Hope remained on the porch long after the house had gone quiet.
The red marker on the System’s map had stopped moving.
Whoever it was, was only forty miles away, maybe less.
She zoomed in.
The marker appeared to be somewhere near a small town on the opposite side of the river, but the System couldn’t provide a precise location.
Hope stared at it.
“Can you identify the person?”
[No.]
“Can you tell me if they’re dangerous?”
[Insufficient information.]
“Can you tell me what ability they have?”
[No.]
Hope sighed.
“Can you tell me anything useful?”
A pause.
[Agent B activity is unusually strong.]
Hope’s expression tightened.
“Meaning?”
[Subject has experienced significant biological adaptation.]
“More than me?”
[Different.]
That answer caught her attention.
“Different how?”
[Individual adaptation varies.]
Hope looked toward the dark river.
So the second virus didn’t simply create one kind of enhanced person.
It changed people differently.
That made sense.
Human beings were different, their bodies were different and their genetics were different.
Perhaps Agent B interacted differently with each person.
She wondered what that meant for the future.
If hundreds of thousands of people awakened, there might be hundreds of thousands of different abilities.
Some may be useful, some harmless and some may be terrifying.
Hope looked back at the marker.
“And this person is the first one the System has detected?”
[No.]
Hope froze.
“Then how many?”
[Known awakened individuals: 17.]
Hope’s eyes widened.
“Seventeen?”
[Correct.]
“Where?”
The map changed.
Seventeen faint markers appeared across the country.
Some were close but most were far away.
Hope stared at them.
Seventeen people.
Seventeen potential superhumans.
And the world didn’t even know what was happening yet.
She looked toward the house.
Her aunt and uncle were sleeping, they were safe for tonight.
Hope turned back toward the map.
“Can they find me?”
[Unknown.]
“Can they detect me?”
[Unknown.]
Hope frowned.
“That’s not particularly reassuring.”
[Assessment accurate.]
She almost laughed.
Instead, she closed the System.
She needed sleep.
Tomorrow she would figure out what to do.
She didn’t sleep well.
Every sound woke her.
A branch scraping the farmhouse.
A vehicle on the distant road.
The creak of the building settling.
At three in the morning, she finally gave up.
Hope went downstairs and entered the kitchen.
She opened the refrigerator.
Her aunt had left a note.
Couldn’t sleep.
Made coffee.
Love, Aunt Sarah.
Hope smiled and she poured herself a cup.
Then she noticed something.
The coffee cup was moving.
Not much, just a slight vibration.
Hope stared at it and the vibration stopped.
She touched the cup.
Nothing.
“Okay.”
She looked around the kitchen.
“Maybe I’m tired.” Then the cup moved again.
Hope didn’t touch it but it slid half an inch across the counter.
She stared.
The System appeared.
[Ability development detected.]
Hope slowly backed away.
Telekinesis?”
[Potential ability pathway.]
“Potential?”
[Ability has not fully manifested.]
The cup moved again.
This time, Hope felt something.
A pressure not in her hands but in her mind.
She focused on the cup and it trembled.
Hope concentrated then the cup lifted.
Only a few inches.
She gasped and the cup dropped.
Coffee spilled across the counter.
Hope stared and then she laughed.
She couldn’t help it.
She had just made a coffee cup float.
“Okay.”
She grabbed a towel.
“That’s definitely new.”
By breakfast, Hope had decided not to tell her aunt and uncle.
They had enough to process.
Instead, she began testing the ability privately.
The results were inconsistent.
She could move very light objects easily.
A spoon, a piece of paper.
a plastic container.
The heavier the object became, the harder it was.
A plate required concentration, a full water bottle was almost impossible.
A chair didn’t move at all.
Hope spent twenty minutes trying.
Nothing.
She finally stopped.
“Not ready.” The System confirmed it.
[Telekinetic ability progression: 3%.]
Hope stared.
“Three percent?”
[Correct.]
“That’s going to take a while.”
[Correct.]
She smiled.
“Fine.” That was becoming her favorite word – Fine.
