DEAD RUNE [A Deltarune AU]

Chapter I

Gone were the days of happiness and bliss. They remembered the infection that had taken over their home, how the people they once knew turned into horrific beasts, how their family...

Shaking the thought away, they instead focused on the events prior to them being in the room.

After a few moments, they remembered.

A few days ago, they, along with a squadron of four others, were tasked by the United People of the New World, or UPNW for short, to infiltrate an abandoned research lab and extract any documents that could help create a cure for the infection.

They successfully took the documents and information.

Of course, things hadn't gone to plan as the squad got surrounded by a horde of human zombies, as well as monster zombies. One by one, they were slaughtered, all except Kris, who was the sole survivor of their team.

Checking their watch, they noted that it had been an hour since they rested.

"Shit," they muttered. "Wasted too much time resting."

Grabbing the remaining supplies, they equipped their gas mask and approached the door as they slowly opened it, peaking out.

No zombies. That was both a good and concerning sign. Glancing left and right with their rifle, they closed the door behind them as they made their way through the dingy halls of the old lab.

About a few minutes of walking later, they made their way to an area connected to the underground sewer system.

They noted a few human zombies were walking along the catwalks, but no presence of any monster zombies. That was a comforting thought, at least. While human zombies are dangerous, they aren't necessarily hard to deal with in smaller groups. Monster zombies, on the other hand, are a different story.

Unlike human zombies, who mostly keep their physical appearance and intellect, monster zombies vary and can change drastically. Whether it's physical strength or higher intelligence, a single monster zombie can be dangerous against unprepared individuals. Even trained soldiers will have a difficult time killing monster zombies as some are resilient to any known damage.

Sighing from the thought, Kris jogged their way through the catwalks while running past the human zombies. From their appearance, they looked like they were stuck in here for weeks as their skins slowly peeled off from their bodies, and not to mention the horrid smell emanating from them.

Kris knew it wasn't necessary to kill these zombies. They were slow enough that they were easy to slide past. Moving down the nearby stairs, they continued pushing past the shambling zombies, each of them growling and moaning as their rotting bodies pushed one another.

When they made their way to the ground floor of the area, they proceeded to move toward an open manhole leading to the underground sewer. Grabbing hold of the ladder, they climbed down.

A few moments of climbing later, and they reached the sewer tunnels. Looking left, they noted that the entry got blocked by debris, which they assumed was set off by an explosives device. Looking in the opposite direction leads to a pathway clear from zombies and other obstacles.

Kris assumed that the tunnel could lead them straight to the city, where they would contact a rescue op for an extraction. With no complaint on their end, Kris began their trek throughout the tunnels.

[=/-/=]

A Few Hours Later

Unknown

Somewhere in the skies, a lone helicopter was spotted flying toward the zombie-infested city nicknamed Hope. Inside the cockpit was a single pilot wearing a red headset.