The Inheritance Game- Only Silence Survives

Grandpa died, and we immediately went for each other's throats over the inheritance. Then a blizzard hit, trapping us all in the family estate. An app appeared on our phones: [THE LAST ZOMBIE: FINAL RECKONING]. We had to pick a hiding spot. The last one standing—the last human standing—would inherit everything. I chose the dark, silent recording studio in the basement. Away from them all. When it was time to pick special powers, my family chose powerful weapons or pocket dimensions full of supplies. I chose Bio-Stasis. It slowed my cells to a crawl, and my body along with them. My stepbrother's fiancée, Chloe, called me an idiot. "Hiding from your family and picking a useless power? You're on a suicide mission." They threw a zombie-slaying party upstairs, already celebrating an inheritance they hadn't even won. Until, one by one, they turned. And started tearing each other apart. What they didn't know... was that I'd rigged the game from the start. The only way to win was to stay completely silent. Chapter 1 The fight for Grandpa’s fortune began the second his funeral ended. The arguments were just heating up when a freak blizzard rolled in, trapping us all in the estate. "I told you we should've split the money and run!" Sarah shrieked. "But no, you all had to fight. Now look at the snow! We're trapped for a week!" Grandpa was barely in the ground, and the estate was already a war zone of complaints. Everyone wanted the biggest piece of the pie. They were ready to draw blood for it. "Don't say that, Sarah." My stepbrother, Liam, glided over, a reassuring smile on his flawless face. "It's rare for us all to be together. Grandpa wouldn't want us fighting like this." He always knew the right thing to say. At twenty-eight, Liam was the family's golden boy. He'd been groomed to take over the family empire. I turned to leave, but a piercing electronic chime stopped me. Everyone’s phone went off at once. "What?" Liam’s fiancée, Chloe, frowned, moving closer to his side. I looked down at my phone. A blood-red scale appeared on the screen. [Welcome to The Last Zombie: Final Reckoning.] [Detected: 15 members of the Sterling family.] [Objective: Eliminate all zombies. The last player standing inherits the entire family fortune.] [Current Asset Valuation: $12.7 Billion.] The living room went dead silent. "What kind of sick joke is this?" Liam tried to close the app, but the screen wouldn't budge. "Who made this?" [Exit Denied.] [Forced Binding in Progress...] [Binding Complete.] I tried hitting the home button. Nothing. The app had taken over my phone completely. "This has to be a hacker," Uncle Marcus snapped, fumbling with his phone. "I'm calling the cops." "No signal," Aunt Linda's voice trembled. "The lines are dead. All of them." Liam cleared his throat. His natural leadership made him the center of attention. "Everyone, calm down. This has to be a technical glitch. Or someone's prank." [As a show of good faith, a one-million-dollar reward will now be transferred to each player.] [Please check your balance.] My banking app pinged with a new notification. A million dollars. The room erupted. Everyone was frantically checking their phones. "Oh my god, it's real!" "This is impossible!" "A million dollars! It's really here!" Liam’s face went pale. He knew. [Phase 1: Choose Your Sanctuary.] [Option A: The Main House - Ample supplies, wide view, accommodates 10 people.] [Option B: The Hunting Lodge - Contains an armory, well-defended, accommodates 8 people.] [Option C: The Recording Studio - Underground, soundproof, accommodates 2 people.] [Selection Time: 10 minutes.] [Countdown has begun.] "This is easy," Liam said, his composure returning. "We choose the main house. It's the safest, with the most supplies." The others nodded in agreement. "Right, we should stick together." "The main house has a security system." "And enough food to last until help arrives." I listened to them talk. Then I made my choice. "I choose C." Every head in the room snapped toward me. "What?" Liam's eyes widened. "Ava, are you kidding me?" "The recording studio?" Chloe scoffed, wrapping her arm around Liam’s. "It's a tiny, dark hole. Liam, darling, can you believe her? Is she insane?" As an architect, I knew every corner of this estate. Grandpa built that studio when he was young. It had the best soundproofing money could buy and its own ventilation