The survivor was taking shelter in an apartment about three miles from the facility. That made it such a great resource for scavenging post-zombie outbreak. The area contained a lot of supplies near the facility; I could travel there quickly with no need for a vehicle, which allowed me to stay quiet and avoid attracting unwanted attention like I would on the motorcycle.

  One perk of the armor was I ran much faster than I ever could without it. I had been able to make that trip in just over ten minutes, but one mile in this time, an alert popped up.

  “Becca, analysis. What’s with the error message?” I said. Static came through my helmet. Not this shit again.

  Grayson: Becca. Do you read me?

  Becca: Copy. It seems there is an electrical issue going on with the suit. I believe it is interfering with communications. Investigating now.

  Wonderful. Why not? Stupid technology. It never worked when you really needed it.

  Grayson: While you do that, can you keep an eye on that drone feed? Make sure I’m not charging into any surprises at the apartment.

  Becca: A few zombies are still picking at the remains of their kill. Seven are wandering around the street in no particur direction. Two are trying to get into the apartment through the front door.

  I didn’t like that two were smart enough to know where the apartment entrance was, but we had run into zombie outliers like that before. There was a clear difference between the types of zombies out in the world, and some were way smarter and stronger than they had any reason to be. I tried to avoid those when I could, but those two shouldn’t be an issue.

  That’s assuming the armor-

  The lights in the armor flickered, and I came to a crashing stop, losing control of the armor and colpsed in the middle of the road.

  Becca: The armor has lost power and the controls have failed.

  Grayson: Yeah, thanks. I noticed that. The warning helps when it comes before I’m facedown in the road. Any chance I get control back, or do I need to use the release?

  Becca: One moment, please.

  Grayson: Yeah, take your time. I’ll squeeze in a nap here. At least I don’t have to worry about cars driving by.

  There was a burst of blue light and the suit powered back on. I pushed myself into a standing position and banced myself so I wouldn’t fall if the power kicked off again.

  Becca: The suit is now functional again.

  Grayson: Yeah… thanks. What happened?

  Becca: There seems to be a rge amount of amperage being driven through the suit at a high voltage that is shorting circuits and damaging the battery. The source seems to be-

  Grayson: Where is that coming from?

  Becca: …

  Grayson: …

  Becca: THE SOURCE SEEMS TO BE coming from you.

  Grayson: From me? How?

  Becca: You tell me.

  Grayson: No?

  Becca: Fine. I will investigate the issue when you return. Maybe it’s from that mana on the status screen you’re always compining about.

  Grayson: Don’t be dumb. You’re a walking supercomputer that is connected to my brain; quit reading fantasy novels and focus on real life. The zombie apocalypse we’re living in.

  Becca: You’re right. How silly of me. I will stick to the known ws of science. Now go kill some zombies and save the maiden in distress like a good Disney prince.

  Grayson: Stop trying to piss off the mouse!

  I started heading to the apartment again. The suit's reaction to my movements was jerky at first, but it settled down a few steps in and felt normal again. This time I was running at a more reasonable speed; I didn’t want to push the suit too hard if it was having issues. The smart thing to do would be to head back to the facility and grab some weapons. But I didn't want to leave her in a building surrounded by zombies for long. That’s torture.

  I traveled the st two miles without issue. I was operating under the impression that I had pushed the suit too hard, since no further issues arose. When I reached the outside of the apartment, the zombies had finished their meal and were now all meandering about, waiting for the next human feast.

  Two of the zombies were still at the front door of the apartment building, taking turns smming their bodies into the door. It was holding strong for now. When I first scouted this pce, I had been relieved that it was an older, thick wooden front door and not some fancy door with a bunch of gss. They would have bsted through that without issue.

  I decided to make quick work of the nine dummy zombies and leave the two smart enough to try the front door alone for now. It… wasn’t much of a fight.

  I punched the head of the first zombie into dust. Just smack and the head went poof. I crushed one zombie head between my two open palms. It popped like a balloon. Brains, bits of skull, and an eyeball bsted into the air. By the time any zombies caught on, I had already crushed or popped five zombie heads. I made short work of the other four. Zombie-fighting super armor is the best! Nothing could touch me in this!

  There was a quick fsh of light, and I was face down on the concrete once again.

  Becca: Warning. The power to the suit is gone.

  Grayson: THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE WARNING, BECCA!

  Becca: It is my pleasure.

  Grayson: What the fuck happened and how can we get this thing going?! The other two definitely noticed a giant robot falling to the ground and are coming to investigate.

  Becca: Before the suit failed, I saw a reading that the main battery core was dead. It is a simple fix, however.

  Grayson: Thank God. What do we need to do?

  Becca: Repce the battery.

  If I could rub my eyes like a disappointed father right now, I would. But I can’t. Because there was no power to the suit. Time for the manual release before any additional zombies came to check out the noise.

  With my right hand, I tucked my ring finger under my thumb. Then I pushed up into the squishy padding around me with my pointer and middle fingers until they slid into a slot. I felt a pressure pte click and then pushed my pinky up into the padding. The slot that the pinky entered was a little tighter, but with some extra force I felt it slide in and the second pressure pte click.

