Dancing with the Deaths

CHAPTER 8 - LUCKY STUMBLE

"The last drop," Nana hissed, flipping the glass jar upside down over the checkout counter.

Only fine brown powder fell out, then vanished, carried away by the breeze from the central air conditioning, which was only running at half power.

"It’s gone?" Marsel asked, his voice sounding like a man who had just received a death sentence.

"All gone, sir. Kapal Api, Good Day, Indocafe... everything is zero," Nana said, setting the jar down with a sad *thunk*. "Our caffeine stock is officially bankrupt."

The atmosphere in the emergency break area instantly turned funereal. For apocalypse survivors, coffee wasn't just a drink. It was mental fuel. Without coffee, Marsel’s sanity, which was required to manage inventory, defense strategy, and Pak Budi’s ego, was hanging by a thread.

"This is a management catastrophe!" yelled Pak Budi from the corner of the room. He was sitting atop a stack of instant noodle boxes, dramatically massaging his temples. "How am I supposed to formulate macro-strategies without cerebral cortex stimulation? My head hurts! My migraine is back! This is a severe human rights violation!"

"Quiet, Pak," Marsel muttered, his eyes red from an all-night lack of sleep after installing the CCTV modules. "If you want coffee, go find it yourself."

"Find it myself? Out there?" Pak Budi pointed at the rolling door with a trembling finger. "There are mutant dogs and giant spiders out there! Are you telling an intellectual asset like me to commit suicide?"

Marsel didn't answer. He walked to the server room, his eyes scanning the monitors that now displayed feeds from various city CCTV cameras.

"Wait," Marsel said. He zoomed in on one of the screens.

The screen showed the interior of a 24-hour convenience store, let's call it 'Indomaret', located just two blocks from the A-117 Supermarket. The door was destroyed, the glass shattered, but the shelves behind the cashier looked intact.

And there, neatly lined up in shiny packaging, was the *holy grail*.

Coffee. Sachets. Strips. Various flavors.

"Tyrex," Marsel called.

"Present, Your Majesty!" Tyrex emerged from behind a shelf, his mouth full of cracker crumbs. "Is there an enemy that needs a beating?"

"Not a beating. A retrieval," Marsel pointed at the screen. "There's coffee stock at the store across the street. Two hundred meters away. According to the CCTV feed, the route is clear. Just a few slow Drones."

"Logistics retrieval mission!" Tyrex thumped his chest. "I am ready to deploy!"

"Good," Marsel smirked faintly, then turned to Pak Budi, who was pretending to be busy reading the nutrition label on a can of sardines. "And you, Pak, are leading the mission."

Silence.

Pak Budi dropped the sardine can. *Clang.*

"M-me?" Pak Budi pointed at himself, his eyes wide with horror. "You must be joking. I'm the Financial Manager! I'm a desk jockey! *Back office*! Not field work!"

"Exactly, Pak," Marsel walked closer, patting Pak Budi's stiff shoulder. "Look at your level. Still Level 1. Not all your skills are unlocked yet. We need you to *level up* so your inventory capacity increases. Your 'Panic Hoarding' skill is key to carrying a lot of stuff."

"No! I refuse! I veto this!" Pak Budi backed away, bumping into Nana.

"Pak," Nana smiled sweetly, but her hand was already gripping Pak Budi's shoulder with surprising strength. "If there's no coffee, I can't *heal* optimally. If I can't *heal*, then if you get bitten by a zombie... well, that's your fate."

Pak Budi's face turned pale. Medical threats were his weakness.

"Besides," Marsel added, handing a toy walkie-talkie (loot from the children's section) to Pak Budi. "Tyrex will be your *bodyguard*. You just need to run, grab the coffee, and run back. Simple. I'll monitor everything via camera. It's safe."

"Safe? Your definition of safe is biased!" Pak Budi protested.

"Leaving in five minutes," Marsel concluded, then returned to the server room. "Tyrex, make sure our 'Commander' doesn't run off halfway."

"Roger! Commander Budi will be safe under the protection of my muscles!" Tyrex roared, lifting Pak Budi with one hand as if he were a ventriloquist's dummy.

***

The street was deathly quiet that afternoon, the kind of silence that makes the hairs on your neck stand up. The hot asphalt radiated a heat that made the air shimmer.

"Commander, why are your legs trembling? Are you cold?" Tyrex asked innocently, walking casually while holding his shopping cart shield.

Beside him, Pak Budi walked with a ridiculously hunched posture, trying to blend into the shadows of the haphazardly parked cars. He wore his yellow project helmet and carried a jumbo eco-friendly shopping bag.

"This isn't trembling, this is... tactical vibration," Pak Budi whispered, cold sweat soaking his collar. "Shh! Don't be noisy, you stupid giant! Your voice could cause stock prices to crash—I mean, monsters!"

"Relax, Commander," Marsel's voice came through the walkie-talkie in Pak Budi's pocket. "Left lane is clear. Keep going straight, past that wrecked rickshaw."

