- You know those “no armor” challenges they do in games?

  - Scavenging in boxer shorts and a tank top seemed crazy—until I learned how fast I could actually move.

  - You don’t respect survival until you feel the wind on your thighs while dodging teeth.

  ---

  I stripped down in the Nest.

  Not for any deep metaphorical reason. I was just staring at my gear and thinking: “What if I didn’t?”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  So I left the hoodie. Left the pants. Wore nothing but my old tank top, boxer shorts with faded cartoon ducks, and a pair of sneakers I tied real tight. Grabbed a duffel bag and a crowbar, and off I went.

  The mission? Pick up three things: canned food, batteries, and a toothbrush. Bonus points if I made it back without a scratch.

  And the twist? No hiding. No shadow creeping. Just speed, awareness, and that beautiful, irrational confidence that maybe—I could outrun death in my underwear.

  It started off fine. I was quiet. Focused. Fast.

  But then I heard the groan. Then another. Then the clatter of a can I knocked off a shelf.

  And suddenly, it wasn’t a challenge anymore. It was real.

  I sprinted out of that gas station like it was a boss level. Two—no, three zombies were right behind me. One tripped. One kept pace. One almost grabbed my shirt hem.

  I dove into a ditch. Stayed there, chest heaving, shirt drenched in sweat, crowbar gripped like a prayer.

  When I crawled out, I was laughing. Not because it was funny.

  But because I won.

  And when you’re running out of reasons to stay human, sometimes surviving a dumb, pointless challenge is enough.