He spent at least an hour agonizing over the decision, while Lucky and Luna worked on the glider. In the end, he chose the Bulwark class.

  He liked the idea of enhancing his fighting skills, but wouldn't it be better if he could avoid fighting altogether? Stu hated battling zombies and mutates -- it was vile, disgusting work, and cutting off heads, smashing in skulls, and severing limbs sickened him. He didn't like seeing bones and muscle tissue and blood squirting all over the place; he didn't like feeling his machete crunch into a zombie's spine. Killing was sometimes necessary, of course, but using the ICON system to become a more efficient killer...the idea just didn't sit well with him. His goal was survival; killing zombies was only ancillary to that.

  He had considered the Scavenger class as well, which offered a number of minor stat boosts and faster access to a wider variety of skills. Some of these skills might have been useful, but did he really need an enhanced sense of smell, for example, or the ability to walk through fire and flames?

  The Bulwark class, in contrast, would boost his defense immensely, making him very hard to hurt. He already had the ability to heal himself with Regeneration, and if he were to purchase the Turtle skill as well, along with Nice Landing and a few other defensive skills, he would be well-equipped to survive the long journey to Lon Halos.

  He tapped the screen, selecting the Bulwark class. The system asked him twice if he was sure about his decision, which did give him pause, but he clicked through these warnings, and was presented with a new notification:

  You have upgraded to the Bulwark class!

  Bonus skill acquired: Brick Wall!

  At the same moment, he felt a mild electric tingle ripple through the body -- the same sensation he experienced whenever he went up two or three levels. It washed away his fatigue, leaving him feeling stronger, faster, more alert. Checking his stats, he saw that his defense stat had nearly doubled.

  He didn't really feel all that different, though. Unsure of whether the change of class had actually done anything, he took a knife out of his belt and began poking his index finger with the tip. He pressed it harder and harder, trying to draw blood, but to his surprise, his skin resisted the blade, as though it were made out of hard leather. And when he finally did manage to puncture it, his Regeneration skill healed the wound almost instantly, leaving him with a single drop of blood, which he smeared away with his thumb.

  It was interesting. But it was weird, too, and a little creepy. What was the system doing to him, and how was it doing it? Was it transforming him into something more -- or less -- than human? Were these changes permanent? Would there be any side effects?

  As for the Brick Wall skill...the ICON system hadn't bothered to explain what this skill would do, so he opened his skill list to check it. According to the descriptor, the Brick Wall skill, which could be used once a day, would plant his feet to the ground and make him totally immovable for a maximum of five minutes. He wasn't quite sure how this would work -- what would happen if he was hit by a car, for example, while using the skill? Would the impact still kill him, while he remained rooted to the spot? Or would it provide him with some measure of invulnerability as well? But depending on the situation, he supposed it could still come in handy, especially if he increased his other defensive skills.

  He still had those six skill points to spend, too. He still wanted Zombie Radar, so he purchased it, leaving with him with a single skill point.

  He scrolled through his list of skills. He had seven now -- Night Vision, Dead Aim, Strong Arm, Speed Freak, Regeneration, Brick Wall, and now Zombie Radar. All of these, except for Brick Wall and Regeneration, could be upgraded further if he added more skill points to them, but he wasn't sure he wanted to do that; skill points were precious, and he preferred to spend them on new skills. The only skills he might consider upgrading were the Strong Arm and Speed Freak skills -- he was already stronger and faster than any ordinary person, but his enhanced strength and speed had proven itself useful so many times, and seemed to offer such a general advantage, that he thought it might be worth enhancing it further.

  He closed the menus and got to his feet. He was startled by Lucky, coming around the corner of the shack; the kid had apparently been watching him for some time.

  "What is this?" Lucky asked him, imitating Stu tapping at the ICON system's menu screens (which were, of course, invisible to Lucky himself). "You've been poking the air and staring at nothing for the last hour."

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  "It's...complicated," he said.

  "You're not going to tell me?"

  "Ask your sister, maybe."

  He snorted. "Whatever. So what do we now? Do you still want to talk to Marshal Tempo?"

  "It's a worth a shot, isn't it?"

  "Probably not, but it's not like we've got anything better to do. Let's go."

  And so, leaving Luna to her glider, they headed to the wrecked apartment building which the Pale Riders had made their headquarters. The entrance was guarded by a couple of big guys wearing leather armor and holding rifles, but they were familiar with Stu and Lucky and they didn't stop them from going in.

  They made their way up to the third floor, where they found Marshal Tempo having lunch with a couple of his men. "Stu," he greeted, nodding at him. "Lucky. What can I do for you today?"