She didn’t need everything immediately.
She had time or at least she thought she did.
The first real sign that the world had changed came shortly after noon.
Hope was working in the greenhouse when she heard shouting.
She stepped outside.
Her uncle was standing near the gate.
“Hope!”
She ran toward him.
“What happened?”
“Someone’s on the road.”
Hope grabbed the binoculars.
A man was walking toward the property alone.
His clothes were dirty.
He appeared exhausted.
Hope studied him.
“Is he infected?”
Her uncle shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Hope opened the System as the man entered the assessment range.
A panel appeared.
[Individual detected.]
Hope waited.
Then:
[Human.]
She relaxed slightly.
[Virus A: Negative.]
Good.
Then another line appeared.
[Agent B: Positive.]
Hope’s heart jumped.
“He’s awakened.”
Her uncle looked at her.
“What?”
Hope lowered the binoculars.
“He’s carrying the second agent.”
“Is he dangerous?”
“I don’t know.”
The man stumbled as he fell to one knee.
Hope immediately opened the gate.
Her uncle grabbed her arm.
“Are you sure?”
Hope looked at him.
“No.”
She looked at the stranger.
“But I’m not leaving him out there.”
She walked through the gate.
Her uncle followed.
Hope approached carefully.
“Are you okay?”
The man looked up.
He was perhaps thirty years old.
he had dark hair and several days of stubble.
He had a torn jacket.
His face was pale.
“I need water.”
Hope nodded.
“Stay where you are.”
She took a bottle from the truck.
She didn’t approach too closely.
Instead, she rolled it across the ground.
The man grabbed it and he drank almost the entire bottle.
“Slow down.”
He ignored her.
Hope waited.
When he finished, he looked at her.
“My name is Daniel.”
“Hope.”
He looked toward the property.
“You own this place?”
“Yes.”
“Can I stay?”
Hope hesitated.
The System appeared.
[Individual Assessment Complete.]
Name: Daniel Mercer
Age: 31
Virus A: Negative
Agent B: Positive
Awakened: Yes
Ability: Kinetic Redirection
Threat Level: Low
Current Condition: Exhausted
Hope stared at the ability.
“Kinetic redirection?”
Daniel looked at her strangely.
“What?”
Hope realized she’d spoken aloud.
“Nothing.”
She studied him.
“What happened to you?”
Daniel sat down on the roadside.
“My town.” He swallowed.
“It’s gone.”
Hope crouched several feet away.
“Tell me.”
“I don’t know where to start.”
“Start with yesterday.”
Daniel looked toward the river.
“The police stopped answering calls.
Then people started getting sick.”
“Virus?”
“Probably.”
“Did they become violent?”
Daniel nodded.
“Some.”
“Zombies?”
He looked at her.
“What?”
Hope hesitated.
“Never mind.”
Daniel rubbed his face.
“Some of them stopped acting like people.”
Hope’s expression hardened.
“What happened after that?”
“I tried to get my family out.”
“Did you?”
Silence.
Hope knew the answer.
Daniel looked down.
“My wife and daughter were separated from me.”
Hope felt something twist inside her.
“Are they alive?”
“I don’t know.”
He looked at Hope.
“That’s why I’m here.”
“Why here?”
“I heard people were heading toward the river.”
Hope frowned.
“From where?”
“Everywhere.”
Daniel wasn’t the only one.
Hope learned that they were headed her way.
Within an hour three more people arrived.
Then another.
They didn’t know each other and they came from different directions but they all had the same story.
The cities were becoming dangerous.
Hospitals were overwhelmed.
The Police were struggling.
People were leaving, some were heading toward relatives, others simply wanted to get away.
People were beginning to look for safe places.
Hope couldn’t blame them.
She might have done the same.
The System assessed each newcomer.
Most were ordinary.
One was infected with Virus A.
Hope immediately turned him away.
Another had Agent B.
Two had neither and nobody had both.
Hope organized temporary shelter inside the farmhouse’s detached guest building.
