Hello everyone, and welcome back to Saga of Survival.

Sorry this took so long to get out, I forgot to save when I was halfway through. :(

This chapter features a character created by Mellifluousness!

The story begins in 3…2…1….

Chapter 5

Two Sides of a Coin

The zombies close in around me and Niegel.

Whirling my sling wildly, I manage to deck several undead. Niegel is slicing and

dicing with his sword just behind me, but we're both getting tired. I know we can't hold out much longer.

We back up toward the building. Our scything weapons take down zombies with every attack, but three more fill the place of every incapacitated creature.

"Urrrrrrrrr…" groans a zombie, reaching out to slash me across the face. I barely manage to parry aside his questing arm, but the monstrosities are becoming overwhelming.

I start to despair. The zombies show no sign of relenting, and we can't hold out all night.

Just then, an arrow whizzes out of the darkness.

"Urrrgh?" grunts a zombie, turning towards the source. The battle ceases for a split second, with both sides in confusion.

The zombie's head is struck by another arrow.

Barbed missiles begin to fly, seemingly without end. Each arrow takes down a zombie. I try to count the shots, but quickly lose track. It seems impossible that anyone could carry that many arrows, or shoot them so skillfully.

The zombie horde is plunged into disarray. Terrified groans and pained moans fill the air as the undead struggle to escape, but only run into each other in the attempt.

Finally, when every zombie has fled the village or been slain by arrows, the deadly tide halts.

I hear footsteps, and glance toward the sound.

A dark human figure looms out of the night.

(THIS IS A LINE BREAK!)

Back in the laboratory, the scientists hold an emergency meeting.

"I'll start," says the tall scientist with no name tag. "Our situation, as it stands, is a dire one. Our venture was not exactly legal to begin with, and now we have the problem of a teenager trapped in a computer program, apparently by some sort of malicious virus. The question is, what do we do now?"

Another scientist leans forward. "Yes, the program. The Survival Simulator. Let's talk about that. What was the NA-146 AI talking about? He said that there was an 'End' in the program, a way to shut it down. Then that… thing… that hijacked our computers mentioned 'ending the game.' I am fairly certain that this was never implemented into the program."

"A glitch?" asks one scientist.

The speaker shakes his head. "If it's a glitch in the program, it seems to have latched on to the code and begun to reproduce itself. No bug could cause a complete lockdown in the program."

He looks around the table. "It looks like there's only one possibility. One of us must have coded this into the simulator. One of us has doomed that kid."

(HEY LOOK, ANOTHER LINE BREAK)

The figure moves closer. I finally see it clearly enough to make observations.

The archer that saved our lives is a tall girl with maroon hair and a purple marking over one eye. She stands surveying us with a cold, analyzing glare. Determining if we are a threat.

Well, I know the answer to that question. I'm so tired I can barely stand up.

She makes no move to start a conversation, so I take the initiative.

"Um…hi," I say brilliantly. "I'm Will. This is Niegel. Who are you?"

She stands as silent as ever, staring at us almost angrily.

Suddenly, she quickly walks toward us. I flinch, but she only reaches into her pocket and pulls out two bottles filled with glowing liquid. She hands one to each of us.

I give it a cautious sniff. Is this poison? She certainly seems the type.

I turn toward Niegel. "What do you think?"

He shrugs. "What's the worst that could happen?" He holds his nose and chugs it down. Seeing no ill effects, I do the same.

A warm, pleasant feeling spreads through my body. Looking down, I am surprised to see my various cuts and scratches knitting together, leaving me as healthy as ever.

I look back up. "Thank you," I say. '"So what is your name?"

She utters one word in a rough voice. "Belligerence." She seems embarrassed to make any sound at all.

"Well, it's almost morning," I say. "Me and Niegel need to gather some supplies to finish defending this village. You can go find a house to hang out in, if you want."

She shakes her head, and stalks toward the village borders. I say to Niegel, "Well, looks like we have some help."

As we exit the village into a meadow, I look around to see where Belligerence is. I spot her near the forest border, looking intently at something in her hand.

"So," I say, walking over, "if you want, to gather some wood, I can…" My voice trails off as she looks up. There's something… different about her now. Her eyes are lighter, or softer, or something.

"Hi!" she exclaims, shocking me. "Look at this pretty pretty butterfly! Who are you?"

I stammer, "Um… I'm Will… Didn't I say that already?"

She shakes my hand emphatically. "Hi, Will! Isn't it a great day? It's so sunny!"

I am so confused. "Belligerence, what's going on?"

Her eyes widen. "Oh, my name's not Belligerence! No, no, no! I'm Bellove! Isn't it a great name? I like it too!"

What is wrong with her? It's like some sort of split personality disorder!

I shake my head. "Okay, Bellove. Do you think you can go find us some wood, so the zombies don't attack us again?"

Bellove nods. "I'll go find wood, but I don't mind zombies! They're all my friendly friends!"

"Okay… keep telling yourself that…" I mutter under my breath. Glancing down, I see she dropped her bow in the dirt. It seems to glow with a faint, otherworldly light. "Hey, you dropped something!"

She looks at the bow. "Oh, that's just my fun little toy! It doesn't really do anything. Don't worry!" She walks off into the forest, humming cheerily.

I pick up the bow and return to where Niegel is gathering seeds in the meadow. "Uh, Niegel, we need to talk." I tell him all about Bellove- or Belligerence- Belle, whoever, and her episode.

"What, is she crazy?" he asks.

"Well, she seems a little out there in either form. First she wouldn't talk, now she won't stop."

He sighs. "Well, I don't trust her, but we can't just feed her to the zombies. We'll just have to keep her at a distance for now."

His words remind me of a sobering fact- can I even trust him? And what do I do, now that our little band has recruited a member that may not be entirely sane?

Just then, a cold wind blows out from the forest. A scream resonates in the cold morning air.

We take off at a run for the dense trees. "She'll be fine," puffs Niegel. "Did you see that shooting?"

I decide he's right. But then I put my hand down to my side to draw Tamerlein.

I am still carrying the bow.

As we arrive at the forest fringe, Bellove tears past us, crying hysterically. I peer into the trees and see a flash of dark motion. I squint, trying to make out the shape, but it vanishes.

A long, thin shadow falls over me from behind.

Cliffhanger like a boss!

So, what do you guys think? Please review!

Also, I have the main plot outlined, but am happy to take suggestions for anything minor that should happen in the story.

Finally, can someone please tell me how to do an actual line break? I've tried asterisks, dashes, and underscores, but TextEdit just erases them!

See you guys in Ch. 6!