Dancing with the Deaths

Chapter 6 - Fortification and Recycled Ammunition

The smell of burning plastic mixed with rotting meat filled the A-117 Supermarket Food Court area. Thick black smoke billowed from the emergency chimney Marsel had just installed, punching through the roof ventilation.

"Marsel, is this really safe?" Nana asked, covering her nose with the collar of her grubby nurse uniform. "It smells like a truck tire burned with satay seasoning."

"Safe or not, this is the only way we won't die for nothing if there's another attack," Marsel replied without looking up.

He was busy tinkering with the control panel of an industrial Moretti Forni pizza oven that had been heavily modified. Neon blue circuit cables dangled from Marsel’s Scanner, merging with the oven’s motherboard. Inside the glowing red-hot oven, it wasn't dough and mozzarella cheese being baked, but pieces of the Spider Ekorupt legs they had slaughtered two days prior.

"Internal temperature reaching 400 degrees System," Marsel muttered, his eyes scanning the lines of code scrolling rapidly across his retina. "Tyrex, load the material! Don't slack off!"

"ROGER THAT, IRON CHEF!"

Tyrex, who was now wearing a 'Kiss the Cook' apron over his bare torso (save for military cargo pants), lifted a large piece of monster carapace from the pile on the floor. Casually, he tossed it into the oven furnace.

WHOOSH!

Blue flames erupted. A horrific sizzling sound was heard as the monster's organic matter was forcibly broken down by the System into pure energy.

[RECYCLING PROCESS: ACTIVE]

[Input: Ekorupt Biomass (Low Quality)]

[Output: System Ammunition (9mm Caliber)]

[Duration: 2 minutes/round]

"Two minutes per bullet," Marsel complained, wiping the soot-covered sweat from his brow. "That takes forever, damn it. If we get swarmed now, all we can do is throw frozen sausages at them."

Two days had passed since the incident in the Walk-in Freezer. After seeing the glowing blue eyes of the "Relic of the Failed Hero," Marsel immediately slammed the Emergency Lock button and resealed the room. He wasn't ready. His level wasn't high enough. The object radiated an aura of death that made his hair stand on end even from ten meters away.

So, Marsel decided to focus on what he could control: logistics.

They were out of conventional ammunition. The firearms brought by Mr. Asep (the security guard who turned into a zombie) were empty. Marsel’s Scanner could fire lasers, but it was energy-intensive. The solution? Crafting.

"Ding!"

The pizza oven chimed loudly, exactly like when a Meat Lover order was ready.

The lower oven drawer opened. Inside lay a silver bullet that glowed faintly blue. It was still hot.

"Another one done!" Tyrex cheered, picking up the bullet with his two massive fingers as if holding a small peanut. "Look, My Lord! Our children are born!"

"Don't eat it, Rex," Marsel warned quickly when he saw Tyrex sniffing the bullet. "That's ammunition. Put it in the box."

"It smells spicy," Tyrex commented, but he obeyed and placed the bullet into a Tupperware container that already held seven similar rounds.

"Eight rounds in four hours," Nana sighed, sitting on a plastic chair whose legs were propped up with duct tape. "The efficiency is terrible, Marsel."

"It's a pizza oven, Na, not a Pindad factory," Marsel retorted defensively. "At least these are System Rounds. Their damage scales with my stats. If I shoot an Ekorupt, the effect is more painful than a regular lead bullet."

Suddenly, the staff access door burst open. Mr. Budi entered, his face flushed red and panting heavily. He was still wearing his work shirt, now sticky with sweat, and—who knows where he got it—a bright yellow project helmet tilted on his head.

"Marsel! You have to shut down this smoke factory right now!" Mr. Budi screamed hysterically.

"What is it now, Sir? Air pollution complaints?" Marsel asked lazily. "It's the apocalypse out there, Sir. No Environmental Agency is going to come check on us."

"Not the Environmental Agency, you idiot!" Mr. Budi pointed toward the front window with a trembling hand. "Humans! There are humans outside!"

Marsel immediately straightened up. "Survivors?"

"Not ordinary survivors," Mr. Budi swallowed hard, his eyes radiating pure fear. "They have crowbars. They have machetes. And they... they're looking at the smoke from our chimney like they're looking at roasted meat. They think we're having a BBQ party here!"

"Damn it," Marsel cursed. "I forgot that smoke is the clearest sign of life."

Marsel grabbed his Scanner and the Tupperware box of bullets. "Tyrex, leave the oven. Get your shield. Nana, prepare the medical bag. Mr. Budi, you stay behind the cashier counter, don't show your face unless I tell you to."

"I fully intended to hide, thank you!" Mr. Budi immediately scurried behind the Customer Service desk.

Marsel ran to the front of the store, peeking out from behind a discount poster that covered the cracked front window.

Outside, in the parking lot littered with car wrecks and overturned shopping carts, a group of people was gathering. About fifteen of them. Their clothes were ragged, a mix of dirty civilian clothes and stolen safety gear. Their faces were gaunt, their eyes sunken and wild.

