Stepping backwards, Mike gawked at the undead approaching him. A wane moan emerged from their open mouth. The sound was faint, forlorn.

  Mike staggered backwards a few steps before his legs gave out. A sob broke from his lips as he hit the ground. Zombies were impossible. This was too much for him. His mind was at its limit as he kicked his feet, trying to create some distance from the zombies approaching him.

  The smell pushed ahead of the zombies hit Mike just as his back slammed into the closed door behind him. He gagged at it, then fell to his side and vomited. The sobs wracked him as his stomach roiled at the stench of death and rot.

  The noise of the crowd picked up again, laughing at Mike’s dilemma. The sound got to Mike, drawing him back from the edge of sanity. He was still sobbing and nauseous, but his mind was clearing. He rolled out of the vomit, ending up making eye contact with one of the audience members. The man noticed Mike was staring at him and raised his hand to point. A guffaw emerged from his throat, and his neighbor started laughing harder as well.

  This galvanized something in Mike. He twisted to get his hands under him and pushed himself up. On his hands and knees, he wiped his wrist against his mouth.

  Something cold grasped Mike’s ankle and he kicked back instinctively. He felt deep scratches as whatever was gripping him was knocked loose. He rose as quickly as he could, forcing down his gorge at the quick motion. The human icon in the corner of his eye showed red around its ankle. Mike glanced down and saw the blood flowing from his own.

  “I managed to figure that one out fast.” The diagnostic window shrank from Mike’s vision as he looked up at the zombies before him. They were getting in each other’s way, with the one Mike kicked stumbling slightly behind.

  The fingers reaching towards him were bare bones at the tip, the flesh worn away. The roughness of the jagged digits was what had cut him. Another one reached for him, but Mike was able to shove the hand away, causing the figure to twist.

  One of the others was coming from Mike’s left and he turned to throw a punch at it. It was a feeble blow; the first Mike had ever thrown in anger. His knuckles slid across the zombie’s chest. The soft flesh split, almost liquid in its putrefaction. Mike retched at the smell released, but stepped back as he realized his blow did nothing.

  He realized there was no more room to retreat as his heel hit the door. Flailing in panic, Mike moved sideways, keeping his back to the wall. It bought him a few precious seconds before his feet tangled in each other and he stumbled to one knee. A sob burst forth before Mike could catch himself, and the sound elicited more laughs from the audience watching. He turned his eyes to the crowd, dumbfounded.

  Most were not even looking at him. A few were still watching, nudging their neighbors to pay attention now that the zombies were closing in on Mike. The rest were engaged in a conversation with each other, not caring about the fight. Mike saw one eating, with noodles dangling out of his mouth to obscure his beard. It was so unusual that Mike forgot the zombies for a moment.

  Which was enough time for one of them to grab Mike’s shoulder. He twitched away, but the sand under his foot betrayed him. Mike’s leg sprawled as he tipped over. Instinctively, he grabbed the zombie’s hand to hold himself up. The zombie was not a good helper, though, and fell forward itself.

  Smashing its head directly into the stone door frame.

  Its skull crushed inward, the eye popping out of its socket and falling to the ground. Twitches passed through its body before it became still, tripping the two other zombies approaching Mike as he scrambled back to his feet. The zombie stopped moving, the faint spasms leaving its body. Mike heard a faint sound like a bell and a new display obscured his vision.

  Congratulations! You have earned enough Experience Points to level up!

  Please choose a Primary Class from the list below! Note: This decision cannot be changed!

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Below this was a list with text too small for Mike to read. Hundreds of items, if not more. He was waving his hands through the screen, trying to keep the zombies away from him. It was impossible to make them out through the vision-filling screen. His hand impacted on one of them. Blindly, Mike shoved as hard as he could, trying to create space to figure out what he was doing. There was a sickening crunch, and Mike heard another bell ring. The display did not change, though.

  “Please,” Mike gasped. He was on the edge of tears. “Please.”

