Return of the last survivor

"Alright! So many options. Let's see… I'll need this, and this, and this…"

As Merlin engaged in his shopping spree, Alex was on his way home. Currently, the time until the tutorial started had already reached 40 minutes. In the following 10 minutes, Alex slowly crawled home. But when he looked at his current location, and the speed at which he was walking, Alex couldn't help but calculate and find out that it would take him another 20 minutes to reach.

Back at the hardware store, Merlin had procured the required weapons, and was already standing in line to purchase them, when something could his eye.

Walking over, he reached down and picked it up before quickly pocketing it and returning to the line.

'I can't believe it! I actually found one here!'

It was a round orb, small enough to be considered a gumball. At first glance, it even looked exactly like a blue gumball some child had dropped. But when one looked closer, they would see that the ball was actually extremely heavy for its size, comparable to a few Encyclopaedias stacked one on top of the other. When Merlin picked it up, he could feel a faint mana fluctuation within it.

A normal person would mistaken it for static charge being built up in a plastic object. But after utilising mana for nearly 7 years, Merlin had an acute sense for mana. It was an elemental orb. These elemental orbs were extremely useful oven by the end of the Apocalypse for one reason only. It was the fact that they contained pure mana of a particular element. With the colour and energy it gave off, Merlin was sure this was either a water elemental orb, or an ice one. What these elemental orbs were used for was crafting weapons with specific additional effects. By adding a water elemental orb into a normal knife it would give the user an increase in water spell efficiency by 5%. And if installed correctly, the knife may even gain an enchantment.

…

At this time, Alex had already reached home and was anxiously waiting for his father and Merlin. When Merlin had forced him to call back his parents immediately, his mother had rushed over within 15 minutes. After another 10 minutes, Alex had arrived with a huge back of supplies. However, Alex's father; Ethan had yet to arrive, along with the one to cause it all, Merlin himself.

The two nervously waited for another 10 minutes before Ethan finally rushed into the house's yard. But when he tried to open the house, it was unexpectedly locked. He began to furiously ring the bell, since the clouds were gathering and he didn't want to get wet in the first rains of the season. It would definitely be akin to rubbing his face in diluted acid.

*Click*

After seeing through the peeking hole that it was his father, Alex opened the door quickly and let Ethan inside, before quickly closing the door. During the whole walk home, Alex was pondering Merlin's actions in great detail, and was alarmed by the fact that Merlin, who was usually quiet and shy in the morning, had suddenly transformed into a loudmouthed and headstrong person within the time of a short nap. He had also discovered the fact that Merlin was becoming more and more anxious as the time passed inside the store.

He knew that something was wrong. There was also that indescribable feeling that he could feel in his very bones. It was the feeling when something terrible would happen. In his life, he had only felt like this thrice. Once was when Merlin's mother died, the second was when Merlin's father died, and the third was when his mother had a miscarriage. And now he was having the same feeling, and the hair in his neck were standing on end. He knew something big was going to happen.

This was because he had noticed a pattern in this feeling. The longer it lasted before the event occurred, the worse the event would be. For the miscarriage, Alex was too young to understand anything, and that feeling had occurred a few seconds before the incident. When Merlin's mother died, he experienced it for almost 2 minutes, and or his father, it lasted nearly 5 minutes. However, this time, he had been experiencing it since the two got off the train. That was just short by a few second of an hour ago. This analysis terrified Alex and his complexion paled even further than usual.

At this time, there was a knocking on the door.

*knock knock knock.*

Three repeated knock happened, and Alex signalled his parents to quieten down as he peeked through the hole. It was a man he had never seen before, and his complexion was pale, with saliva leaking out of his mouth.

Instinctively Alex reached for the door handle to open the door and see what was wrong with the man. Suddenly the feeling he had greatly intensified and his hand froze an inch away from the door handle.

Alex suddenly remembered Merlin's words about not letting anyone in, even Einstein.

He moved back from the door, his full attention at the locked door.

"Who is it?"

"It's nobody mom. Just be quiet." whispered Alex, afraid that the man outside might hear them.

Sadly, it was too late.

*Bang Bang BANG*

Loud thudding noises came from the door, along with savage knowing and clawing noises. Alex became deathly afraid at this point.

Suddenly, the phone in Alex's pocket rang. Thankfully, it was on silent mode, else the stranger outside might have heard it.

Holding out the phone in his hand, Alex saw that it was Merlin. A relieved expression could be seen on Alex's face.

"Ah M-Merlin."

"How are you? Is everyone at home? Are you safe?"

"Yes, mom and dad both reached safely."

"Good, good. Do you know the situation outside? Just switch on the news. It should be all over it by now. And don't worry about me, I'll be there soon. Just don't make any noise, and keep the television on mute."

"Uhm sure."

"Don't forget, nobody must enter the house. Make sure all the windows are locked and both the front and back doors are locked."

"OK"

With this, the call ended. Alex staggered to the television and turned it on. Just before the volume could start, he muted it with pin-point accuracy. He had done this action too many times, when watching tv and a kid in the night while his parents were in their own room.

As soon as the news channel switched on, he was shocked. The words were there on every channel, with even videos as proof playing every now and then. The carnage shown in those videos was horrifying, and Alex had to supress the urge to vomit multiple times.

'ZOMBIES!!!'

It was plastered on every channel.

Then, Alex had a sudden realisation.

"The person outside couldn't be a …"