Chapter 1: The Hunter
The wind rustled through the shady forest of giant sequoias, the thick branches colliding with each other and creating a symphony of waterfall-like noises that echoed through the trees before fading away. Even from a hundred meters away, the wind still carried the sounds of the forest, as if a giant creature was making its way through the woods. Despite the noise, the ground beneath the invisible footsteps remained still, heavy with a sense of premonition.
Under the gloomy sky, a crow flew slowly through the forest, carefully and patiently searching each area before returning to the same place again. However, the bird failed to detect the camouflage cloak that nestled against a tree trunk, blending in with the overgrown foliage. Gray eyes stared down at the ground beneath the cloak, occasionally looking up at the sky or into the distance, their pupils shifting while their bodies remained completely still. Those eyes belong to Lou, a young huntress.
Lou remembered her grandpa's lessons on hunting. He taught her to change her vision using only her pupils, to be patient, and to focus on the small details. Lou wanted to be like her grandpa, who could kill a 3-meter-height moose with only one arrow. She started by mastering killing rabbits, spending half a day in the canopy of the sequoia tree, waiting for prey to appear.
After hours of waiting, Lou finally found her object - a rabbit with a tilted head and darting eyes, hopping towards the sequoia where Lou was hiding. Her gray pupils locked onto the rabbit, and she waited patiently for the perfect moment to strike.
With a deft hand, Lou nocked and drew an arrow from her compound bow. Slowly and deliberately, she tried to make as little noise as possible, her slender arm appearing from beneath her camouflage cloak. The two support wheels of the bow began to creak, but their sounds were quickly covered by the rustling of the wind and forest leaves. The rabbit, unaware of the impending danger, went about its business. As Lou aimed, she quietly uttered a prayer, one that only another Hunter would understand:
"I pray to Mech-God to provide your child with food and drink every day. I swear to be faithful to the Will of God and consecrate this body to you after death. In the name of Mech-God, I'll kill them all!"
As Lou loosened the string, the arrow flew forth, swiftly and surely. As it reached the midpoint of its journey, a rabbit darted out from the undergrowth, displaying its remarkable reflexes. However, in the next instant, the rabbit suddenly bent down, only to be met with the rough piercing of the arrow into its neck and nape. The rabbit fell to the ground, attempting to rise again but ultimately succumbing to its fate. Its once lively eyes, which had just moments ago scanned its surroundings, now reflected the finality of death.
With a heavy sigh, Lou released the weight of the hunt from her mind and felt her spirits lifted. Rather than aiming directly at the rabbit, Lou had instead targeted the direction it would flee - a skill taught to her by her grandfather. Since the Great Disaster, animals had become much more cunning and elusive, he had warned her. In these times, hunting required not only skill and luck but also the blessings of the Mech-God.
On this day, it seemed that the Mech-God had indeed smiled upon Lou.
Lou swiftly gathered a bow and camouflage cloth before descending the towering sequoia using a hooked rope. Once on the ground, she dashed towards a nearby rabbit. A mischievous crow, which had been hovering over the forest earlier, landed on a branch and observed Lou with dark eyes. Though notorious for stealing from humans, the crow did not attempt to snatch Lou's spoils. Instead, it simply perched and watched. Lou gestured with her hand, shooing the bird away:
"Go, scum! Nothing for you today!"
As Lou removed the arrow from the rabbit, blood gushed from its neck. The crow remained stubborn, unfazed by Lou's curses. Ignoring the bird, Lou slung the rabbit over her shoulders and prepared to leave the forest. Suddenly, a noise halted her in her tracks.
A "human-like" figure emerged from behind the root of the sequoia. It had pale, dark-gray skin, a half-rotten face, and guts crawling out of its stomach, teeming with maggots. Though its eyes were similar to Lou's, they were white and filled with madness. The creature only managed to spew out a series of incomprehensible noises:
"Graaagh! Graaagh! Graaagh!" - Its crimson mouth revealed blood-red, jagged teeth and drool.
People referred to these creatures as monsters, while Lou's grandfather and veteran hunters called them zombies.
"This world used to be very different, Lou. Very different until the zombies appeared
... They caused the Great Disaster or were the Great Disaster.
If you encounter them, run as fast as you can, Lou. Run like hell and don't look back!"
Lou's grandfather often told her stories like this - tales he had experienced himself or heard from others. Though Lou felt he exaggerated, she never doubted the endless hunger of the zombies - it seemed obvious and undeniable.
The Zombie stood before Lou, vivid and terrifying.
Without a second thought, Lou turned and fled, the monster's drooling mouth howling behind her as its stiff, limping body chased after her with alarming speed. Despite half of its face being crushed against a giant sequoia tree, the monster showed no pain or fear, its endless hunger compelling it to chase Lou relentlessly.