"It's easy for you to talk from the AC!" Pak Budi hissed at the walkie-talkie. "If I die, my ghost will haunt your financial reports forever!"

They arrived in front of the target convenience store. The door was gone, leaving only a bent aluminum frame. Inside, the smell of sour milk and dead rats wafted out.

"Go in," Marsel ordered over the radio. "Hurry. Grab coffee, sugar, and cigarettes if you see any. Coffee is the priority."

"I know the priority!" Pak Budi snapped quietly.

He stepped inside cautiously, leaping over a puddle of sticky liquid on the floor. Tyrex stood guard at the entrance, facing the street, his eyes alert.

Pak Budi saw it. The shelf behind the cashier. Caffeine heaven.

"Oh, mama..." Pak Budi whispered. His hands trembled with excitement, not fear.

He vaulted over the cashier counter with surprising agility for a man his age. His passive skill, [Panic Hoarding], automatically activated the moment he saw the pile of valuable goods (coffee).

His hands moved in a blur.

Rip. Rip. Rip.

Strips of Kapal Api, Torabika Duo, Luwak White Coffee... everything went into his jumbo shopping bag. Strangely, the bag seemed to hold much more than its physical volume allowed.

"Magnificent," Pak Budi muttered. "My packing efficiency has increased by 200%."

Suddenly, he heard a sound.

Rustle.

The sound came from the snack aisle, right behind him.

Pak Budi froze. His hand was holding the last strip of coffee. He turned slowly, his neck stiff like a rusted robot.

Perched on top of the chip rack was a small creature. It was only the size of a monkey, but its skin was pale gray and hairless. Its eyes were large, round, and pitch black, staring at Pak Budi with cunning intelligence. The creature had a skin pouch on its belly, like a kangaroo, but it was filled with stolen goods—watches, sardine cans, and... a grenade?

[EKORUPT SCAVENGER (Thief Type) - Lv. 3]

"Chitter!" The creature grinned, showing off tiny, sharp teeth.

"Ty... Tyrex..." Pak Budi squeaked, his voice failing him.

The creature didn't attack Pak Budi. It leaped toward the shopping bag in Pak Budi's hand.

*WHOOSH!*

"MY BAG!" Pak Budi yelled reflexively, hugging the bag tight.

But the Ekorupt Thief was too fast. It snatched the shopping bag with its claws, tearing the side and scattering a few coffee sachets. But the creature wasn't satisfied. It wanted the whole bag.

A tug-of-war ensued.

"Let go! This is a logistical asset!" Pak Budi screamed, his panic overriding his fear. "Give it back! My coffee!"

"Kiiiek!" The creature kicked Pak Budi in the stomach with its hind legs.

"Ugh!" Pak Budi staggered backward, releasing the bag.

The Thief snatched the bag containing the caffeine treasure, then leaped onto the shelf, stuck out its long tongue to mock Pak Budi, and ran toward the back door.

"COFFEEEE!" Pak Budi shrieked hysterically. The scream was so pitiful that Tyrex outside immediately turned around.

"Commander! What is it?!"

"He took the coffee! Chase him! Chase that thief!" Pak Budi pointed dramatically toward the back door.

"Coffee thieves must be executed!" Tyrex roared, running inside and smashing a bread rack in his path.

But the Thief was agile. It zipped out through a small ventilation window in the back storage room. Tyrex was too big to fit.

"Damn it!" Marsel cursed over the walkie-talkie. "Pak, retreat! Don't chase! It's a trap!"

But Pak Budi wasn't listening. The sheer loss of the coffee—and the thought of Nana's wrath—made his adrenaline explode.

"I can't! That's our *bottom line*!"

Pak Budi ran out the front door, circling the building, trying to cut off the Thief.

"Pak Budi! GET BACK!" Marsel yelled.

Pak Budi reached the narrow, trash-filled alley behind the convenience store. And there, the Ekorupt Thief stopped. It wasn't running anymore. It stood atop a trash can, holding the coffee bag, grinning.

Behind the creature, emerging from the shadows of the sewer, were three Ekorupt Drones. And from the roof, two Spider Ekorupts slowly descended.

It was an ambush.

Pak Budi's face went from angry red to cotton white in a second.

"O-oh..."

"Kiiiek!" The Thief gave a command. The monsters advanced simultaneously toward Pak Budi.

"TYREXXX!" Pak Budi turned and ran.

Pak Budi's run was not athletic. It was pure, unadulterated panic, where his arms and legs moved out of sync, his head turned backward every two seconds, and his mouth screamed non-stop.

"HELP! I'M BEING CHASED! I QUIT! I WANT TO RESIGN!"

He ran back toward the main street. The monsters chased him. The Thief was in the lead, leaping nimbly.

"Pak! Listen to me!" Marsel snapped over the radio. "Don't run straight to the store! Run toward the leaning utility pole on the left! NOW!"

"Why there?!" Pak Budi yelled while dodging a Drone's swipe.

"JUST DO IT OR DIE!"

