John was expecting to dispatch at least a few more zombies on his initial entry into the subway platform, however his push into the space was uneventful because apparently between his clearing and the survivors' was enough to draw in all the infected down here, including the ones off in hiding and those in some obscure area… Or so he thought for the time being.
Yet even if there didn't appear to be any more zeds left, he knew complacency would be the death of him and anyone else for that matter; hence; he kept his head on a swivel and boarded the subway car that blocked the northern tunnel. The lights in the car were flickering intermittently, but it wasn't hard to see when he used his LED flashlight-laser combo in combination with his NVGs.
I follow this metro rail north and I'll come out right where I want to be... Or at least I hope so, otherwise I might be in for a bunch of backtracking.
Keen on getting through these tunnels as quickly as possible whilst trying to remain cautious and prepared for the dangers that lay down here in these dark tunnels, John stepped over the bodies in the train cars and kept advancing through one car after the next. Shortly thereafter, he reached the front, so he took a few moments to observe the situation outside the train car before inevitably disembarking out the side and onto the concrete floor. Leaving the derailed car behind, he continued forward and followed the path of carnage as he had been doing this whole adventure, and soon came upon a table full of ammunition.
When he caught sight of all the munitions, he knew he didn't need them when he would soon be entering an area that should have all the supplies he could ever dream of, but his inner loot goblin was insatiable.
Ohh, there's even some AK-47 mags, sweet… I think this is the first instance I've come across some kit that I would actually consider using. Though I've pretty much moved on from 30 rounders and will be replacing my existing ones for 60 rounder quad stacks and probably one more 100 round drum magazine.
John took a few minutes to loot the supplies he came upon, and once he loaded nearly everything into his pack, he threw it back on his back. The weight difference was immediately noticeable and was nearly at the ceiling of what he was comfortable carrying and lugging around.
Maybe I should invest some of my funds into increasing my carrying capacity… A perk could work too, I suppose. I did see some weight reduction perks that would halve the weight of certain items after all.
He considered his options and whether he thought it would be wise to spend his points on a strength upgrade, a weight reduction perk, or something else to lessen his burden. However, after giving it much thought, he came to the conclusion that an investment of 200 gold coins into his carry strength stat would be a wise move.
I know it would be smarter to invest in the overall strength increase in the long run, but I'd rather hold on to as much of my funds as I can right now given I've been eyeing quite a number of perks that have piqued my interest. So I'll increase my carrying strength by a solid 20 pounds for now and keep on making my way through the metro… But if it turns out to not be enough of an upgrade, I'll up it again or just cave and get something like | Pack Rat | to reduce the felt weight of the ammo and magazines I'm lugging around.
Intent on being as miserly as he could… Or at least until he had enough to be able to buy a truly halfway decent perk, John bought the carry strength just like he planned and when he did the weight, he'd been shouldering lightened a good bit.
Mm, that'll do for the time being.
He rocked his shoulders a few more times, got used to the new strength he now possessed, and set off once more. From that small stockpile of supplies, John ventured forth through the dark, dreary metro tunnels and systematically ran his KORD's attached taclight over the surroundings as he pushed deeper into the underground. A cluster of zeds could come bounding out from just about anywhere, so he remained on edge and kept his senses in a heightened state and sharpened like a knife. Fortunately, it turned out to be wholly unnecessary because he soon came upon a section of the tunnels he could clearly recall from the game and without another encounter with the undead… Thus far, at least.
I remember this section from the game quite clearly, so I just need to hang right and keep on trucking like I've been doing, and before I know it, I'll end up at that utility section the survivors would use to leave the subway.
John examined the split in the tunnels from afar and though he was somewhat grateful he didn't run into anymore zombies, he kind of wished he did, given what he wanted to buy. But he was sure they'd be right around the corner now that he had raised a flag for himself. And right he was because not even a couple of minutes since he began stumbling into this section, he encountered another one of those fat disgusting Boomers, one which had come hurtling out from behind one of the many concrete pillars that held up the ceiling and the city above.
Fuck was all John could get out before the Boomer who had been hiding nearby attempted to puke on him. Unluckily for it, he was waiting for such an occasion, so as soon as the grotesque, over inflated infected popped out and began winding up to unleash a spew of that nasty, vile stomach liquid they were known for, he hastily dodged to the left. As a result of his speedy maneuver, he managed to narrowly avoid the putrid substance and caused the mutated infected's one chance to miss its mark by just a smidge.
