He looked around for a weapon. The chainsaw-thing he had spotted earlier looked promising, so he picked it up and examined it.
It was smaller than a gas-powered chainsaw; in fact it was even smaller than the battery-powered ones he had seen at Home Depot. The chassis containing the engine was only about the size of an Xbox controller, and the handle was so small that he could barely fit his fingers through it. The blade, on the other hand, was the length of a sword, nearly three feet long, and the cutting chain was unlike any he had seen before -- a mass of jagged, irregular, sharpened teeth, bunched closely together.
There was a single button near the handle. He pressed it, but nothing happened.
Shit. What the hell did it run on? Looking it over, he spotted a pair of round slots that looked somewhat similar to the apertures on Luna's glider, into which the canisters of dynamo fluid were inserted. Did this thing run on dynamo fluid, then? It seemed likely; the whole spaceship was dripping with the stuff. He had no idea why an apparently alien chainsaw would run on something like dynamo fluid, but there was a lot he didn't know, and there was no time to think about it, anyway -- the zombies would have that door open in another few minutes.
He started searching the room for a vial of dynamo fluid that might fit in the slots. His eyes were drawn to the large monitor and control system built into the wall near the center of the room, and even though he knew he should be focusing on the task at hand, he found himself studying it. Was this the helm? Some kind of navigation system? For all he knew it was an alien's bedroom, but it was certainly interesting, whatever it was. For some reason, he felt compelled to touch the monitor's screen.
To his shock, it immediately flickered to life, filling the dark room with a blood-red glare. He had been under the impression that the ship was totally lifeless, but apparently this room was still receiving power from somewhere.
The word "WARNING!" flashed across the screen, and beneath it were several messages: "Loss of containment in rear subfield drive! Drive strength 0%. Fuel leak detected! Pressure loss in pumps 1, 2, 7, 8. Subfield commands compromised. Cannot find data bus. Cannot connect to main computer."
He thought it strange that the messages should be written in English...but then he realized, with a start, that they weren't written in English; what he was looking at were a series of alien squiggles. These should have meant nothing to him, but somehow, and to his own amazement, he was able read them. He couldn't really understand them -- he didn't know what a subfield drive was -- but the meaning behind the strange squiggles had somehow penetrated his brain.
Looking at the words gave him a headache, however, and he had more important things to worry about now anyway. He continued searching for something that might power the chainsaw, trying to ignore the sound of the zombies on the other side of the sliding door. They were snarling and hissing and trying to force it open.
The room was littered with objects, and eventually he stumbled across a box that resembled a silver suitcase. Unlatching it and flipping it open, he discovered two small vials, that looked like they might fit the chainsaw's apertures. He quickly loaded them into the device -- to his relief, they fit perfectly -- and when he pressed the button, the chainsaw suddenly roared to life, its jagged teeth sparking dangerously along the edge of the blade.
Now this was a weapon. The damn thing looked like it could chew through just about anything.
But now there was nothing to do but wait for the zombies to break through the door. He took a deep breath, steadying himself, and then opened up the ICON menu, to see if he might find some help there.
He had earned two skill points after scoring that critical bonus earlier, which gave him a total of four. Was there was anything he could buy for four skill points that might help him in this situation? Bomber Blocker, which would protect him from a bomber's explosive blast, cost two points, but he hadn't seen any bombers in this particular horde. Firewalker, which would protect him from flames, also cost two points, but he didn't think he needed it; he already had his Regeneration skill and his high defense stat.
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The second level of Speed Freak could be purchased for four points. That was the obvious choice, but there was one more skill that he found intriguing: Captain Critical. This skill was supposed to make it easier for him to score those mysterious critical bonuses, which he sometimes received when he killed a zombie in a creative or spectacular way. The bonuses seemed to give him additional experience points (although it was hard to tell, because the ICON system never showed him any experience values) and extra skill points.
He was always struggling to acquire skill points, and he felt like he had very little to lose at this point -- he might not survive this upcoming fight anyway -- so he purchased the skill. Then, tightening his grip on the chainsaw, he walked over to the door just as the zombies were sliding it open.