Survival was now the only priority.
But the nightmare was far from over.
From every path in the forest, hordes of Zombies burst forth, roaring ferociously like a flash flood. Lou was petrified. How did she not see them? Did they simply run here, or were they hiding all along? But Zombies weren't clever enough for that! As Lou pondered countless questions, she could only think of running.
However, she knew one thing for certain: the crow had foreseen this event and refrained from devouring the spoils.
Lou dashed through the forest, stumbling and falling on the carpet of leaves beneath her feet. Behind her, a throng of hundreds of ulcerated zombies howled and clamored. Time was not on her side. The sun was setting, and the already-scarce light of the giant sequoia forest was quickly dwindling. The approaching darkness would be disastrous - in the dark, the zombies would be stronger, faster, and more crazed. Lou still had a long way to go before she could escape the forest.
"The river!" The thought suddenly came to her, and she quickly changed course. However, hunger, thirst, and fatigue had made her weak, and her hands were sagging under the weight of the five-kilogram powered bow. Lou reached into her pocket and swallowed a red capsule with the letter "X" inscribed on it. She had no other choice.
The pill slid down her throat, leaving a bitter taste. She winced but soon felt a surge of energy coursing through her body. The bow felt lighter, and her fatigue dissipated as her hunger and thirst subsided. Lou continued to run, nimbly jumping over the roots of the giant sequoias and wriggling under the outstretched arms of the zombies like a small squirrel. The zombies closed in from all sides, gradually blocking her escape route and the fading light. Lou had no time to think; she knew she had to keep running.
As countless arms of the Zombies lunged at Lou, she raced through them with all her might, tearing her clothes on thorny bushes. She tumbled to the rocky ground, feeling pain in her back and ribs. Lou quickly realized she had dropped both her bow and the rabbit, and the Zombies were still rushing toward her.
Caught in a dilemma, Lou rolled her eyes, debating whether to pick up her bow or the rabbit. Without wasting any more time, she ran back towards the Zombies, pulled out her knife, and slashed one of their faces. The monster fell to the ground, and Lou quickly retrieved her bow before sprinting away.
Although the slash had cut deep into the monster's bone, it did not die. The creature got up, bleeding from its face, and howled, calling its pack to chase Lou. But suddenly, the Zombies stopped, and Lou found herself in the middle of a dry riverbed. The river was contaminated with waste oil and garbage, emitting a putrid odor. The monsters roared but did not dare to take a step forward.
"Zombies can cross rivers, despite being unable to swim, and they can also walk in the rain. Water can't drown them, but they abhor it and are slowed down by it. The purer the water, the more they detest it. If you encounter a Zom, run towards the water, and maybe you'll survive,"
Lou recalled her grandfather's words as she panted, observing the zombies.
The undead creatures stood on the riverbank, lined up, reeking of decay, and fixated on Lou with their white, pupil-less eyes or empty skulls. They hungered to devour every piece of her flesh, but the shallow river made them hesitate, despite their hunger. Lou stopped mumbling and prayed aloud:
"I beg Mech-God...I beg you to protect me..."
With an arrow already nocked, Lou drew it back and prayed, hoping that the arrow fitted with a three-barbed steel tip would penetrate the spine of any approaching zombie. Ironically, it was her only arrow. In the face of the hordes of monsters, Lou realized the error of her impatience, regretting not listening to her grandfather's advice.
As the Zombies turned to leave, they headed back towards the giant sequoia forest, leaving Lou alone with the greasy, dry river brimming with garbage. On any other day, they would have attacked her, ripping apart her body and feasting on her flesh and guts. But today, they seemed uninterested, perhaps because they were afraid of water or maybe because Lou was not their preferred prey. It could have been the mercy of the God of Machines, but nobody knew for sure.
Thankfully, Lou was still breathing by the end of it all.
As the Zombies vanished into the depths of the forest, she took a deep breath and began to regain her composure. Looking towards the riverbank, she spotted a black crow swooping down to nibble on a rabbit. She could do nothing but watch, frozen in fear. Even if a hundred liters of cleaned water were placed in front of her, she dared not take a step back. Frustrated, she slammed her bow into the water, cursing loudly:
"Fuck! Suck! Damn it!"
A silhouette appeared beneath the greasy oil-water surface, that of a girl around the age of fourteen or fifteen. The girl had dirty auburn hair, sunken cheeks, and thin limbs, but her gray eyes blazed with anger. The crow opened its beak and chirped as if laughing at Lou, before continuing to nibble on its meal.
In the end, Lou was not the hunter, but the hunted.
The sun was beginning to set, and she had to return to Camp Eden immediately.
Lou knew that when darkness fell, even the protection of the Mech-God couldn't guarantee her safety.
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