  The surrounding padding receded, and the back of the armor untched, then opened, allowing me to escape. I crawled out of the armor and looked around to see where the two remaining zombies were.

  The two zombies were just outside the suit, examining it like a child looking at dinosaur fossils at a museum. They slowly raised their heads to look at me standing on the back of the armor. These two men showed very little sign of decay. Their skin had a greenish tint, veins were protruding from their skin on the neck and face, and there was plenty of blood around their mouths from the woman, but it was almost hard to tell they were zombies at a gnce. The zombies were even well-dressed in suits. How creepy.

  “Oh. Hello there?” I said to them.

  They bared their teeth at me, showing off the bits of skin trapped in their mouths. They clearly were not fans of flossing.

  I went to grab my gun from my side and…

  F.U.C.K.

  I brought nothing with me, outside of the tube with the yellow liquid. Which seemed likely I would need to use because I was definitely about to get chomped down on by these zombies. My in-armor attire is not zombie-proofed, because I would never willingly leave the suit with a zombie nearby! I wish I had my leather biker jacket at the very least; that had saved me a few times in the past months.

  As if they sensed my panic, the zombies frantically started climbing up the armor. I briefly considered locking myself back in the armor, but now that the manual release had been used, it would not lock in pce until it was powered on again.

  “Hey, Becca. I might be in a bit of trouble here,” I said and started backing down the other end of the armor. But when I looked behind me, more zombies were coming out from between the other buildings. A quick count put the number at twenty, but probably more on their way. The women yelling, the smell of blood in the air, and the sound of my armor colpsing had attracted quite a crowd.

  Becca: He is on his way. Avoid being eaten the best you can.

  “Thanks for the helpful advice, as always!” I shouted. I debated between trying to fight the two climbing the armor up here or jumping down and making a break for the apartment while dodging the mass of zombies filling up the street. The high ground works a lot better when you have a lightsaber.

  The two zombies pulled themselves up onto the armor and were within striking distance. I clenched my fist, but hesitated. Unsure of which one to attack first. Overthinking and hesitation are good ways to get yourself killed, and that was exactly what I did. The two moved in perfect unison; they reached out for me, and as their hands were about to dig into me, a sharp, high-pitched screech from above announced an unexpected savior.

  A falcon dove into my eyeline and brushed across the faces of both zombies. They tried to swat at it but were far too slow and were thrown off bance. I took advantage of the distraction to drive my shoulder into one, which pushed it into the other and knocked them both off the top of the armor. I jumped off the armor and sprinted across the street and leapt onto the dumpster, ignoring the shredded corpse of the woman from before.

  It was not something you’d look at if it could be avoided.

  Just before I started climbing the dder, I noticed a zombie woman in a bloodied and torn wedding dress watching me with her head peeking around the corner of the building.

  Her eyes were less… dead, I guess, than the other zombies. They seemed to sparkle as she stared at me. She had a sea-green color to her eyes, and they locked onto mine. She had ink-bck hair put up in a messy bun that was unraveling. The veil of her dress was behind her and blowing in the light breeze.

  “Huh. For a zombie, you’re kinda cute,” I said with a small ugh to myself.

  The zombie bride blushed? Did I see that right? Before I could confirm what I thought I saw, she pulled her head back around the corner and out of sight. I would say that was really weird, but nothing was normal anymore.

  So, sure, I guess zombies could blush. Why not? I smacked my face to focus up and made my way up the dder to the third floor. Before I climbed in the window, I heard a chattering kek-kek-kek from a nearby rooftop. I located the source of the noise: that falcon again. It had that orange ribbon tied around its foot. The same falcon from the day of the outbreak? No way was that a coincidence.

  “Thank you!” I called out to the bird and gave it a wave. How are you supposed to interact with a falcon? The bird called out with that now familiar screech and flew off. That bird must have been working with someone, but they’ve saved me twice now. I hoped I could meet them soon to give them proper thanks. I certainly owed them at this point.

  I crawled in through the apartment window, where I knew it was safe for now.

  “I made it inside, Becca,” I said and looked around to make sure nothing had changed from my st trip here. Everything was dusty and untouched. A messy bed, clothes thrown all over the carpeted floor. Someone had, unsurprisingly, packed up and left in a hurry. I knew any supplies worth taking in this apartment were long gone, since I had taken them all myself. I moved through the bedroom, into the living room filled with abandoned furniture, and out of the apartment door. The same ugly white and bck checkered carpet was in the hall and stairs.

  Becca: Wonderful news. Please ensure that you and your new friend make it back to the facility alive. No additional strays.

  I made my way down the stairs to the first floor and just outside the open apartment I directed the women to earlier. I could hear hard sobbing from outside the closed door. It would be nice to give her more time to grieve, but I had to make sure she was clear of any bites and calm her down enough to pn out our escape. Things got a lot more complicated without the armor suit.

  The banging on the front door increased my sense of urgency. If the other zombies followed the two from before, their sheer numbers could break down the door. Another loud bang and I heard the wood creak from the weight of the zombies pushing against it.

  I knocked hard with the bottom of my fist on the apartment door just as I heard gss break and a panicked scream from within the apartment.