The pounding didn't stop. It changed. What had been frantic became methodical, each impact arriving just far enough apart to feel deliberate instead of desperate, as though the mass outside had settled into a single unyielding purpose and intended to keep applying pressure until something finally gave.
The barricade held, the warped shelving locked into the reinforced frame in a way that shouldn't have worked as well as it did, but every strike still carried through the structure and into the floor beneath their feet.
Arty sat with his back against a steel column, his head tilted slightly forward, eyes half-focused on nothing and everything at once.
The world had narrowed to his breathing, his pulse, and the dull ache spreading through his chest...
The system hovered.
Level: 1
Debt: 1,000,000,000
Crystals Held: 0
He stared at the zeros longer than he should have, not because it surprised him, rather because it seemed to mean something now.
Leah crouched in front of him, one hand still resting lightly against his shoulder as if checking that he hadn't slipped further than he realised. "You pushed too hard," she said quietly.
He let out a slow breath. "Yeah."
"Is that a one-time thing or is it going to drop you every time you use it?" Dale asked, before Leah could.
"Don't know yet."
Leah nodded once, absorbing that without liking it. "Then we have to assume worst case."
"Sounds fair." Arty chortled.
Tom leaned against a nearby rack, arms folded, watching the barricade as if staring at it long enough might convince it to become permanent. "They're not leaving," he said.
"No… They won't, they seem to know we are here." Arty replied.
Dale shifted on the pallet, a low exhale slipping through his teeth as he adjusted his position.
"So what's the play then?" he asked. "Because unless one of you has a plan that involves us teleporting out of here, we've got a reinforced door and no way to actually clear what's outside it."
Arty closed his eyes for a second, not to rest, he needed to think, the system had given him something real and useful, metal manipulation, he wasn't super strong or overly efficient yet.
It had also taken everything he had, in order to do what he'd just done, he opened his eyes again and focused on the panel.
Options.
Convert.
Upgrade.
Nothing new, no hidden solution waiting politely for him to notice it, "Of course not… The system didn't solve problems… It priced them." He thought.
The pounding shifted again, a heavier impact landing low against the barricade, followed by a dragging scrape as something outside slid down the metal before climbing back up to push again.
"They're stacking properly now, not just walking into it." Tom said.
"Yeah… They're learning," Leah added.
Arty nodded slowly, that confirmed what he had already felt, time didn't just work for them, it worked against them too, the longer they stayed, the worse it would get.
"We can't hold this forever," he said.
Leah's eyes flicked to him. "Then what, what other options do we have?"
"We use it, this buys us time to move, not time to sit." he replied.
"To where?" Tom asked.
Arty didn't answer immediately, the truth was he didn't have somewhere better. Not yet… The warehouse was good, not perfect by no means long-term. Better than the house. Certainly better than the open road. Even so, the warehouse still felt temporary.
Which meant they needed something else, something that could grow with them, the thought settled in with a weight that felt almost as heavy as the system itself.
This wasn't about surviving today, it was about building something that could survive tomorrow.
The panel flickered before another line quietly expanded beneath the previous notification, the System apparently deciding it wasn't quite finished with him yet.
Objective Updated
Arty's focus snapped to it, he hadn't selected anything, he hadn't asked for anything, even still the system didn't care, it updated anyway.
The line expanded.
Establish a sustainable settlement
He let out a slow breath. "There it is," he murmured.
"What?" Leah asked.
"The first real instruction." he replied.
She frowned. "Define instruction?"
He nodded toward the space around them. "This isn't it."
Tom looked around. "Looks pretty good compared to outside."
"For now, yes… But this isn't a long-term solution." Arty said.
Dale gave a tired laugh. "Long-term? Mate, I'm just trying to make it through to tonight."
Arty glanced at him. "Exactly."
Silence settled for a moment, broken only by the steady impacts against the barricade.
Then Leah spoke. "So what… we leave?"
It wasn't a question, it was a decision forming in real time.
Arty nodded once. "Yeah."
Tom pushed off the rack. "And go where?"
Arty stood slowly, the lingering fatigue pulling at him but not stopping him. He walked toward the nearest aisle and looked deeper into the warehouse, this time not scanning for threats but for resources.
As he looked around, he noticed; shelving, metal stock, tools and machinery, and he noticed the forklift sitting right where Tom left it, its battery indicator dark but intact.
"This place gives us materials, not safety." he said.
Leah followed him a few steps, her eyes tracking the same space. "You're thinking bigger."
"I'm thinking more along the line of what's necessary." Arty replied.
Tom joined them. "You've got a place in mind?"
Arty shook his head. "Not yet."
"That's comforting." Tom mumbled.
"It will be, when we find something that actually works." Arty said.
The system flickered again, a different line this time.
Scan available: 1 use
Arty froze. "That's new."
Leah noticed immediately. "What's new?"
"There's a scan option, just one use though." he said slowly.
"what can it scan?" Dale asked.
