Blood Horizon: A New Beginning

As Jason walked out the front door of his dorm building coming out to a busy square, he was almost overwhelmed by the unfamiliar sight. It had been more than 4 years since he saw such a sight like they say "You don't know what you've got till its gone" Jason sighed and strengthened his resolve to save those he lost in his previous incarnation.

Again Jason muttered the names of his most important ones "Mark, Kyle, Sam, when I said I would see you soon I.... was not expecting this. But I will try my utter best to save you in this life.". Jason had been orphaned in a car crash at 5 years old, both his parents died in the crash and only he and his 4 years old brother Mark survived. The brothers childhood was spent in an orphanage as they acted all aggressive towards the families that wanted them. They made it clear that they were a package deal, however as fortune would have it not a single family came along in their small town to take both of them, as time passed and they grew up their bond only strengthened until now they ended up at the same college both getting a scholarship for their outstanding intelligence. Kyle was the brothers mutual best friend, and Sam... he had been only been Jason´s acquaintance until the apocalypse, when fate drove their paths together and Sam ended up in their group. Jason spent years looking for Mark after the apocalypse, but yet he never found him, however he did wind up finding Kyle. Kyle later died sacrificing his life to save Jason and Sam from a Rank 6 Zombie. The zombie wasted just enough time eating Kyle for Jason and Sam to escape later creating a grave for him, although never being able to bury his body there. And in the end Sam got bitten by a zombie, leaving Jason a letter he went to a secluded place and ended his life with a pistol. Jason never found his body but he did get the letter, he still had it in his c.h.e.s.t pocket all throughout his journey even until his *"Death"* in that timeline. This time he would make things right, he would save them. To do so he first needed to get a proper vehicle.

Making his way through the square he went to the parking lot finding his way to his old car, he spotted quite a few vehicles that he could use for the Vehicle Core however he didn't wish to attempt stealing a car as he knew he would not be able to finish the rest of his tasks with the police on his tail. Everything was still peaceful as nobody knew anything about the 100m large meteorite that would land only 5 kilometers away from Steel City in no more than 2 days. The people that were in steel city would be very unfortunate as the density of the virus would be immense there, almost 99% of steel cities population would be zombified. Fortunately for Jason, Steel City was halfway across the Horizon mainland. It would take more than 2.5 years to travel there by car. Although for the virus it was an easy job as it would take less than 2 hours for the virus to engulf the whole planet after the meteorites impact. Finding his small crappy college car Jason took out his Shadow Beam and placed the small black keychain like cube into a diamond shaped indent on his car door. Making a *Click* sound the car door slid slightly backward, Jason got in and sat at the drivers seat. Retrieving his Shadow Beam along with the key he tucked it back into his belt, he then started the car slowly backed out of the parking lot and drove towards the campus exit. Driving up to the gate he slowed down, pressed a button on his car and simply said "Jason Steele, 20, Sports Path." and the gate in front of him slid back. Driving through the gate he knew exactly where he wanted to go.

He wanted to go to the local UR Bank. Driving through the streets he tried his best to keep his speed in check, as after living in the apocalypse for 4 years he had a very hard time remembering the Union traffic rules. By the time he made it to the Bank he was already getting quite nervous, he did not want to be stopped by the Union Police as they were notorious for not caring for reason. Calming himself down and tidying up his clothes he walked into the bank and to the counter. A female attendant received him with a smile and the customary "Welcome, how can I help you?". Jason went straight to the point "Yeah Hi, I would like to take a loan.", looking a bit surprised the attendant asked "How much would that be, sir?". A bit embarrassed Jason hesitated and then said "Uh, as much as possible please.". Even more surprised the attendant tapped a metal wristband on her hand and then began swiping and tapping on empty air. Jason knew that this was the new high tech Union made PC, only accessible to Union Staff for work. Regular people like him could only use the usual laptops and PCs.

Some rich people were able to afford the wristband phones as they had been released to limited public sale but most commonly people still used smart phones. The attendants voice snapped Jason back from his thoughts, when she said "As you have never received a loan before you can take maximum of 10,000 UC with a 2% Interest rate every year, would you like me to transfer it to your account or would you like a UC Card?". Jason immediately asked to get a UC Card after which the attendant opened a drawer and handed him a white UC Card from it. Jason thanked her and walked back to his car and sat in the drivers seat again. Feeling surprised by the generous loan he drove towards his local car dealership. Driving up to a mechanical gate Jason once again took out his Shadow Beam and scanned the small cube through a red beam at the gates side. The beam turned green and the gate opened. Driving past the gate there was a medium-sized building at the center of the dealership and another large garage like building in one corner. No cars were in sight anywhere, as Jason parked in front of the dealership reception building and walked in. This time he was received by the typical salesman stereo-type, slicked back hair, black suit and a million dollar smile. "What can I do for you Mr. Jason? Would you like some recommendations?". Jason had decided roughly what type of vehicle he wanted so he told the salesman "I´m looking for the latest type of all-terrain camper, you know, those that you can install your own appliances in the back?".

With a knowing grin the salesman ranted on about the newest and best types until Jason stopped him on a particular car that sounded like exactly what he needed, asking the salesman to give him a holo-tour. Smiling the salesman tapped a wristband similar to the one the Bank attendant had except Jason could see blue holographic 3D cars floating above this one. Rambling again about the greatness of the car Jason caught the information he needed "5th gen Camper/Hybrid, Engine can reach up to 80km/h at best, Coated with the latest Aluminum armor Blend to withstand things such as turnovers, has easy access to the back where all kinds of appliances can be installed such as a stove, bathroom and such. Price Tag 5000 UC" It looked similar to the armored trucks used by banks and such. Jason cringed at the price as this was simply an astronomical sum to him, his life savings amounted to only 500 UC and if he included the earlier loan he would have 5500 UC left after this purchase

---~~~---

Driving back out from the dealership in his new car Jason felt satisfied as he had managed to sell his old car for 500 UC almost double its original price, leaving him with 6000 UC. He intended to drive right back to his school and merge the new car with his Vehicle Core, however the system suddenly sounded

{[It is recommended that you merge the car outside the city as it will generate energy fluctuations that your government might detect inside the city, you should be safe on the city outskirts]}.

This note from the system forced Jason to deviate from his original plan as he turned the car around immediately and drove towards the edges of the city.