"You missed, mutie. Time to die!"
The Boomer didn't understand a lick of what he said and just kept coming at him with its enlarged clawed hands following its failed attack. However, John wasn't one to stand around like an idiot and wait for his opponent's next move; hence, his leg went up and launched a kick straight into the bloated stomach of the zed. When his leg met with the bloated gut, which was inflated similarly to an exercise ball or as close as it could get, it compressed inward, relieving some of the force. Nevertheless, it still received most of the force and flew back a handful of feet before rolling to the ground and groaning.
That wasn't the best kick in the world, but it did its job… Though it could've been much more impactful if I didn't have my spiffy new pack and all the stuff inside it weighing me down. Yeah, this area is going to have to be improved majorly, but it can wait till later.
As he was thinking about upgrades for his strength and mobility, he kept his assault rifle trained right above the special infected, and the second it raised its head past its enormous belly, John pressed the trigger and put one bullet right between its eyes, ending its futile struggle then and there. He would've been cheering and going on his merry way after solving that little problem, but sadly, this wasn't a game anymore, so although he dodged the puke in time he wasn't out of the shit yet because it still held the same traits.
Well, that was easy, but I wonder how long that fat fuck was hiding there… Welp it doesn't really matter since it's dead as dead can be.
John was considering whether he wanted to take a handful of minutes to repack his mags once more and what his next move was going to be following dispatch of yet another special infected, but the nonexistent director of this world had other plans for him.
Mm, on second thought, maybe I spoke too soon.
Not even a whole ass 30 seconds following his Boomer kill, the sound of rapid footsteps echoed throughout the subway tunnels behind him. It was quite obvious what was coming his way with Boomer's puke laying right behind him, so John put some distance between him and the bile, took cover behind one of the many sturdy concrete pillars holding this place up, and prepared himself for yet another wave of crazed, bloodthirsty undead.
And here we go again, with this bullshit.
Growing tired and increasingly aggravated by the endless waves of infected, he stayed posted up with his night vision active. And as soon as he caught sight of the very first zombie, he fired a shot at its dome and nailed it and the fellow directly behind it in the head as well.
"Collateral!"
The shot was quiet, but the crack from the sound of the bullet ripping through the sound barrier wasn't, so the zeds honed in on its origin and charged right for him. Unfortunately for them, John was waiting for them with anticipation; hence, a volley of lead pierced through their number like a hot knife through butter. His KORD's bolt noisily chambered one round after the next as he kept swaying his red dot from head to head, taking out the zombies multiple at a time, and before long his mag was spent and the small horde of infected lay dead at his feet.
This is starting to feel more and more like COD zombies than Left 4 Dead with how many headshots I've been getting lately.
Having used up all his FMJ drum mags of 7.62x39mm, John kept his APDS drum in reserve and slotted in a 60 rounder quad stack. Once the bolt slammed forward and chambered a new round, he resumed his adventure through the graffiti-covered tunnels and soon came upon a vibrant red light lighting the area in front. Intrigued, he kept going and soon discovered the source of the odd light: several burning flares.
Hmm, this scene looks quite similar to what I would encounter in the No Mercy campaign normally, though the flares here are not as bright as the ones I recall and there weren't anywhere near as many bodies.
Under the dying light of flares, John pushed on and stayed fully alert as he continued following the survivors' footsteps. Minutes flew by as he advanced blocks through the tunnel, and soon he found the way ahead was blocked.
The damned train car door is locked, so it would appear this route has been cut off. Or at least it would've been if this were still in the game world, but since I got a functioning brain, I can simply bust the door's window and take the lock off.
John had no desire to find an alternate way forward, so he raised his rifle and bashed the butt of its stock into the window. The forceful strike spider-webbed the glass on impact and sent shards of glass flying and clattering onto the floor of the train car.
And wallah now I can go through the train cars ahead.
Reaching a hand through the broken opening in the shattered window, John undid the locking mechanism and opened the door with ease. When the door swung out of the way, he caught sight of what lay inside the lit-up train cars: a hellish scene straight out of a horror movie. What came into view was blood, guts, and gore painting a good percentage of the cabin. And if that horrid sight wasn't grisly enough, corpses of both infected and unlucky survivors were strewn about the floors and seats; there were even a few skeletons stripped of all flesh right to the bone.
Holy shit, they must've had one hell of a time carving a path through the train.
