DOOMSDAY LEDGER

Chapter 7: The First Night

The analog clock above the cashier counter read two in the morning. Its loud ticking competed with the sound of raindrops seeping through tiny cracks in the store's leaky roof.

On the tiled floor of Aisle Two, right in front of the snack shelf that Rico had half-looted, four people sat in a circle like campfire participants who had run out of wood. There was no campfire here, only the constant hum of the store's white fluorescent lights and a stack of instant noodle boxes forming a barrier between them and the hell outside.

"This bread tastes like a dish sponge," Rico complained, chewing a slice of white bread that had been flattened when Mr. Bambang accidentally stepped on it earlier. He stared at the bread sadly. "And the jam is gone. Just my luck, just my luck."

"Be grateful, Rico. Out there, people are probably eating their friends," Elian replied coldly. He sat leaning against the beverage chiller, his eyes half-closed, but his ears fully alert. His trusty iron pipe lay across his lap.

Lina sat hugging her knees next to Elian, still clutching her broom tightly as if it were a teddy bear. "Elian... the screaming outside has quieted down a bit, hasn't it?"

Elian opened his eyes, sharpening his hearing. It was true. The hysterical screams and blaring horns that had been echoing moments ago were beginning to subside, replaced by a more terrifying sound: wet chewing, low growls, and the shuffling steps of thousands.

"It hasn't quieted down, Lin," Elian answered softly. "The victims are just gone. The ones who were screaming are either silent now, or they've joined them."

Mr. Hendra, who was busy scribbling something on a leftover receipt with a pen whose ink was clogged, looked up. His face looked ten years older overnight. "Don't talk like that, Elian. Be a little optimistic. Maybe the military has arrived. Maybe they're conducting a silent evacuation."

"Sir, if the military came, we'd hear gunshots or helicopters. It's quiet. Too quiet," Rico countered. He swallowed his bread with difficulty. "Hey, speaking of which, why does the AC feel colder? I swear I set the remote to twenty-five degrees."

Suddenly, the buzzing sound from the fluorescent lights above their heads changed tone. From a steady *zmmm*, it turned into *bzzzt-crackle-bzzzt*. The light flickered wildly like a broken disco ball.

"Oh no! The light's going out!" Lina covered her eyes from the glare.

Outside, through the small ventilation gaps at the top of the noodle box fortress, they could see a drastic change in the world. The orange mercury streetlights suddenly went completely dark. The office building across the street, which had still shown a few emergency lights, was now pitch black. The gigantic digital billboard at the intersection died abruptly.

Blackout. Jakarta was completely paralyzed.

The thick darkness immediately swallowed the entire city. Only occasional flashes of lightning provided brief illumination, revealing the silhouettes of thousands of undead standing still on the highway, as if awaiting instruction.

"Massive power outage..." Mr. Hendra whispered in horror. "The main substation must have exploded or the operators ran away."

"Makes sense, who the hell wants to work at a power station during the apocalypse," Rico commented. Then he realized something. He looked around the store. "Wait a minute. If all of Jakarta is blacked out... why are we still lit?"

All eyes immediately turned to the store ceiling. The long fluorescent light was flickering, but it was still brightly lit. The beverage fridge was still humming. The cash register was still on, displaying the word *ERROR*.

"Generator?" Lina asked innocently.

"Impossible," Mr. Hendra shook his head quickly. "Our generator diesel ran dry ages ago. I checked it myself last week."

Elian felt that strange sensation again. His chest felt heavy, as if a vacuum hose were attached to his heart, slowly draining his energy. An overwhelming drowsiness suddenly hit him—not ordinary sleepiness, but exhaustion down to the bone marrow.

A blue notification appeared floating in front of Elian's face, flashing a red warning.

[Warning: Local Power Grid Disconnected]

[Emergency Mode Active: Human-Grid Link]

[User Elian functioning as Backup Power Source]

[Mana Consumption: 2 Points/Minute]

[Remaining Mana: 15/50]

[Suggestion: Turn off unnecessary electrical loads or User will collapse.]

"Holy crap..." Elian cursed weakly. His head was throbbing. He slumped slightly from his sitting position.

"El! What's wrong? You look really pale!" Rico panicked, moving closer to Elian.