He focused on it, the text expanded.
Scan environment for optimal settlement location
His pulse kicked, Arty read out the message.
"No kidding… That, is actually useful." Tom said letting out a low whistle.
Leah's expression tightened. "What does this one cost?"
Arty checked, there's nothing listed next to it as a cost, that alone was more than enough to make him wary. "No cost shown."
"That feels worse," she said immediately.
"Yeah, it really does." Because free didn't exist.
Not here, not anywhere this system touched, the pounding on the barricade intensified again, the metal groaning under the sustained pressure.
Time, it always comes down to time, Arty looked at the scan option, one use, no cost and no further explanation. Exactly the kind of thing that would either save them… Or screw them in a way he wouldn't see coming until it was too late.
Tom shifted his weight. "We don't have the luxury of overthinking this."
Leah didn't take her eyes off Arty. "No. We really don't."
Dale leaned back against the pallet. "At this point, I'm voting for anything that gets us out of this building before that door decides it's had enough."
Arty exhaled slowly, decision time again, everything came down to that, how much to spend, how big was the risk, always keep moving, he focused on the panel. "Scan. Confirm."
For a split second… nothing happened, then the world changed, not physically and not in the way the metal had responded, this was different.
His vision expanded, not wider, but deeper, lines spread outward from his position, faint at first, then clearer, mapping space in a way his brain struggled to process.
Structures highlighted themselves, buildings shifting in his awareness as if ranked by something he didn't fully understand breaking up distances, access, defensibility and resources.
All of it layered over the real world like a second reality trying to overlay itself onto the first, Arty staggered slightly as the information hit.
Leah grabbed his arm. "Arty… are you alright?"
"I'm good," he said.
Though his voice came out tighter than he intended, the map stabilised, one location pulsed brighter than the rest. Positioned at the edge of the industrial district where it met a stretch of undeveloped land and scattered high-rise construction.
A partially completed complex, multiple structures, elevated access, limited entry points, more than enough space to grow, his breath slowed. "That's it," he said quietly.
"What is?" Tom asked.
"I can see our next move." Arty said.
Leah studied him. "You're sure?"
Arty didn't answer immediately, because the system updated again, one final line appearing beneath the scan result.
Warning: high threat zone
He smiled slightly, not because it was good, because it was honest. "Yeah… I'm sure." he said.
Behind them, the barricade groaned under another heavy impact, inside, the system settled. Outside, the world kept closing in.
Arty looked at the highlighted location one more time, then he looked back at the door, then at the people around him, and the decision locked into place with a clarity that cut through everything else.
"We're probably not going to survive this." he said quietly.
Leah frowned. "What… what do you mean by that?"
He met her eyes. "We're building something that does."
The words settled over the warehouse, heavier than the silence that followed, nobody spoke. The groan of twisting metal rolled through the loading bay again, longer this time. One of the steel shelving units shuddered as another body slammed into the barricade from outside.
Tom broke the silence first. "Then we'd better not waste whatever lead you've just earned us."
Arty nodded. "Take only what keeps us alive, and doesn't slow us down."
Leah immediately moved towards the medical supplies while Tom disappeared into the warehouse office. Within seconds, drawers opened and cupboards slammed shut as everyone gathered whatever could be carried without slowing them down.
Dale eased himself onto his feet, wincing as the pain in his side reminded him he wasn't ready for another fight. "I'm good enough," he muttered before anyone could tell him to stay behind.
Arty walked towards the barricade, his fingers brushed the twisted steel beams he had forced into place earlier. Every scrape and bend reminded him how close the fight had been, the scan marker still hovered in the corner of his vision.
It hadn't moved, whatever waited there... it was still waiting, he reached out with his ability, the metal vibrated softly beneath his control before settling into a new shape.
Just enough that, when the time came, the final obstruction could be pulled aside in seconds instead of minutes, every second mattered now.
Tom jogged back into view, swinging a ring of keys around one finger. "The Ute still starts."
"I'll take that as today's second miracle." Dale responded.
Tom snorted. "I think we've already used our quota for today."
Another heavy impact shook the barricade, dust drifted from the warehouse roof. Arty took one last look around the warehouse, only an hour ago... This place had been nothing more than somewhere to hide.
Now... It was the place where everything had changed, he drew a slow breath.
Leah looked up. "It looks like we're out of time."
"Let's go." Arty replied.
Tom climbed behind the wheel while Leah helped Dale into the passenger seat. Arty waited until the engine rumbled to life before reaching out one final time.
The twisted steel groaned, a narrow gap opened just wide enough for the Ute to squeeze through.
As soon as it cleared the loading bay... He released his hold. The barricade collapsed back into place with a deafening crash.
The infected threw themselves against the wrong entrance, unaware their prey had already slipped away.
The Ute rolled out onto the empty industrial street, behind them... The warehouse disappeared around the corner.
Ahead... Only one destination remained… The glowing scan marker.