A man stepped out, tall and upright, his red uniform crisp and unwrinkled. The smell of gun oil and new fabric followed him as if he'd just left a military factory line.
His eyes were clear and bright, his posture straight yet filled with determination. The bronze badge on his shoulder gleamed faintly, showing his rank, similar to Hans—Private.
The MP5 submachine gun across his chest shone under the apartment light, and the faint scent of metal clung to him.
The soldier's expression was calm, yet fervent as he stared at Hans and suddenly saluted.
"Conscript Adam Orlov, reporting to the Commander!"
The conscript's greeting was soft, knowing that being too loud might draw unwanted attention.
That made Hans pause, wondering if his RTS system gave information to the units before they appeared in the real world.
"As you were, Adam." Hans waved his hand and gestured to the conscript. "Do you know who I am?"
"Yes, sir! You are my Commander, Hans Flemmens, and I am tasked to follow your orders and protect you with all of my strength!"
Hans nodded, confirming a question in his mind. "Do you know our current situation now?"
"The Commander is scavenging for resources to convert into gold." Adam reported, "I have also received information that this world has turned into an apocalypse, sir."
"Not bad," Hans smirked. Since newly trained units would be aware of his situation beforehand, it saved him the time of having to repeatedly debrief everyone about everything.
He circled Adam, finding a large knapsack with a canteen that could probably store at least a liter of water and a sleeping bag.
"Adam, what do you consume for food?" Hans inquired, concerned about their food intake.
"Commander, we conscripts are given a 1-day field ration that refreshes every 8 hours. The food and nutrients in it are enough to keep us going." Adam answered.
Hans sighed in relief. Soldiers would consume food, a lot of it. Now that they had their own ration given to them by the system, he didn't need to concern himself with finding food for his soldiers, only for his own.
Of course, if he could strike it rich later with a self-sufficient base that produced food and water, then he could let his soldiers feast once in a while.
After circling, Hans focused on Adam and saw Adam's information through an interface.
----
Name: Adam Orlov
Unit: Conscript
Tier: 0
Star Promotion: 0 / 300
Primary Weapon: MP5 Submachine Gun(9mm, 30 rounds per magazine, two mags, refreshes every 24 hours)
Secondary Weapon: None
Melee: Combat Knife (15 cm blade, steel alloy, indestructible)
Grenades: None
Personal Kit: 1-day field ration (refreshes every 8 hours), 1 liter canteen (refreshes every 8 hours), basic sleeping gear, standard soldier uniform
Remarks: Average aim and close-quarter combat skills. Strength increases when grouped with other conscripts.
----
Hans studied the man. He breathed, blinked, even shifted his weight around like any soldier he'd seen in videos.
This person was real, both in flesh and blood.
"Hey, system. Are these units real people?"
"Replying to the Commander. The units trained are real people derived from existing or dead humans in Aurelia. They can follow your orders, think independently, act autonomously, but are forever loyal to the Commander."
Hans squinted. "Isn't that too convenient?"
"How about their weapons? Can others use them?" he asked, concerned about others snatching his or his soldier's weapons.
"The weapons of each unit are unique to themselves. They never jam, rust, or misfire. Once others use it, it will be nothing but scrap metal. If the unit is dead, their bodies will vanish together with their equipment."
Hans breathed a sigh of relief, having the biggest worry in his heart resolved.
"That makes things much simpler, then," he looked at Adam and found him much more worthy than ever. Though a conscript, having a companion in these dark times felt better than being alone.
"How much sleep do you need, Adam?"
"Four hours is enough, sir." Adam replied, "My sleeping gear will make do."
"Good, because I need to sleep right now." Hans yawned, uncaring about how the outside world had turned apocalyptic. "Can you stand on guard duty for tonight?"
"I am more than willing to do, sir."
With that, Hans arranged for Adam to stand on guard duty while he went into his bedroom and sank into the smooth, comfortable fabric.
Now that the tense atmosphere had receded and he had achieved one of his goals, exhaustion finally claimed him; his body was heavy, his mind drifting.
He thought of his parents in his hometown, wondering if they were still alive or dead.
Mom and Dad should be safe. The house is far from the crowded places. But Alexa and John...
His younger sister, Alexa, was still in college. Since the meteor shower rained during the afternoon, she might have been in her classroom with countless people around.
His younger brother, John, was in a similar situation in high school. Knowing that the kid was adventurous, Hans could only hope that he remained safe and sound.
Despite his urgency to save his family at this dire moment, he was separated from them hundreds of kilometers away.
I'll save the planning later. For now, let's go to sleep.
Snores soon resounded from his bedroom. Outside, Adam cautiously gripped his combat knife, switching from his MP5 submachine gun, which now hung across his body.
The groans outside never ceased, and soon, an entire night passed.
