A ragged laugh echoed around the prison. Groaning flooded in from below. Raspy breathing and hurried footsteps raced up the stairs of the walkways. The heavy barred cell doors slammed as they slid open. The team was going to be swarmed.

Van searched the area as his squadmates stood by, taking defensive positions. 2 red blinking lights caught his eye. 

In quick succession, he aimed a pointed finger and raised thumb to fire off shots of his new power. Compressed bullets of light destroyed the cameras in the immediate area.

*screech*

"Well well, looks like we got a smart one here. It usually takes them a while to realize I'm watching their every move."

Van felt a hand on his shoulder and turned. Juni nodded as she fastened a dark green braided rope around his waist.

Jump! She ordered.

The entire team leapt from over the railing and fell until the green rope became taught. Then momentum sent each of them swinging back onto another platform several levels below where they started.

Vines? Van realized as Juni reclaimed her earth Variant vines. 

"Everyone ok?" Juni checked in.

Kro and Van nodded. But Mills groaned as his heavy armor picked up too much momentum, causing him to faceplant against the wall. 

"We should be on the same floor as the Medbay. We need to regroup. Kro, can you get us in?" Juni had already collected herself.

"Sure thing, might need a few minutes" Kro squeezed out.

"You'll have 1 minute" Juni snapped while pointing across the platform.

"2 runners incoming!" Mills had regained his composure.

The squad raced towards the massive metal doors with the red cross symbol. Kro immediately got to work on the keypad. He retrieved a small ball of clay from his pocket and pressed it into the keypads console. Next he pressed an ear against the door.

The clay molded over and in-between the buttons. Rapidly tapping in different combinations while severing certain electronic signals.

Meanwhile Juni was using her vines to keep the Runners at bay. When they close, Mills would step in and push them back.

When a Walker became a Runner it took on more animalistic traits. Running on all fours, denser muscles, and an emaciated body made them resemble starving wolves.

Van stood closest to Kro as a last line of defense. 

Suddenly a third Runner leapt onto their platform and came charging at Kro. Mills and Juni were too preoccupied. Van jumped to action and landed a spinning backfist squarely on its temple. Sending the Runner cartwheeling over the railing and into the zombie pit below.

"Jackpot!" Kro crawled into the partially open doors.

Van followed as Mills pulled Juni in. The doors slammed shut.

Van was sure to send a light bullet into the only camera of the room.

"So now what!?" Kro moaned as he sank into a medical bed.

The room fell silent with heavy thought. It was clear to Van what kind of job they had accepted. This was no longer a prison full of zombies. It was a dungeon, and the boss was fully aware that there were adventurers after its treasure.

Juni tapped her chin for a moment. Everyone knew that this was no longer a simple recovery job. The prison had become a fortress and was being run by the undead.

"The mission continues. Even if we returned to the settlement, we're as good as dead without a generator."

Juni stood with her back to the door.

Mills chimed in. "What if we raid the prison guard office for weapons? That would improve our odds."

"Yea!" Kro jumped up. "We could head there now!"

"No. The guard office is the opposite way from the maintenance office. Which is the only way to reach the generator. Besides, the 2 teams before could have already taken all the useful weapons. Not to mention that the original guards might already be fully armed undead down below." Juni responded coldly.

Van felt a slight shiver down his spine. He whipped his head around the room.

Did I miss a camera? 

He quickly regained his composure. 

No. It was only for a second, but one of the light green blips flashed red on my navigational bar.

Van joined Juni with his back towards the door. Mills and Kro shared faces of fear and resentment.

…

The door of the medbay opened slightly. 2 vines whipped out from the cracks and snagged the Runners. Van helped Juni reel them in as Mills stepped forward to finish them off. 

The door was then opened completely.

"Get ready" Juni was looking at Van who seemed distracted.

In truth he wasn't distracted, but rather disappointed, as he watched the psyn energy from the defeated Runners flow directly into Mills and no one else.

So there's no experience sharing?

Van snapped back into action and followed Mills and Juni towards the maintenance office. Kro followed closely behind.

As they used the vines to rappel down to floors with damaged stairs on missing platforms, Van was diligently shooting any camera he saw. It seemed like the voice on the speakerphone was directing the Runners to their position.