system. [Player Ava has chosen: The Recording Studio.] [Time remaining: 8 minutes.] "Ava, this is a bad idea." Liam walked up to me, his blue eyes filled with concern. "We need to stay together. Protect each other." "She's just trying to get your attention, Liam," Chloe rolled her eyes, her voice laced with annoyance. "Such a classic, pathetic move." The other family members started whispering. "Let her go." "She was always the weird one." "We don't need a liability." [Selection time has ended.] [Sanctuary assignments are complete.] [Player Groups:] [Main House: Liam, Chloe, Sarah, Marcus, Linda, and 7 others.] [Hunting Lodge: Unclaimed.] [Recording Studio: Ava.] Chloe glanced at the list, a smug smirk on her face. She flicked on the family channel's live stream, grinning into her phone's camera. "Oh, darlings!" her voice dripped with fake sweetness. "Looks like our little architect wants to go play in her dark little box!" She tightened her grip on Liam’s arm, her eyes full of possessiveness masked as flirtation. "Oh, let her go, honey," she purred to Liam. "We'll be up here having our apocalypse party. We can handle a few zombies without Miss Misery ruining the mood." Chapter 2 "This game is a joke!" Chloe's voice came through the family channel, followed by the pop of a champagne cork. I was already in the recording studio. It was small and dark, just as they'd said, but the soundproofing was perfect. I could hear their faint laughter from upstairs, like it was coming from another world. [Phase 2: Choose Your Talent.] A new menu popped up. [Option A: Weapon Mastery - Drastically improves accuracy and handling of all weapons.] [Option B: Enhanced Physique - Increases strength, speed, and endurance.] [Option C: Pocket Dimension - Grants extra inventory space.] [Option D: Short-Range Teleport - Allows instant travel within a 50-meter radius.] [Option E: Bio-Stasis - Slows down personal metabolism and viral activity.] [Selection Time: 15 minutes.] The family channel exploded with excitement. "Weapon Mastery! Definitely Weapon Mastery!" Uncle Marcus shouted. "We need people who can fight and run," Sarah added. "Enhanced Physique is good too." Liam's voice cut through, calm and commanding. "Everyone pick a combat talent. We need a balanced team." "I'll take the Pocket Dimension," Chloe cooed. "I can carry extra guns and supplies for all of us." "Smart choice, honey," Liam praised. "Every good team needs logistics." "Then I'll take Short-Range Teleport," Liam continued. "I can rescue teammates or scout ahead." The others all called out their choices. Almost everyone went for Weapon Mastery or Enhanced Physique. I stared at the description for Option E. [Bio-Stasis: Drastically slows metabolism. Suppresses viral and toxic agents in the body. Side Effect: Reduced movement speed.] It looked completely useless. Choosing to make yourself slower in a survival game was suicide. But I remembered everything. [Player Ava has chosen: Bio-Stasis.] The channel went quiet for a few seconds. Then came the laughter, louder than before. "Hahaha! What did she pick?" "Bio-Stasis? What kind of garbage Talent is that?" "Does she want to slowly starve to death in the basement?" Chloe's laugh was the sharpest. "Oh my god, Ava! You're a genius! First the most useless sanctuary, now the most useless Talent! Are you trying to set a new record for stupidity?" "Maybe she has her own plan," Liam said, though he sounded unconvinced. "What plan? A plan to die faster?" Sarah shrieked. A private message pinged. [Liam: Ava, what are you doing? If this is about getting my attention, it's not the way.] [Liam: I know you have a crush on me, but this is too much. You don't have to hurt yourself to prove a point.] [Liam: We can talk after this is over. Just... be safe, okay?] I almost laughed. Of course. Liam thought I was still in love with him. In my last life, I was the lovesick fool who followed him around like a puppy. This time, I just wanted to watch his perfect world burn to the ground. [Talent selection countdown: 3... 2... 