Van awoke as if from a sweet dream. It was still night. He looked over at Violet, resting peacefully, her pod in an upright position against a partially broken wall.

She's safe. We're safe.

Next he searched the area for his heroes. A fire crackled a few steps outside the borders of the ruined building he lay inside. 

Van tried to sit up but something heavy was weighing him down.

They left the chains on!?

But why would he still be chained up? In fact, they felt a bit tighter than before. 

Van wriggled like a worm until he could prop himself against the shorter broken wall across from Violet. A strong stinging pain shot through his body as he pushed his feet against the ground. Van couldn't help but hiss in pain.

He peered over the chain straight jacket at his ankles. There was a big chunk of flesh missing above his heel. And the area looked so infected he thought it might fall off. Despite the appearance, he was still able to move it.

"He's up."

Van gasped in terror. He didn't detect the young woman standing over him. She made a pouting sort of face with her scrunched eyebrows and poked out lips.

The man emerged from the darkness beyond the small fire.

"Good thing I always carry one."

He held a medical syringe in his hand. The kind Van had seen a thousand times over in the facility. You couldn't see the needle because it operated on a trigger. It resembled a tiny white squirt gun and was supposed to be painless.

"Are you sure you want to use that on him? There's less than a 10% success rate."

"10% is better than 0%. Besides, I dont have the stomach for the alternative". 

"Ow!" Van winced under the heavy chains.

Painless my ass

The man held down the trigger while pressing hard into Van's neck.

The bodybuilder sat back with a deep sigh.

"If you survive this, I promise I'll explain everything. But right now there's no point. It would be like talking to a dead man."

Van could hardly process the words. Waves of fire, then ice rippled through his body. Every few minutes there was brief pause just before a jolting muscle spasm that tore at his tendons and cracked his bones.

If he could scream for help he would. But no words came out, just a low growl.

His vision was starting to fade. Then suddenly a flash of light illuminated the darkness. He could see everything for a few seconds. Then nothing.

Nothing left but pain. Then a fading pulse of light. But in that moment of light he captured the face of his sleeping sister. Van reasoned she would be safe with the people who saved them. Slowly, he felt himself drift away.

No. His father entrusted him, not some strangers, with her safety. For once in his life he had to be brave, if only for her.

Weakling.

The word was a punch to the face.

Coward.

Doubt set in like a kick to the gut.

The barrage of verbal strikes continued until Van could no longer move. His body was left  small and broken. He was 12 years old again in this dark place within his mind.

The darkness lifted to reveal a playground and grassy field of a park.

The bullies at the park had once again made him the target of their augmented reality game. Violet cried while she hid behind a tree. 

Their parents were never around. As expected of a doctor and lab researcher who were always too busy. 

Why have kids if your not even going to raise them?

That was the last time Van went outside for years. Until Violet got sick. Until the world went dark.

He found himself in the deepest pit of shadows. There was no telling up from down. In the distance was a small light. The tiniest flicker of hope.

Vy.

Van whispered in his mind while crawling towards the light. Desperately searching for his sister's pod.

He had to keep her safe. She was the only family he had left.

*snap*

*snap, snap, snap*

Sunlight burst into the slits of his halfway closed eyes. Van awoke as if from a dream, his memory of the darkness faded as he regained consciousness.

"Well I'll be damned". The man shined in excitement, his shoulders blocking out the sun.

The woman remained motionless, but a small smile crept across her face.

"Let's see it then", the woman hopped off the countertop near the door.

"You don't waste any time do you?" The man shifted to one side to make room.

"We've wasted enough time". She snapped.

"Let's at least introduce ourselves", He  reasoned.

The woman went silent.

"OK then. I'm Luke, and this is Captain Ash. We're both members of the Blackguard."

Van carefully sat up from the bed he awoke in. His hearing was dulled and vision was blurry.

"I'm Van. Can you tell me where we are now?"

"Oh right! You must still be foggy from the vaccine."

Luke slammed his fist into his hand.

"We saved your from the alive people that eat people but you got bit by the dead people that eat people, and almost turned into one of the dead people that eat people but I gave you the vaccine then you almost became a regular dead people but you survived and now your like us."

Van was impressed by Luke's lung capacity. He didn't have the energy to explain that he knew what cannibals and zombies were. 

Looking around he could confirm that he was in a small mobile home. His sister was propped up behind him. 

