LOSS System: Last Store Standing

Night covered the wasteland, and the distant lights gradually came into clearer view.

Fifteen streetlights stretched along the wooden poles, beginning near the convenience store and continuing past the trading post toward the residential area. Light spilled through the convenience store’s glass doors and windows, while the canopies outside the shelter and new trading post were brightly illuminated.

Against the endless darkness, the settlement looked like a tear in the night, its roads and buildings outlined by the light.

The refugees looked up, and their noisy conversations gradually faded.

Derek stared at the settlement as his expression darkened.

It was larger and brighter than when he had left. The new trading post, the shelter, and the broad canopies all stood clearly beneath the lights.

Nolan and the others lived there now, eating Jack’s food and using the water Jack provided. Derek, meanwhile, had been driven out in front of everyone and left to wander the wasteland with Bryce, Curtis, and Wes.

Hatred churned inside him as he stared at the lights.

Nolan and the others had once been too afraid to raise their voices around him. Now they willingly stayed here and worked for Jack. They had even testified against Derek in front of everyone.

Ungrateful bastards.

Did they think a few comfortable days under Jack’s protection meant they were finally free of him?

And Jack. What right did he have to possess all of this?

The convenience store, the vehicles, the shelter, and everyone gathered here should have been under Derek’s command.

All he needed was for the people behind him to keep moving forward. Once chaos broke out, neither Jack nor those traitors would be able to remain safely beneath the lights.

Derek stopped and turned toward the refugees, pointing ahead.

“Do you all see it? That’s the place I told you about!”

As the group drew closer, the roads and canopies beneath the lights became clearer.

“Look at them!” Derek shouted. “They’re living comfortably in there while they couldn’t care less whether the rest of us live or die!”

Murmurs spread through the crowd.

The refugees stared at the brightly lit settlement and remembered the rejection delivered through the drone. The resentment they had been holding back quickly resurfaced.

“What right do they have to send us away?”

“They’re leaving us to die!”

Derek immediately seized on their anger.

“They know exactly what it’s like out here, but they still refuse to let us come near! If they don’t care whether we live or die, then we’ll go there ourselves!”

People began shouting in agreement. Bryce, Curtis, and Wes joined in from different parts of the crowd, urging everyone forward.

The group, which had begun to slow down, started moving again. Their pace quickly grew faster.

Their shouts carried through the darkness and came clearly through the drone to Jack and the others.

Elias watched the crowd accelerate on the screen.

“Get ready,” he told Henry.

Henry nodded and tightened his grip on the revolver. Mort stood beside him with a cold expression.

Nolan, Eli, and the others looked especially grim. They had only just found a stable place to live, yet Derek had returned with a crowd, threatening the peace they had worked so hard to build.

Jack stood at the front with the submachine gun in his hands. He listened to the shouting coming through the drone without speaking.

After a moment, he looked at the approaching crowd and slowly tightened his grip on the weapon.

Before long, the twenty or thirty refugees reached the SEFP perimeter.

Only then did they realize that the settlement was even more astonishing than it had appeared from a distance.

Streetlights illuminated the entire area. Beneath the canopies outside the shelter and new trading post, everything was almost as bright as day. More than a dozen unfamiliar machines continued running, sending streams of cold air through the illuminated space.

The air reaching the refugees was no longer as scorching. Those at the front could even feel traces of coolness in the intermittent breeze.

They stopped without realizing it, their gazes moving between the lights, buildings, and unfamiliar equipment beyond the fence. Murmurs spread through the crowd once again.

Jack stood inside the entrance, looking at Derek without expression.

“What do you want?”

Derek glanced back at the refugees and put on a troubled expression.

“What else can I do? They have nowhere left to go. I can’t just stand by and watch all these people die outside.”

He pointed beyond the fence.

“Let everyone in. Give everyone enough food and water. We’ll need somewhere to stay, cooling equipment, and everything else you have in there. Nothing can be left out.”

He paused before adding, “You have so many supplies. You should share them with everyone. Don’t you all agree?”

“Yes!”

Voices immediately rose from the crowd.

The people behind Jack looked furious at Derek’s shameless demands. Mort stared coldly at him, while Nolan, Eli, and the others could barely contain their anger.

Bryce, Curtis, and Wes had scattered throughout the crowd and were quietly stirring up the people around them. More refugees began shouting accusations at Jack, and those at the front gradually pressed closer to the entrance.

Mort was about to speak when Jack raised a hand, signaling for everyone behind him to remain calm.

Once the shouting outside had eased slightly, Jack spoke without expression.

“I won’t agree to any of those demands.”

Angry curses immediately erupted beyond the fence, but Jack ignored them.

“There’s water in the pit. If you need it, you can go there and drink. Once you’re done, leave.”

“That’s all you’re giving us? Water?”

“What right do you have to drive us away?”

