Zombie Rebirth

I jabbed at a button, forgetting that it was all mental. It still took the input. The timer continued counting down, then I got a message.

Quit blocking progress. We’re waiting to draw hands.

I looked up at Selvaggi. He was mean mugging me. I closed the upgrade menu, and the deck appeared in the center of the field.

“Sorry,” I said aloud. I wasn’t sure if they could hear me or not. I kept forgetting the way the rounds worked. Cards started flying out. First was a two of hearts. Disappointment wrote itself across my face before I could school it. The others were watching me, that much I could be sure of.

A seven of clubs followed. I stifled a groan. The worst possible hand to draw in Texas Hold ‘Em. But, this game wasn’t that. Another card flew out, this time a King of diamonds. I perked up a bit. At least that was a face card. Next came another King, this one of clubs, and I had to suppress the urge to jump. A pair of kings was a decent hand, especially when considering how terrible the deck had been so far. The final card flew out and I did a tiny jig. It was a two. Kings and twos sky rocketed from one pair to two pair, and eliminated a large number of potential hands.

Thankful for my luck, I dropped the seven and hoped for a king or two. Instead, I drew a six. Even so, I had a nice hand, two pair. The cards sank from sight, once more entering my castle. I nodded. This was good. Then the upgrade menu popped up again. I dismissed it, having already made my choice for this round. I waited eagerly, and to my surprise, the timer jumped from seventeen seconds left to three, and counted down to zero from there. A war horn sounded, and my castle gates opened. I stood from my chair, then, because the round was beginning.

Target randomly chosen.

An arrow settled over Coopman’s castle. I groaned at my forgetfulness. Eventually, I would remember and select my own target. The mannequin men jogged out of my castle, forming up. Twenty men were out. Then thirty. I blinked in surprise. I had way more men than I was supposed to. I had just seen the upgrade menu, I only had twenty soldiers on my side. Yet, when the unit finished forming, I had thirty soldiers and three archers. The soldiers also had bracers, showing the health upgrade I had jabbed at when I thought I was out of time. I scoped out my opponent’s forces.

Selvaggi had gone for another health upgrade, this one providing helmets for the soldiers. He had twenty-two soldiers. Branciforte had not made any upgrades that I could see. His soldiers were standing in uneven rows, which I figured out when I counted and found twenty-three. There was a pattern there that I just couldn’t quite figure out. The last side, Coopman, had twenty soldiers and an archer. There was something there. I put the thought aside as all the men started to race into the field.

My men angled toward Coopman’s right off the bat. They closed the distance, and our archers started firing at the same time. Within seconds, a handful of his men were down, while one of mine had fallen. A lucky arrow caught their archer and ended their ranged threat. After that, it was a slaughter. My archers carved through his men, and then the soldiers clashed. The speed and health difference were enough to make the fight truly one-sided. All twenty-one of his men went down in short order. I lost only four men in return. The numbers advantage was not to be overlooked.

After cleaning up Coopman’s forces, my unit turned their collective attention to the two remaining groups. They were fighting savagely, much more evenly matched. Both were down to roughly ten men when mine rushed in. The three-way battle was intense, and I watched as men swung, parried, lunged, flanked, and fell. It couldn’t have been more than two or three minutes total, but it felt like a breathless lifetime. In the end, my men killed fifteen of the twenty-two remaining men, and six walked away. They turned their steely, tired gazes on Coopman’s castle. It was in good shape, and I watched as they jogged in past raining arrows to swing at the gates. The two archers were quick in putting my men down. I felt like throwing up. Instead, I returned to my seat. It was time.

Cards rose from the center of the field, and I could have sworn they were redder than before. I drew a four, then a nine, a ten… then my cards delivered. One Ace. Then a second Ace. Pocket Aces. I pumped my fists, not caring if the bosses saw me. I dropped the other three, saw no more aces, and stopped caring. I wondered if and how the hand would affect my forces. But the time I had been waiting for had arrived. My cards disappeared into the gates of my castle, and the upgrades menu popped up.

Soldiers:

Speed: 2

Health: 15

Damage: 3

Quantity: 20

Soldier upgrades:

+1 cost per investment

Speed: 11

Health: 11

Damage: 10

Quantity: 10

Archers:

Speed: 2

Health: 5

Damage: 5

Range: 15

Quantity: 2

Archer upgrades:

+2 cost per investment

Speed: 10

Health: 20

Damage: 10

Range: 10

Quantity: 15

Castle:

Health: 250

Repair: No

Archers: 1

Castle upgrades:

Health: 10

Repair (ability): 100

Repair: Cost dependent

Archers: 10

Unlocks:

Mages: 75

Knights: 100

Bears: 100

Dwarves: 150

Griffons: 200

Dragon: 500

I rubbed my hands together. It was time for another massive leap in combat ability. I ran my finger down the list, then both mentally and physically chose. The coin drained away, the menu updated, and I smiled. Two new menus were added.

