Starter Scrolls: by Nick Venom (best ereader for graphic novels txt) 📖

He took the box out, glancing in the direction of the front door, scrambling to open the box, which turned out to be a safe with a three-digit passcode.

Do I need a code? I don’t know what it is! He thought, rubbing his scalp. “A code, a code, a code. What could it be?”

... and there’s an M1911---1-3-4---under our bed. His parents’ note reentered his brain, reminding him that they told him of a code. He imputed 1-3-4 into the safe, hearing the comforting click of it unlocking.

He heard a window smashed into pieces, the small shards hitting the ground like a sprinkle of stale cornflakes. 

They’re inside. Rin took out the silver and black M1911 from the black box, taking in the sight of the gun. The hammer, trigger, trigger guard, and everything above the trigger were silver. The rest of the gun was carbon-black.

Rin grabbed the gun tightly, feeling the weight. It felt heavy in his palms. He shook the gun and felt the bullets shifting back and forth slightly. It was loaded and that terrified him.

“Man, can you get the door handle open?” The first man asked, his voice rough and low. He grumbled as he spoke. “It ain’t budging.”

“Let me try.” The second man said. Rin could hear the doorknob being fiddled with.

Rin tore his attention off the intruders and onto the pistol. He pressed a small button behind the trigger, releasing the magazine. It came out cleanly. Rin peeked into the magazine, unsure of how many bullets were inside, but enough to dispatch the intruders. He loaded the magazine inside, glancing up as the doorknob became silent. 

He stood up, his finger resting behind the trigger. He wasn’t dumb enough to have his heavy fingers on the trigger with the chance of accidentally discharging a bullet. He aimed the pistol in front of him, walking carefully towards the front door, each step becoming heavier than the last. The creaking wooden boards were a testimony of that.

Rin calmed his breathing as he inched towards the door, each passing second taking more and more out of him. He almost collapsed by the time he reached the front door, peering outside. The men were gone, a few bricks in their place. “Where did they go?” He thought out loud. 

His eyes widened as he saw zombies taking the place of the masked-up men. Greenish human figures stumbled into view, their heads moving like a stick shift changing gears. In one awkward movement: their heads suddenly look at their right then their left and then their right, making loud popping noises as they turn their heads.

One of them bent down, their heads seemingly disconnected with their necks and began munching on a fellow zombie. Cannibalistic monsters.

Rin dropped his head, staying out of the zombies’ line of sight. The men were gone but zombies appeared in their wake, a threat harder to defeat. 

“I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine. They can’t get in.” Or so he thought. He forgot about the broken window, glancing to his right and noticing the glass shards. The window that was broken was right next to the front door, small enough to deter adults from squeezing through.

I’m screwed.

With the broken window giving the zombies an opportunity, Rin stood up, staying clear of the front door’s window, and tiptoed towards his room. He grabbed a spare blanket hiding in his closet and took it with him to the kitchen where he found duct tape. He returned to the living room, walking carefully with each step, and noticed that the screen of the window was intact. The men opened the window screen and broke the glass. 

Rin peered out of the window, watching as the zombies migrated onward. Without them noticing, he pulled down the screen. He then covered the broken window with the blanket, duct taping it. To finish his amateur handiwork, he grabbed a nearby recliner and propped it against the window, enough to flatten the blanket amidst the wind. 

“That’s one problem temporarily taken care of.”

As he spoke, a vibration spooked him, coming from his bag. He tore it off his back, sifting through the insides to pull out his phone. He pressed the power button, it flashing a bright light in his face, which then dimmed to reveal 75 unread messages and 12 missed calls from Rin’s childhood friend, Jenn. 

“What… happened?” He muttered as he clicked on a missed call, putting in his password, before being directed to the call function on his phone. It began dialing Jenn, clicking every few seconds to show the call going through. After a handful of clicks, a raspy voice answered.

“Rin?” The voice croaked.

“Jenn, it’s me? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Where are you? You didn’t go to school, right?” She asked, shouting and yelling apparent in the background.

“No, I woke up late. Where are you?” He asked her, glancing at the broken window. He had it secured, but still felt worried.

“I’m in the gym with everybody else. When they began barging in, the teachers pushed everybody into the gym. It was a massacre outside. They’ve been banging on the door for the past two hours and there’s no food. Everything’s out.”

“Okay, you’re fine, at least.”

“FINE!” He heard Jenn’s voice become high-pitch for a second. “There are people eating each other over here. I am nowhere near fine!”

Rin nodded to himself. “Yes, you’re right. It’s my fault. I… I meant…” His voice trailed off as he heard Jenn quietly sob. 

“Rin, I’m scared. There are only a few teachers in here and people are beginning to group up. It’ll be chaos soon.”

“I understand, I’ll…” His voice trailed off as he eyed the window, hearing something or somebody on the other side. He lowered his voice, whispering “...I’ll save you. I’ll go get you.”

“Save me!” Jenn exclaimed, her voice bursting out of the phone. Rin quickly covered the phone, muffling Jenn’s voice. The being that stood outside his door turned towards him, illuminated in the sunlight. The black blanket prevented him from seeing what the figure or its shadow looked like, but he could see parts of the person. It wasn’t one of the men from earlier, but a monster.

