I sat in a room in a mall, looking at all the corpses that wandered around. I had gone here to get some of my items, and apparently, someone had gotten the virus and died, which ended in cascading zombies as they infected everyone who bunkered down trying to outlive the storm. A sharp bone saw(a saw made out of hardened bones) rapidly spun and cleaved one of the dead zombie's heads in half, leaving only the top portion, so I could scoop out the core. 

It was sad that these people could have made it to the end of the apocalypse in the first life, but my coming back and just coming through the area was enough to destroy their chances. At least this place wasn’t as packed as the hospital. It was only after days of thinking that I realized I should probably check the locations I went to for more zombies, and I thought of this mall.

The knee-high water was clouded with blood in all the areas where I had killed zombies so far. It made it easier to see where I had been, but I had to check every area as I went. Sometimes, if zombies knew they couldn’t win a fight, they’d hide and wait for the threat to leave. If any see me dispatch another zombie effortlessly, they’d probably flee or hide rather than try and attack me.

I held the core in my hand. I wasn’t thinking of using these, but… I doubted this was going to be the last zombie I’d kill. The genie was already let out of the bottle, and we were going to get zombies an entire year earlier than in my first life, and they were going to start stronger than they did as well. I might as well use these cores.

I was about tier three with most of my powers. I felt I was close to tier four, but it would take hundreds of these cores to finally get me there. Most people need ten cores of the next rank to move up to it. So, because everyone was absorbing the tier two cores, they were immediately gaining their powers; they’d need ten more cores after that to reach tier two, a hundred or so to reach tier three, and thousands to reach tier four.

It didn’t make sense logistically to waste that many of the low-level cores on me when we could get so much more out of them, feeding the people who were still only tier one. Getting everyone up to tier two should be our first goal, and with these new cores, it will be even easier. If zombies were going to exist early, I was going to take advantage of them and strengthen my people so no one would ever be able to challenge us.

I walked out of the girls' bathroom and cleared everything on the mall's first floor. I only had the top floor to check now. Pulling out a CD player, I play Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 and make my way up to finish scanning the mall. After this, I had to check the Walmart I went to and then scan and steal the rest of the guns from the gun store.

I walked up the stairs before I saw someone peeking out from one of the rooms. The old man screams, and his voice summons the rest of the zombies who made it to the second floor. I quickly dispatch them as I head toward the door that the man had slammed shut. Knocking, I yell out. “Housekeeping!” I knocked again as I stopped joking and said. “Hey, I’m done playing with you. I’m not a zombie. Come out, or I’ll kick this door down.”

I heard the door unlock as the man shakily pushed it open. He was an elderly man, I didn’t get a good look at him; otherwise, I wouldn’t have bothered saving him. After scanning for powers and sensing none from him, I’m about to leave before he asks. “A-are the… Zombies dead?” 

As if one waited for him to ask, it came running around the corner towards us. I killed it before he even knew it was a problem. Only the sound of the zombie's body sliding to a stop gave him any sense that something was happening. “Yeah, at least the ones that aren’t hiding. I’ll help you out of here, you should head home.”

He looked even more worried before asking. “Y-you think… People will care that I stole food from the mall?” I had to hold myself back from laughing before saying. “Probably not. I’d grab whatever you can before it goes bad unless your home is loaded with food.” He went back into the room before coming out a few minutes later with a box of stolen food.

The room was pitch dark after he had shut off the flashlight and left. I grabbed the box and noticed it was lighter than I thought it would be. This was mostly crackers and light foods; he might have more inside. I grabbed the flashlight as I went in to look around. “W-wait!” Entering, I can smell it right away. “There was no bathroom, and zombies were outside.”

“So just this food then?” I exited after smelling the room. “Y-yeah, let’s leave, please.” I loaded him up and took him home. He was one of the few lucky ones. I unloaded him and his food as he made his way to his house. I hesitated before asking. “Hey… You want to try something?” He looked back at me. I had saved him, but who knew what he was thinking? He was old, I doubted he’d live through more than a few months in this apocalypse… Unless I gave him the enhancement liquid.

I hadn’t really thought about it, but having a human twice as strong and fast, less affected by the elements, and able to survive on less food. It would help them survive for longer, of course, and he had no chance of getting power before the liquid was made. If he managed to live that long, then he’d have been put through hell most likely. And that was if he even survived the virus, because it killed the young and elderly in higher numbers.

“Do you want to increase your odds of survival?” I pulled out the syringe before talking to him. He refused, which was fine. I gave him the chance, it was up to him to take advantage of the benefits I offered him. It was something to remember in the future when I met other survivors. Well… So much for that; I'm off to Walmart before it gets too late.

…

Third Person Point of View

The butterfly effect began to branch and branch. If the protagonist travelling back in time was the butterfly flapping its wings, the virus spreading uncontrollably was the hurricane caused by those wings. Every single person the protagonist had come across was infected, not just him, but those people would go on to infect everyone else.

The casualty numbers remained similar to the virus, but the zombies being created that would infect people nearby were something that hadn’t happened before. Who knew the late game effect the zombies would have on the planet? Although it was a terrible thing that happened, it was something that many could take advantage of.