Lair by Carl Stubblefield (recommended reading TXT) 📕

inflicted, there was only the thick black sludge where he stabbed the zombie. There appeared to be no active circulatory system, and the creature, however old it was, had lost a lot of moisture and muscle mass that kept normal skin taut.

“Nick, what do you know about those zombies? Why didn’t you want it to touch me?”

“That was an individual with Nth with a tampered OS, probably augmented constitution, which was why it was so hard to damage. This happens occasionally, when life-forms who want to game the system to artificially increase their stats without using the standard exertion to improve skills. Perhaps it is part of the design of the Nth or the ineptness of these ‘hackers,’ but it causes a fundamental change in how the Nth interact with a lifeform.” A shiver crawled up Gus’ back as Nick elaborated.

“What usually occurs is that one stat is upgraded and the system locks,” Nick continued, “but the Nth that are modified like this cease to maintain their host’s systems as they did before.”

“What actually happens with their bodies? I mean, when you watch zombie movies, you just accept that they can move and live, but they should rot and be eaten by maggots or something pretty quickly after turning,” Gus asked with morbid curiosity.

“The endocrine system runs amok and in humans, they lose the ability to sleep and dream. Natural appetites are suppressed and the body deteriorates as it does not receive adequate nutrition. Modified Nth will often attempt to access the quantum server, but contaminated Nth are locked into a read-only mode where they cannot alter the contents of the server to prevent corruption of the files. After excessive fatigue sets into the host, psychological problems arise.

“As regular body systems fail, they stimulate and encourage the host to seek out more neural tissue. Nth can utilize neural tissue to maintain basic life processes and extend their functional matrix. Once this tissue is obtained, they then attempt to recreate failing structures. For a while they maintain all body systems, but eventually abandon regular maintenance and form a continuous sheath of Nth surrounding the bones, then replace lost muscle tissue, allowing movement. At this point, there is little of host control remaining.

“We call these abominations ‘Dark Nth.’ They will seek out neural tissue to prolong their ‘life,’ and secondarily will consume other tissues that can be used for building blocks to maintain their lifeforms, but they are not strictly needed for the Dark Nth to survive and persist. Because Dark Nth are hard-wired to survive, they will do anything to cling to their pseudo-life.”

Gus looked at the remains, the clothes were dirty and ragged. He wondered how old this thing was. Or how many more of these there were. His gut told him that this slow creature could only really attack something sleeping or injured. Was it the cause of the shrieking animal? His gut told him no. He would have to cut this excursion short and make some improvements to his shelter in case more of these were wandering around.

“You warned it shouldn’t touch me, is that for typical zombie reasons?” Gus guessed.

“Yes, Dark Nth are able to recruit unaffected Nth and overwrite their programming. Breaks in the skin or body fluid to fluid contact can easily transmit enough Dark Nth to start a contamination event. The majority of secondary-infected Nth hosts tend to be constitution-based. This is because it is the easiest form to maintain due to their increased durability and lower maintenance costs. They are easily distracted and do not always work in unison with other Dark Nth. Let’s hope that this one is a straggler and wandered off on his own,” Nick finished.

“Dare to dream, right? I need to repurpose Razorback, at least for now, so I can avoid close contact situations if we come across another or multiple unfriendlies in the future.” Gus went over to the zombie and following his gamer instincts, took a quick perusal to see if there was any loot dropped from the Shambler. He gingerly tapped the pockets and did not feel anything inside, but the cloth depressed and Gus could feel just how skeletal the Shambler was. The black ‘blood’ of the creature stunk so badly that Gus almost started gagging.

Overcoming his revulsion, Gus saw that the ragged clothing did not seem worth salvaging, and he doubted that the funk that had permeated through it would be able to be cleaned out to the point where it would be comfortable to wear. A quick pat down didn’t show anything in the pockets, so he gave up trying to find loot. He opened one of his coco-canteens and rinsed his hands. He felt dirty and gross from dealing with the creature.

Forever Unclean! his mind shrieked as he tried to drink a bit. The stench still stuck to his hands and made it hard to finish. He used the last of the water to clean the remainder of ooze that stuck to Razorback, aided by the rags that passed for the zombie’s clothing.

“If it’s any consolation, any Shamblers will be highlighted with a red glow hereafter, so there should not be any more surprises,” Nick offered.

Gus was tense and edgy as he continued. However, after an hour of start-stop-listen travel, he became aware that the sounds of the forest had returned at some point. He allowed his psychological hackles to relax and proceeded with more confidence.

The alarm he had set up on his watch went off and Gus made a mark on a nearby tree to gauge his progress. He wanted to have time to gather some bamboo and bring it to his camp. He turned around and made his way back downstream.

“Nick, I feel like I’ve been walking forever. How big is this island?”

“From what I can extrapolate, I would estimate it between five-hundred and a thousand square miles.”

“I’m bad with distances, how would that compare to, say, the islands of Hawaii?”

“It would be closest to Oahu or Maui.”

Gus had been