I looked down at the mass of undead walking through the streets. It had been a full year since the dead started to rise and attack anyone living. You'd think it wouldn't be much of a problem but then you'd run into these fucking things. Unlike the stereotypical shamblers who were too stupid to open a door these things held onto some of their past memories and their flesh mutated. The longer they lived the smarter they got and the more they mutated.
Down in Georgia there was this old war vet that got zombified near the beginning of the zombie infection. He tended to keep to himself so nobody knew what was happening till there was a wellness check on him and by that time he'd mutated so far that he was a hulking biological tank that carried a series of firearms in a series of tendrils that replaced his right arm. It took an airstrike to kill him so yeah this infection is proving to be hard for the military to deal with.
I'd noted with other mutants that depending on their life before dying and mutating that the mutations tended to run along themes that fit with their jobs or experiences. A soldier becomes a powerful combatant, a doctor takes other undead and makes biological horrors, a exterminator grows tubes that spew deadly gas that increases mutation speed and power, and a rock climber's limbs lengthen and their fingers become claws capable of digging into concrete buildings like the one I'm standing on.
"Urrrrg!" I looked down at the monstrosity that was climbing up the side of the building. Again I wondered how when the army hadn't survived I had and so many other small groups had also survived. Maybe it had to do with lesser numbers? Were they attracted to larger groups first?
I shrugged off my thoughts and picked up my bag. There was no need to waste ammo on the thing climbing up to get me when I could just go back inside the building where it couldn't reach. So that's what I did quickly opening the door and. "CRUNCH!" The zombie reached the roof and pulled itself to the top. It was smaller than others of its kind I'd seen before and it would definitely fit in the door.
"Fuck," I said and jumped down the stairs four at a time. I slammed into the wall at the bottom but it was faster than spending time slowing down before sprinting down the hall.
"Crash!" The mutant jumped all the stairs at once and crashed into a pose that made it look like a malformed Gorilla. Its dead eyes locked onto me and it began its four limbed gallop after me.
As I heard it closing in I leapt to the side through a door and began running through a large open space full of cubicles. The zombie used it's clawed apendages to latch onto the wall and using it's forward momentum it swung defying gravity and launched itself after me.
"Fuck you're one of the smarter ones!" I shouted at it as I looked for a way to lose it. I shoved things down behind me in its path but nothing stopped it. Either it leapt over something or crashed through but I guess it got annoyed with that as it decided that it was done playing with its food.
"AHH!" It grabbed my pack and flung me into a column ripping the orange camping backpack from me and leaving me bruised and at its mercy. Long claws glinted as the dead eyes stared at me and a long mutated tongue exited its mouth.
"Fuck fuck fuck god are you there please I'll do anything just save me!" I shouted at the ceiling in a last ditch attempt at salvation from the monstrosity before me.
"Pop!"
3,13,20 X-01 Power armor: The X-01 series of Power Armor was specially engineered and employed by remnants of the U.S. military after the Great War, and offers increased protection over the older, pre-war models. You get one set of X-01 power armor. It will automatically equip to you, is in pristine shape, and is tougher than other X-01 power armor sets. It also comes with a new experimental Fusion Core that lasts far longer than normal cores and is capable of regenerating power if unused.
"SCREEEEECH!" the claws skittered across the new armor on my chest giving both the mutant and me pause but luckily its semi dead brain was slower than mine and I managed to get my wits about me faster than it did.
"AHH!" I pushed myself up and forwards tackling the monstrosity right through another column and then through a door back out into the hall where it had chased me.
"Thunk!" it hit me in the side of the head causing little more than my head to tilt to the side. In return I punched its jaw off literally. Following that up I grabbed both its arms and kicked it while pulling it towards me. It was probably the shittiest spartan kick ever but I was in a fight for my life so I didn't really care.
The armor that seemed to both protect and make me stronger caused me to rip off both the mutant's arms and cave its chest in and yet it still lived. Flopping around on the ground spilling blood and a dark black fluid across the ground I looked down at it. This had once been a human and I only hoped that they found peace in the next life and then I stomped its head to paste.
"Fuck," I groaned and fell back into a chair nearby which shattered under my new weight.
"Pop!"
20,8,16 Void Touched: You have been touched by the void. Your need for rest has been removed, The void's presence within you calms and comforts you, your mind is psychically amplified in ways a mortal could not achieve without burning themselves alive, You learn far faster than a mortal can even enhanced by the best glitterworld tech, and your flesh shall regenerate from the dark energies that fill your body.
