NOVEL WEB Chapter 8
Chapter 8
At some point, Jake stumbled across a long-abandoned police car. One of its rear doors was ajar. Jake approached the vehicle and leaned to look inside. He was surprised to find a pump-action shotgun as well as a box of ammunition resting on the rear seat.
Reaching inside the vehicle, he picked up the weapon. He checked if it was loaded and found it empty. Taking the shells from the ammo box, he stuffed his jacket pockets with them. He then shoved five shells into the loading port, racked the slide to chamber the first one, and then put another one into the magazine to top off the weapon. He glanced inside the police car one more time to make sure he didn’t miss anything and then straightened up.
He walked to the front of the vehicle and placed the shotgun on the hood. Taking out his PDA, he scanned the weapon to check its stats. While the shotgun was only level 1 and of common rarity, it was surely way more powerful than his pistol. However, Jake figured the shotgun would prove to be most effective only in close-range combat situations.
He didn’t have much experience with a shotgun, having fired one only a couple of times in the past. So while he wasn’t very proficient with a shotgun, he knew how to use one and had some general knowledge about this type of firearm. He knew that the further you were away from the target, the bigger the spread was going to be. If memory served him correctly, shotguns had an effective range of about thirty-five yards with buckshot. He also knew that the general rule about shotguns was that they spread about one inch per yard from the point of firing.
Still, Jake wasn’t sure if the general principles of shotguns would apply in this altered world. His pistol fired much quieter compared to the regular pistols he’d used before the Collapse. Just like his Bernetti pistol, the weapon looked like a typical pump-action shotgun, but at the same time, its design didn’t resemble that of any shotguns he’d ever seen. So maybe the shotgun he’d just found would act somewhat differently too.
Giving the matter no more thought, Jake slung the weapon over his shoulder and continued his journey. He soon stumbled across another car and found yet another handgun inside. The newly discovered pistol was identical to the one he already possessed, both in appearance and statistics.
Jake simply stared at the handgun for a moment, lost in thought. While exploring the abandoned stores, he had been coming across canned food and bottled water, and now he was stumbling upon weapons as well. All these items seemed to have conveniently been placed in various places for a survivor like him to find, making it really feel like a video game. From his understanding, the Earth was now a part of the much larger world called the Gameverse, having somehow been merged into it. How could something like that be possible? He just couldn’t grasp it.
Jake shook his head. Whatever was going on, it wasn’t natural. It was completely different from anything he’d ever known, and his mind couldn’t make sense of it. He didn’t even try to find any kind of explanation for what was happening now. The most important thing was that reality had somehow changed, and he now had to learn to survive in this new game-like world. He decided to focus solely on this task.
Jake glanced at the newly found pistol one more time. He wasn’t sure if he should take it. After all, he already had one handgun, and they were identical to each other. In the end, he decided that the more guns he had on him, the better, so he picked up the second pistol and checked it out. He pushed the magazine release button to drop the magazine and checked to see if it was loaded. It was full, containing twenty rounds. He jacked the slide back and let it fly, loading the weapon. He then tucked the second handgun into his belt and continued on.
For some time, nothing happened, and Jake was lulled into a false sense of security. And that almost cost him dearly. When he was walking past an alleyway between two high-rises, an ex-human walker lurched at him from there. Jake had just enough time to unsling his shotgun and point it at the enemy before it reached him.
The mutant slashed its claws at him, tearing the jacket on his shoulder and slicing into his flesh. It might have been a game-like world, but the pain felt all too real. Yelping in pain and rage, Jake squeezed the trigger. A load of buckshot to the chest sent the monster flying back into the alleyway it had come from. The mutant collapsed to the ground and went still, blood pouring from the huge hole in its chest. At point-blank range, the shotgun was devastating, that was for damn sure.
Before Jake could relax, a screeching sound came from further down the alleyway. He racked a shell into the chamber and pointed the barrel in the direction the sound had come from. As he looked up, he saw two more ex-human walkers run toward him, hands extended forward, claws pointed at him.
Jake slammed one mutant with a devastating shot and shifted his aim at the other one. He pumped a new shell into the chamber and squeezed the trigger, the weapon kicking him hard in the shoulder. No more shots were needed, as the mutants were dead now, both lying sprawled on the ground in pools of spreading blood. Jake peered into the alleyway, ready to engage new enemies should they show up. No more mutants popped up, though. It was all quiet again, the whistling of the wind being the only audible sound. Then his PDA beeped with an incoming message, likely informing him he received ten XP for each mutant he’d just killed. A few more, and he would level up to 2.
Taking some shells from his pockets, Jake topped off his shotgun, grimacing against the pain in his injured shoulder. After looking around one more time to make sure there were no more mutants nearby, he propped the shotgun against the wall of a building and took off his rucksack. He then doffed his jacket too and examined his wound. Four scratches ran across his upper arm. While the wound was superficial, it was bleeding and quite painful. He dug into his pack and retrieved the stimpak he’d found earlier. He pressed the business end of the autoinjector to his wounded shoulder, feeling the firm plastic against his skin.
With a quick, shaking breath, he pressed the trigger, and the sharp hiss of the device echoed in the silent alleyway. A shiver ran down his spine as the needle thrust out of the device and punctured his skin. The rush of medication flooded his system almost immediately. With a shaky exhale, he let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding as the medication began to take effect. The pain receded as the four scratches closed in just a few seconds, leaving behind only barely noticeable scars on his skin.
Jake dropped the now-empty autoinjector as he took a step back. The tension in his muscles lessened, and his breaths came easier as the medication did its work. Feeling relief, he took stock of his surroundings one more time. No enemies were in sight. He quickly put on his jacket and then heaved his rucksack onto his shoulders. The stimpaks were truly miraculous medications. He was surely going to be on the lookout for more of those.
He then scanned the dead body of the nearest mutant with his PDA. DEAD EX-HUMAN WALKER: EMPTY. He trained the camera of his device on the second dead body. It didn’t have any loot either. When he scanned the third one, he saw a different message on the screen of his PDA. DEAD EX-HUMAN WALKER: STIMPAK (x1). Stepping over the bodies of the first two mutants, Jake crouched down beside the third one. He tapped the pockets of the torn clothes it was dressed in, and sure enough, in one of them, found another autoinjector identical to the one he’d just used. Jake stowed it in his rucksack and stood up.
He consulted the map on his PDA and stepped out of the alleyway, pocketing the device. After the fight with the three ex-human walkers, he decided not to sling his shotgun over his shoulder in case more mutants jumped him. Carrying the weapon in his hands now, he resumed his journey.