombies from before were just about to slaughter us. If it weren't for Odin, I would have already turned into a dead man. Now that I've survived, how can I start considering the prospect of facing zombies numbering in the 10,000s? Do I have a death wish? Iris, I'm sorry. I'm totally against the prospect of traveling to Missoula."

Iris smiled slightly and shook her head. "You're right. We should stay here and secure the area for the time being. If we're lucky, the National Guard might send some guys to scout our area. We can then tag along and head to the Army National Guard Armory located in Kalispell. That place is safer than here."

"By the way," Odin suddenly said, "Has anyone of you tried contacting the police?"

"We have already tried," Iris replied. "However, the network is down. Even the 911 calls are not going through."

Odin let out a breath as his mood turned crestfallen. "If the phones are already off," he said, "trouble has already descended. Government systems should already be falling apart, and we surely can't expect the army or the police to save us as they have bigger fish to fry. Instead, we should rely upon ourselves."

"What should we do?" Iris asked while stealing a peek at the survivors.

"Let's start by killing all the zombies around the resort," Odin suggested. "There should only be less than twenty zombies remaining, and they should be mostly inside the cabins. If we kill them off, we shall have a safe base to ensure our survival for the next few days. We can then plan our next steps after that."

"That's a good plan," Christian readily agreed. "But the problem is that we're out of ammo. We can't do much against the highly agile zombies unarmed."

"Don't worry," Odin said. "I'll move around and solve all the zombies alone. But first, we need to settle the survivors into the nearby cabins. I don't wish to leave them at the mercy of zombies when I move away."

Iris exchanged glances with Christian before saying, "Since we can't help you clear the zombies, we'll help with the survivors. Just give us a few minutes."

"Okay, thanks," Odin intoned. "But please, don't settle the survivors in my cabin. They can occupy the rest except the one ahead."

"Don't worry. We understand." Iris said and then stepped away with Christian towards the group of survivors.

Odin left them to their own devices before moving away from the group. After walking for roughly a dozen yards, he summoned the Origin Order's interface with a mental command to check out his new skill.

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Host: Odin McGill

Race: Human

Evolutionary Level: 2

Total Origin Points: 32/40

Attributes: Strength 2.9, Dexterity 3.7, Physique 3.9, Spirit 12.8

Meta-Powers: Spatial Sense, Spatial Manipulation

Learned Killing Arts and Related Skills: Blade Skills (Lv.1, Basic)

Unassigned Attribute Points: 0

Unassigned Skill Points: 2

Genetic Energy Life-Level: Type-0 (Ordinary Mortal)

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[Pending Missions: E-Grade Mission -> Annihilate all the zombified humans within the surrounding two-mile radius. Rewards: +2 Origin points for each zombie killed. Failure Condition: A high possibility of death]

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Odin felt a surge of excitement swell through him after skimming through the content on the interface. He ignored everything else around him and started swinging his machete around, trying to sense whether he'd really mastered the art of the blade. But he soon realized that he hadn't made any improvements.

His machete chops and slashes were still sloppy and clumsy as before, without the resoluteness and the killer vibes he'd noticed when the blade instructors on the internet performed the same moves. His only advantage was, of course, his speed which enabled him to strike the enemies fast and repeatedly before they could react.

But Odin had long figured that he couldn't rely on just his agility to overcome the stronger foes he would eventually face in the future. He had to improve his meta-abilities and grasp some potent combat skills if he hoped to protect himself and his family in the coming days of the apocalypse.

Otherwise, if he relaxed and became arrogant because of his ability to kill low-tier zombies and weak mutated creatures, he might face his demise soon. Then, he wouldn't be able to protect his sisters and help his half-zombified adoptive mother to recover.

"I need to get stronger fast."

Odin thought for a moment, and then the two unassigned skill points collecting dust on the interface came to mind. He'd already inferred that he could probably increase the mastery of his blade skills if he used the skill points. Since it was a prospect worth trying, he acted immediately.

"Origin Order," he called out telepathically. "Allocate the two unassigned skill points to my Basic Blade Skills."

"DING"

A low chime rung within Odin's mind as blood-red lines of text quickly flashed before his vision.

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[Host's command has been received and accepted]

[Now allocating the two unassigned skill points to Basic Blade Skills]

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"DING"

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[Host's Blade Skill mastery has now leveled up to the Level-3 Basic tier]

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No sooner had the notifications flashed in front of Odin's vision than a slight feeling of warmth flowed through his body before drilling into his head. A tremor jolted his brain, and he could vaguely feel some illusions embedding themselves into his mind. Then, just suddenly, his vision blurred for a moment before clearing again.

Odin's heart skipped a beat the next instant. He immediately sensed that the way he was holding the long machete seemed wrong, and he tightened his grip on the handle. Then, almost by instinct, he relaxed his posture a little and shifted his weight to his right foot before performing a simple downward stroke.

Whoosh!

The machete sliced through the air like a lightning bolt, and Odin immediately realized that the weapon felt at home in his hands. He performed a few more slashes and chops, and his blade skills became more potent and deadlier with every passing second. They were simpler without any excess movements, allowing him to attack from trickier angles and with faster speed than before. He seemed to have turned into a blade master by relying on just two skill points from the Origin Order.