Then with a sudden pop I felt calmer, more at ease, I felt the drain on my stamina from my fight for my life slowly begin to fade, and I felt as the bruises and undoubtedly cracked bones from being thrown into a column faded and repaired themselves.
"What the hell? Am I a mutant too?" I looked down at my armor clad hands. "No, if I was a mutant I'd be salivating at the sight of the corpse of my foe and devouring it like others of its kind would. No I am not a mutant, at least not like them," I stood up now filled with more energy and returned to the room where the fight had started.
When in the room I began attempting to exit my new armor. It took me a full hour to figure it out and then another to figure out how to get back into the armor. In the end I gathered up all of my stuff and set it in a break room at the back of the large office. I also put the armor back on. I'd make my base here on this floor of the building. That was the only climber I'd seen in weeks and the only one I'd ever seen that was small enough to fit through doors I doubted another would be by any time soon.
So here I was breaking apart cubicles and using them to create barricades on doors or cover up busted open walls and doors from where I'd fought. It seemed that the oddities wouldn't end after my fight because another popping noise happened amidst my fortification efforts.
"Pop!"
4,5,13 LMG: The LMG is a low tech weapon used by XCOM heavies. The weapon is used by XCOM operators to fire bursts of ten shots but it can also be used as a LMG normally would be though due to its lessened ammo capacity of 80 rounds it is not recommended. Due to the roll of 13 it is in decent shape with a full magazine.
And there was the new item, a large machine gun though the magazine looked a little small for such a big gun. It didn't matter though in the apocalypse a firearm could be useful and with my armor I could easily wield it like it was a rifle. I could imagine it now, my large armored frame wading into a hail of bullets firing right back at the enemy. I'd seen bandits before and they barely shot better than Stormtroopers.
I picked up my gun grinning to myself as I took it back to the break room where I got out of my armor and began looking over the weapon. I found that I was quickly understanding it's innerworkings far faster than I had understood anything before. Was this another product of the pops? If so I hope they keep coming I could use more guns, armor, and super learning and regeneration and whatever the fuck else it had given me so far. With that thought I felt a pulling sensation in my mind. It wasn't anything distracting but it was something I knew I could replicate if I wanted.
"Pop!"
11,7,2 Wooden Hoe: You gain a Wooden Hoe unfortunately this one is one use from breaking. Even touching it might just cause it to shatter into pieces.
Maybe it wouldn't give me something great every time? I thought as I tapped the wooden tool only to watch it turn to dust. Lets try replicating the power. With that thought I tried to replicate the power I'd just felt happen in my head.
"Pop!"
5,5,1 Cryptosuchus: A large group of Cryptosuchus appear in the Atlantic ocean. They are altered from their base form so they may better survive in any climate, are amphibious but still as deadly as they are in water when on land, can survive in both salt and freshwater, will multiply quickly, and if infected will mutate into beings of monstrous power. They also carry a variant of the virus on 4546B that will possibly amplify the current virus spread through the population.
Huh nothing again maybe it needs a cooldown? Eh one more try won't hurt anything.
"Pop!"
18,5,18 Service Skiff: A Service Skiff has landed atop your building carrying supplies for a week-long journey along with space enough for five crew and cargo. This skiff comes with an instruction manual, is tougher than most, has a hyper efficient hydrogen based fusion reactor, and comes equipped with a few PDCs to shoot down oncoming space debris or in a pinch act as anti infantry weapons.
"THUD!" the building shook as something happened above me. Quickly I stood up and donned my armor before picking up my LMG and moving over to the door. If another climber had made its way up I wanted to deal with it before it decided to stick around and draw others of its kind and possibly more smaller climbers.
There was a heavy thumping as I jogged down the hall and loud slams as I ran up the steps until I burst out the door to the roof, weapon raised and ready. I spun in a circle only to stop and stare at the fucking space ship that my mutant abilities had fucking manifested into reality.
"Thank you God for this fucking badass power," I said before spending the next two hours exploring the ship and then moving all my stuff into it. Fuck living in a large building I would live in a space ship off in the mountains or some shit. Just have to figure out how to fly first. The entire time I worked and explored my grin never left my face. I was so happy I didn't even worry that a pop had done something and I didn't know what it was.
Unbeknownst to me, a coastal safe haven was having a bad day as giant crocodile-like creatures stepped from the Atlantic Ocean and began to slaughter and eat them all.