In front of them, a bald man with a tribal tattoo covering half his face held an old, crackling megaphone.

"HEY! YOU INSIDE!" the man's voice was cracked and shrill. "WE KNOW YOU'RE COOKING MEAT! SHARE IT! WE'VE BEEN EATING RATS FOR THREE DAYS!"

"Scavengers," Marsel whispered. "The Old City Scavengers."

They weren't professional bandits, but starvation made humans more dangerous than monsters.

"There are many of them, My Lord," Tyrex peeked from beside Marsel, his double shopping cart shield clanking softly. "Should we greet them with the diplomacy of fists?"

"Wait," Marsel said. He pressed his Scanner against the glass.

[Threat Analysis]

[Group: Hungry Scavengers (Human)]

[Count: 16]

[Weapons: Edged (Low Quality), Molotov (1 unit)]

[Danger Level: Moderate]

"One molotov," Marsel hissed. "If they throw that inside, we're done for. The stock of cooking oil and toilet paper in Aisle 1 will turn this place into hell."

Marsel found a gap in the slightly open rolling door. He projected his voice outside.

"GO AWAY! THERE IS NO COOKED FOOD HERE! WE ARE JUST BURNING TRASH!" Marsel yelled.

"LIES!" the Bald Man retorted. "It smells savory! I smell protein! Open the door or we'll burn your store down with you in it!"

"There it is," Marsel cursed internally. The smell of Ekorupt meat being processed in the pizza oven was indeed misleading. It smelled like overcooked roasted meat, not trash.

"THEY'RE ADVANCING!" Nana shouted.

The horde started running. They had no tactical formation. Just a mass charge driven by hunger. The Bald Man in front lit the fuse of the glass bottle filled with gasoline.

"Tyrex! Hold the door!" Marsel commanded.

"WITH PLEASURE!"

Tyrex slammed his shoulder into the steel rolling door, holding it fast so it couldn't be lifted from the outside.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

The sound of blunt weapons and kicks hitting the steel door shook it violently.

"OPEN UP! OPEN UP, YOU BASTARDS!" the shouts from outside sounded insane.

"SHARE THE FOOD!"

The Bald Man threw the molotov. The glass bottle flew through the air, passing through the broken glass ventilation gap above the door.

CRASH!

Flames erupted in the cashier area, burning stacks of tabloid magazines and the gum rack.

"FIRE!" Mr. Budi screamed from his hiding spot. "EXTINGUISHER! WHERE IS THE EXTINGUISHER?!"

"Nana! Put out the fire! Use Heal Pulse if you can, or grab the extinguisher by the pillar!" Marsel yelled.

Marsel had no choice. He loaded his Scanner with a System Round from the Tupperware.

CLICK.

He aimed through the broken glass gap. His target wasn't the Bald Man, but the asphalt in front of their feet. A hard warning.

BANG!

The sound of the System Round firing wasn't like a gunpowder explosion. It sounded like a short, dense dubstep bass drop.

BWOOOM!

The asphalt in front of the Scavenger crowd exploded in a blue flash of light. The shockwave threw the three people closest to it backward, sending them tumbling.

The crowd stopped, stunned.

"THAT WAS A WARNING!" Marsel shouted, his voice amplified by the store's suddenly active speaker system. "ONE MORE STEP, AND YOUR HEAD IS NEXT!"

The Bald Man got up, his face bleeding from being scraped by the asphalt. But instead of fear, he grinned maniacally. "They have energy weapons! That's rare loot, Boss! Charge! Get the gun!"

The logic of the starving was broken. Marsel growled in frustration. He didn't want to kill humans. Killing an Ekorupt felt like killing a computer virus or a wild animal. But humans? That was a heavy line to cross.

"Tyrex! Get out there! Drive them back, but don't kill them!"

"INSTRUCTION RECEIVED: LOVING BEATDOWN MODE!"

Tyrex kicked the rolling door open, then leaped out like a bull released from its pen.

"HELLO, NEIGHBORS!"

THWACK!

Tyrex's cart shield slammed into the Bald Man's chest. The man was thrown three meters, crashing into a shopping cart. Tyrex spun, his leg sweeping two others off their feet.

"Attack the giant!" one of the Scavengers yelled. They swarmed Tyrex, hitting his back and arms with crowbars.

CLANG! CLANG!

The sound of metal meeting Tyrex's hard muscle sounded like hitting a truck tire.

"Tickles!" Tyrex laughed. "Your massage lacks power!"

But there were too many of them. Someone managed to stab a folding knife into Tyrex's unprotected thigh.

"ARGH!" Tyrex roared, not from pain (his *Pain Tolerance* Skill was active), but from surprise.

Marsel aimed again. He had to incapacitate them.

BANG!

The second System Round shot out. Marsel targeted the shoulder of a rock thrower. The man screamed, his shoulder scorched, and he was thrown backward.