  His eyes flitted down the list, trying to read any of the words available. Each word he looked at grew slightly larger, emphasized. Common concepts like Fighter, Clown, Ninja were mixed in with unfamiliar ones. Arquebusier. Monkey-Wrangler. Acolyte Of the Mad Gods.

  As his vision reached the end, it started moving, showing even more. A scroll bar appeared, just like any common piece of software. There were even more moving across his eyes. The last zombie was still moaning softly. It was getting closer as Mike desperately tried to clear his sight line.

  “Select,” he said. “Choose. Accept.”

  None of the commands worked. Mike felt the cold flesh of the zombie against his fingers and tried to push, but they just sunk in. He pulled them back and some of the greasy skin came with, stuck under his fingernails.

  “That one!” he bellowed. “Pick! Yes!”

  You have chosen MAGE as your primary class! You have learned the spells Identify and Force Dart!

  The large screen vanished, and Mike saw the last zombie all but filling his vision. Its teeth were open, revealing that it had bitten off its own tongue in its frenzy to eat. The faint whine echoed up its throat.

  Congratulations! You have earned enough Experience Points to level up! Primary Class Mage has reached Level 2! You have learned the spell Conjure Ally!

  A new icon was on Mikes vision, down in the lower right-hand corner. A book, with a red ribbon as a bookmark. His gaze flicked to it, and it opened, taking up the lower third of his vision. The zombie was coming closer over top of it, so Mike stepped backwards again.

  Now that there was only one zombie to worry about, it was possible for Mike to make more space, to avoid them. He did not turn away, but kept moving, his gaze flicking between the approaching zombie and the icons in his vision. He noticed that the body was fully green now and glanced down at his injuries. Unbroken skin, with dried blood flaking away.

  “That can be useful.” It was not the only change Mike felt. The fear that had been there before was reduced. The nerves, the anxiety, the terror of the unknown, it felt slightly smaller. Not much, but it was no longer close to paralyzing him.

  Taking a moment to calm himself, Mike drew a deep breath. The book display was new. There were three icons in it, with space for more. He eyed the first one, and it expanded into a new screen. The icon was an unrolled scroll with a question mark on it.

  Identify

  Spell, Minor Mana, sixty second duration.

  Learn information about an object or person you touch. More information is revealed at higher levels

  Not helpful in the moment. Mike moved to the next icon, which showed a translucent arrow flying through the air. After the display he had seen earlier, he thought that it would be more useful. Once again, the screen expanded to show more information.

  Force Dart

  Spell, Minor Mana, Instant

  Damaging spell. Deals minor damage to target. Mana cost decreases and damage increases at level up.

  There was a third icon, one with what looked to Mike like a turtle with wings, but he ignored it. For now.

  “Eat this,” Mike said. He pointed at the zombie. It shambled forward. He shook his hand, hoping it would release a spell. “Come on, I know how this works!”

  He focused on the icon. Mike felt… something. It shifted in his mind, moving at a level deeper than thought. A blue bar appeared beside the body diagnostic display, opposite the green one. Health, stamina, mana, Mike thought to himself as something gathered at the tip of his finger. The energy coalesced and rocketed forward, cracking the air just as the blue bar dropped by a quarter.

  Missing the zombie entirely.

  Mike adjusted his aim as the zombie got closer. It was barely a foot beyond the tip of his finger when the spell cast again, dropping the blue bar to half. The force slammed directly into the zombie’s forehead, knocking it backward. It did not even twitch as it fell backwards dead.

  The impact of the still body on the sand was the only sound in the room. The laughter and conversation had halted. Mike looked up at the crowd, his finger still extinguished. The cloaked figures ignored it.

  “All right, who’s next?” Mike asked them as he rotated to point at various people in the audience. Mike’s finger came to a stop, pointing at the younger man who had collared him. “Give me some answers or you’ll get the dart.”

  The old man beside him rose and gestured towards Mike while saying something in his alien language. Mike crumbled as power crashed against him, knocking him unconscious. His body fell beside that of the zombie he had just defeated.