Unfortunately, Ralph’s didn't have any clothing for us to take. The true reward was filling our bellies with whatever we wanted from the deserted grocery store. We grabbed four cooked rotisserie chickens and a few energy drinks, as well as snacks and chips. Zahra liked trying as many different flavours as she could, so she emptied a 2 L bottle of Sprite to mix five or six different flavoured energy drinks. It looked a little crazy but I understood, I was also ravenous anything edible, especially carbs and sugar. The exertion it took to use our new bodies required a lot more food than I was used to eating, but it was somewhat refreshing not to feel nauseous at the thought of food like normal. I made myself a chicken sandwich as Zahra set up some pita and hummus, and we sat at the lottery counter facing the front for a weird grocery-picknick. For a few minutes, we just ate as much and as quickly as possible.

  “I’m surprised by how much food is here. I would have figured it would have been picked clean by now.” I said, finishing my third sandwich. Besides some blood splattered near the entrance and the blast marks, the store was relatively untouched on the inside. It had been nearly 24 hours since the System Integration, the timer ticking down until Class Selection reading 01:03:45. I took a glance at my map, but the grocery store hadn’t turned into a safe zone like the hospital had. We could still see the floor layout, although no lights pinged inside the store.

  “Considering how fast things changed, I’d make a bet most people didn’t have time before having to hide from the monsters. I’m sure that's what most people are doing, anyway. Hiding and keeping safe while we get more information. Plus, I’m sure there were people like us who got an item or transformation that could help. It looks like the… ‘System’ or whatever is trying to give us chances to survive. Even the smog would take a long time to kill someone if they couldn’t find a way inside. Do you… do you think our families are still out there? My dad drove me today, he would’ve been on the highway when everything… happened.” She had stopped eating, staring at the lotto cards under the glass counter we were on.

  “I mean, I hope so. People are resilient. If this is how strong we got with some luck, imagine what some people are doing out there. The Olympians or super athletes, or military. They’re probably kicking ass against these monsters we keep running into. The message said we need to try and get stronger, and I don't think that was a suggestion. It's just our new reality.”

  The silence grew between us. Hope was all I could have, but the lack of people around such a populated city was making me nervous. You didn’t see streets in L.A. this empty unless something was being filmed there. It was a question I almost didn’t want to ask, for the answer could be worse than not knowing. The quiet was unsettling.

  “Do you think your family is okay?” She asked.

  “I guess I don't know. I have no idea what they were doing today or even this month, or where they were. My parents work downtown, so I guess it kinda depends on how badly this ‘System Integration’ hit the area. My brother and sister go to UCLA, and my youngest brother lives at home. At least they did when I last spoke to them.”

  “I just wish they were here so I wouldn’t have to keep thinking about the ‘what if’. Plus my dad would know what to do in all this. One time we went camping with my uncle, and my dad was the one to wake us all up when a wildfire broke out. The flames had climbed the trees, and it was like a wall of fire had appeared out of nowhere. He’s always there when you need him, ya know? So… I’m sure he’s on his way.”

  I nodded. I’d only seen Zahra’s dad a handful of times, but he was a tall, muscular man who mostly wore a sweater paired with some jeans, but Zahra said that was his casual attire, and he was usually far more presentable. I believed her, he always had a confident yet calming presence to him, and I could see how that had passed along to her.

  “Maybe we should stay at the hospital then, if we can? I’m sure someone will come looking for us”.

  Looking for Zahra, maybe. I didn’t say that outloud.

  “We could. But I also worry about what the System said before. We have to get stronger, and taking risks or more difficult fights will probably give us some good rewards. These level 0 guys have had nothing on them, but the Urisflay had a really good healing item, and it was level 1. So, if we can get to level 1, maybe we can search for more of those creatures and take them on. Then it’ll be easier to get resources and medication for the patients and the hospital. If my dad showed up and we’d just sat on our asses, he wouldn’t be happy anyway, so we should try and do something at least.”

  The thought of fighting more of those monsters like the Urisflay still filled me with dread. The experience of flying through the air while my lower torso remained on the ground was not one I wanted to repeat. But I guess there were worse outcomes to that situation.

  “You’re right, we can’t stay safe the entire time. We’re stronger than most people right now, so we should try to use it. I saw a backpack at the front, maybe we can take some canned goods back with us?” It wasn’t a lot, but at least it would be something.

  Zahra shook her head, holding a small pack of M&Ms in her hand. “I practiced a bit with the menus while you were napping. We can put things from our world into the inventory if it's food or drinks.”

  “I wouldn’t exactly call that a nap. But can we put any food or drinks in the inventory?”

  “Well, most things from the vending machine on the third floor worked.” The backpack icon flashed in front of her, as small bags of chips and trail mix scattered onto the floor. She cursed and began picking up the items, which disappeared as the backpack icon jiggled with each item placed in it.

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  “Well, that's cool. At least we won’t starve right away. Let’s try and grab whatever we can.” Zahra and I spent the next 30 minutes raiding the grocery store. The inventory we were given seemed to be unfathomably large, and we could put nearly every edible item inside. Even then, we still left behind quite a lot as we met back up at the front of the store, we were running out of time. We only had about 20 minutes until class selection, and we wanted to be back at the hospital for it. Zahra was showing off a brand new pair of shades, as well as a UCLA baseball cap. She had also put her silver hair in a ponytail, which somewhat matched the gowns we were still in. As I turned to ask her if she knew any clothing stores nearby, the ground began to shake with a distant rumbling.