But that would be unheard of for a Hunter class zombie. In actuality, everything in their current situation was beyond the abilities of a Hunter. In terms of intelligence, Walkers were mindless creatures. Runners were animals on instinct. Brawlers were smarter animals, but still animals nonetheless. Hunters showed signs of child-like intelligence and the ability to learn. But if it was already running a prison and coordinating attacks, then it may be approaching Ruler class.

Van shuddered at the thought. Looking at his teammates, he could tell that they were worried about the same thing.

"Just a little further." Juni spurred on her allies. The maintenance office was fast approaching. Twin turrets hung from the ceiling on both sides of the door. 

"Kro, your up!" Juni looked back, but her command went unanswered.

Van searched his navigational bar. 

"He's heading towards the guard office!" Van called out, as he already was in pursuit.

"Wait!" Juni yelled out, but was hushed by Mills. Looking around them, Runners were searching for their location just a few levels above and below.

Sprint 

Van had caught up to Kro in no time. Suddenly a shiver ran down his spine. Thanks to Reflex, Van dodged incoming clay spikes coming at his head.

"Whoops! My bad!" Kro quickly reasoned. "I thought you were a Runner."

Van remained silent. He knew that he was targeted intentionally. The red blip on his navigational bar was still red after the fake apology.

"We need to get back and open the maintenance office door, there are turrets-"

"Jackpot!" Kro danced into the prison guard office.

Kro continued walking past the guards lockers and into a back room. Immediately, he began filling his pockets with the personal effects confiscated from the inmates. Sealed bags of electronics, jewelry and other items were snatched from their shelves.

So this was his plan. Van grabbed Kro by the arm just as he reached for more items to snag.

"Hey buddy, your a Scav too, right?" Why not just fill your pockets and ditch this settlement. It's doomed anyway. Powerful people like us are worshiped by the Nomads. Not like here in the settlement where that old man just uses us like tools."

Kro snatched back his arm and turned to face Van.

"I'm tired of pretending to be some stupid recruit. I'm ready to get paid, get laid, and treated like the God I am back home. Aren't you?" Kro slowly got closer.

Van stepped back.

"I'll put in a nice word for you, besides we've been needing more people after a pair of Blackguard flunkie have been going around attacking our camps. What do you say?" Kro reached out to shake hands.

Focus. Van prepared for more clay spikes to come flying out but instead the hand in front of him started to melt away.

Kro's body had separated into a vicious material and was stretching out towards Van. 

Van leapt back out of the room before being swallowed up by the wave of mud.

Kro slowly stepped out of the room. His bad was being absorbed into his body as he gradually increased in size.

"My people call me the Golem." Kro let out a howl before spreading out to capture Van again.

Mud surrounded Van in seconds. There was nowhere to escape. But Golem struggled to enclose his trap. Van smirked.

Barrier.

Van stood unharmed in a small circle under the dome of mud. Next, energy condensed into his hands. Sensing danger, Golem retreated.

The traitor sloshed and slid around the room and back outside to the platform. Van gave chase, but was stopped by cries for help.

In the moment of distraction, Golem flipped the damaged platform from underneath Van. Sending him over the railing.

Looking out, Juni saw Van and extended a vine towards him as Mills held back a Runner. Van stretched out his hand.

*thud*

Van dangled from the vine suspended just below the final platform before the long fall to the bottom.

Flashbacks of his first day out of stasis flooded his mind. Zombies snarled and snapped at his feet.

Van focused his attention up. Juni struggled to hang onto the vine as Van tried to climb back up. Suddenly another Runner had flanked Mills and was inches away from Juni.

Van jumped from the vine and fired a focused beam through the head of the Runner. Juni yelled out his name as Van fell into the pit.

*Bang*

Heavy construction boots pounded on the metal slab below.

Van landed on top of a rusted cafeteria table. An uncountable number of Walkers surrounded him. Runners could be seen racing down the stairways to join the meal so graciously set out on the table. The only way out was clogged with rotting bodies spilling in from the outer courtyard. 

If Van could fight his way through that entrance, he only needed to scale the prison wall back to the roof and rejoin his team before it was too late. The traitor had no doubt escaped to the outside and abandoned the group. With just the two of them their odds of survival dropped significantly. But Van couldn't worry about them right now.

