Van felt like a new adventurer on their very first quest. Instead of armor he had  leather construction gloves, a faded red handkerchief for a mask and construction worker boots, very popular footwear of the past. And instead of a sword he wore a kitchen knife on his waist, but the feeling was no less epic in his mind.

As he reached the edge of the settlement, he stood in amazement at the massive wall blocking his path.

Large rolling gates disappeared on either side of the huge barricade. The structure appeared to be a combination of natural and handmade construction. Mounds of concrete and earth stretched towards the clouds. It stood at least 60 feet high. Scaffolding was built around the inner part of the wall where people in bluish gray armor stood watch. 

The gates rolled closed as soon as Van passed. On the outside of the wall were twisted shards of metal from fencing, traffic signs and even a fire hydrant intermingled to close any gaps.

Van had passed many others during his short travels. Scavs who, like him, were doing jobs to collect what was left behind in the rundown houses. To him, they were the homes of people forced to flee from the zombies. But in the eyes of a Scav, these houses were just caches of potential loot. 

Van was a Scav now, so he had to see the world as one if he wanted to be successful and survive.

After 2 or so hours of walking he paused for his 15th break and confirmed he had reached his destination.

It was strange. Van expected to recognize at least some of the areas in the city he grew up in. But it was like being in another world since he awoke from stasis. Admittedly, he had not ventured outside since the 7th grade. And exclusively used A.I rideshare apps to travel for Violet's appointments. Maybe it was just the outside world that was foreign to him.

Dad used to say that I wouldn't recognize my own foot if it wasn't on a screen.

Van laughed to himself as he checked the space left in his patched up blue cross strap backpack. His formally sanitized slippers barely took up room.

Next he double checked his stats.

 [STATUS

HP 100/100

SP 21/100

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

Points: 0]

No changes except for a loss of SP. Walking really took it out of him, but it wasn't like he was in great shape in the first place. He secretly hoped for some kind of improvement, but before he gave up on looking he noticed a new tab.

Status, Skills, Variant, Quests and now Map.

A wide screen expanded from the already large blue tinted window. There was a green arrow and a dotted line down a path of dark blue squares until it reached a large circular structure. A few dots away was a house shaped icon.

The stadium. My trailer. And I'm this green arrow.

Van quickly got his bearings on the map. It was like having GPS that only showed you where you had already been. Along the path he took he noticed a lake, and several large craters in the terrain. The rest of the map was empty. A blank area waiting to be discovered.

Just a few steps ahead was a makeshift barricade of broken down cars blocking off the entrance to a gated community full of abandoned homes. Towards the end of the street was a corner store. 

Ready!

Van took a deep breath before entering the first home on the block. After checking every room, and the cabinets he ended up empty handed. When he returned to the street he was greeted with laughter.

"Ha! How'd you make out in there?"

A short bald man shouted from the middle of the street along with a group of 3 other men.

"Did you hit the motherload!?" Now, the rest of the group joined in the laughter.

Van ignored them and walked towards the next house on the block until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey man, don't be like that. We're just poking a little fun."

Van turned to return a fake smile but remained silent.

"These houses have been picked clean for a long time. Unless you go into the basements."  The bald man leaned in closer. "You see, the residents wholed themselves up in their basements for shelter when the first outbreak happened."

A weasley man crossed the street to join the conversation. " Yea, so our plan is to break into the basements and clear out the stash of goods they got down there. Only problem is we usually run a 5 man team but 1 guy is out sick."

A shudder ran down Van's spine. This group was starting to remind him of the Nomads he encountered in the facility. But he also had the feeling that telling them no would be dangerous.

[New Skill Unlocked: Danger Sense]

[New Skill Stat Bonus: PER +5]

 A window popped up to display a newly earned skill, but Van had to ignore it for the time being.

Van turned to face the group. "Sounds good to me, it'll help me complete the job I got sooner".

The guys quickly surrounded Van and discussed their plans in detail.