The pod was connected to a car battery via jumper cables. She reminded him of sleeping beauty, one of her favorite bedtime stories. Violet remained perfectly fine, untouched by the dangers of this world. Just blissfully sleeping.

"Like you?" Van replied, confused by Lukes words.

"Yup. An Unturned. It's what people call those who don't become Undead like the zombies."

Ash cut in. "Now let's see how much like us you are. Show me your Variant."

Before Van could ask, Luke explained.

"Your Variant is the mutation you gained from surviving the vaccine. It's your, what's the word?"

"Superpower!?" Van jumped in. 

"Uh yeah, let's call it that for now. Your power is something awakened inside you. Like a muscle you always had but never used. Just focus on finding it, the rest comes naturally."

Van focused within himself. A muscle I never used? I got more of those than I can count. Just then something lit up inside him. A tickle in the back of his mind. He tried moving it.

*ba-bink*

"Is that all?" Ash turned away unimpressed. "Some glowy eyes!?"

"Wait. So you guys can't see--" Van sat forward, pointing a few inches from his face.

"Dammit! I knew I should have stayed behind. The Nomads are long gone by now!" 

Ash was now marching towards the door.

"Hey Cap, relax. We saved 2 people from those corpse eaters. That's a win in my book"

"A win? The mission was clear. Locate and destroy the Nomads in our territory. Capture their leader and find out where the slave market is." Her hand was on the door handle.

"But we--" Luke protested, but could barely get in a word.

"That's enough. I'm not going to add babysitting to my list of failures in the report to the Commander." The door slammed shut.

*wham*

Luke and Van waited for the trailer to stop shaking.

"Hey, she says that, but she would have blamed herself if you didn't survive."

"But what about--" Van remained frozen in position.

"She's right though. We can't spend any more time taking care of you so listen up."

Luke pointed at the pod behind Van.

"This battery will last a day or two at most. After that the pod powers off and we'll, you the rest. Batteries ain't cheap. Actually they're the hottest commodity around. You need to work in exchange for another charge. Find a job on the board here right outside. As for shelter, you can stay here for a few weeks but rent will be due. I'm sure you know how rent works."

Luke let out a heavy sigh. "Look friend, we saved you but this world is merciless. It's kill or be killed. Survival of the fittest. Even here in the settlement." 

He turned while holding the door open to leave. "Keep an open mind. Just because your Variant is useless in combat doesn't mean it's totally useless."

Luke dug in his pocket and placed a few coins on the table before leaving. "Hopefully I answered all your questions. Visit the Archiver if you want a history lesson. And remember there's a job out there for everyone. Good luck!"

*slam*

The door was closed tight and Van was still left with one unanswered question. 

Why was there a status window floating around in front of me?

It was just like the VR games he used to play at home. The bold white word "Status" sat  at the top middle of the semi-transparent light blue screen. Other letters and numbers were displayed underneath in a smaller but similar design. Van inspected each part of the screen closely.

[Congratulations, you have survived and unlocked your Variant. Let's begin your evolution into a superhuman.]

My Variant. Wait, superhuman?

[STATUS

HP 67/100

SP 50/110

EP 10/10

Level 1--[0/100]--Level 2

(STR)ength: 1

(END)urance: 1

(DEX)terity: 1

(PER)ception: 1

(INT)elligence: 1

(CHA)risma: 1 ]

Van soon realized that no one else could see this but him. The realization also came with a small relief that no one else could see his stats.

Ones across the board? What am I? An infant?

His internal rant was cut short after noticing the tabs at the top of the screen.

A few quick taps revealed a "Skills" and "Variant" screen just like his status window. Besides 1 skill and 1 ability, both were completely empty. 

Van tapped on his only skill as a test.

[SKILLS

Survival - (¼) Novice. Use of techniques to sustain life in any environment]

Touching it reveals more info just like in the RPGs I used to play.

Next he tried tapping his only ability.

[VARIANT

Element: Light

Abilities: 

System (lvl max).  Visualization of the light within. Provides tactical information about the environment and a detailed display to aid in the user's growth. Passive. ]

Van had read the words at least ten times over. Growth? That must mean leveling up. Seeing as how he was a level 1 noob that was weaker than a puppy. But maybe, in time he could level up to match the powers of Ash and Luke.

At least that was his hope. 

But how do I level up?