Elian raised his right hand. The tips of his fingers emitted thin smoke and were connected by fine electrical threads that ran to the outlet on the wall next to the chiller. He realized that he had unconsciously "plugged" himself into the store's wiring network.

"I'm..." Elian swallowed, his throat dry. "I'm the generator."

"Huh?" Mr. Hendra gaped. "What do you mean?"

"The store's electricity... is sucking my energy," Elian explained, rubbing his temples. "This damn System automatically turned me into a backup battery when the power grid died. If I don't unplug, I could die of exhaustion."

Instead of worrying, Mr. Hendra's eyes sparkled with amazement. He pulled a pocket calculator from his shirt pocket. "Wait a minute. If you can power the store without the main grid, that means... this month's electricity bill is zero rupiah? Elian, do you know how much operational cost savings that is? This is revolutionary! We can push our fixed costs to the absolute minimum!"

"Sir! I'm dying, and you're calculating costs!" Elian snapped, annoyed. "Turn off the lights! Unplug all the fridges! Hurry!"

"Okay, okay! Don't get emotional, the voltage might spike and the bulbs will explode!" Mr. Hendra hurriedly ran to the rows of refrigerators. He unplugged the ice cream freezer, the beverage showcase, and the sausage chiller.

"Lina, turn off the light switches for Aisle Two and Three! Just leave the front light on!" ordered Rico, who immediately understood the situation.

Lina ran to the switch panel near the storage room door. Click. Click.

Most of the store lights went out. The room became dim, illuminated only by one fluorescent light in the cashier area and the red *Exit* sign above the storage room door. The hum of the cooling units died, leaving a chilling silence.

Elian let out a long sigh. The burden on his chest was drastically reduced.

[Mana Consumption Decreased: 0.1 Points/Minute]

[Mana Regeneration Initiated (Slow)]

"Insane..." Elian wiped the cold sweat from his neck. "I almost died a ridiculous death just to keep the ice cream freezer running."

Rico sat back down next to Elian, looking at his friend with a mix of admiration and amusement. "Seriously, El. You just keep getting weirder. First you were Thor, now you're a walking Power Bank. What's next? A Wi-Fi hotspot?"

"Shut up," Elian gently kicked Rico's foot. "You think this is fun? It feels like a vampire is sucking your blood, but the vampire is an electrical cord."

"But you're super useful, though, El," Rico said, pulling out his cracked-screen phone. "My battery is at ten percent. Can I charge it? Maybe I can plug it into your nose?"

"Pay up," Elian replied curtly, but the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. "One percent battery charge costs one cigarette."

"Oh, come on, you're so stingy with a comrade," Rico grumbled, putting his phone away again.

Mr. Hendra rejoined them, breathing heavily after running around unplugging cables. He sat cross-legged neatly, still trying to maintain his dignity despite his rumpled uniform.

"So," Mr. Hendra began, lowering his voice. "Our current situation: Trapped inside the store. City power is dead, but we have Elian as a living generator—though his capacity is limited. Food is safe for a week. Clean water... we have plenty of gallon stock."

"The toilet, Sir," Lina interrupted shyly. "The toilet water won't run if the water pump isn't on."

Silence for a moment. Sanitation issues are the hidden enemy in any apocalypse scenario.

"I can turn the water pump on briefly," Elian offered a solution. "But it has to be scheduled. We can't flush the toilet every five minutes. We have to conserve... uh, my Mana."

"Is 'Mana' really the term? You play too many RPGs," Rico scoffed.

"It literally says Mana on my screen, idiot. What do you want me to call it? Inner Energy? Chakra? Haki?"

"Haki sounds cool," Rico nodded.

Mr. Hendra cleared his throat loudly, bringing the focus back to the impromptu meeting. "Focus, team. Focus. Now, security. That instant noodle wall is strong, but we don't know how strong. We need a night watch schedule. We can't all sleep at the same time."

"Agreed," Elian said. He straightened his back. "I'll take the first shift. I'm not sleepy yet, and my Mana needs to recharge while I meditate... or whatever this rest is called."

"I'll take the second shift," Rico raised his hand. "I'm used to staying up late guarding the parking lot until dawn. My eyes are trained to spot ghosts or rearview mirror thieves."

"I'll take the third shift," Mr. Hendra said. "I usually wake up at four in the morning for dawn prayers and to prepare to open the store."