The simple plan and obvious deception was almost pathetic to see in action. Sure, Van was a victim to trickery just a few days ago. But that's because he was caught off guard. I mean, who wouldn't be a little off their game after sleeping for an unknown number of years?

After the weasley guy picked the lock on the basement door, the bigger guys would stand guard. Meanwhile, Van and the bald guy entered the basement together. 

Van was sure that an attack of some kind was waiting upon his return from the basement. But with few options he pondered a way to escape.

Basements usually have at least one window.

Two windows were located amongst the dusty shelves stacked around the basement like a maze. The bald man was already far ahead and was motioning Van to keep up. 

Then shelves were filled with useful items like building materials and tools but none of them were what the job requested. Still, this would be a great spot to return to in the future for other jobs.

"Jackpot" the bald man yelled out in a hushed tone.

Van carefully looked at every item on the shelf, taking note of their size and possible value. Canned food lined the wall along with magazines, some small decorative trinkets and stationary. When he finished, another window popped up.

[New Unique Skill Unlocked: Scan]

[New Skill Stat Bonus: PER +5]

But before he could examine the new skill the bald man snapped him to attention.

"What are you waiting for? Let's load up."

Van started to feel a change within himself. Namely his vision and other senses were becoming more acute. The slight mumble he heard from the basement entrance was now clearly audible even with the loud clanking of metal cans being shoved into his bag.

"Right, so when we get the signal we knock the kid back down the stairs and lock the door?"

"Yup, that's the plan"

"Why not just kill him and take his stuff?"

"We are taking taking his stuff, dummy"

" When Davis comes back up, we'll rob the kid then lock him up, but we can't kill him. His blood might attract zombies."

"Oh right. Yea that's a better plan."

Van kept loading cans into his bag to avoid suspicion, but it was getting hard to hide his anger while staring at the bald scheming head in front of him.

Should I take him out first? No. No way. I've never killed anyone before.

Van looked around the room. The windows, I'll get out before they can enter their plan.

"That's everything, let's head up." 

Davis got up to return to the basement entrance. Van followed closely behind until the maze-like shelves began their twisting turns again.

Now.

He slipped away and squeezed between the empty shelves, collecting cobwebs along the way. The wind was just a few steps away.

*clank, clash, boom*

The shelving behind Van had fallen over and caused a dust cloud on impact.

With his heightened perception he could make out figures in the dusty smokescreen.

Did another guy come down? Van could make out two figures. He braced for a fight and drew his knife. But unless his eyes had deceived him, the two figures were fighting each other.

Sounds of a fight summoned the rest of the traitorous group down.

Now five people were struggling but only four of them had flashlights. Screams soon followed.

"Something bit me!"

"Cut off its head!"

"You just stabbed me you bastard!"

Shit. There must have been a zombie trapped down here all this time.

Van turned to try the window but upon closer inspection it was sealed shut behind bars.

He was trapped now.

Wait. The other window. Van scanned the room but the dust was blocking his vision. Suddenly lights began to highlight things around the room in different colors. Five red outlines wrestled in the dust in front of him. White outlines appeared around the room. Some green and blue highlights rolled across the floor. And a yellow rectangular outline shined across the room on the wall.

That's it!

Van wasn't sure how he activated first-person shooter vision but he was thankful nonetheless for his variant kicking in at that moment.

He raced across the room, slipping in between the shelves until he caught a snag and couldn't move.

Looking back, a bloody hand firmly gripped his bag. Van tried to escape but now the rest of the group had turned their attention on him.

He swiped at the hand with his knife and wrestled free.

In the confusion, the zombie rushed forward and took a bite out of the owner of the bloody hand. 

Chaos increased, and panic took over. All the struggle had caused the shelves to fall like dominoes. Limbs were crushed and skulls were cracked by cans of paint and bags of cement. 

Van curled up, placing his bag over his head and prepared for the worst.

It felt like hours until the last shelf and all of its contents fell.