“I am stuck in a god-forsaken gym with no food or water. I’m lucky to have walls protecting me. What about you? You’re at home, so you’re protected but going outside will kill you. They surrounded us, and there haven’t been any gunshots in a long while, meaning they flooded the police station and the streets. We’re on our own.” She ranted, her deductions being verified by the earlier news report.

“Jenn, it’s a five-minute walk from my house. Also, I’m… I’m…”

“You’re what? Armed?” Jenn asked, keeping her voice low to avoid being heard by the other survivors.

“Yes, my parents had a gun in the house. I found it to deal with… I found a gun. It’s loaded and there were some more bullets inside the safe, so I’ll be fine.” Rin told her, keeping his voice low to deter the figure. It stood unwavering from its spot, staring at Rin from behind the blanket. It didn’t reach out or snarl at him, only observing him. It idled in its spot, the pitter-pattering of water becoming apparent. However, it wasn’t raining.

“Don’t, I’ll be-” Jenn started.

“I’m on my way. If anything, I’ll deliver some food and ease the tensions.” Rin told her, watching as the figure walked away, the pitter-pattering sound following it. Rin waited a few seconds before heading to the front door’s window, peering outside. As he expected, a zombie had been observing him. The monster had dark greenish skin with parts of its body ripped to shred. It looked like a snowman riddled with holes. 

The monster glanced up at Rin, its jaw dislocated. Saliva oozed down and hit the ground, creating the pitter-pattering sound he heard. 

The monster looked away, following the ever-growing horde away from his neighborhood and towards deeper parts of the city. 

Rin ducked, his back sliding against the door. “Are you still there?” Jenn asked. “What happened? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, sorry… anyway, I’m heading to you. I’ll be there soon.” He reminded her.

Screaming and the sound of people throwing their weight against the door shot out of the phone. Jenn shrieked before the call ended, a man’s voice being heard in the background whispering, “I’ll help you.”

Rin was shell-shocked by the sudden event. Something had happened to the gym, causing intense chaos. Did the zombies barge in? Is the gym exposed? Who was that man? What did he mean by saying that he’ll help her? Is he a good guy or bad? Is he mistreating her? Thought spiraled throughout his brain, all trying to piece what he heard into one concrete puzzle.

Rin stood up, glancing out as the horde thinned out. There were a few zombies left behind by the horde in their wake, allowed to patrol the neighborhood for an unknown amount of time. However, Rin didn’t have the time to monitor them. He grabbed the M1911 tightly in his right hand while taking out a few magazines from the safe. There were seven in total, Rin taking three of them. Including the one he had in the gun, he carried four magazines on him. 

Aside from the magazines, which he stuffed into his pockets for easy access, he dumped all of his textbooks and switched them with cans and water bottles---a day's supply for a few people---before approaching the basement door. He swiftly went downstairs, grabbing a hammer and stuffing a screwdriver into his bag’s pocket, before heading back upstairs and stopping at the backdoor, a few feet from the basement door.

Armed with a hammer, a screwdriver, and an M1911, Rin peered outside before opening the door. He stuffed the M1911 into his right pocket with the ammunition in his left. He gripped the lightweight hammer in his right hand. The screwdriver was in his bag’s sturdy pockets.

He took a step outside, hesitating to go any further. He heard growls and snarls erupting from all around him; in neighbor’s backyards but not his. His father erected a six-foot fence around the backyard, preventing the zombies from strolling inside. 

“Doing this for Jenn. I’m doing this for Jenn.” He reminded himself, taking another step. He then took another step, this one heavier than the less. He struggled to walk from the backdoor to the door leading to the alleyway.

Once there, he stood on a bucket next to the door, peering over the top at both sides of the alleyway. Zombies passed by the entrances but never entered the alleyway. Rin jumped off the bucket, landing with a small thud, before ruffling through his pockets. He took out his keys, putting the alleyway door key into the lock, unlocking it before venturing into the alleyway. He kept the door open, placing the lock on the door but making sure it wouldn’t lock on him. If he was running away from zombies with Jenn, he’ll need an easy way to enter his house, and locking the alleyway door wouldn’t be a good way to do so.

He turned to face his right, carefully walking towards the road. He gripped the hammer tightly, prepared to use it if necessary.

He quickly reached the road, peering out of the alleyway. There were a few zombies, but they were focused on the main road and not the sideroads that the alleyway led into.

Don’t notice me. Don’t notice me. For God’s sake, don’t notice me! He sprinted across the street, diving into bushes. He glanced up at the nearby zombies, his eyes widening as one glanced at him, keeping eye contact. The eye contact lingered as Rin felt the zombie stare deeply into his soul. It was unnerving, to say the least.

Rin brought the hammer to his face, prepared to smash the zombie’s head if necessary. However, it wasn’t. The zombie looked away, disappearing down his neighborhood. It paid Rin no mind, like a human looking at an ant. What a weird feeling.

Rin continued down the sideroad,