Amid the chaos, a teenage Scavenger—perhaps only 17—tried to sneak in through the open rolling door, clutching a rusty kitchen knife. His eyes were wild, fixed on the bread aisle.

He didn't see Nana, who had just finished putting out the fire with the fire extinguisher.

"Back off!" Nana yelled, raising the extinguisher canister like a weapon.

The boy lunged, slashing the knife.

"Aaah!" Nana dodged, but the knife grazed her sleeve.

The boy tripped over his own feet on the slippery floor left by the extinguisher foam, then fell onto the broken glass of the cigarette display case.

"ARGHH!" The boy screamed. A large shard of glass was deeply embedded in his stomach. Fresh blood quickly pooled on the white floor.

The fighting outside paused momentarily at the sound of the scream.

Marsel stepped down from his position, running toward Nana. "Na! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but him..." Nana pointed at the boy. The boy's face was deathly pale, his breathing labored. "He's going to die, Marsel."

Marsel looked at the boy. Enemy. Intruder.

"Leave him. He tried to kill you just now," Marsel said coldly. "We'll drag him outside."

Nana looked at Marsel with a gaze that made him feel small. A look of disappointment.

"He's hungry, Marsel. He's just a kid."

Without waiting for Marsel's permission, Nana knelt beside the Scavenger boy. Her hands glowed with a soft green light.

"Na, your energy is limited!" Marsel protested.

"Quiet!" Nana snapped. "Close the door, Marsel. Don't let the others in. I'll handle this."

Marsel fell silent. He watched Nana press down on the wound in the boy's stomach. The green light of the Heal Pulse flowed intensely. The glass shard was slowly pushed out by tissue regeneration, then clattered to the floor. The gaping wound closed, leaving a pink scar.

The boy opened his eyes, gasping for breath. He stared at Nana in confusion. "Miss... an angel?"

Outside, Tyrex was still holding off ten people alone, but he was starting to be overwhelmed.

"My Lord! They are biting! They are actually biting!" Tyrex shouted.

Marsel gritted his teeth. "Enough playing around."

He ran to the control panel on the wall near the entrance. The panel he had just upgraded this morning using leftover XP from the Broodmother Spider.

"System! Activate Wall Defense Protocol Level 3: Shockwave Discharge!"

[Confirmation: Use 30% Fortress Energy?]

[Y]

The supermarket's front glass wall shook violently. The blue light enveloping the building suddenly became blinding.

ZING-BOOM!

A transparent energy shockwave exploded from the wall's surface, sweeping the parking area within a ten-meter radius.

Tyrex, registered as an ally, felt nothing. But the Scavengers were thrown backward as if hit by a hurricane. They tumbled across the asphalt, their weapons flying loose. Their leader, the Bald Man, was thrown the farthest, crashing into a street lamp post.

Silence.

The Scavengers groaned in pain, trying to get up, but their bodies trembled from residual static electricity.

Marsel walked outside, standing next to Tyrex. His Scanner was aimed straight at the Bald Man, who was trying to sit up.

"Listen carefully," Marsel's voice was cold and hard. "This store is now a Fortress. This wall is Level 3. There are 5,000 volts of electricity ready to fry you if you try to touch it again."

The Bald Man spat blood. He stared at the wall of light, which now hummed menacingly. He knew he was defeated.

"Pull back," the Bald Man ordered his men. "Retreat!"

The Scavengers crawled away, picking up their unconscious comrades.

Before leaving, the Bald Man looked at Marsel with eyes full of vengeance.

"You might win today, Manager," he hissed. "But you can't keep all that food to yourself forever. The Old City has a new king. And he's going to hear about your stingy fortress. He'll come with a real army, not just hungry people like us."

"I'll be waiting," Marsel replied.

The Bald Man limped away, disappearing into the gray haze of the ruined city.

Marsel let out a long sigh, his shoulders slumping. "Tyrex, are you okay?"

"Just love scratches, My Lord," Tyrex grinned, even though blood was flowing from his thigh and arms.

Inside the store, Nana helped the Scavenger boy stand up. She gave him a carton of UHT milk and gently nudged him toward the door.

"Go," Nana said softly. "Don't come back."

The boy looked at the milk in his hand, then looked at Nana, and ran off to join his group without saying thank you.

"Na," Marsel called as he stepped back inside. "That was stupid. He could report the location of our store."

"Maybe," Nana wiped her bloody hands on her apron. Her face was tired but stubborn. "But if we start letting people die right in front of us just to save energy... how are we any different from the monsters out there, Marsel?"

Marsel was silent. He had no answer for that.

"Mr. Budi!" Marsel shouted, changing the subject. "Count the remaining ammunition and energy! We have to fire up that oven again tonight."

"I..." Mr. Budi's voice sounded weak from behind the cashier counter. "I need a change of pants."

Night fell again over the A-117 Supermarket. Marsel sat on the store's roof, staring into the city's darkness. The Ekorupt threat was normal. But the human threat... the Bald Man's words echoed in his head.

The new king of the Old City.

The real war had just begun.

*