Glitch in the System

Chapter 3: How Did I Get Here?

   Drew couldn't believe it, he was trapped inside of the game and he didn't know how to get out. He wasn't even sure how he had gotten there, but one thing was for sure, he needed to get out, and fast. He had been trying for a good while without any luck. The only thing he did know was that it followed the gameplay he had seen so far and he was playing the role of the main character. He was avoiding the zombies at all costs, even though he knew that he would just respawn. He found an abandoned grocery store and had been camping out there, hoping that he would have enough food to last him until he could find a way out.

   Drew stood up quickly, hearing the groan of a zombie and grabbing the axe that he had found by the front door. Sure enough, a woman who looked to be about 20 shuffled into his vision, her flesh was rotting and he could smell it from where he stood. Maggots fell off of her as she stumbled towards him hungrily, her eyes a milky white color. She growled and Drew found himself frozen for a moment, unable to move or react as she got closer and closer, grabbing onto his arm. In that moment, he snapped out of it and roughly pushed her, knocking her off her feet about three feet away from him. She stood up just as he ran at her, swinging his axe and burying it in her skull. Blood spurted out as he pulled the axe out of her head, swinging it over and over again, slinging bits of her brain and skull everywhere. Sure that she wasn't getting back up, a very tired Drew backed up and almost fell as he stepped in a puddle of blood. His breathing was heavy and he had blood, pieces of maggots, and zombie all over him. He sat down on the floor, trying to steady his breathing and get his heart beat back to normal. He held back the urge to wipe at the tears threatening to fall, not wanting to get blood in his eyes.

   After finally getting himself under control, Drew stood up and grabbed his axe, searching through the grocery store for any zombies. He didn't want to be surprised later on if there were any others shuffling around the store, looking for someone to devour. He dragged any bodies back to where he had killed the first zombie, deciding to throw them out the back door once night came. When he was done, he had a stack of about 30 bodies, some that he had killed and others that were already dead when he found them. As night started to fall he dragged the bodies to the back door and threw them out, going as quickly and quietly as possible so he wouldn't attract any of the zombies wandering around outside. He closed the door and locked it tightly, taking every precaution he could. He then went through the store and gathered all of the pillows and blankets he could find, laying them out to make a sort of bed. It was better than nothing and would keep him from having to sleep on the hard floor. After a while he fell asleep, listening to the groans of the undead creatures outside. 

~Time Skip to the Next Day~

   Drew woke up aching and made a mental note to himself that he needed to make a better bed. He stretched as best he could and walked the isles of the store, grabbing a bag of donuts and checking to see if they were any good. Once he made sure they were safe he ate them, feeling very hungry from yesterday. He walked through the whole store, checking once again for zombies. Once he was sure that everything was safe he grabbed some trash bags and got rid of all the fruits and vegetables in the store so that he wouldn't have to deal with the smell anymore. It was bad enough that he was living in a store but he refused to live in a smelly one. Once he was done he sprayed air freshener throughout the store to get rid of the smell.

   The day dragged on, leaving Drew bored despite the various games and toys inside of the store. There were no other people and he had done everything he needed to do. The only thing left for him to do was make himself a new bed. He walked through the isles until he found a big air mattress with a battery powered pump. He grabbed it and took it back to where his old bed was, setting it up with the pump so that he could organize his blankets and pillows. Once it was inflated he made his bed and decided to rest. It was much better than the pallet he had slept on the night before. He knew he would have to go out and explore at some point, but for now he was safe and content.

   After a while Drew started to get restless. He decided that he would go out and look for weapons. He had seen an old pawn shop and a gun shop that he could raid. He knew that he would have to be very careful because he could only take on one zombie at a time with his current weapon and that just wouldn't cut it for much longer, especially if he had to go scavenge. He grabbed his axe and headed outside, checking around for any zombies that could be lurking around. After making sure there weren't any zombies, he ran across the deserted street and into the gun shop.

   Guns of various sizes were scattered on the floor and in broken displays. As he walked by he saw a few that looked familiar from games he had played. There was a Glock 17 in the broken display case and an AR-15 under one of the shelves of ammo. Knowing that they were good guns, Drew found a duffel bag and put the AR-15 in it. He kept the Glock with him, just in case he ran into any trouble. He did a quick search of the store before packing the rest of the guns and ammo he found into his bag. Knowing he had everything he needed, Drew ran back over to the store, stopping dead in his tracks after seeing the door. It was wide open and there was no telling what could have gotten inside.