The sky was a bleached gray by morning, choked with clouds that didn't move. Kaito swore the light felt off, like the sun was faking its warmth. Something was wrong with the air itself. There was a stillness to it, a kind of invisible weight that pressed down on the city like a hand waiting to squeeze. Even without a system warning, his instincts screamed.
He double-checked the locks on the metal-reinforced store door, checked his own breath in the cold air, then grabbed a folded map from beneath the counter. There were no customers today, but he wasn't surprised. People were starting to vanish from the streets.
"We're going out," he told Ayame, who had just finished counting a stock of salvaged light batteries from last night's haul.
She blinked at him, rubbing sleep from her eyes."Where?"
He pointed at the map with a finger scarred by work. "Vendor hub, industrial district. One of the last places that might still have material stockpiles. If I'm going to build that portable barrier wall, I need parts. Steel plates, brackets, anchors... We're scavenging."
Ayame stared at the map for a moment, then nodded. "Danger rating?"
"High," he said without hesitation.
She smiled. "Good. I was getting bored."
The two of them prepped quickly. Kaito double-checked the tools he had modified the night before, especially his distortion emitter. Since he couldn't fight directly, distraction was his best weapon. He knew the terrain. He knew the way.
The world outside the shop had shifted overnight.
The streets were quieter, not in the way peaceful neighborhoods are quiet, but in the way a tomb is quiet. Something was crawling in the spaces between the buildings—fear. Kaito kept a steady pace, leading Ayame through alleyways and broken fences. Most of the main roads were already being monitored by early gangs—wannabe warlords collecting weapons and hoarding gasoline. Opportunists had smelled weakness in the city, and the chaos was giving them the excuse they needed to act.
But Kaito had lived this timeline once before. He remembered the blind spots—the forgotten alleyways, the collapsed overpasses that made good detours. That knowledge was the one thing keeping them alive.
They reached the industrial district by noon. The buildings were massive and skeletal, hollowed by years of disuse. Rust coated the exteriors like blood dried on armor. A few trucks sat abandoned, their windows smashed, their interiors looted.
He held up a hand. "Quiet. There's movement here."
Ayame pulled out a small mirror and angled it around a corner. A flicker of motion reflected.
She mouthed: "Three."
Kaito nodded. Three scavengers. Not zombies. Not yet. Humans. Desperate, armed, and worse—paranoid.
He reached into his coat and pulled out a pocket device he had crafted the night before. A tiny emitter rigged with noise distortion. He tossed it near the far wall.
A loud screech—like metal grinding bone—erupted from the shadows.
The scavengers panicked. One fired at the sound. Another ran. The third crouched and started praying.
By the time they realized the sound was fake, Kaito and Ayame were already inside the warehouse.
It smelled of oil and wet concrete. A half-disassembled assembly line loomed before them like a dead serpent. Metal crates sat piled in the corners. Broken tools and machines covered in dust. Some of the equipment looked almost fresh—as if someone had tried to maintain it even after the plant had shut down.
Ayame opened her satchel and started grabbing small brackets and clamps. "This place is a gold mine."
Kaito nodded, scanning the system interface.
[Quest: Portable Barrier Construction]
Materials Collected: 6/20
Danger Level: Rising
He cursed under his breath. "More are coming. The noise pulled in others."
"Zombies?" she asked, suddenly still.
"Worse. Raiders."
Ayame didn't flinch. She crouched beside a metal grate and flipped it open. "Ventilation tunnel. We can hide until they pass."
"Won't they check it?" he asked.
"Not unless they know I was the one who designed the ventilation system for this district."
Kaito stared at her.
"What?" she said. "Summer internship."
They waited in silence as metal creaked overhead. Heavy boots stomped across concrete. Voices barked orders. Someone laughed cruelly. Something was being dragged. Kaito glanced at Ayame. Her expression was blank, eyes closed. Calm in a way that felt unnatural.
He found himself admiring it—not the calm, but the courage to wear it.
[Meri: Heart rate spike detected. You okay, Kaito?]
"Fine," he whispered. "Just anxious."
[Meri: Good. That means you're still human.]
He almost smiled. Almost.
When the footsteps faded, they emerged into a changed world. The warehouse had been ransacked. One of the crates they'd earmarked was gone. Burned.
Ayame gritted her teeth. "We were too slow."
Kaito shook his head. "We still have what we need. We're adapting."
He checked his list. "We still need steel plates. We'll need to go deeper."
They crossed through broken offices, shattered vending machines, and collapsed beams. Somewhere in the ruins, a crow cawed—then was silenced. Finally, they found the loading bay. Rows of steel panels leaned against a wall. Some were rusted, but others still gleamed with potential.
"Bingo."
Kaito grabbed the first two, stuffed them into the expanding inventory pouch Meri had rewarded him. Ayame was inspecting the edges.
"These are newer than this building. Someone must've delivered them recently."
Kaito frowned. "Which means we're not alone."
[System Alert: Threat Approaching – 120 Seconds]
They froze.
He turned.
Out of the shadows emerged three figures, cloaked in ragged gear and body armor stitched together with leather and bones. Their eyes were hollow. Blood crusted on their gloves. One carried a rusted shotgun. The other two had spears scavenged from construction tools.
"Drop the packs," the leader said.
Kaito didn't speak.
[Meri: Combat restricted. You cannot initiate.]
He looked at Ayame.
She held up a hand.
"Okay," she said, stepping forward. "Let's talk."
The lead raider sneered. "Talk won't save you."
"No, but this might."
She dropped a flare.
It exploded in blinding white light. The warehouse became a sun. Screams rang out.
Kaito grabbed her arm, and they ran.
Through corridors. Over pipes. Down into a sub-hallway. Bullets rang off metal. They didn't stop until they hit the emergency exit.
Outside, the air tasted of rain and soot. The kind of air that told you the city wasn't healing—it was cracking.
They didn't speak until they were ten blocks away. Ayame collapsed onto a bus stop bench, laughing breathlessly.
"I think I peed a little," she said.
Kaito collapsed beside her, coughing. "You're insane."
"Thank you."
He opened the system.
[Quest Update: Portable Barrier Construction – 19/20 Components Acquired]
[Bonus Objective Unlocked: Survive Hostile Encounter – COMPLETE]
[Reward: +60 Coins | Tactical Schematic: Reinforced Anchor Spike]
"Meri," Kaito said. "Store status?"
[Meri: Shop stable. No disturbances. You did good today.]
Ayame leaned her head back against the bus sign. "When do we build the wall?"
"Tomorrow. We reinforce everything tomorrow."
She closed her eyes. "Cool."
Kaito watched the clouds. One of them looked like a mouth, wide open and screaming. The world was eating itself. But at least now, he had teeth to bite back.
Tomorrow, the store becomes a fortress.
Tomorrow, everything changes.