...
The sun rose again, illuminating the almost silent and dead Grefort City with warm light. The zombies hissed, shielding their rotting faces from the sudden light.
At the apartment, Hans cleaned the apartment room together with Adam, removing all the clutter and distractions.
It took them two hours to do so.
After that, Hans ordered Adam to go to sleep.
He unfurled his sleeping gear and slept after a short while, his fingers still wrapped around the combat knife.
Hans ignored him and peeled a few boiled eggs from the fridge, ate in silence, and gulped down a glass of water.
"I might have to search for food later..." he murmured, "but the food from these units, can they even be eaten?"
Hans hesitated. Unless the food was refrigerated, grabbing those lying around carried a big risk.
"I'll gather more later. The food supply I have can last me for a week or so."
He grabbed his cracked phone from the dining table to check on something.
There's no signal. The Internet is gone as well.
It wasn't surprising, knowing how powerful the shockwave was when the meteors exploded from the sky.
What was surprising, however, was that the electronics continued to run, as did electricity and water.
"The meteors must have been detonated in the upper atmosphere, hitting the satellites above. Despite the EMP it could have caused, the local grid and electronic devices somehow survived."
Hans was unsure if this was the case, but as he peeked through the window again, most of the city's tall buildings and skyscrapers remained, though holes could be seen, marking scars into them.
If the meteors truly struck near the ground or into it, then the entire planet would have turned dead. Even buildings would be no different from grass, non-existent.
Ahh, thinking about it will lead me nowhere. Might as well focus on the present.
Hans grabbed his tablet and opened the saved map of Grefort City. It was a large city spanning hundreds of kilometers, sprawling with numerous districts from north to south and east to west.
A large river circled, with bridges built to allow passage through the river.
Several highways extended in all directions, but Hans knew he could not casually leave, for the roads leading in and out might be teeming with zombies.
After all, Grefort City was a bustling hub, attracting people from nearby areas.
He was unsure how the zombie apocalypse worked, especially whether the zombies would improve over time. To leave would somewhat halt his progress, weakening himself while letting the enemies strengthen without check.
His only goal now was to survive, train more units, deploy his base, increase his rank, and hopefully build a sanctuary in Grefort City through his own efforts, establishing a survivor base for anyone still alive nearby.
Although he had a system, he didn't forget the importance of the workforce itself. Many RTS games simplified the concept of base building and warfare, with logistics being one of them. If he were to establish a base, it would be far-fetched to rely solely on the system itself.
Still, the thoughts of building prism towers, training chrono legionnaires, and those prism tanks...
Planning came first. It didn't matter if he could acquire powerful units later; building a solid foundation was also important.
"There are jewelry stores here and there..."
Hans encircled key areas within Grefort City and even designated which ones were too dangerous and which he should check out.
Supermarkets and malls were among his main points of interest, as they contained supplies that could last for a long time and might include resources that could be converted into gold.
Of course, every survivor in the city would be thinking the same.
As for Jewelry Stores, Pawnshops, Banks, and the like, he kept them as secondary priorities, knowing full well that these areas had sophisticated security, and to breach such vaults, the only probable way would be through explosives.
The only comfort he realized was that most people would abandon the materialistic objects, giving him leverage to loot these stores with barely any competition.
Luring the zombies there and blasting both them and the vault isn't a bad plan at all...
Four hours passed quietly, and Hans' brain was almost at the limit. Planning felt safer than fighting, but even thinking about logistics made his temples throb.
At that moment, Adam woke up and fixed his sleeping gear, then saluted Hans. The knapsack was put aside as it was too heavy and limited his movement.
"You don't have to do this every time, you know." Hans shook his head, wondering if he could alter their formal persona.
He had to eventually pause his strategic planning as he ran out of ideas. He badly needed to converse with someone to relieve himself of the stress, and Adam wasn't particularly the one he was looking for.
"I guess it's time to explore upstairs, see what happened to that stairwell," he murmured, then glanced at his conscript. "I might be able to gain more gold, and give this guy a companion he could talk to..."
Adam was unaware of his Commander's thoughts, watching Hans as he gave out an order.
"Adam, check the hallway for any zombies. Do not engage. Fall back if it is too dangerous. Report to me any findings you have."
"As you command, sir."
Adam nodded and stepped out of the door, acting carefully and subtly.
He shouldered the MP5 submachine gun and walked around the hallway, noticing only bloodstains, locked doors, and a disturbing sound upstairs.
As he approached the stairwell, he raised his head and looked up. His ears caught the sound of a human munching on something.
Is it a zombie eating a corpse? He wondered.
Meanwhile, below him, the floors remained empty aside from a few blood streaks across the wall.
Seeing that nothing significant was going on, he returned to Hans's room with the information.