  I swore, and ducked down with Zahra behind a machine at the self-serve checkout.

  “What is that?” Zahar whispered, but I could barely hear her as the rumbling got louder and the store began to shake. It was like something huge was rolling along the street, and I could hear the sound of metal and glass crushing followed by a few brief car alarms. I looked around for a weapon, but the grocery store was not well-equipped for the apocalypse.

  Just then, a new noise accompanied the ever growing rumbling.

  Screaming, howling, wailing with no recognizable words. We heard the sound of a large engine, and could only see the side of this gigantic creature as it drove past.

  That short glance was enough to dash all hope I had of us surviving.

  The creature was large and pale, with sickly yellow skin covering its body, nearly pressed against the Ralph’s we were hiding in. I couldn’t see the other side of it, but it appeared impossibly wide and about 8ft tall. The tops of large wheels poked up from the smoke, driving the creature down the street. The mechanical parts of a semi-truck merged into this disgusting, flesh coloured log covered in weird hair. The screaming got louder, and I realized with horror that there were people attached to it. I could only make out a few upper bodies, but the horrible cacophony was coming from them. I covered my mouth and squatted as low as I could, but Zahra was frozen, watching the thing. We both got the description as I could hear it running over the bodies of the goblins, a sick metallic grating sound mixed with the smell of iron spraying through the air.

  Name: Corpse Removal Cube of Zengoth, Level 2

  Warning: This creature is a Graxis S.A.I (Symbiotic Artificial Intelligence).

  This is a nasty one, but trust us, it could be worse. The organic cubes of Zengoth are closest to what you would call a ‘slime’, or rather a blob of sentient curdled milk. Usually, these omnivorous logs will eat any kind of matter with fervent abandon. But due to the level of difficulty Graxis has implemented, we’ve re-tuned these creatures a bit., making them a bit more mobile for Earth's terrain.

  Now, they love cleaning streets of unneeded items or bodies for the System. They won’t deviate from their ‘routes’ unless seriously aggravated, or they complete a ‘route’ without absorbing enough material to maintain form. Unfortunately, these creatures have been implanted with significant neurodampeners, and they feel no pain as their bodies continuously grow. Into what you might ask? Depends what they eat! Either way, you probably don’t want to feed it.

  The creature rolled through the street, maybe 5-10 mph. I couldn't see it, but I heard the roar of flame as the engine broke down the material it was running over and consuming. I held my breath as the creature continued, away from us. The screaming from the people attached to its body still ringed in my head as we both cautiously got up. It hadn’t seen us, thank god.

  “What the fuck was that thing!?” My voice cracked from the tension, and my chest ached with anxiety. “There’s level 2 creatures out there, and we aren’t even level 1! We need to get back to the hospital where it's safe. This was a stupid idea. Did you see those p… things attached to it? Fuck! What the fuck!” I could feel my pulse beating in my ears, and my body was covered in sweat. I didn’t sign up for any of this, even if my cancer was gone and my body was healed, this was too much. My eyes stared hard at the floor, my mind replaying a moment I wished to forget.

  “Life isn’t fair, Levi. Your problem is you have no drive to get better, get educated, nothing. It's like you don’t appreciate anything your father and I have done. It's depressing being around you with the choices you’ve made, and I can’t lose focus on my clients.

  My mom had been angry I chose to amputate my arm instead of trying to keep it. It wasn’t like I had a real choice, the Dr’s said it was basically my only chance for survival. That hadn’t stopped her from filling my room with essential oils and other multi-level-marketing crap she should’ve known was shit. But that was her biggest flaw. She had always had a massive ego around being a lawyer, so if you could convince her of something, it was basically law in her mind. Of course, that usually revolved around things she had little to no knowledge in, like healthcare or science. I actively went out of my way to avoid confrontations with her when I could, I didn't like getting steamrolled.

  Zahra’s voice stopped the memory playing in my head, her hand gently grabbing onto my wrist, prompting me to look up at her. Her eyes were soft, but her jaw was clenched with resolve.

  “Levi. We can’t give up. There's too much at stake for both of us. The world seems to be ending whether we like it or not. We have to try and be positive, otherwise it really will be impossible to survive. Besides, maybe the next monster we see will be cute instead of scary. Or a dinosaur, something cool like that.”

  “Wouldn’t most dinosaurs be even worse? Like a pack of velociraptors or a T-Rex.”

  “I mean, at least you’d go out as the first person dead to a prehistoric lizard. Unless you count the many people in Florida who’ve messed with an alligator." She flashed a grin, wiggling her eyebrows at me.

  “You’re right, I’m definitely winning the reward for dumbest death in the Guiness Book of World Records - Apocalypse Edition."

  “Ooh now we’re talking, that's a prestigious series. What do you think I’d get the record for?”

  “Uh. Probably the fastest woman to run into a death laser, or something.”

  She laughed. “How was I supposed to know green meant death!? I thought that it was a stink ray or something!”

  “Have you not watched Harry Potter? Green rays of magic are never good.” I smiled along with her, each breath inwards removing the weight over my chest. My mind was cleared with Zahra’s help. I grabbed a few more candy bars and gummies off the checkout into my inventory and prepared to head back to the hospital.

  It was a quick trip back, the cube thing had cleared a lot of the street clear, and no monsters got in our way. We made it back just in time as the timer for the Class Selection ticked zero.