[Alright, I'm here to clarify something—again—because some people seem more interested in criticizing than actually reading or understanding what's going on.
Yes, I use AI to translate my work. That's all. My original drafts are written in my first language, which is not English. To make them readable for a wider audience, I run them through a translation tool. That's why some parts might come across as "AI-generated"—not because they are, but because automated translation can sometimes make the phrasing sound repetitive or robotic.
What's frustrating is that I'm doing my best to share a story across a language barrier—for fun, not for profit or awards. This is a fanfic, not a professionally published novel. It's meant to be enjoyed, not dissected like it's up for a literary prize.
The fact that I have to keep explaining this is honestly exhausting. If you don't like the story, that's fine—no one's forcing you to read it. But don't leave misleading or half-true reviews just because you didn't take the time to understand the context. And if you're going to critique AI usage, maybe learn how to use it properly yourself first.]
Aiden launched himself from the garage side, moving low and fast across the narrow suburban street. His boots hit the cracked pavement softly, each step measured to avoid broken glass or loose rocks. The surroundings were still quiet around him, but the quiet here was never real—pedestrians tended to hide in the folds of shadow, in empty doorways or behind overturned cars. Any noise, any movement, could draw them like moths to flame.
The house directly opposite the street loomed in front of him. A two-story, squatty structure with boarded windows and faded blue siding, it was more intact than most—less looted, less inhabited since the fall. That made it either virgin… or a tomb.
Either way, Aiden would soon find out.
He crossed the overgrown yard in three long strides and reached the door. It was a sturdy, weathered wood door bound with old chains across the handle. Locked.
He didn't hesitate.
With a deep breath and a step forward, he raised one foot and kicked the door directly above the lock.
CRACK!
The door crashed inwards, splinters shredding through the air as the chain ripped free of the frame. The crash echoed louder than he would have liked, but he was already inside, moving fast. He stepped across the threshold and immediately switched weapons—his bowie knife disappearing into inventory with a subtle blink as he summoned the bloodied fire axe into his hand.
The handle was familiar and weighted. The blood that had dried along the edge had darkened, but the blade itself still glimmered under the faint light that seeped through the broken slats of boarded-over windows.
That's when the sound hit him.
A low, gurgling bellow from deeper in the house. Footsteps. Heavy. Wet. Slapping.
Aiden didn't even have time to change position before the creature came into sight from the hallway in front of him.
It was huge.
A walker—nearly seven feet tall, bloated and discolored, skin stretched tight and pocked with open sores. Its arms were impossibly long, clawed fingers gouging the walls as it stumbled ahead. It wasn't a typical infection—it was a bulge-class, the kind of mutation that occurred when a host had been turning too long, absorbing too much rot and dead tissue. Hard. Resistant. Deadly.
It charged with surprising speed, shoulder-first like a juggernaut.
Aiden spun sideways in time, avoiding the worst of the blow. The creature crashed through some of the wall, and dust and drywall erupted in a choking cloud. Aiden stumbled, then spun, axe rising.
The bulge-walker spun and roared once more, dark ichor dripping from its mouth.
"Come on, then," Aiden snarled, steady breath.
It charged again.
This time Aiden held his ground. In the final instant, he dived low and to the side, pivoting on one knee. As the creature plunged by, he thrust the axe upwards with both hands and buried it deep in the left thigh of the monster. The blade sank in with a soggy crunch, and the creature screamed, stumbling sideways into the dining table. Its leg gave way, but it did not fall.
Not enough.
Aiden yanked the axe free just in time as the creature took a massive swing at him. He ducked, the blow narrowly avoiding his head and destroying the chair he had been standing in front of. He circled around the beast's back, got his foot planted, and with a cry of his own, leapt onto the monster's back.
He employed the axe like a climbing pick, plunging the blade into its shoulder. It screamed—less human than animal now— bucking wildly, crashing through a wall and into the kitchen. Aiden held on with one arm around its neck, pulled the axe free once more, and with all the strength he possessed, plunged it down through the crown of its skull.
THUD.