Mages:

Speed: 1

Health: 3

Damage: 8

Range: 10

Quantity: 1

Mage upgrades:

+3 cost per investment

Speed: 10

Health: 20

Damage: 10

Range: 15

Quantity: 15

My smile grew wider. I wasn’t sure exactly what it would do, but the archer had been a game changer. The mages were a new variable. One I hoped would change the battlefield in a broader sense. With fifteen gold left, I had enough for a basic upgrade. I dropped it on the mage speed so they would keep up with the soldiers and archers.

The timer ran down, which was interesting to me considering how quick the others had been to that point. I looked across the way to Coopman, then Selvaggi, and finally settled on Branciforte. I could see the frog-man rubbing his head and muttering to himself. The last ten seconds counted down, and I was surprised by a window popping up.

Select target: Innocenzo ‘Roulette’ Branciforte?

“Oh yeah!” I nodded and accepted him as the target. I didn’t know what was going on with him, but I was feeling good with my hand. That, and a new upgrade the others wouldn’t know about until it was too late. The timer expired. The blast of the horn signaled the start of the round. My soldiers marched out of the gate and I was stoked. I had twenty-one soldiers, three archers, and two mages. I was starting to get the idea of how my hand affected my units.

The four miniature armies moved in. I was shocked to see that nobody else had made investments in speed yet. My forces raced to the west, toward Branciforte’s men. When they closed to archery range, I was surprised. Not only did the arrows fly, but so did the spells. Fireballs streaked out and exploded on the green-clad soldiers. Men fell in droves, and despite having twenty-nine men, his forces were reduced to single digits before entering melee range. I cheered and jumped in place, watching the slaughter. Then reality came crashing back.

I stopped, felt my stomach kick at the realization of what I had been cheering for, then leaned over the battlement and threw up. Nothing came out save some foam, and having my stomach clench that hard hurt. I missed the rest of the battle. Instead, I spent it hanging over the wall, saliva dribbling from my mouth and nose. It intermingled with stomach acid and burned like hell. I felt like I deserved it.

“Relax, kid. It’s just a game.”

I looked up at Selvaggi and glared daggers. “It is not alright. I was just cheering the slaughter of men. I was celebrating their deaths. That is horrible.”

“Enough with your ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude,” Coopman said in his Jersey accent. “This is reality in the system. They aren’t dying for real, and in fact, they won’t remember this if they ever make it to sentience.”

I wiped my mouth with the back of my right hand and stood. “I still feel terrible about it.”

“Fine, but feel terrible in your seat. You’re kicking our asses anyway.”

I grumbled, then fell back into my seat. I checked my gold totals. It was a massacre. My army had dealt more damage than ever. I had earned fifty gold from that battle; worse yet, he was right. I needed to get my head out of my ass. This was a friendly match with the bosses instead of a life-or-death fight, but it still affected my ability to proceed through the dungeon.

I wiped my sweaty brow, then focused on what was next. The deck of cards rose from the field, and I was certain the cards were a darker red yet again. The hand was dealt. I was not thrilled. Two, four, four, nine, and a jack. I dropped the two and nine, but got nothing better. The cards sank out of sight, and the upgrades menu opened.

Soldiers:

Speed: 2

Health: 15

Damage: 3

Quantity: 20

Soldier upgrades:

+1 cost per investment

Speed: 11

Health: 11

Damage: 10

Quantity: 10

Archers:

Speed: 2

Health: 5

Damage: 5

Range: 15

Quantity: 2

Archer upgrades:

+2 cost per investment

Speed: 10

Health: 20

Damage: 10

Range: 10

Quantity: 15

Mages:

Speed: 2

Health: 3

Damage: 8

Range: 10

Quantity: 1

Mage upgrades:

+3 cost per investment

Speed: 13

Health: 20

Damage: 10

Range: 15

Quantity: 15

Castle:

Health: 250

Repair: No

Archers: 1

Castle upgrades:

Health: 10

Repair (ability): 100

Repair: Cost dependent

Archers: 10

Unlocks:

Knights: 100

Bears: 100

Dwarves: 150

Griffons: 200

Dragon: 500

I shook my head. I didn’t want to be responsible for more men going to their deaths. But I had to play. I was locked in. I made my choices and locked in. Fifty-five gold was a lot to work with. The mages had been instrumental in such a decisive victory. I bought three levels in mage quantity, spending fifty-four of my fifty-five gold. I selected Branciforte again. My soldiers marched out. Twenty-two soldiers, three archers, and five mages formed the unit. I sighed. I knew how this round was going to go. I closed my eyes, slumped in my chair, and waited for it to be over.