She gave them food and water.
She explained the rules.
“No fighting.”
“No stealing.”
“No weapons inside the sleeping area.”
“If you’re sick, tell me.”
“If you think someone else is sick, tell me.”
One man frowned.
“Who put you in charge?”
Hope looked at him.
“I did.”
He laughed.
Hope didn’t.
After a moment, he stopped laughing.
“Okay.”
She hadn’t expected leadership to feel like that.
She didn’t enjoy being intimidating but she was beginning to understand that people needed certainty.
Someone had to make decisions and someone had to say what happened next.
That evening, Hope checked the System.
Settlement Level: 1
Population: 9
Infrastructure: 63%
Food Production: 3%
Defense: 19%
Then something changed.
Development Points: 1
Hope stared.
“One?”
[Settlement contribution achieved.]
“From what?”
[Protection of affiliated individuals.]
Hope looked toward the guest building.
Nine people.
She had gone from one person to nine in less than a day.
Only one more person was required to reach the first population threshold.
But the Development Point mattered more.
She opened the ability tree.
Several abilities remained locked.
But one had changed.
Enhanced Speed
Requirement: Development Point x1
Hope smiled.
“Unlock.” The System responded immediately.
[Development Point consumed.]
[Enhanced Speed unlocked.]
Hope felt a sudden surge through her legs.
The sensation lasted only seconds then it disappeared.
She stood.
“That’s it?”
[Ability unlocked.]
Hope smiled.
“Guess I’ll have to test it.”
The test happened after dark as Hope ran.
At first, she didn’t notice much then she accelerated.
The world seemed to move around her.
Her feet struck the ground faster, her body responded instantly.
She ran past the barn, past the greenhouse toward the river.
She stopped suddenly.
Too suddenly as her boots dug into the earth.
Hope nearly fell.
She laughed.
“Okay.”
She tried again only this time she controlled it.
She wasn’t merely faster but she could accelerate rapidly but could change direction, stop and start.
Her agility amplified the ability.
She ran back toward the farmhouse.
Then stopped outside the gate.
The System appeared.
Enhanced Speed — Level 1
Current maximum sustained speed: 32 mph
Hope stared.
“Thirty-two?”
[Correct.]
She smiled.
“That’s going to be useful.” Then she noticed another change.
Strength: 29
Agility: 33
Endurance: 32
Her attributes were rising again.
Hope looked at the dark settlement behind her.
People were sleeping.
Some were afraid and some were probably wondering if they had made the right choice coming here.
Hope understood their uncertainty because she felt it too.
But she also knew something they didn’t.
That the System had given her a path.
And now, for the first time, it wasn’t just about her.
A noise came from the road and hope turned.
Far in the distance, headlights appeared.
One vehicle, then another, then another.
Hope opened the System.
The display highlighted the approaching vehicles.
[Multiple individuals detected.]
Hope counted six vehicles.
She watched them approach the gate.
The first vehicle stopped.
A man stepped out, he immediately raised both hands.
“We’re not infected!”
Hope didn’t move.
“How do you know?”
The man pointed behind him.
“Because the people chasing us are.”
Hope’s stomach dropped.
Behind the vehicles, several figures appeared on the road, then more appeared from the darkness.
Hope stared into the darkness.
The infected had found them and now they were coming to her settlement.
She opened the System.
[Hostile entities detected.]
[Estimated number: 23.]
Hope looked at the people behind the gate.
Nine residents.
Her aunt and her uncle.
Six strangers outside along with twenty-three infected.
She took a slow breath.
Then she opened the ability screen.
Enhanced Physicality.
Enhanced Recovery.
Enhanced Speed.
Telekinesis developing.
Her hands tightened.
She had wanted to build a place where people could survive.
That meant the walls weren’t enough.
Tonight, she was going to find out whether they could defend it.
Hope walked toward the gate.
“Everyone inside.”
The stranger looked at her.
“What are you going to do?”
Hope looked toward the approaching infected.
Her answer was calm.
“I’m going to make sure they don’t get through.”