My Sniper System in a Zombie Apocalypse World-Chapter 53: Upgrades Paid in Blood

Then an idea formed in his mind.

He remembered that night when they had been chased by the zombies. How he had struggled with only a flashlight, the narrow beam barely showing anything, slowing him down. Fighting like that had been brutal, and the memory still left a bad taste in his mouth.

Without hesitation, he poured more coins into the scope.

(58 coins spent. Scope Lv.1 → Lv.3)

He raised the DMR and tested it. The glass became clearer, the zoom smoother, and lining up a target felt easier. Jaxon frowned. It was better, no doubt about it, but still not what he had been hoping for.

He paused, weighing his options. "This better work," he muttered under his breath. "Or I’m just wasting hard-earned coins."

(37 coins spent. Scope Lv.3 → Lv.4)

This time, something changed. A new ring appeared along the side of the scope. Jaxon switched off the room’s light, raised the DMR, and nudged the ring with his thumb.

The darkness thinned.

Shadows pulled back as shapes slowly emerged, faint at first, then clear enough to see edges, depth, and distance. The room unfolded inside the lens, every detail sharper than before.

Jaxon let out a slow, steady breath.

It worked.

Then another thought crossed his mind.

’What about level five?’

(44 coins spent. Scope Lv.4 → Lv.5 max)

A small switch slid out near the rear of the scope, resting beneath his fingers. Curious, Jaxon flipped it.

The image changed instantly.

Heat bloomed across the lens. The room around him turned dull and flat, but his own body glowed bright against the cold, shadowy background.

Jaxon lowered the rifle slowly, a small smile forming. "Night vision and thermal... Worth it."

(20 coins spent. DMR Bullet (100 rounds) successfully purchased.)

(10 coins spent. Military Provision successfully purchased.)

Coins remaining: 8

"Back to being broke, huh."

Alone in the quiet room, the loneliness settled in. Natasha and his family were usually nearby, their presence had kept him moving forward. Now, with only silence around him, his thoughts began to spiral.

The plan had fallen apart. The city was far more dangerous than he expected. He had come close to dying more times than he could count. Everything had happened too fast, giving him no time to breathe.

Jaxon shook his head and forced the thoughts away. Thinking like this would get him killed.

He moved around the room, securing the door and blocking the windows as best he could.

After eating the provisions in silence, he found a hidden corner, lay down, and turned off the lights.

The exhaustion crushed him the moment he closed his eyes, and sleep took him almost at once.

...

Hours later.

"Roar!!!"

Jaxon jolted awake as familiar howls echoed outside. His heart jumped as he crept toward the window and peeked through a narrow gap.

It was completely dark outside. The streetlights were dead, the houses reduced to black silhouettes. From within it, sounds moved and shifted, many of them, like a crowd surging through the streets.

A chill ran down his spine. ’A horde? Why now? What drew them out?’

He grabbed his rifle at once and raised it, switching the scope to thermal vision.

Nothing changed. The vision through the lens stayed dark. No glowing shapes or heat, just darkness.

Jaxon frowned, then realized.

’Ah... right... they’re dead.’ He slapped his forehead softly, feeling stupid. ’Of course their bodies aren’t warm.’

"Damn it," he whispered. "Then what’s the point of thermal vision?"

But then, a faint human-shaped glow appeared in his scope, moving fast through the darkness. It was weak, almost washed out, but it had a clear human outline.

There was only one reason a heat shape like that could appear. A living person.

’Huh? Why is it moving with the horde?’

He did not waste time guessing. His thumb slid the ring on the scope, switching to night vision.

The darkness snapped into focus.

Outside the school grounds, the scene turned into a nightmare. Hundreds of bald infected swarmed the streets, howling as they moved like a flood. They smashed windows, tore doors apart, and clawed at anything in their way. The noise was endless, loud enough to make his head ache.

Yet something stood out.

Among the identical bald heads and twisted bodies, there was one figure that did not belong.

