Chapter one: No tutorial needed

  Liam hurried down the street, looking frantically for Normanby Place, 37 Trafalgar Street. It was, for England, a lovely day but he did not pay any attention to the weather. He was busy cursing at himself for leaving everything to the last minute. Even the song rattling through his airpods could not soothe his nerves.

  “In the year of the scavenger, the season of the bitch...”

  David Bowie’s eerie voice rattled through his brain and he once more looked at his phone for the address. Yes, it was 37 Trafalgar Street, but where was it. He was standing outside number 40 - a bank. It should be opposite... should be.

  He thought of asking another passerby. He had already asked two and a hotel porter but none of them had known of the building. His app was telling him he was already at the building.

  He suppressed a scream. He could not be late arriving at his interview. This was his dream job - well his dream job after he had failed his last interviews at his previous dream jobs. Entry level jobs that offered a practical application of mathematics and programming were few and far between especially for a raw graduate like himself. Armed with a new haircut and an off the shelf suit that was at least one size too big for him - but then what could you do with limited funds - he felt he had a great chance of landing this job.

  He fiddled with the umbrella in his hands and decided to cross the road and see if any of the lobby guards there knew of the building.

  The green man was now showing on the pedestrian crossing. At last, something in his favour. He was scurrying to cross the road when a blinding light flashed through his head.

  “What the ...” Liam said before a screech of tyres interrupted his outburst.

  He looked up to see a black cab barreling towards him. Liam dove out of the way of the taxi, which proceeded to smash into the stop sign near the crossing and then into a wall. The stop sign fell to the floor.

  Liam rushed over to the taxi but stopped as the taxi driver exited the vehicle, scratching at his head.

  He noticed that the music had stopped. His phone was blank - no light, nothing.

  Then Liam heard screaming. He looked around to see a few people running down the street in all directions.

  He could not see the cause of their panic and he moved out of their way. Then he saw what they were running from but for him it was too late to run. He had no confidence in his running speed while wearing the brand-new stiff formal shoes and the poorly fitting suit.

  Five rats, the size the cats, were dashing down the street towards him. Liam looked around frantically to see the post of the stop sign lying next to the taxi.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Liam picked it up. It was heavier than it looked but, other than his umbrella, it was all that he had.

  The first rat came near and Liam swung at it - missing by inches. The rat leapt towards him. and he swung the pole again. The stop sign hit the rat squarely this time and it flew away.

  Another rat lunged at Liam. He danced away from the attack but was too slow. The rat’s teeth sank into his calf. Liam dropped the pole and stabbed at it with his umbrella. The metal point sank sickeningly into the rat’s body. It let go of his calf and fell to the floor dead.

  Liam was tempted to pick up the pole again but it was too unwieldy and the rats were too quick for him to use it effectively. Instead, he opened up his umbrella, using it to fend away attacks.

  A rat tried to go around the umbrella and he stepped forward and stepped on its head - crushing it’s skill. Well, formal shoes were good for something.

  The rat that he had hit with the sign came back towards him from the side while he was fending off the other two rats with his umbrella. It leapt at him; its teeth bared. Liam ducked under the attack and pivoted to kick at it.

  He connected with the rat’s torso, flinging it towards a wall. It hit the wall with a crunch and fell limply to the ground.

  Now, there were only two rats left. Liam was about to step forward and engage with them when the taxi driver attacked them with a baseball bat. Soo,n there were two bloody patches on the ground.

  “Sorry, mate,” the taxi driver said. “I was a bit slow getting my bat.”

  Liam nodded. “Thanks! They’re the biggest rats I have ever seen.”

  “Crikey! Look at your leg. Looks like they did a number on you.”

  Liam looked down. His pant leg was torn and blood was oozing from the bite on his leg. Now that he was looking at it he started to feel queasy.

  “Better go to hospital, mate. Those bloody things are likely to in infected. I would drive your but my taxi is buggered. Everything is fried.”

  Now pain shot up Liam’s leg.

  ”Damn!” he muttered.” He tried to distract himself. What happened anyway? You almost hit me.”

  The taxi driver spat to one side. “Everything locked up. There was that message and then bang! I couldn’t turn the wheel or nothing.”

  “That message... what the frig was that about anyway?”

  “Screwed if I know.” The taxi driver looked around. “Hey, I’m an idiot. I got a first aid kit in my boot. Let me fetch it.”

  Within minutes the taxi driver had cleaned Liam’s wound with antiseptic and wrapped it in a bandage. Luckily, the bite had not gone deep.

  “Thanks,” Liam said. “I’d better be off. I am supposed to be at an interview.”

  The driver looked around. “I would forget that if I were you. This place is way too quiet. I’ve been driving around here for donkey’s years. This is not natural - and neither were those rats.”

  Liam looked around more closely this time. The taxi was not the only stopped car. Others were stopped at the side of the road or in the middle of the street. and it was eerily quiet except for a few faint noises in the background.

  “I’m off,” the driver said. “I got family to look after. You should get home too.”

  Without any more ceremony the taxi driver ran off at a jog, his belly bouncing up and down as he ran.

  Liam realised he did not even know the guy’s name.

  Now what? Liam’s home was a hundred miles away. He was not going to be walking home any time soon.

  A flickering at the corner of his eye caught his attention. It was an annoying blue light that just appeared at the edge of his vision. But he could not locate the source. He thought back to the message from earlier. Something about a system initiation. The blue light looked like a cursor...like when an operating system is loading for the first time.

  If that was the case then he would have to wait to find out what it was. For now, he needed to make a decision. Where to go?