1...] [Selection complete.] [Talent Assignments:] [Weapon Mastery: Marcus, Sarah, David, and 5 others.] [Enhanced Physique: Emma, James.] [Pocket Dimension: Chloe.] [Short-Range Teleport: Liam.] [Bio-Stasis: Ava.] "The perfect team comp!" Liam announced on the channel. "We have firepower, mobility, and support. This game is already ours." The others cheered. "One less piece of dead weight to carry," someone muttered. "Let her rot in the basement." I muted the channel and started checking the studio's equipment. It was even better than I remembered. On top of the soundproofing, it had an independent air purifier and a stash of emergency rations. There was even a small generator. Grandpa had clearly built this place to last. I could feel a subtle change in my body. My metabolism was slowing, my heartbeat evening out, my breaths growing deeper. It felt strange, like the whole world was in slow motion. The sounds of celebration drifted down from the family channel. They were already handing out weapons and making patrol schedules. A party of the dead, and they didn't even know it. The app's cold tone pinged again. [Talent selection is complete. The Reckoning begins.] Chapter 3 Day one. The game began. Gunshots echoed from outside. I watched on the studio's security monitor as dozens of slow-moving figures shambled around the estate. Their skin was a sickly grey, their eyes vacant. They moaned, mouths hanging open. Zombies. But just as I expected, they were incredibly slow. They looked like they could do little more than bite. The family channel was on fire. "This is too easy! These things are slow as turtles!" "One-shot headshots!" "This isn't a survival game, it's target practice!" Chloe's voice was the most excited. "Darlings! Watch this!" On screen, she raised a sniper rifle and aimed at the nearest zombie. BANG! The zombie's head exploded. Chloe immediately held up her phone for a selfie, the headless corpse in the background. "Perfect shot!" she bragged on the channel. "We should celebrate!" "Celebrate what?" Liam's voice cut in. "Our victory, of course!" Chloe giggled. "These slowpokes are no threat at all! We should have a party!" She paused, then her voice got even more excited. "I know! Let's crank the estate's sound system! Blast some music! It'll make this zombie hunt way more fun!" "Good idea," Sarah agreed instantly. "These things are deaf and blind anyway." "I'll go turn it on!" said Marcus. A few minutes later, deafening rock music blasted through the estate. The thumping bass and crashing drums vibrated all the way down to the basement. Even through the soundproofing, I could feel the intense vibrations. My family was on a killing spree, laughing and shooting to the rhythm. "This is awesome!" "We're apocalypse hunters!" "Bring it on! More!" Their laughter and screams mixed with the music, creating a head-splitting racket. My private messages pinged. [Liam: Ava, are you okay? Is it too stuffy down there?] [Liam: I can protect you if you want to come up.] [Liam: Even though you chose a strange talent, I won't abandon you.] Before I could reply, Chloe's voice dripped into the channel. "Oh, Liam, darling. Why are you wasting your breath on that coward?" Her tone suddenly turned sharp. "She chose to hide in the basement, which means she doesn't trust us! If she wants to be a lone wolf, let her!" "Chloe, be nice," Liam tried to placate her. "Ava is still my stepsister, our family." "Family?" Uncle Marcus chimed in. "Real family sticks together, they don't hide in a corner!" "Exactly!" Sarah agreed. "She's just trying to be different!" "And she hasn't said a word on the channel," another cousin, David, added. "Who knows what kind of scheme she's plotting?" "She's just spreading bad vibes," said Emma. "I vote we mute her. We don't need her ruining the mood." "Good idea," Marcus agreed instantly. "We need unity in wartime. No room for pessimism." "What does everyone else think?" Sarah asked. A chorus of agreement. "Mute her!" "I support it!" "She doesn't talk anyway!" Only Liam hesitated. "Isn't that a bit much..." "Darling," Chloe interrupted him sweetly, her tone leaving no room for argument. "You have a whole family here to protect, including your fiancée. She chose to isolate herself. We're just respecting her choice." [System Alert: Channel Admin Liam has muted Player Ava.] I looked at the notification and a cold smile touched my lips. Everything was going according to plan. I got up and started reinforcing the studio's soundproofing, pulling extra acoustic foam from a storage locker and sealing every crack around the door and walls. When the music outside hit its peak, I felt it then—a strange thrumming deep in my blood. Something ancient and hungry was waking up inside me, agitated by the noise. But just as quickly, my