The creature thrashed about, then collapsed into a heap, twitching once… and being still.
Breathing heavily, Aiden climbed off the corpse, yanked his axe free with a wet squelch, and peered down the corridor for any other threats.
Nothing.
The house grew quiet once more.
[Elite Threat Eliminated – Bulge-Walker]
[XP Earned: +450]
[Loot Modifier Increased: +15% in this house]
[System Hint: Rare mutation drops are contained within house interiors]
He didn't wait.
Aiden commenced his sweep of the house, now somewhat the worse for wear due to the battle. Dust still hung in the air. The kitchen was partially destroyed, but in the pantry he found a stash of sealed MREs, vacuum-packed and blessedly untouched. That was odd. Into the system inventory they went.
In the living room, he found a knocked-over gun cabinet behind the broken TV stand. The door hung half-bent open. Inside, he found a pump shotgun with three shells still inside, and a box of 9mm ammo that had spilled into the corner. He picked up both, noting the faint rust on the shotgun's barrel. It would need cleaning—but it worked.
The basement door was hidden behind a torn painting. Locked. Aiden broke it open with the axe.
The basement was dim, musty—and full of supplies. Whoever lived here was preparing for the long haul. Canned food lined old steel shelving. Tools, batteries, rope, a solar panel charger, and even a medical kit that looked barely touched. Jackpot. He added it all to the list.
Most interesting of all, though, was what was in the corner: a sealed ammo crate with the U.S. military stamp on the side.
He flipped the latch and pried it open slowly.
Armor-piercing rounds, a flare gun, and a tactical vest with additional plates folded beneath a packing sheet inside.
He whistled low. "Someone left in a hurry… or never came back."
It all went into his inventory.
As he made his way up the stairs in the basement and fought his way to the front door, the system chimed again.
The sun had begun its slow descent, dipping below the ash-colored clouds as the sky turned into a battered orange. The air was growing colder, sharper. But Aiden didn't stop.
There was no time to pause—not with the ticking clock of the system quest hanging over his head, not with night creeping its way across the broken rooftops of the suburbs. The quest timer quietly occupied the corner of his HUD like a noose tightening with each passing minute.
[Time Remaining: 1 Hour, 22 Minutes]
Aiden wiped a smear of dried gore from his jaw onto his forearm and strode over the contorted body of the bulge-class walker behind him. His breathing was slow, calculated draws. No panic. Only concentration.
Thirteen houses. One street. One mission.
House 4
The second house was a single-story house with a rusted swing set and shattered windows. The door was open.
Inside, the smell hit him first—moist air thick with decay. Aiden stepped over a torn-open couch and quickly scouted the house. Canned soup and an unopened jar of instant coffee were in the kitchen. A hall closet yielded duct tape, a box cutter, and a toolkit with a hammer that was rusty.
In the back bedroom, two walkers stirred—formerly teens based on their tattered hoodies and skeletal frames. Aiden dispatched them quietly using the Bowie knife, blades sinking into softened skulls with gruesome effectiveness.
[Walker x2 Neutralized]
House 5
A newer two-story house.
Aiden entered through the garage, being careful not to rattle the hanging wind chimes made from bottle caps. Someone had rigged them as an early warning.
In the attic, behind a false wall panel, he found a prepper stash: jerky, ammunition, antiseptic wipes, and an old revolver with six shells loaded. Jackpot.
He inventoried it all and left out the back.
House 6
Burned-out. Half the roof had collapsed.
But he salvaged a treasure.
In the charred remnants of the garage, he recovered bits of copper wiring and a packet of nails. Charred, but usable.
A half-crushed corpse groaned under debris—Aiden finished it off cleanly and moved on.
House 7
Occupied.
A one-armed walker lurched towards him as he kicked in the door. It hissed, smelling him immediately.
Aiden raised his axe, sidestepped, and brought the blade into its collarbone, the edge biting through ribs with a wet crunch.
He ransacked the house in a hurry. Upstairs medicine cabinet—gauze, scissors, half a bottle of antibiotics. Into the stash.
