Rot & Ruin

Carter's sharp gaze swept over the figures standing before him.

Their powerful frames were scarred by survival, their thick, sinewy muscles hardened by generations of struggle.

Bare-chested and clad in crude animal hides, their eyes burned with a primal intelligence, untamed and fierce.

They were not mindless beasts, nor were they the confused relics of a bygone era.

They stood silent, watchful, their heavy wooden clubs and sharpened stone axes resting in their hands.

Cavemen.

Carter exhaled slowly, trying to process what he was looking at.

He had summoned warriors, but these were not modern soldiers.

They were the first warriors—the kind who had fought and bled long before civilization had even been conceived, back when one could say the very making of technology even began.

And yet… they stood before him in disciplined silence, waiting.

A flicker of uncertainty crossed his mind.

Were they truly human?

As if responding to his doubt, the system materialized another holographic screen, glowing with an eerie, ancient energy.

[The warriors you have summoned are battle-hardened humans. They possess the knowledge, instincts, and expertise required to perform their assigned tasks. However, they are created without memories. Their only recollections begin at the moment of their summoning. Being human, they experience hunger, require sustenance, and are capable of forming interpersonal relationships.]

[Warning: As humans, they are also vulnerable to infection, corruption, and madness. Proceed with caution.]

Carter felt the weight of those words settle over him like an avalanche.

They were human—alive, breathing, thinking.

Not constructs.

Not tools.

They could get hungry.

They could grow tired.

They could die.

They could turn.

Carter clenched his fists, his mind reeling.

These weren't just summoned warriors.

They were people.

And now, they were his responsibility.

"Ugh?"

One of the warriors grunted, stepping forward.

His voice was low and guttural, but there was clarity in his stare.

He was larger than the others, his thick hair matted with dust, his arms lined with scars from battles long past.

He raised his massive club slightly as if awaiting a command.

Carter blinked, shaking himself free of his spiralling thoughts.

He squared his shoulders, masking his uncertainty.

"Yes?"

The caveman grunted again, the sound oddly expectant.

A question.

A demand.

And then, in broken speech, he said,

"What… we do?"

The words struck Carter harder than he expected.

Orders.

They were waiting for his orders.

He was their chief now, their leader.

Their survival depended on him.

His gaze flicked to the blood trail smeared across the cave-like walls of his condo—a grim reminder of what had invaded his home moments before.

A task quickly formed in his mind, something simple to ease into his newfound authority, and test the limits of their abilities.

"Can you… clean?"

The large caveman tilted his head, brow furrowing.

His eyes flicked toward the blood, then to Carter, then back again.

A slow grunt of understanding.

He turned, looking at the others, then made a short guttural bark.

Instantly, several of them moved, grabbing whatever rags and water they could find.

Carter watched as prehistoric men, and women—hunters, warriors, survivors—began scrubbing floors.

What… am I doing?

He had summoned warriors, and he was making them wipe away blood stains like servants?

The absurdity of the situation gnawed at him, but he remained silent.

Five minutes later, the floor was spotless.

The cavemen returned to formation, standing still as stone statues, their heavy breathing the only sound in the quiet penthouse.

One of them, the first to speak, grunted once more.

"More… orders?"

Carter swallowed, nodding slowly.

"Not yet."

His eyes flicked to the holographic system interface floating beside him.

One of the glowing tabs caught his attention:

Missions.

If the system wanted him to lead, then it was time to see what it had planned for him.

He tapped the tab.

A new mission brief unfolded before his eyes, the glowing text sending a shiver down his spine.

[New Mission: Discovering the New Power]

Now that you've activated the system and learned of its functions, it's time to put it to the test.

With your summoned warriors, eliminate fifty infected in your area.

Rewards:

1,000 units of food | 1,000 experience points | 5,000 Dollars

Carter's heart pounded.

Fifty infected.

Not just a handful of shambling corpses.

A small horde.

But the rewards—food, money and experience—were essential.

If they were going to survive, he needed it all.

His jaw tightened as his mind drifted to Rachael, his sister, who was still trapped across the city.

Barricaded in her school.

Scared.

Surrounded by God-knows-what.

She didn't have long.

He needed to become stronger.

Faster.

Smarter.

This wasn't just about survival anymore.

This was preparation.

He exhaled sharply, then tapped the confirmation button.

The screen pulsed, confirming the mission was set.

"Ugh?"

The caveman leader stepped forward again, watching the glowing system screen with narrowed eyes.

Carter lifted his head.

"We have a mission."

The caveman grunted, slamming his club into the floor with an approving nod.

"Our goal,"

Carter continued,

"is to kill fifty of the undead."

The warriors tensed, their fingers tightening around their clubs, stone spears, and makeshift axes.

The hunt was on.

One of the cavemen—smaller but sharp-eyed—spoke up.

"Plan?"

Carter nodded, already forming one in his head.

"We'll sweep this building, floor by floor. We're on the fifth level now, so we'll start at the top and work our way down."

He pointed to the stone stairwell entrance.

"We hunt, then return here when it is safe."

The warriors grunted in agreement.

One of them raised a hand, his expression thoughtful.

"Only… fifty?"

Carter nodded.

"That's the mission. But we clear the entire building. The more we kill, the safer we become."

A small, sharp-toothed grin spread across the caveman's face.

"Hunt good,"

he said.

Carter felt an odd sense of reassurance.

Their loyalty to him and to the system was both unsettling and comforting at the same time.

He straightened his stance.

"Alright. We move now. Kill any infected on sight. Stay together. Watch each other's backs."

The cavemen grunted in unison, their voices a low rumble of anticipation.

Carter stepped toward the door, his warriors falling in behind him.

But as his hand hovered over the doorknob, a sudden thought nagged at the back of his mind.

He paused.

"Wait,"

he muttered, glancing back at them.

"…Do you have names?"

The cavemen stared at him, blinking in silent confusion.

And for the first time since summoning them…

Carter felt truly alone.

The hunt had begun.

And now, so had the war for survival.