Now was the time to focus. The Runners stood ready to pounce from the floor above. Van looked around the cafeteria, his Danger Sense was barely a tickle on the back of his neck. Psyn-Sense confirmed that the more powerful foes were elsewhere in the prison. 

A quick Scan confirmed their number. 1,733 inmates were packed into this one prison. And they all were rushing in from all directions into the cafeteria.

Looks like I'm the one who's about to have a feast. He smirked. 

Let's level up.

Van stood on the table as the crowd of undead grew so dense they were falling over each other. A Runner pounced from above like a tiger at cornered prey just to be smacked away like a fly.

I'm no match for a Brawler, but the Walkers and Runners are easy prey.

Van's hands glowed with charged light. Examined his fist and the dent he made in the head of the Runner. 

These aren't humans anymore. I need to remove the head to kill these monsters.

He unrolled his fist and tucked his thumb, forming 2 knife hands. The same that martial artists used to slice bricks down the middle. The glowing light intensified on the edge of his hand, just like it did around his knuckles when he formed a fist.

Van leapt from the table into the midst of the horde, lopping off heads with ease.

Their necks tore like paper and their spines cracked like egg shells under the cutting force of Van's light charged knife hand. Time had done most of the work already. Missing limbs, exposed weaknesses and even a few broken jaws. These Walkers were no more than cannon fodder to him now.

Occasionally a Runner would jump into the mix of things. In those moments Van had to employ a stronger technique, like a fist or kick to the head with both Force and Charge combined. 

Naturally this would be exhausting fast but, every time he neared his limit, an inspirational message appeared.

[Level Up]

Reinvigorated and recharged, the slaughter continued.

[Level Up]

Just a handful of zombies lay dissolving into psyn energy, but Van had already gained 2 levels.  A path was cleared out of the cafeteria and into the courtyard. But could Van waste such an opportunity?

There were much stronger foes ahead, and his navigational bar confirmed his allies were still alive. He had to have faith in his squad and use this time to level up. Being one man down from their team was reason enough to return to his allies stronger than ever.

Besides, Van was having the time of his life. Grinding levels was always his favorite part of playing RPGs.

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

The onslaught continued.

If anyone had happened by and watched they might have felt bad for the zombies. Sheer numbers were their only strength. But in face of such overwhelming force their numbers were meaningless.

Van crushed the Walkers like insects. And just like insects, when 1 fell, 2 came to take its place.

[Level Up]

[Level Up]

With every level gained, Van became more and more consumed by the thrill of grinding. He smiled as he tore through the horde. 

Over a thousand had fallen.

[NOTICE

Skill mastery achieved. Skill has evolved.]

Van swiped away any annoying notice that wasn't a level up.

How many levels was that? 20? No, 25?

Van grinned like a child at an amusement park as he rushed towards the defenseless zombies.

28! 29! 30!

Van smashed their skulls and stomped on their necks 

31! And 32!

He sliced off their heads and crushed their bodies.

Until he stood alone.

Finally he had cleared the cafeteria and stepped into the courtyard. Remnants of zombie psyn energy were still flowing into him.

[HP threshold milestone reached]

[Special Skill Unlocked: Regeneration]

Special?

There was no time to ask Metatron. Van checked his Emergency Quest and confirmed that an entire day had passed.

He needed to rejoin his allies as soon as possible. Matching the navigational blips to where he stood gave Van an idea, but his planning was interrupted when 3 Brawlers entered the courtyard.

Van pressed his back against the wall leading back into the prison. The stampede of Brawlers rushed in. Van dodged at the last second, sending one smashing head first into the wall. But it wasn't enough.

Van revised his approach. Instead of dodging the bull, he would lead the bull by its horns. When the pack of Brawlers charged in for a second time Van somersaulted on the back of the fastest Brawler and dug his fingers into its eyes and ears.

Blind swipes from its claws caused it to wound its allies and chip away at Van armor. But Van remained steadfast. Pulling and digging into the self healing holes he created. 

The thrashing monster began galloping and bucking to free itself. Van used his grip to steer them both into the crack in the wall.