David slowly opened his eyes and could hear his stomach growling. What awoke him was the sounds of the ghoul walking down a hallway. David wasn’t able to turn around and see behind him in the chute, but he wasn’t worried about it finding him. Looking forward, he made a decision and began to slowly push against the thin metal grate. The cheap metal was thin, and it could be bent easily and noiselessly.

 

Thank god the maintenance team was firm believers in ‘the cheaper, the better!’

 

Pushing the grate open slightly, he managed to slide his way into a round room. Looking up, he could see sunlight coming through a vent that led to the ceiling. This made him sigh in relief before his stomach began growling. The area that David found himself in was a thick steel box that had a furnace attached to it. This is normally where it would build up pressure before pushing the heat through the ventilation system. It was a small room that was 3 feet(.9M) wide by  5 feet(1.5M) long; he wouldn’t even be able to lie down in it. 

 

The thick steel walls felt incredibly inviting to him, but currently, his eyes were on the hatch on the side. Judging by the thick layer of dust on the inside of the chamber, it was apparent that it hadn’t been opened in a long time. David, himself was covered in thick dust, and he was worried about his wounds getting dirty. All he had was water to clean his wounds, and he had finished the water from the three broken water bottles.

 

David used the small amount of light he got from the straight pipe that led to the ceiling and began inspecting the contents of his tote. Seeing a punctured can of soup with a claw driven into it, he considered it a worthy sacrifice. David smiled as he removed the claw, and added it to his wet blanket with the other. David discarded the can of soup as he did not trust eating anything the claws had touched, he did not think they were sanitary. Instead, he grabbed a small pack of donuts and began eating them instead,

 

Opening another bottle of water, he tried to clean out his injuries the best he could, but he needed soap. The wounds on his face were the worst as they had gotten bear maced. 

 

They might get infected if I don’t get some soap.

 

David used the water to rinse his mouth out and swallowed it down several times, this was because he did not have toothpaste or a toothbrush. He was covered in filth, but there wasn’t much he could do about that. Feeling satiated, he started going through his files.

 

“What the fuck?!” David muttered in a mixture of shock and anger.

 

Fort Carson Public Health Center THE VEGETABLE GARDEN

 

Someone had crossed out the name at the top of the page and instead wrote something insensitive.

 

“I want to sue them!” David muttered in rage. “I never asked to be in a coma! I had insurance!”

 

Too bad the modern world was over and his law school experience was no longer useful. That was because this information had driven a terrible thought in his mind. If this place fell, what state would Colorado Springs be in? Fort Carson was a military base used to train new pilots. It was right between Peterson Air Force Base and right next to NORAD at Cheyenne mountain. If you drew a straight line between the two complexes, you would have to pass over Fort Carson.

 

The next piece of information on the sheet of paper also caused him to nearly have a heart attack for a different reason.

 

December 3, 2022

 

“I was transferred here after almost 5 months, how long was I here?!” David muttered in horror.

 

David began looking for the most recent report he could find, the file was large and filled with useless information. All he could find were checklists that the nurse filled out lazily, some had doodles on the pages. The most recent page he could find was dated February 13th, 2022. It was clear he had been here much longer than that, by the heavy layer of dust that coated him. This also made it apparent that he would have a much bigger file somewhere else with more information on why he was here.

 

“How am I still alive?” David questioned.

 

David took a few deep breaths to steady himself before he moved the paper to the side. Now that he had water and food, he needed to figure out some kind of way to fight back. Looking at the various odds and ends in his possession, he decided to leave everything here but the baton. It sounded like the Butcher Ghoul was in the command room, eating something. The sound of bones crunching could be heard echoing through the vents.  

 

David decided to try his luck and see what was on the other side of the maintenance hatch. Crawling over quietly, he approached the metal hatch, the floor was covered in thick dust. Seeing the thick steel plate that used a lever, he began to pry it loose. Anywhere a person can get trapped has to have an escape method, and this hatch was no exception. As David slowly pulled it open, he prepared the baton to swing out if necessary.

 

The hatch was lifted using a lever on the other side, but on this one, it used a wheel. It didn’t squeak since he only opened it as little as necessary, and slowly pushed it open. The hinges didn’t make a lot of sounds, he assumed they were greased. The first thing he saw was a dark room. David waited a moment to let his eyes adjust, then he slowly snaked out of the little tunnel. The first thing he noticed was a steel grate floor underneath him.