Bio-Stasis kicked in. My metabolism slammed on the brakes, and the agitated microbes settled back into a deep, quiet slumber. The truth of the game was simple. The virus wasn't spread by a bite. It was activated by sound. The party upstairs raged on, my family lost in the thrill of the slaughter. They had no idea that every gunshot, every scream, every beat of the music was waking up the plague inside them. And my "stupid" choice, the one they mocked and isolated me for, was the only thing keeping me alive. "Another round!" Chloe yelled on the channel. "Crank the music to max! Let these zombies feel the power of rock!" The music got even louder. Through the monitor, I watched my cousin David spray a crowd of zombies with bullets. Then he suddenly doubled over. He slapped a hand over his mouth to stifle a hacking cough. When he pulled it away, I saw it: dark red veins crawling up his neck like angry vines. But David just shook his head and thumped his chest. "Probably just drank too much," he said to the person next to him. No one paid attention. The party wasn't over. Chapter 4 Absolute silence. It was the most precious luxury I'd ever known. I took stock of my supplies in the recording studio: thirty cans of food, twenty bottles of water, a water purifier, and enough energy bars for a week. There was also Grandpa’s old whiskey and a first-aid kit stocked with every medicine imaginable. Best of all, deep in a storage locker, I found a full surveillance monitoring station and a pair of noise-canceling headphones. My Bio-Stasis drastically reduced my needs. Normally, this food would last four days. For me, it would last two weeks. Cheers thundered from above. "Zombie shooting contest starts now!" Sarah's voice was shrill. "Whoever gets the most kills is today's MVP!" Gunshots rained down. "Twelve!" "Fifteen!" "I'm at twenty already!" Every shot was followed by wild laughter and screams. They were treating the end of the world like a carnival. The rock music from the speakers got faster, the bass so heavy the whole estate seemed to shake. "This isn't exciting enough!" Chloe's voice announced. "I have a surprise for you all!" On the monitor, I watched her reach into what looked like an ordinary handbag and start pulling things out. One by one, military-grade weapons appeared. "Holy hell!" Marcus gasped. "Where did you get those?" "The perks of a Pocket Dimension!" Chloe said proudly. "I cleaned out the family armory!" She kept pulling them out: assault rifles, sniper rifles, grenades, even a couple of rocket launchers. "Now we're talking!" David shouted, grabbing for an assault rifle. "Give me one!" "Wait." Chloe's smile vanished. She pulled the arsenal behind her. "This is valuable equipment. And I will manage it." "What do you mean?" James frowned. "I mean," Chloe lifted her chin, "I decide who gets what. It's my talent. My supplies. My call." The air went still. "Are you kidding me?" Sarah's voice turned sharp. "We're a team!" "Exactly, we're a team," Chloe said sweetly. "And as the quartermaster, it's my job to distribute resources properly." "Who made you quartermaster?" Marcus grumbled. "Because I'm the only one who can put them back in the pocket," Chloe said, as if it were obvious. "If we need to move fast, scattered weapons will just slow us down." "That's bullshit!" David coughed, his voice hoarse. "Why do you get to decide?" "David, you okay?" Liam asked, noticing his cough. "I'm fine!" David snapped, but his eyes were losing focus. "I just want a decent damn gun!" He lunged, trying to rip the rifle from Chloe's grasp. "Get your hands off my stuff!" Chloe shrieked, yanking it back. David's movements turned violent. His eyes started to turn bloodshot as he growled, reaching for her. "David!" Several people jumped in, holding him back. "Let go of me! Let go!" David thrashed wildly, his strength shocking. "I want the gun! Give me the gun!" On his neck, the dark red veins grew more prominent. "What's wrong with him?" Sarah backed away in fear. "Could be the alcohol," Liam said, trying to stay calm. "David, listen to me. Take a deep breath." Strangely, Liam's calm voice seemed to work. David slowly stopped struggling. He blinked, the wild look in his eyes fading. "I... what just happened?" David looked around, confused. "You got too excited," Liam said, patting his shoulder. "Go rest for a bit." "Probably just exhausted from all the fighting," Marcus