He pressed the button on the chainsaw, activating it, and plunged it into the chest of the first zombie that broke through. Stu had seen plenty of slasher flicks, but even he was unprepared for how much of a mess it made -- the chainsaw dug into the zombie's rib cage, ripping it to shreds and showering him with blood and gore. Surprised, he pushed the zombie back, then pulled the blade out and lopped off its head. Level 2 Zombie defeated!Level Up! 33-34Gained 2 SP!Critical Bonus! Gained 1 SP!
There was no time to read the message; more zombies were coming for him. In order to keep from being overwhelmed, he positioned himself close to the door and killed them as they came near -- first a Level 2, then a Level 4. The chainsaw was amazingly effective at killing them -- the chain cut through their necks like a knife through butter; Stu felt almost no resistance at all.
Level 2 Zombie defeated!Level 4 Zombie defeated!Critical Bonus! Gained 2 SP! The Level 2 and Level 4 fell to the floor, forcing the other zombies to climb over their bodies. The short, stocky Level 3 zombie, which he had battled earlier, came very close to grabbing him, but Stu drove the chainsaw blade directly into its skull, killing it, and once again spraying him with blood and bits of bone. Level 3 Zombie defeated!Critical Bonus! Gained 1 SP!
He was racking up critical bonuses, and earning skill points, faster than he had ever done before -- he had earned six points in the last few seconds. But again, he was too busy to pay much attention to this; he dismissed the messages as quickly as they appeared.
The Level 9 Glowie was still back there, somewhere; he could see its blazing light through the partially-opened door. But it was the salamander-mutate that attacked him next -- the creature flopped through the door, onto its belly, and wriggled over the bodies like a snake or a lizard. Surprised by its speed and wary of any special abilities it might have, he decided to dispatch it quickly, but as he stepped back, to give himself more room to swing the chainsaw, its tongue shot out and wrapped around his wrist. It was like a chameleon's tongue, long and flexible, and it had exploded out of its mouth with remarkable speed.
Disgusted, Stu yanked at the tongue, pulling the mutate towards him and impaling it on the chainsaw. The tongue slackened, losing its grip on him; he shook it off and stabbed the blade of the saw into the creature's bloated, amphibian face. Level 1 Mutate defeated!Level Up! 34-35Gained 2 SP!Critical Bonus! Gained 1 SP!
Another level, already? But this was very helpful, because every time he went up a level, he felt refreshed, rejuvenated. More zombies were flooding into the room, and he was whirling around and battling them for all he was worth -- kicking, stabbing, slicing some to ribbons -- but instead of growing weaker, and more weary, he was actually growing stronger. Level 5 Zombie defeated!Critical Bonus! Gained 1 SP!
He was gaining skill points with almost every kill now. The Captain Critical skill had already paid for itself, and then some; he felt like an idiot for not having purchased it earlier. How many more skills might he have acquired by now?
He killed another zombie with the chainsaw, but more and more were making their way into the room -- more than the dozen or so he had encountered earlier. This entire section of the ship must have been crawling with them. He killed a Level 1 Jumbo, which earned him another critical bonus, and a female Level 2, who was completely nude but covered in a black, slimy substance that might been oil. He caught her from behind, sawing into her spine, decapitating her. It was grisly work; Stu could already tell that he was going to have nightmares about this incident...at least, if he managed to survive it.
The zombies had never managed to completely open the sliding door; it was still partially closed. While Stu was busy fighting, however, a pair of giant hands suddenly grasped the door and ripped it completely open, wrenching it out of place. Stu, wiping the zombie blood out of his eyes, turned to look, and saw that it was a Level 7 Rager that had ripped open the door -- a female rager, who stood at least two inches taller than Stu. She was wearing the remains of camo jumpsuit; she might have been one of the soldiers who had been guarding this Vroom before the Desert King took over.
She stepped into the room, followed by the Level 9 Glowie, which was also bigger and taller than Stu. It was shining so brightly that it hurt his eyes to look at it.
The rager screamed at him. The glowie growled.
And then they attacked.