 

Looking around carefully, he didn’t see any claw marks, which was a welcomed sight. The furnace sat in a corner and he slowly made his way out of it. The first thing he saw made him want to stop immediately, it was a walking corpse that was turned away from him. This was immediately seen because it had a missing rotted stump for a left arm. It wasn’t alone either, there were 30 of them in all in a long hallway. The furnace he had crawled through was at the end of the tunnel, on the other side was a steel door that they were all facing, it said laundry on it. 

 

The only light in the room came from a small window that shined a light on the metal laundry door. What caught his eyes foremost was a toolbox that sat near the leg of the nearest walking corpse. The detached arm was gripping this box and laying off to the side of the walking corpse. David instantly found himself stuck trying to make a tough decision. Running his mind through the number of items he had, he came up with a plan on how to get the tools. Going back to the furnace, he carefully snaked quietly back through the open hatch and closed it shut behind him. Inside of the small metal room, he took the bottle he had drunk out of and lowered the level of water until there was barely any left in the bottle.

 

Reaching into the shredded tote, he removed a pastry wrapped in aluminum foil. Opening the pastry, he took the precious wrapper and moved the pastry back into the bag, it would be his dinner tonight. David listened for the Ghoul, and he could still hear it noisily eating. David turned his attention back to the plastic bottle and started crumpling the foil into small balls and dropping it into the water bottle. The next thing he did was pull the bottle of drain cleaner from the bag. Looking at the ingredient list, he smiled, as it was exactly what he wanted.

 

Sodium hydroxide is used in most drain cleaners, and it reacts with elemental aluminum to release the hydrogen trapped in the water. Pouring the powdered drain cleaner into the bottle, he gave it a few shakes. This was something he had messed around with in high school, but it would work here to make the perfect distraction. David slowly pushed the hatch open and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the walking corpses hadn’t moved. Slowly crawling out of the furnace, he took in the concrete hallway that led to the laundry room.

 

Was there someone in there?

 

This thought crossed his mind and made him pause for a moment. Looking at the walking corpses, he tried to think of a way he might be able to kill them all. Feeling the bottle in his hand starting to bulge from the gas pressure, he decided he would need to check it out in the future. Focusing on the concrete hallway, he took careful aim with his bomb, the chances of killing with it were non-existent.

 

The hallway was wide enough that 5 people could walk side by side. The furnace sat on one side and a collapse had sealed this section off from the building. 

 

The duct is the only way in here now.

 

Looking forward, he took careful aim with his bottle and threw it towards the metal door. It was so full it was already at the point of bursting, the corpses in the room were a mixture of patients wearing scrubs, and the various staff. The bottle hit the door and seemed to startle the walking corpses. The pressure and impact caused a loud explosion, filling the room with a loud bang. All of the walking corpses began to slowly stumble towards the metal door and began banging on it loudly.

 

David smiled as he watched the walking corpse that was missing an arm stumble forward a few steps. Just as David was preparing to dart forward and grab the toolbox, the walking corpse stopped and began sniffing the air. Most of the corpses were already at the metal door, but this one was the furthest in the back.

 

Damnit, did it smell me?

 

David looked at the toolbox and the lone walking corpse. The collapsible baton in his hand was a comforting weight. David was waiting for some kind of opening, even with its weak sight. If it roared at him before he had the toolbox then the other walking corpses would be able to get to him before he could escape. The furnace was 30 feet(~9M) from the zombie next to the toolbox, and the laundry door was 15 feet (4.5M) from the toolbox. The only advantage he had was the daylight, but once the sunset they would grow stronger, and they would be strongest during the new moon.

 

David finally saw its head turn towards the laundry door as it continued to sniff the air. David made his choice and began to lightly walk towards it from behind the furnace.

 

That gun safe was too disappointing. I have no options right now!

 

It was not courage that drove David to make this decision; it was desperation, as he watched its head turn towards him, he charged forward. Walking on the tips of his feet made almost no sound since they weren’t supported. Just as the walking corpse made the recognition of what it saw, David swung the handle he was holding.

 

Whoosh!

 

David watched as the steel and lead ball began to slide away from the handle, dragging the telescopic steel shaft with it. The machining was incredible, and a hole in the base of it was what allowed air to travel inside of it.

 

Boom! Splat!

 

With David’s full weight, the metal had smashed into the side of the skull and shattered the bones like it was glass. Rotted brain splattered out into the crowd of corpses and over the walls. The smell was intense and added to the smell of rot in the hallway. David nearly wanted to vomit from the sight, but he grit his teeth and reached for the toolbox instead. The first thing he did when he grabbed it was toss the rotted arm to the side and take the metal handle.