said, giving him an out. "We all need a break." "Yeah, just tired." David nodded and walked toward a sofa. But I saw it clearly on the monitor. As he turned, a flicker of something alien flashed in his eyes. The virus was waking up inside him. During the chaos, Chloe had already stashed all the weapons back in her Pocket Dimension. "See? This is why we need centralized management," she said, patting her handbag smugly. "When emotions run high, anyone can do something dangerous." The others looked at each other but finally gave in. After all, no one could take that pocket from her. The music started again, but it wasn't as loud this time. David's sudden outburst had put everyone on edge. I muted the family channel, put on my noise-canceling headphones, and pulled up a silent film I'd downloaded onto a tablet. Black and white pictures. No sound. This was the world I needed. Chapter 5 I was woken up at midnight by a scream. Not a zombie's roar from outside, but from inside the main house. I flipped on the monitors. David was standing in the middle of the living room, but he wasn't David anymore. His skin was a dead grey, his eyes completely clouded over, and black fluid drooled from his mouth. Worst of all, the dark red veins now covered his entire face. Sarah was screaming in a corner. "Help! Help me! David's turned into a monster!" The others rushed out from their rooms and froze. "That's impossible!" Marcus stammered. "He wasn't bitten!" The zombified David let out a beastly roar and lunged for the closest person, Emma. BANG! BANG! BANG! Gunshots exploded indoors, the echoes deafening in the enclosed space. Emma was firing, but her hands were shaking so badly that bullets flew everywhere. "Stop! Don't fire inside!" Liam yelled. Too late. The chain reaction of gunshots and screams was instant. James suddenly clutched his head, groaning in pain. "My head... it hurts so bad..." His eyes began to turn bloodshot. The same dark red veins appeared on his neck. "Another one!" Linda shrieked. "James is infected too!" "Infected? How?" Marcus shook his head frantically. "No one was bitten!" BANG! BANG! More gunshots. In the panic, everyone was firing. Bullets ricocheted around the room. Screams and gunfire blended into a symphony from hell. "Cease fire! Everyone, cease fire!" Liam tried to regain control. But no one could hear him. The noise was too loud. Fueled by the frantic noise, more people started showing symptoms. Sarah's eyes turned red. Marcus started coughing violently. Linda stumbled into a wall. "Weapons! Give us weapons!" someone yelled at Chloe. "Give us the guns!" "The guns are useless!" Chloe screamed back. "Look at them! They're all turning into monsters!" "You!" Emma suddenly pointed a finger at Chloe, her voice dripping with venom. "This is all your fault!" "What?" Chloe stared, stunned. "You hoarded all the weapons!" Emma accused wildly. "If we had good guns from the start, David wouldn't have turned!" "What does that have to do with anything?" Chloe shot back. "Of course it does!" Marcus joined in. "You selfishly stockpiled everything! We didn't have enough firepower to protect ourselves!" "You're all insane!" Chloe clutched her handbag. "These weapons are mine!" "You're still thinking about yourself at a time like this?" Sarah screamed. "We're going to die! We're all going to die!" The argument grew louder, more vicious. Just then, the air shimmered. Liam appeared out of thin air, clutching a blood-soaked Emma. "I've got her!" he panted. "The teleport works!" But Emma was thrashing in his arms, letting out an ear-splitting scream. "Let me go! Let me go!" Her shriek was louder than anything before. The air shimmered again, and Liam teleported with her to another corner. But Emma's screaming didn't stop. It grew more hysterical. "I want out! I want out!" Every time Liam teleported, Emma's screams grew wilder. And with every scream, the symptoms in the others worsened. Liam realized what was happening, but it was too late. With every "rescue," he was just making things worse. He wasn’t a savior. He was a catalyst. His teleports, Emma's shrieks, their own panicked screams—it was a symphony of death, and he was its conductor. "Stop! Liam! Stop teleporting!" Chloe yelled in desperation. But Liam was exhausted. He collapsed on the floor. His teleport ability had a limit, and he had reached it. The chaos in the house hit its peak. Gunshots, screams, roars, arguments—all the sounds mixed together into a hell of pure noise. I glanced at the decibel meter on my monitor. The needle was slamming into the red. 80... 