Pak Budi swerved left, nearly slipping on a banana peel (literally, market trash). He ran toward the leaning utility pole on the side of the road, about 50 meters from the A-117 Supermarket.

The Ekorupt Thief, seeing its prey turn, took a shortcut. It leaped high, intending to ambush Pak Budi from the air right under the utility pole.

"Duck, Pak!" Marsel shouted.

Pak Budi, his legs weak, tripped over his own shoelaces and fell face-first onto the asphalt.

THUD!

Just then, the Thief flew through the air, directly over Pak Budi's prone body.

And precisely in the path of that jump, a thin, invisible steel wire was stretched taut between the utility pole and the carcass of a car. A piano wire Marsel had installed last night as an outer defense perimeter.

SLICE!

The sound was quiet, but deadly.

The Ekorupt Thief, moving at high speed, didn't see the wire. Its neck slammed into the steel cable.

Its own momentum killed it. The creature's head separated cleanly from its body.

The headless body fell with a thud onto the asphalt, right in front of Pak Budi's nose. Black blood splattered across Pak Budi's face.

The shopping bag full of coffee, which the creature was holding, was tossed into the air, spinning in a tragic slow-motion arc...

...and fell into the sewer, full of black, murky water.

SPLASH.

Silence.

The other pursuing Ekorupts stopped, seeing their small leader instantly dead.

"ROAAAAR!" Tyrex emerged from around the corner, ramming the remaining stunned Ekorupts like a semi-truck.

"DO NOT TOUCH THE SMALL COMMANDER!"

BAM! CRASH! CRACK!

In seconds, Tyrex cleared out the remaining bewildered monsters.

Pak Budi was still lying face down on the asphalt. His face was covered in monster blood. His eyes stared at the sewer in front of him.

The coffees... floating. Contaminated. Destroyed.

"No..." Pak Budi whispered. "No..."

***

Half an hour later.

The rolling door of the A-117 Supermarket was closed again.

Pak Budi sat on the floor, wrapped in an emergency blanket. His face had been cleaned, but his gaze was vacant.

"Coffee..." he mumbled. "Arabica coffee... Robusta..."

Marsel sighed, checking Pak Budi's status via his scanner.

[Mission Complete: Logistics Procurement (Total Failure)]

[Secondary Objective Achieved: Luring Enemy into Trap]

[Bonus XP: 'Effective Live Bait']

[LEVEL UP!]

[Pak Budi - Bankrupt Financial Manager Lv. 2]

[New Skill Unlocked: Lucky Stumble (Increases Critical Chance by 50% when the user trips/falls)]

"Pak," Marsel said, crouching in front of Pak Budi. "The bad news is, we didn't get any coffee. We're drinking plain water again this week."

Pak Budi didn't react.

"The good news is," Marsel continued, pointing to the Ekorupt Thief's corpse, which Tyrex had brought in for recycling. "You killed him. Technically. You lured him into my wire trap with... a very accurate falling style."

Tyrex clapped Pak Budi hard on the back, making the older man cough. "Commander Budi is a master of the 'Feigned Weakness' strategy! The enemy was fooled by your convincing panic run! Very tactical!"

Nana came over with a glass of warm water. "Here, Pak. Just pretend it’s an *Americano* with too much water."

Pak Budi accepted the glass with a trembling hand. He sipped the bland warm water.

Suddenly, he straightened his back. His ego, which had been shattered, began to reassemble itself along with the Level Up notification he felt in his body.

"Yes..." Pak Budi said, his voice regaining its haughtiness, though slightly hoarse. "Indeed... that was my plan. The 'Retreat to Trap' maneuver. I intentionally threw myself down at that coordinate point to maximize the wire's efficiency."

Marsel and Nana exchanged glances, stifling their laughter.

"Of course, Pak," Marsel said. "You're the MVP today."

"It's a shame about the coffee," Pak Budi continued, waving his hand as if it were a minor issue. "But that is a necessary sacrifice in war. As mission leader, I take full responsibility for... this strategic victory."

Pak Budi stood up, still wearing the blanket over his shoulders like a ridiculous superhero cape.

"Now, I need rest. Don't bother me unless you have tea bags," he said, limping toward his 'office' behind the Customer Service desk.

As Pak Budi walked away, Marsel saw something fall from a tear in Pak Budi's trousers pocket.

A small silver sachet.

Marsel picked it up.

*Indocafe Coffeemix.* One sachet. Saved from the sewer disaster.

Marsel smiled, then tossed the sachet to Nana.

"This is for you, Na. Don't tell Pak Budi."

Nana caught the sachet, her eyes sparkling as if she'd seen a diamond. "Marsel... I love you."

"Save the love for later," Marsel turned back to look at the flickering CCTV screen. "Because our other guests are starting to arrive."

On the monitor, in the distance, a group of humans could be seen creeping toward the supermarket perimeter. They weren't starving Scavengers like yesterday. They were carrying ladders and shields made from car doors.

The Old Town Scavengers were back. And this time, they weren't asking permission.