“Why should you live comfortably while the rest of us suffer?”

The crowd grew restless again. Derek remained at the front, still pretending to be troubled, though the satisfaction in his eyes was becoming harder to hide.

Nolan finally stepped forward.

“Derek lied to all of you!” he shouted through the entrance. “He used to lead us around extorting and robbing people. Do you really think he cares whether you survive? He’s using you to get revenge!”

Before Derek could answer, Nolan continued.

“The ten of us used to be part of his group too. Haven’t you wondered why only the four of them are still together while the rest of us stayed here? Derek caused trouble and got himself driven out!”

Bryce, Curtis, and Wes immediately began shouting from within the crowd, accusing Nolan of making up lies to slander Derek so he could keep his place in the settlement.

The false concern vanished from Derek’s face as he stared at Nolan.

“You traitors had better watch yourselves.”

Nolan and the others glared back at him.

Derek turned to the refugees and raised his voice.

“If they won’t show us any mercy, then we don’t owe them any either! Rush the entrance together! Once we’re inside, we’ll be the ones in control!”

The crowd broke into confusion.

Some refugees began moving toward the entrance, stirred up by Derek’s words. Others remained where they were, unwilling to take that final step.

Bryce, Curtis, and Wes kept shouting from different parts of the crowd, urging everyone not to be afraid. Several people near the front were pushed from behind and stumbled forward, rapidly narrowing the distance between the two sides.

Bang!

A gunshot tore through the night.

Henry stood with the revolver aimed into the air. The crowd stopped, and the chaotic shouting vanished.

“Anyone who wants to die can keep coming!” he shouted.

No one moved.

The refugees stared at the revolver in Henry’s hand. Bryce, Curtis, and Wes immediately fell silent and slipped behind the people around them.

Derek saw the crowd he had worked so hard to provoke brought to a halt by a single shot.

“He’s only trying to scare you!” he shouted. “There are so many of us. Do you really think he’ll shoot?”

No one answered.

After a moment, one man near the front seemed to gather his courage. He clenched his teeth and charged toward the entrance.

Another gunshot rang out.

The man stumbled sideways, clutched his thigh, and collapsed. His cries of pain filled the silence.

The people who had been preparing to follow stopped immediately, staring at him in disbelief.

Only then did they understand that Henry’s warning had been real.

No one dared approach the entrance again. Several refugees near the front even began backing away.

Derek shouted several more times, but no one responded. His expression darkened as the two sides settled into a tense standoff across the entrance.

Jack kept his attention on the crowd outside and failed to notice Derek slipping a hand beneath his clothes.

Without warning, Derek pulled out a short knife and charged straight at him.

Light flashed across the blade as the point drove toward Jack’s chest.

By the time Jack heard the rushing footsteps and reacted, Derek was already in front of him. The knife was too close for him to dodge.

“Watch out!”

Nolan slammed into Jack from the side, knocking him out of the way just as Derek thrust the knife forward.

The blade struck Nolan beneath the arm near his ribs, and his body jerked from the impact.

“Nolan!”

Jack barely caught his balance before his mind went blank.

Gritting his teeth, Nolan wrapped both arms around Derek and held him back, refusing to let him get any closer to Jack.

Derek tore the knife free and struggled to break away, but Nolan refused to release him.

“Get off me!”

Derek raised the knife again and drove it toward Nolan.

Rage surged through Jack. He swung up the submachine gun, but before he could pull the trigger, another gunshot tore through the night.

Bang!

Derek’s body jerked, and the knife stopped only a short distance from Nolan.

Nolan released him and stumbled backward. Jack immediately caught him, pulled him behind himself, and kept the submachine gun trained on Derek.

Derek remained on his feet for a moment before slowly turning toward the gunshot.

Henry stood a short distance away with both hands on the revolver, the barrel still aimed steadily at him.

Light fell across Derek’s face, revealing the disbelief in his eyes. He had never expected Henry to actually shoot him.

The knife slipped from Derek’s hand and struck the ground with a clear metallic sound.

Silence spread across both sides of the fence.

The refugees stared at what had just happened. Bryce, Curtis, and Wes had gone pale and remained hidden among the crowd, too frightened to move.

Derek swayed but did not fall.

Instead, he looked past Jack and Nolan toward the brightly lit settlement.

The fifteen streetlights were still shining. Cold air continued flowing beneath the canopies outside the shelter and new trading post, while the convenience store stood untouched farther in the distance.

The disbelief in Derek’s eyes gave way to resentment.

Everything had been right in front of him, yet Jack was still standing beneath the lights, and Nolan had stopped him once again.

The convenience store, the vehicles, and all the people gathered around Jack still did not belong to him.

Derek’s lips moved, but no words came out.

He managed one unsteady step before his body finally gave way.

Derek collapsed at the edge of the settlement, just beyond the reach of the lights.