Thankful for his current lack of smell, he slung his gun on his back since the cabin was a bit too tight to be waving around an assault rifle, that was modified into basically an LMG, drew his Glock 20, and climbed into the train car. From his initial entry, he trudged on through the car and tried his very best to avoid getting the disgusting filth that painted these several cabins on his boots. It was pretty much a losing battle, but he fought on and continued pressing through the cabins whilst scanning both what lay inside here with him and what lay outside the relative safety of the train's cars.
He covered another block via the many connected cars and eventually popped out on the tracks again, but in a maintenance slash utility stop from the looks of things. John remained ever weary of the dangers this world posed to his wellbeing, so he took the new surroundings in. But all he found were a couple of wall-mounted lights revealing the plethora of dead zeds lying around the area and a table sitting right beside a wide-open doorway, which presumably led to the next part of the campaign.
There was nothing left alive it seemed, but that didn't stop our cautious protagonist from scanning the graffiti covered concrete walls, the piles of deceased, and the beat up metal door, that laid torn off its threshold… Nevertheless he found nothing of concern nor interest, so he turned away from the open doorway, which led to the known path, and looked to the pile of broken concrete, which partially blocked the railway.
Following this set of tracks should take me to my destination, but I could also take the preexisting route to the surface and fight my way across the city too, since both would have me end up in the same place, eventually... That is an option to seriously consider. I mean, the piles of rubble and collapsed sections of the metro don't exactly instill confidence in the structural stability of these tunnels, meaning a death by either continued collapse or entrapment is not exactly zero. But even so, the lack of variabilities I need to take into account does present its own safety argument, i.e. not having to worry about enemies coming from nearly every direction.
Yeah, I think I'd rather fend off the waves of infected down here and take my chances with the ceiling coming down than have a run-in with a massive horde that I may not have enough packed mags for. Not having to constantly worry about my six nor my three o'clock and nine o'clock too much does sound pretty nice I gotta say… Though I'll still be sure to keep an ear peeled and give my surroundings the proper amount of caution like I've been doing up to now.
This is a world on the brink of collapse after all and filled to the brim with unending hordes of walking undead, so it would be foolish to start being careless when I've yet to truly reach a place where I can let a load off or even a level that'll guarantee my safety.
That aside, something in my gut is telling me to follow after the survivors, even though my goals don't exactly align with theirs. I mean, it would be rad to actually meet them in the flesh instead of viewing them through a screen, no doubt… And maybe even team up with them.
That said, I'm not gonna put my life at risk for four people that are really no more than strangers to me. And besides, it's not like I would be able to get them to drop their plans of pushing westward when my own would be pretty much suicidal in any normal person's book without my system's ability to empower myself continuously.
So yeah, I doubt I'll be able to convince them to join me on the wild and borderline suicidal adventure I'll certainly experience, especially when I want to stay here in an undead infested city and rack up as many kills as I can whilst I'm making preparations to pay a visit to the National Guard depot a dozen or so miles north. Putting it another way, who in their right mind would stay in the ground zero of the Green Flu pandemic when the option to escape the unending tides of undead is available? I know I wouldn't if I were in their position and situation.
Although something in the back of his mind told him to follow after them, he suppressed that urge and forcefully ignored it in favor of doing his own thing. Thus John ventured over to the white table just beside the doorway and bought a couple hundred round boxes of 7.62x39mm and packed his mags one more time. He had no clue what he might encounter whilst he was charting a path north, but venturing into the unexplored portions of the subway tunnels without being fully prepared was unwise to say the least.
Our vigilant protagonist loaded the rounds quickly with his speed loader, and a handful of minutes later he was fully loaded and ready to rumble.
"Alright, now I'm ready to set off."
John sent the vanilla path one more fleeting glance before throwing his backpack on and venturing over to the pile of broken concrete that splintered away from the tunnel ceiling. The crumbled small chunks and the gravel strewn about the railway crunched and ground with each step he took, but soon he arrived in front of the blockage. And the moment he reached it, he carefully climbed the unsettled rock, one uneven boulder and broken chunk at a time. It took a minute to climb over the rubble with his heavy pack weighing him down, but he managed, and when he finally made it past that hurdle, he eagerly embarked on charting his very own path through this world.
This is where my real test begins.
Leaving the known path behind, John stepped into the darkness, excited to make it to the north side of the city and set up shop... But at the same time, he was also leery of what awaited him on this off-rail experience ahead.