Chapter: Chapter 69: A Warning from Thousands of Miles Away"Couldn't they have raised literally anything else? Had to be a hundred dogs, and now my van's got a chunk missing.""Count yourself lucky. Saw a guy back there with a chunk missing out of his skull."...Jake studied the claw marks scarring his vehicle. The deepest gouges, courtesy of the buffalo-sized one, cut a good tenth of an inch into the panel enough to genuinely bother him.Easier to wreck something than build it, as always.All that grinding, all that time pouring into upgrades, and a handful of strays nearly undid it in minutes. Where was the fairness in that?Still, he had it better than most. Plenty of vehicles across the Caravan were far less reinforced than his and had taken much worse holes of every size scattered across their bodies.Word was two vehicles had their windows smashed clean through, everyone inside killed on the spot, left behind in that village for good.Jake grabbed some water and gave his vehicle a quick rinse, washing off the filth of dog blood smeared
Last Updated: 2026-09-06
Chapter: Chapter 68: Zombie Dog"Huh, looks like something ate this guy's leg.""Yeah, seriously. Bone's bitten clean through that's a serious bite force.""You two are bored or something? Why does that matter right now?"Some lingered over the severed leg, curious. Others couldn't care less, more focused on actually collecting supplies than staring at a corpse.Jake noticed it too. He stepped closer, crouched down to inspect the bite marks on the exposed bone, curious what could've done that kind of damage.Right as he leaned in, his line of sight passed straight through the gap where the legs used to be, out through the shattered window and landed on a pair of glowing green eyes staring back from the room next door."...A zombie dog?"Jake wasn't entirely sure that's what it actually was. Once the virus got involved, anything could end up twisted into something else.The second it registered living people, the thing in the next room went feral, lunging with startling speed.The two buildings sat close together, te
Last Updated: 2026-09-05
Chapter: Chapter 67: Setting Off AgainThe radiation crisis had cost the Caravan over a dozen lives outright, with another dozen still fighting off lingering sickness, futures uncertain.Total headcount had dropped from over eighty down to under seventy.During the rest days, people had died in camp almost daily, mostly those without a healing card, or without enough to trade for one. Small mercy for the survivors, at least skipping the grueling travel gave their bodies real time to recover, and the improvement showed clearly after a few days.The crisis had driven healing card prices to absurd heights. Jake took the opportunity to sell off two, trading them for a serious haul of supplies.His doomsday chariot kept getting more powerful, sure, but the energy demand scaled right alongside it. Fuel consumption per hundred miles had climbed to genuinely alarming levels, even with the efficiency boost from his entry card factored in.He still held three healing cards, but had no plans to trade any more away, better to keep the
Last Updated: 2026-09-05
Chapter: Chapter 66: The Death of GrantThe Caravan kept up pressure on Blake, but with the regular members fractured and unwilling to fall in line behind anyone, they never coalesced into anything with real teeth.The whole thing dragged into the evening with Grant's punishment still unannounced.As the hour got later, dissatisfaction lingered, but nobody actually wanted to stand watch all night. The crowd slowly thinned out.Jake watched it happen and shook his head."Bunch of stragglers. Couldn't even manage to actually kill the guy. No wonder people push them around."What Jake didn't know Blake wasn't protecting Grant purely out of image management. The fusion card factored in heavily too.For men like them, landing a fusion card wasn't easy to come by. Once Blake accepted it, executing Grant afterward became basically impossible.How would that look to his own men going forward? No better to grit his teeth and hold the line.Jake headed back to his van. He'd been living out of it the past several days, and after every
Last Updated: 2026-09-03
Chapter: Chapter 65: Taking Everyone DownThe moment Rachel handed over the video, the whole situation flipped.The Caravan had figured this was already wrapped up, finding out there was still a show left to watch had everyone perking up, practically ready to cheer.Watching that crowd of eager onlookers, Lenny's face drained of all color, humiliation crushing down on him.Instinctively, he shot a pleading look toward Grant.Grant wasn't even looking his way, though too busy running the math on how to cut him loose cleanly.Once Blake finished reviewing Rachel's footage, he turned to Lenny. "Anything else to say for yourself?""Captain, I" Lenny's instinct was to argue his way out.But the footage laid it all out, evidence solid as bedrock. No amount of talking his way around it was going to work."Take him." Blake gave the order the second Lenny ran out of anything to say.Lenny's composure shattered completely. He'd been counting on Grant to bail him out and Grant was standing there, silent, offering nothing.Clear enough t
Last Updated: 2026-09-03
Chapter: Chapter 64: Turning the TablesLenny was seconds from losing it entirely. What good was this woman if all she did was cry?He genuinely wanted to storm over and slap some sense into her, but held back.No noise. Wake Vance up now, and the whole plan died on the spot.Time kept ticking. No matter how he threatened her or tried coaxing in a hushed voice, Rachel just stared back with tear-filled eyes and shook her head, not even willing to pick up the dagger. Lenny was practically vibrating with rage.Useless. Absolutely useless partner.With every passing second raising the odds of Vance waking up, and the plan this close to done, Lenny's patience snapped. He grabbed the dagger himself and crept toward Vance, still deep asleep.Vance's enhancement was mediocre at best, Perception nothing special either, and two straight days of exhaustion had knocked him out cold. Not a flicker of awareness.Not until Lenny drove the blade straight into his chest did Vance's eyes snap open in agony far too late by then.A blade throu