"Lina?" Elian asked.

Lina looked down. "I... I don't dare stand guard alone, Elian. I'm scared if I look outside."

"It's okay, Lin. You just sleep. You need rest to calm down from the shock," Elian said gently. Beneath his cynical exterior, Elian had a soft spot for his timid junior. "We guys will take the watch."

"Thank you, Elian..." Lina offered a faint smile, then lay down on a pile of empty boxes used as a sleeping mat. She used her backpack as a pillow.

The atmosphere returned to silence. Rico pulled out the remaining tobacco crumbs from his pocket, trying to re-roll the damp tobacco using an old receipt. It was a pathetic effort.

"Ric," Elian called softly.

"Hm?" Rico was still busy with his roll-up.

"Do you regret taking the night shift?"

Rico stopped rolling. He stared at the dim store ceiling. "Regret? Not really. If I were home, I'd definitely be dead, El. My boarding house is in a narrow, crowded alley. My neighbors on the left and right are a cattle butcher and a market thug. Can you imagine if they turned into zombies? My life would be over in seconds."

Elian nodded. He imagined his own boarding house. His strict landlord and his German Shepherd. If that dog turned... never mind.

"I'm just thinking about my little sister," Rico continued, his voice suddenly hoarse. His comedian mask cracked slightly. "She's at a boarding school in Bogor. I hope she's safe."

"Bogor..." Mr. Hendra, who apparently hadn't slept yet, murmured. "Bogor is the City of Rain. They say the virus spreads through fluids. Hopefully, it's safer there."

"We'll find out later," Elian said firmly. "After we make sure we can get out of here alive."

Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps came from the store roof.

*Thump... Thump... Thump...*

Everyone froze. Their eyes were fixed on the fragile gypsum ceiling.

The steps stopped right above their heads. A scratching sound followed. *Screeech... Screeech...*

Lina, who was just about to drift off, woke up instantly, her eyes wide with terror. Rico gripped his wrench. Mr. Hendra hugged his calculator (again). Elian was already standing, his iron pipe sparking tiny blue arcs.

They held their breath.

Can the zombies climb? Will the roof collapse?

The sound came again. Not a growl, but a... "Meow!"

A cat. Its voice was a terrified shriek. Then came the sound of other, heavier steps chasing it. *Thud!* A loud impact, then the cat's scream was brief and silent.

A faint chewing sound came from above the ceiling. Something was eating the cat on the roof.

"That's... not a person," Rico whispered, his face pale. "People don't run that fast on a tin roof."

"Mutated animal?" Elian guessed. He remembered the *Static Shock* item description mentioning 'pests.' The System hadn't specified that the pests were only human.

"Sleep," Elian commanded, though he was still tense himself. "I'll keep an eye on the roof. As long as the ceiling doesn't cave in, we're safe."

Rico and Mr. Hendra finally succumbed to exhaustion. Within minutes, Mr. Hendra's snoring could be heard, competing with the sound of the rain. Rico slept hugging his wrench. Lina curled up in the corner.

Elian was left alone. Sitting in the cashier's chair, illuminated by the dim glow of the fluorescent light whose energy came from his own body.

He opened the System menu again.

[Daily Quest: Survive the First Night]

[Progress: 90%]

[Reward: +20 XP, +10 Credit Points]

"Credit Points?" Elian muttered. He pressed the *Shop* menu, which was still locked. [Requirement to Unlock Shop: Level 5].

"Still a long way to go," he complained.

Elian looked out through the gap in the noodle box fortress. In the distance, amidst the total darkness, he saw something that made his skin crawl.

Not a zombie.

But a faint purple light pulsed in the sky over central Jakarta. The light pulsed slowly, like a giant heart. And every time the light pulsed, Elian could hear—or rather, feel—a whispering sound in his head.

*...hungry...*

*...wake up...*

Elian shook his head hard, driving the sound away. He gripped his iron pipe tighter. Tonight was just the beginning. And Elian had a bad feeling that tomorrow morning they wouldn't wake up to the sound of birds chirping, but to something far worse than just hungry undead.

"Good night, crazy world," Elian whispered, closing his eyes briefly to conserve Mana, allowing himself to be the only light maintaining sanity inside the cardboard fortress.

***

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