90... 100... The warning light flashed like a rave. And on my other screen, the green dots of my family's life signs blinked out. One. By. One. Chapter 6 Day three. "Is anyone alive? Please, answer me!" The voice came from the family channel, filled with terror and despair. It was Aunt Linda, but she sounded nothing like the elegant woman she used to be. "I'm in the wine cellar! Is anyone else alive?" "Me too!" Uncle Marcus's voice trembled. "But I can hear monsters all over the place!" I watched the carnage inside the house on my monitors. Bodies were strewn across the living room, the carpet stained a deep brown with blood. The family members who had been laughing and chatting just days ago were now either shambling monsters or lifeless corpses. Only four were still alive, hiding in the wine cellar. Linda, Marcus, and two of my younger cousins, Kevin and Tom. "Where's Liam?" Kevin's voice was young and terrified. "What about his teleport ability?" "He passed out!" Marcus answered. "He used it too many times. He's completely exhausted!" "What do we do now?" Tom sobbed. "We're going to die in here!" Muffled sobs came from the cellar. "What is happening?" Linda asked, breaking down. "Why are people turning without being bitten?" "It's because someone was infected from the start!" a sharp voice suddenly cut in. Chloe. She was still alive. "What do you mean?" Marcus asked urgently. "Think about it!" Chloe's voice was laced with a hysterical paranoia. "David was the first to turn, but he was acting weird before that! He must have been infected all along and spread it to the others!" "But he didn't have any wounds," Kevin said weakly. "Who knows?" Chloe retorted. "Maybe he got scratched while he was on patrol outside! Maybe the wound was too small to see!" "What about the others?" Tom asked. "Why did Emma and James also..." "Because David infected them!" Chloe interrupted. "This virus must spread in a way we don't understand!" "Are you saying..." Marcus's voice was filled with dread. "I'm saying the infection is already in this room!" Chloe shrieked. "One of us is a ticking time bomb!" The wine cellar went silent. Then it erupted into a furious argument. "You're crazy!" Linda said angrily. "None of us have symptoms!" "Not now, but that doesn't mean you won't!" Chloe shot back. "David looked normal right before he turned!" "By your logic, you're a suspect too!" Kevin shouted. "Me?" Chloe's voice got even sharper. "I've been with everyone the whole time! And I have weapons to protect myself!" "The weapons again!" Marcus exploded. "You're still hung up on those damn weapons!" "If you had just listened to me about managing them, maybe so many people wouldn't be dead!" Chloe countered. "Bullshit!" Tom roared. "It's because you selfishly hoarded them that we didn't have enough firepower!" The argument escalated, each of them pointing fingers at the others. Fear had stripped them of all reason. Just then, a cold, electronic tone sounded. [Emergency Protocol Activated: Channel Permissions Reset.] [All Admin Privileges Revoked.] "What?" they all gasped. [Channel Permissions Reset to System Default.] [Updating Game Information.] I sat up straight. It was finally time. [System Announcement Updating...] [Update Complete.] A new announcement appeared on everyone's screen. [Reckoning Game - Phase 1 Rules] [VIRUS TYPE: NOISE-ACTIVATED VIRUS] [ACTIVATION CONDITION: SUSTAINED EXPOSURE TO 60+ DECIBELS] [TRANSMISSION METHOD: AIRBORNE. NO DIRECT CONTACT REQUIRED.] [INCUBATION PERIOD: VARIES. FASTER ONSET WITH STRONGER NOISE STIMULATION.] [NOTE: Virus activation method has been updated: Noise-Activated, Airborne.] The channel fell deathly silent. A few seconds later, it was filled with a new kind of despair. "Noise-activated?" Linda's voice trembled. "That's impossible!" "Airborne?" Marcus was practically screaming. "Then we're... we're all..." "We were lied to," Kevin sobbed, his voice cracking. "The whole game... it was a lie from the start." "Wait," Tom choked out. "The last line. Look at the last line!" [NOTE: Virus activation method has been updated.] "Updated?" Chloe's voice was a raw, terrified screech. "What the hell does it mean, updated?" They all realized the horrifying truth at the same time. The announcement had been edited.