 

Roooar!

 

David looked up and saw that the corpses had noticed him, but he just smiled at them in response. Grabbing the handle of the toolbox, he hefted it up as he stood. Turning around quickly, he sprinted towards the furnace. David knew he would have a good head start, but he still needed to move as quickly as he could. The smile on his face came from when he lifted the toolbox.

 

It is heavy!

 

Looking back, he could see that he had a healthy lead. Getting to the furnace as they were halfway down the hallway, he pushed the baton and toolbox into the hatch before he began crawling through himself. It wasn’t until he was reaching for the hatch and pulling it closed behind him he saw a problem. The only thing keeping the furnace closed was a simple lever. It was easy to manipulate from the outside.

 

Shit, I didn’t think this through!

 

When you see a gun safe, this would make you think there’s going to be guns. Seeing only a small-caliber bullet had nearly blown out the candle that was David’s will to survive. Any form of mana training would be a slow process, even now he had only recovered less than 1/8th of his mana during his hour-long nap. David slammed the hatch closed and set the latch, then began looking for some way to stop it from moving. The distance from the roof of the furnace and the hatch was only 20 inches(50cm).

 

Suddenly a thought struck him and he grabbed the toolbox. Turning it sideways, he wedged it between the arm of the latch and the roof of the furnace. Hitting it a few times, there wasn’t any give. David suddenly paused and looked around his new little home, he couldn’t lay all the way down in it, but it was cozy. His toolbox hung on the wall due to it being wedded between the giant furnace above him and the steel bottom of this pan. It was filled with dust, dirt, and ash, and now it was being pounded on by walking corpses.

 

I want to get the fuck out of here as soon as possible!

 

David nodded several times at this notion. He reached over and began to open the hasp on the toolbox. With the way it was wedged opening it was difficult, but this only made it harder for the corpses to dislodge it if they hit the lever by accident. As soon as he started opening the toolbox, all kinds of goodies began falling out of it. Piping, a rubber mallet, Cold weld for steel piping, David could immediately tell this had belonged to a plumber. 

 

You should be able to rest in peace now, I will find a way to destroy your body later! 

 

David suddenly stopped sorting out his spoils when a thought crossed his mind, he hadn’t heard the voice of the Machine Lord in a while. Suddenly David felt a chill run down his spine, one that brought a cold sweat to his skin. Listening quietly to the Butcher Ghoul’s monotonous chewing and recalling the fight before he blacked out in the duct, this caused him to dig around in the memories he received of the undead.

 

“Holy shit, there was a mental manipulator type here with an Esper ability. They were probably an Esper before they died, then they became a corpse!” David began to breathe in rapidly in fear, reaching a shaking hand for his inhaler. “They can cause you to go insane just by spending enough time around you… I got lucky!”

 

Taking a puff of the albuterol, he felt his throat loosening up. David was slowly getting used to the constant banging on the metal door, and he had finally pulled everything from the toolbox. Looking over at the collapsible baton, he took it and pounded it against the wall to collapse it back down to a handle. Pulling the blanket from his bag, he laid it out over the ground and sat on a dry spot of it.

 

Placing everything around him based on what it was used for, he then looked at his haul. For rations, he had lots of prepackaged snacks, reaching over he grabbed the pastries he unwrapped earlier for their wrapper and began eating them. Besides these, he had 6 cans of food left and 2 bottles of water. He then had a lot of random pipe odds and ends, bends, joints, adapters, and a small length of metal pipe. His paper file sat off to the side, filled with his daily checkup reports, but nothing else was of value.

 

Taking the pipe, he held a bullet to it and watched it tumble through the pipe, it was too big to be used as a Gunbarrel. He had an entire box of 9mm ammo, a whole 50 rounds. The only weapons he had were the baton and two Butcher’s blades. Looking at the tools that were in the box, he had some files, a couple of different pairs of pliers, and a rubber mallet. For chemicals, he had pool chlorine, drain cleaner, and different types of pipe glue. The last thing he had was a roll of duct tape, metal pipe strapping, and plumbing tape that looked like thick plastic.  

 

David nodded happily as he saw all these odds and ends, a weapon was slowly being constructed in his mind. A smile began to form on his face as he grabbed the rubber mallet. The sound of the walking corpses banging on his steel abode, and the chewing of the Butcher Ghoul echoing down the ducts, would be enough to drive most people insane, but David didn’t need to worry about that.

 

“With what I have seen, how can I ever be normal again?” David muttered sadly as he reached for a file.