A New Script (A System Apocalypse Short Story)

Morning brought with it the noises and smells of a small, badly ventilated building crowded with sleeping men and women. Overnight, the air had grown stuffy and rank; the stink of bloody, uncleaned weapons, dirt encrusted clothing and the exhaust of humanity roiled and congealed.

The space itself was a previous retail clothing store, once filled with thin, cheaply made female clothing. That clothing had been torn apart and raided for bandages while the once clean, cream-colored walls streaked with blood, soil and ash. Clothing racks and mirrors had been propped in the corner to make way for bunk beds three levels high, offering their occupants no more space than a coffin motel.

At least they were better than actual coffins, Jin admitted to himself. That had been a bad night. And waking up these days was no longer a long, torturous process of convincing his lazy body to move. Weeks of living in fear of the slightest sound had engrained new habits. Now, Jin first brushed his hand across the beam pistol by his side and then, he eyed the other occupants of the store.

Most were dressed in the eclectic pickings of a sci-fi and medieval flea market, some already stirring like him even though the morning was still young. Directly across from him, Fatima slept in a dark steel, scale mail jacket. A nano-woven head-covering kept her hair hidden and her ears protected from damage, while a pot helm rested beside the team’s Actor and their only front-line fighter.

On the bunk below Fatimah, Ian was dressed in a nanowoven jumpsuit in gray and black, the tightly woven material keeping his once-portly frame together in a tight package. The jumpsuit was one of the more common designs – both practical, self-cleaning to a degree and cheap to purchase – available from the System Store. It was what Leo, on the topmost bunk, and Jin was dressed in too. Isabel their Director and team leader, on the other hand, had chosen to stay in floral dress and tights, though Jin could not see her from his spot. With the System’s enhancements to her Charisma, she looked more like an international model than the fresh-faced college student that she had been, a bare few months ago. Back when they were all just students. Before the System. Before the apocalypse had taken any kinds of normality or sense with it.
Now monsters roamed the streets, they all had Classes and Skills and aliens called themselves their overlords. Now, the surviving humans had to fight, kill and Level.

Satisfied that his team was still here and alive, Jin rolled out of bed, beam pistol sliding into his shoulder holster the moment his feet hit the floor. A second later, the shriek of unoiled metal grates erupted through the room, signaling the official start to the morning. Early morning sunlight bathed the room, revealing other occupants on their feet; some with breakfast in their mouths.

“What time is it?” Ian complained, rubbing at his eyes.
The short, bulbous nosed Editor was a night owl, constantly preferring to stay up late. Even the apocalypse had yet to change his behavior.
“Time to get your lazy, human asses out of my building,” the grating voice that called to them originated near the doorway. There, Kaerius the aqua green merman stood, tapping one finned foot. The merman was clad in a green and blue diving suit, clear tubes floating around Kaerius’s neck where water flooded into and out of his gills.

Considering Kaerius’s voice was artificial, it made no sense that it was so grating and rude. Then again, it did not matter. The aliens treated humanity like dirt, and they… took it. For now. All around, Jin sensed the pull of Mana; that strange energy that powered both their Skills, their spells and their bodies; as other occupants triggered Cleanse spells. The simple and cheap spell washed away the accumulated funk in the room and their targets, relieving many from the need to wash. Or brush their teeth.

“Two things,” Kaerius called out as some of the occupants began to make their way out. “Rent for tonight’s fifty credits per person. Also, reservations and curfew expire at eight from now on.”

“That’s outrageous!” A female from the back shouted.
“You’re banned. Get out.” Kaerius didn’t even bother to argue with her. The shock on the woman’s face was matched by the looks of pity she received. Without a Safe Zone to sleep in at night, her expected life expectancy had dropped to days.

“Anyone else?” The challenge saw no takers. The fluid around Kaerius’s gills turned purple and swirled away before the alien jerked a webbed hand to the door. “Then get out.”

One by one, the occupants streamed out, stopping only long enough to pay their reservation fee to Kaerius. By this point, Jin had learnt enough alien body language to confirm that Kaerius was literally gloating.

Release Date: June 30, 2020

Pages: 25

Genre: LitRPG Sci-Fi

eBook ISBN:

Language: English

You can add our eBooks to the app with a few easy steps:

1. On Amazon, click Account & Settings and select Content & Devices.
2. Click Preferences.
3. Scroll down to Personal Document Settings.
4. Enable Personal Document Archiving.
5. Add your email address as an approved sender.
6. Scroll up and highlight and copy your @kindle.com email address.
7. Forward the “We’ve attached your…” to your @kindle.com email address.

Amazon should deliver the books to your Kindle Library within 5-10 minutes.

Amazon will reply with a rejection message if they have a hiccup or if the file is bad. If you receive a rejection message from Amazon, try forwarding the email again to see if it was just a hiccup.

If Amazon sends a second rejection email, please contact us! We may be able to fix what is wrong or upload a new copy of the book.

(Watch a step-by-step tutorial)