Last Updated: 2026-09-02
Chapter: Chapter 37: Playing With FireShe wasn't the naive girl she used to be, not by a long shot. "Jake, seriously, let's just go. I'll handle this from here. I still know people who can smooth this over," Nicole said, genuine worry creasing her face.She tried tugging Jake back toward the car, but the heavily made-up woman standing beside Frank wasn't having it hands planted on her hips, she let loose with a string of crude threats."Oh, you think you're just walking away from this? Dream on. Get comfortable, because you're about to learn a hard lesson. You hit my husband! Do you have any idea who you're dealing with?" the woman snapped, thick with a local attitude.Something about the way she carried herself made it clear Frank wasn't just some random rich guy. Nobody drove around in a car like that for no reason.Jake ignored her entirely, gently taking hold of Nicole's arm instead."Nicole, this is a fight between men, not your problem to solve. Get in the car. I'd rather these lowlifes' blood not end up on your out
Last Updated: 2026-09-06
Chapter: Chapter 36: ShakingThe heavyset man made zero effort to hide his interest in Nicole. She was visibly rattled underneath it all, but held her chin up, staring him down without backing off an inch."I hit your car because you deserved it. I was already pulling into that spot you cut me off. That's on you," Nicole shot back, refusing to budge.The second she spoke, her voice bright, clear, effortlessly composed only seemed to delight him further, and he burst out laughing."Gorgeous and got a voice like that? You're a walking heart-attack, you know that? You go to school around here? How about I just... keep you," the man said, utterly shameless."Keep your own sister. I've got plenty of money already."A cold, flat voice cut through the moment right as the man reached for Nicole's arm, and every head turned toward the source.Nicole, in particular, felt something warm bloom in her chest watching Jake step forward like that. He wasn't dressed anywhere near as expensively as this man, but in that moment, se
Last Updated: 2026-09-05
Chapter: Chapter 35: VictoryNicole had genuinely been ready to snap back at Jake for the "darling" comment but the second she heard "braised pork belly, every day, for a month," every trace of irritation melted right out of her.Truth was, she'd never actually been that angry to begin with. It was more that things between her and Jake were moving faster than she quite knew how to process, even accounting for her own failed engagement in the past.Because despite that engagement, Nicole's body had never actually been touched by any man before. If she was being completely honest with herself she was still untouched, still very much a maiden in every real sense.The three of them settled in and started eating properly."Hey are you two free to come to the bank with me later? I want to pull some cash out to help renovate your shop. Think of it as my investment," Nicole said between bites, glancing at Jake.Jake nearly choked on a mouthful of rice. That was not remotely what he'd expected to hear."Wait, hold on, are
Last Updated: 2026-09-03
Chapter: Chapter 34: The BetJake cooked up a fresh batch of braised pork belly. Within minutes, the whole living room filled with a rich, mouthwatering aroma that pulled both women straight off the couch mid-show.Nicole, halfway through popping a wedge of orange into her mouth, froze and set it down entirely."Amy, what is that smell? It's incredible, do you guys have a professional chef living next door or something?" Nicole asked, genuinely puzzled.She hadn't clocked yet that the smell was coming from her own kitchen and assumed it had to be drifting over from somewhere else. Amy sniffed the air too, brow furrowed."Wait, that can't be right, why does it smell like it's coming from our kitchen? That's got to be the pork belly my brother's making," Amy said, thoroughly confused.Even as she said it, Amy gave a skeptical little laugh. She'd literally watched that same dish turn into charcoal a few minutes earlier. There was no version of reality where it smelled like this now.Nicole's expression relaxed with
Last Updated: 2026-09-02
Chapter: Chapter 33: Bad Luck PersonifiedJake was still grinning. Even with Frank Wallace ducking behind a heavily made-up woman for cover, Jake didn't hold back for a second. He grabbed a rotten egg and hurled it straight at her overdone hairdo.It connected with a wet crack, splattering across her scalp. Rancid yolk and egg white dripped down through her makeup in thick, foul-smelling streaks.The stench alone was enough to turn stomachs nearby and that was just the opening act. The moment the rotten egg fully soaked into her clothes and skin...A disheveled man who looked like he'd wandered straight off the street came shuffling over, eyes wild and fixed on her with unmistakable hunger."Well now, aren't you a vision! Been ages since I've seen skin that soft. Come with me, sweetheart, I've got a nice big bed waiting," the man leered, practically drooling.Classic chain-reaction fallout from the rotten egg. The "unlucky bastard" curse had officially kicked in. And the thing was, there were women standing right there who we
Last Updated: 2026-09-02
Chapter: Chapter 32: Not Buying ItBut the more Nicole tried to explain, the less Amy seemed willing to hear it. Worse, she'd started mimicking Nicole's exact tone right back at her, mockingly."Uh-huh, sure, a 'game.' What kind of game exactly? One of those adult games?" Amy said, deadpan. "Anyway, I'm gonna go read. You two enjoy... whatever this is." She capped it off with a ridiculous face aimed squarely at a mortified Nicole before skipping off toward her room, thoroughly pleased with herself.Left alone in the kitchen, Jake and Nicole just stared at each other."This is entirely your fault, you useless man. Now Amy thinks whatever she thinks. How am I supposed to show my face at your place again after this?" Nicole started yanking off her apron, genuinely irritated.Jake caught her hand, trying to calm her down. "Come on, don't stoop to a thirteen-year-old's level here. Besides, it's not like we actually did anything. Why does it even matter what she thinks?"That was, without question, the wrong thing to say. Ni
Last Updated: 2026-09-01
