Chapter 4: Fiend (3)
In most games, the durability of the items usually appear in a form of a color-filled bar or represented using numbers at the bottom of the item. In some games won't break the items once the durability reaches zero and you'd need to repair it, and there are some games where items never break.
And although you might not see the wear and tear of the equipment itself, but the number of uses left or the item's durability bar will slowly deplete, indicating the damage it took throughout the battle. Durability may deplete for every second you use it or every time you use it, but in most games, once the item reaches zero durability, the item will either shatter into pieces or disappear completely.
Of course, there are also consumable items, but that topic is for another day.
Unlike games, reality is often disappointing. Yes, there is durability in every item and you can possibly think there's no such thing as a durability bar. There are no floating numbers that indicate how much uses a certain item has left.
Of course, one can just use the eye to ascertain how much damage something took.
The leather jacket that Rando wore were now in tatters and there was a big hole at the back of his shirt. His jacket is pretty much useless now because when the bloody collector's hand pulled from the back, everything including the front of the jacket was pulled, turning the jacket into something resembling a rag.
Well, maybe except the sleeves.
'Damn it, my shirt.'
The nails, no, claws of the slimy collector dug deep into the jacket and also pierced his shirt, creating a big hole. It was a mystery how Rando could have survived such sharp claws and despite his thick jacket and shirt being pierced through.
He was also missing a shoe.
'Running will be a lot painful now.'
'Well, at least I'm---'
Alive.
That single thought sent shivers down Rando's body. He was scared. Less, but still scared, again. After all, survival means having to fight one more time, and survival means winning.
But just now, he didn't win. No, he cowered away and fled.
'But... I don't think that's too bad.'
Indeed, survival is survival, no matter how you do it.
A few moments passed.
*thud thud thud*
Sounds of something banging onto a wall suddenly rang out and frightened Rando.
The walls of the store were ever so slightly shaking, and Rando could feel vibrations coming from the floor that he was standing on.
He had just escaped the hands and eyes of the slime collector. He was sure of it.
There were holes built-in on the door of the janitor's closet that he entered, probably to vent the air, which allowed Rando to sneak glances outside from where he was at.
The store's front door was closed and barricaded with the empty metal shelves. Most of the other windows were blocked by patches of wood as well.
'It seemed like someone had done some work inside of the convenience store when they looted this place. It has only been a month since the quarantine, how did things get this bad that people had to become looters?'
'Perhaps the owner of the store tried to barricade the store but was attacked by looters and smashed the windows before taking all of what was inside'
One can only deduce what might have happened in the past, but can never actually know whether it did happen or not.
But what Rando does know is that the barricades work.
The slime collector couldn't enter through the front door and was trying to enter through the shattered window that Rando used to enter. It used its hands to grab onto the ledge in order to lift itself.
But no matter how much the collector existence tried to jump and fit itself in the window, it just couldn't climb.
'Is that why it's smashing the wall? But with that big body, it should be carrying a lot a weight, so its body should be able to at least shake the whole building entirely with just a slam'
That was true. If the slimy collector had learned how to stand up, some things would have changed.
'So it can't get up the wall, I see. It's probably too heavy to lift itself, that's probably it, isn't it?'
Well, if the narrator could reply, then yes, that is why it couldn't climb the windows and reach Rando.
Rando looked through the holes in the door and observed quietly from inside the janitor's closet.
'I think it can only stay in that blob-like form. If it can manipulate blood to look like a blob, it should be able to create artificial hands made of blood, right?'
Rando has been reading too many fantasy novels lately, that's probably why he can still think like this even though he could die at any moment.
In fact, it's amazing how calm Rando is right now towards what is happening around him. He is trapped in the Janitor's closet in the convenience store right by the next street of his house, with a blood monster trying to kill him.
Almost everybody else would get crazy mad at the sight of an existence for the first time.
Well, except for a select few that's like Rando.
'What the hell is that thing anyway? How did it become like that?'
"The radio did mention the word infection, is this a disease?"
'Probably.'
Rando answered himself after asking out loud. One can wonder why humans talk aloud when they know they are alone.
He still wasn't sure if what he was seeing was real.
'How could any of this be real? How can a disease cause this? A fucking monster what the hell, how does that happen with a disease? What the hell is happening?'
Question after question kept surfacing up in his mind. It was only then that it dawned upon Rando what was happening around him. Finally, he is reacting like how normal people would. Maybe it's the soldier's mindset, to do things without asking, err, asking later. It really is in the moment of peace that calmness is destroyed.
He was at least safe for now, but the nervousness still wouldn't leave Rando's body as he continued to shiver ever-so-slightly. Moments later, he finally calmed down.
Rando looked around the convenience store once more through the gaps of the closet door. The shelves were almost empty besides the occasional soap bars and detergent.
'Well if it is really an apocalypse or something, everybody would probably think about getting the bare essentials first.'
Food, water, clothes, and shelter, the first level of Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. There are a total of five levels, and just like everyone, Rando is in dire need of achieving the first level, Physiological Needs.
That was why Rando went out in the first place.
"Wait, those are condoms, aren't they..?"
'Of course, why would anyone think of bringing condoms during these times?'
Rando couldn't help but laugh a little at the sight of the condoms. He wondered at first before realizing the reason why there were a few boxes of condoms left when almost everything else seems to have been taken.
He then noticed an empty bottle of hand-sanitizer by the counter.
'Wait, if it's a disease, can I disinfect it?'
It was a dumb idea, but Rando thought that it might be possible.
Bacteria, virus, no matter which one of those was controlling the slime collector, it would most definitely die from the disinfectant.
'But where would I find-
-ah, of course.'
Rando was in the janitor's closet, there was bound to be some kind of cleaning chemical there.
And there it is.
A detergent.
Rando did not personally know the owner, but no matter who they are, their taste for detergent is quite good.
It was a bottle of clorox.
There was not a lot left, but if you mix it in water, it was certainly enough for another bucket.
'But how do I get the water to that monster?'
Going near the collector existence is the last thing Rando should do.
'But I can't just throw it with a bucket from far away or else it might not reach all that fucking monster!'
As he was thinking, Rando remembered the boxes of condoms.
'Shit, this might actually work.'
A slight nervous grin rose up from Rando's mouth.
Now all he has to do is find a bucket and some water.
Just as he was about to reach for the detergent, he accidentally kicked the bucket laying on the floor.
*Dud-dud-dud-dud dud*
The loud sound of a bucket falling on the floor where Rando stood reverberated inside the convenience store.
"Fuck, the noise!"
Weekly Power Status
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