  Lucky glanced at Stu -- apparently the kid expected him to do the talking. "Ah. Well..."

  A smile tugged at the corner of Tempo's mouth. "Let me guess. You want something."

  Stu laughed nervously. "You're very perceptive."

  "Not really. Almost everyone who comes to me wants something or other; it's the price I pay for having accepted this job. So what is it you need?"

  "Dynamo fluid," Lucky piped up.

  "Ah, for Luna's glider, of course."

  "Yes," Stu said. "Luna says we only need three canisters to get to Lon Halos. We've been looking all over these past few weeks -- we just came out of the subway -- but we haven't had any luck. We were hoping you might be willing to spare a few."

  Tempo's men chuckled. Tempo himself shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, boys, but as I'm sure you know, dynamo fluid is a precious resource, and there's not a lot of it left to go around in Meku City. We need what we have to run our water pumps and net sets, and to keep our electrified fences powered up."

  "You can't spare any at all? Like I said, we only need three canisters."

  "I'm sorry. Perhaps if you had something worth trading..."

  "We don't."

  "You have a glider."

  Lucky frowned. "But we need the glider to get to Lon Halos."

  "Well, that is a problem, isn't?" He gave Stu a measured look. "Do you want my advice? I think you'd be better off staying here in Meku. You could join the Pale Riders -- we can always use more men, and I haven't forgotten how well you fought back at the Dealership. I think you'd be very useful to us. And of course we could find a place for you, too, Lucky."

  "I'm sorry, sir," Stu said. "But I really have to get to Lon Halos."

  "Thank you for the offer, though," Lucky said, finally managing to summon up some tact.

  "If you really want dynamo fluid," one of Tempo's men suddenly said, "you might try the Watch & Coppersmith factory up in Heart's Glow. Plenty up there."

  Stu and Lucky both turned to look at this man, who was sitting some distance apart from the others. He was wearing a dusty white coat and a pair of motorcycle goggles on his forehead, and he was picking his teeth with a pocketknife. Stu hadn't seen him around before.

  Tempo introduced him: "This is Baron, one of our messengers out of Pretoria. He knows that country pretty well."

  "Nice to meet you," Stu greeted, guardedly. "Watch & Coppersmith? What's that?"

  "They were a robotics company," he provided. "Pretty big before the outbreak. They made all kinds of robots, even some bipedals. They had a huge factory in Heart's Glow."

  "And there's dynamo fluid there?"

  He nodded. "Saw it for myself a few years ago. I was on my way back to Meku when I got jumped by some of the Butcher's boys just north of Route 90. I tried hiding from them in Heart's Glow, ended up in that factory."

  "And it's still there?" Lucky pressed. "The dynamo fluid?"

  "Far as I know."

  "So why haven't you been back there to loot the place?"

  He smiled darkly. "What do you think?"

  "Zombies?" Lucky ventured.

  He nodded. "Good guess. I was lucky to get out alive."

  Stu sighed. Maybe he should have selected the Killer class after all. "How many?"

  "Hundreds. And these weren't just your standard deaders, either -- I've never seen so many irregulars in one place. Bombers, jumbos, mutates. They've taken over the whole factory."

  This didn't sound very promising. But if there really was a supply of dynamo fluid in this place...

  "How far is it to Heart's Glow?" Stu asked.

  Lucky tugged on his sleeve. "You're actually considering this?"

  "It's about seventy miles west of Meku, on Route 90," Baron said. "It's hard to miss."

  "It's entirely up to you, of course," Marshal Tempo said, "but I would strongly advise against traveling through Heart's Glow. The Riders have managed to suppress the zombie population here in Meku City, to a certain extent, but places like Heart's Glow have never been pacified. You'll find many more zombies there than here, and more dangerous ones, too."

  Had the zombie population in Meku City really been suppressed to any significant degree? Stu found that hard to believe. He had seen dozens, maybe hundreds, of zombies wandering the streets of downtown Meku City when he had first arrived in this world, and they always ran into at least a few whenever they left the safety of the walled settlements. Would they really encounter more in a smaller city, like this Heart's Glow place?

  "I appreciate the warning," Stu said. "Thank you for your help, Marshal Tempo."

  The old man frowned at him. "Are you sure about this?"

  "We need that dynamo fluid."

  He shrugged. "As you say. Good luck, my friends. I hope to see you again someday, and under better circumstances. You'll give my regards to Luna?"

  "Of course." He nodded at the man, and with Lucky following close behind, walked out of room.