[Walker x1 Neutralized]
House 8
Locked and secure.
He forced entry through the rear window, crunching over broken glass.
Found a pantry stocked with vacuum-sealed rice, protein powder, and even a case of bottled water. Upstairs, a storm shelter hidden in the floor had still more: a scoped hunting rifle, a solar lantern, and a worn map with marks across the entire state.
[Special Item Found: "Pre-War Hunter's Map"]
House 9
A walker welcomed him at the door itself, springing from behind the curtain.
Aiden stumbled, grabbed a table lamp, and slammed it into the walker's head, completed it with his knife to the temple.
Looted quickly: clothing, batteries, a rain poncho, canned ravioli. Nothing fancy, but survival wasn't looking for fancy.
[Walker x1 Neutralized]
House 10
Another two-story.
Clear downstairs. Upstairs was a different story.
He heard them before he saw them—two walkers in the bathroom, one slamming into the glass shower door, the other trapped between a sink and the wall.
Aiden moved quickly—one axe swing through the door, then another to finish off the trapped walker. Blood flowed across porcelain as he ransacked the medicine cabinet: peroxide, iodine, and a mirror flask of whiskey.
He grabbed all of it.
[Walker x2 Neutralized]
House 11
This one was empty, but seriously pillaged.
Still, Aiden scored a folding shovel behind the washer, some rope, and three glowsticks in a kid's toybox. Little things. It could make a difference further down the road.
House 12
Basement hell.
He entered the side door and was hit with a rotten odor. In the basement: a walker chained to a post, feebly growling. It had been someone's relative, kept alive—maybe in hope. Or torment.
Aiden looked for a moment. Then finished it.
He found a generator lying around. Small, battered, but handy. He stashed it with a grim nod.
[Walker x1 Neutralized]
House 13 – Final House
There was something wrong with this one the moment he entered.
Too quiet. Too neat. There were tracks in the dust—fresh.
He moved stealthily through the hallways, axe ready.
In the living room: a dead family is seated around a dining table, perfectly preserved. No rot. No stench. All of them with bullet holes in their heads.
Aiden kept moving.
In the study, he found what had to have been the father's last horde—boxes of ammo, an old katana in pristine condition, and a diary labeled "Day 42: We Gave Up."
He chose to read the final entry.
"No help. No hope. The radio's gone silent. We lingered too long. God forgive us."
He sheathed the katara and stepped out into the twilight.
Final System Update
As Aiden stepped back out into the street, twilight now firmly throwing its blanket of shadow across the neighborhood, the system chimed loudly in his eyes.
[System Notification][Quest Complete: "Home Invasion"][
Total Houses Looted: 13]
[Walkers Killed: 8 Standard, 1 Bulge]
[Loot Value: High][Grade: A+]
[Rewards Granted:]
• Blueprint: Fortified Survival Shelter (Level 2)•
Skill Upgrade Token x1•
Bonus XP: +1200•
Special Item: "Hunter's Map – Regional Supply Caches Unlocked"
Aiden stared at the horizon burning.
The air had cooled. The wind carried moans from far off. Walkers would be more aggressive in the dark. He had seconds, maybe minutes, before the next wave began to move.
But his pack—and his digital inventory—was full.
Full of food. Tools. Weapons. Knowledge.
The day hadn't been merely survival.
It had been progress.
He turned towards the road, katana on his back, axe in hand, and vanished into the coming night.
[Ding!]
[Player: Aiden Smith
Level: [6]
Exp: [593/600]
DEX: [10] +5
STG: [12]
ST: [12]
INT: [20]
WIS: [16]
LUK [16]
[Skills]
[Dedicated Learner] Passive
+15% Learning Rate
{Every 10 Intelligent points = to 5% increase}
[Stealth] LV.2 [Exp 22/200]
+15% Less likely to be seen
+10% Damage on Sneak Attack
[Scavenger] Passive
+20% Chance to find something useful while looting
+10% Chance of Rare items ]
[Lucky man] Passive
+10% Luck when it comes to luck-based chances