A man, maybe in his forties, moved among them calmly. The infected ignored him completely, brushing past as if he were one of their own.

Jaxon’s eyes narrowed. The memory of the school girl and the infected police officer flashed through his mind. Both had looked human.

He switched back to thermal vision.

The man glowed faintly. His body was warm, but the heat was weak, far dimmer than Jaxon’s own.

’Half infected?’

Before he could think more, movement surged closer. Dozens of infected broke away from the horde and rushed toward the guard house.

Jaxon’s breath caught. ’What the hell... can they sense me?’

Jaxon glanced toward the classrooms. If the infected were flooding outside, then the inside of the building was his only choice. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and rushed to the back door, dragging the furniture aside as quietly as he could.

He took a few deep breaths, then pulled it open and sprinted inside, heading straight for the nearest classroom.

Reaching a broken window, he leaped without slowing down. His body slid through the gap, rolled across the floor, and came up smoothly on his feet.

His rifle appeared in his hands in the same motion as he scanned the room.

One bald infected stood near the desks, its back turned.

The body collapsed, head gone before it could even react. Then sparks burst from the concrete wall behind it. The upgraded bullet punched through, stone chips flying as the impact echoed through the room.

Jaxon’s heart dropped. ’Oh hell nah.’

He did not wait. He dashed for the door as shadows rushed past the windows. Shapes slammed against the glass, drawn by the sound. More footsteps followed, fast and hungry.

Jaxon burst into the hallway, sprinting for the next room as the building began to wake up around him.

By the time the infected swarmed into the previous room, Jaxon was already gone. He lay flat beneath a desk in the next classroom, holding his breath. The lights were off. Through his night vision scope, the room ahead glowed in dull green.

The infected tore through the room he had just left, knocking over chairs and desks, snarling as they searched. One of them suddenly stopped. Its nose twitched as it sniffed the air.

Suddenly, its head snapped toward Jaxon’s hiding place. Even through the scope, their eyes met.

Bam.

Its head burst apart before a sound could leave its throat.

Jaxon did not stay. He slid out from under the desk and crouched low, moving into the next room with careful steps. He hid again, pressing himself against the wall, rifle steady as he watched through the scope.

More infected poured in, gathering around the room he had just left, as if they knew he had been there.

’What’s up with these freaks?’ Jaxon thought, his heartbeat pounding in his ears. ’They can detect me?’

Seconds dragged by. Then he made his choice.

Bang.

The bullet punched through two infected in a straight line, dropping them both at once.

If hiding would not work, then he would fight.

There were still dozens inside the building, but most of the horde had rushed outside.

’I just need to clear the ones left behind,’ he told himself. ’That’s all.’

The decision was made in an instant. Jaxon’s bullets whispered through the darkness, silent and precise.

The infected reacted at once. They rushed forward, fast, moving as if the dark meant nothing to them. Five bald-head infected closed in on his position in seconds.

Jaxon slipped from the classroom, landing lightly behind a row of desks. He fired, a single silent shot, but two infected staggered and fell with a soft thud.

He didn’t stop.

The school became a twisted maze. Classroom after classroom, hallway after hallway, he darted through, firing only when he had a clear shot, disappearing before the infected could react. They followed relentlessly, like predators tracking their prey.

As Jaxon slipped quietly into a classroom, something wet splashed onto his shoulder. He looked up and froze. Two infected were crawling upside down along the ceiling, their pale faces twisted in hunger.

Before he could react, they plummeted straight toward him.

He ducked and rolled to the side, kicking a table into them. The table slammed against their bodies, toppling them back. Without a pause, he fired his rifle, bullets tearing through their flesh.

His heart pounded, adrenaline surging through his veins. If he didn’t react fast, it would be him dead.

He crept into the next room. One, two... three infected dropped silently, headless bodies sliding across the floor. But more were coming. Jaxon ducked into a side room, crouched low, and watched. The infected circled the room, sniffing and listening.

The school had turned into a nightmare, and he was in the middle of it, alone, fighting for every second of his life.