The Caffeine System: Critical Heart Protocol

Chapter 9: Rain and Blind Radar

“Damn!” cursed Raka.

However, he was sure he would be fine as long as he had coffee with him.

The deafening System Alarm was still ringing in his head, as Raka kicked open the balcony door and dragged himself back into the darkness of the night.

He didn't look back, not wanting to see the old woman's corpse or the bird that had caused it. He knew only one thing: he had to leave.

“This way!” he called to Baginda, who he was sure would follow him. Then he pointed to the emergency stairs they had climbed.

As his foot touched the first metal step, a drop of water fell down his cheek. It was cold and large. In the next instant, the sky, which had been cloudy, shattered.

A torrential downpour came down suddenly, as if someone had just dumped an ocean from above. In an instant, the entire city was drenched in a deluge of water, obscuring sight and drowning out all sound.

“Perfect,” Raka grumbled, his hair instantly limp and sticking to his forehead. “Absolutely perfect.”

He hurried down the stairs. Every step was slippery and dangerous. Below, the street had turned into a black river reflecting the dim lights of the abandoned buildings.

Baginda flew down and landed beside him while shaking his body irritably, making splashes of water from his sharp feathers.

The rain was a double-edged sword. The sound of their footsteps was now completely obscured by the roar of the water, but Raka's vision was also severely limited. The world before him became blurry.

Worse still, the rain seemed to have a strange effect on the Sleepers. Across the street, Raka could see several of them, motionless and aimless. They looked disoriented, their radar ears twitching wildly, overwhelmed by the sound of millions of water droplets hitting every surface around them.

The confusion led them to become aggressive. One Sleeper suddenly lunged and tore down a lamppost as if it had offended him. Another began pounding on the asphalt for no reason.

“Their radar is messed up,” Raka muttered as he watched it all. His brain started working fast. “They’re completely blind now because of the rain. But they’re attacking anything that moves or makes a sound nearby.”

Raka nodded in understanding. Luck was on his side. For now.

“We have to keep moving. Towards Monas,” he said to himself. “The safe zone.”

They started walking along the flooded sidewalk. Raka moved carefully. 

"Why would I sneak around? The whole city is already noisy from the rain," he said quietly.

BOOM!

A flash of lightning flashed in the distance, followed by a rumble of thunder, shaking the buildings around them. The sound sparked a brilliant idea in Raka's mind.

“There it is,” he whispered.

Raka stopped. He waited. The momentary silence amidst the roar of the rain was tense. Then, lightning flashed again. This time closer.

BOOM!

When the second clap of thunder boomed, Raka immediately ran. He ignored the splashing sound his feet made. The deafening thunder drowned out all other sounds, driving him fifty meters.

When the thunder subsided, he immediately stopped and resumed walking slowly.

[Quite a clever strategy for a tempeh,] commented the System on its screen.

[User666: Running during lightning! Not a bad idea! I'll give you 1 point for your effort!]

Raka smiled faintly. “See? I can think.”

He repeated the tactic. Waiting. Thunder came, he ran. Stopping when the thunder died down. It was a strange, tense rhythm. But it worked.

They had passed several blocks without attracting the attention of the confused Sleepers. Raka was starting to feel a little more confident.

“Maybe I can get through this,” he said confidently. “I don't need any help.”

It was that confidence that made him careless.

On his third run, as thunder rumbled again, he failed to notice a thin puddle of oil hidden beneath the surface of the rainwater. His foot landed on it and the world seems to be spinning.

His feet lost their footing and he lost his balance. He fell hard onto her side. His hands shot out to cushion the impact, but he was more concerned about something else.

A small glass bottle containing the strong coffee from the apartment had slipped out of his pocket. It floated in the air. He reached for it, barely touching it with his fingertips.

PRANG! 

The bottle hit the pavement and shattered, thankfully obscured by the thunder. The precious black liquid inside immediately mixed with the rainwater.

Raka stared at the disappearing puddle of coffee as he lay on the wet asphalt. Rain poured down on his face, but he didn't care.

“No…” he whispered. “No, no, no…”

It wasn't just coffee. It was his fuel. His courage. His strength. Without it, the caffeine's effects on his body would slowly fade. And then, a terrible crash would come. He would revert to a slow, weak, and paralyzed target.

Without caffeine, he's just Raka, the timid barista.

“What should I do now?” he asked, his voice full of desperation.

Baginda approached and nudged their shoulder with his beak, as if asking why they had stopped.

Raka slowly got up. The hope that had just sprouted was now shattered into pieces along with his coffee bottle.

He had to think. He couldn't rely on super speed anymore. He had to use his brain, the only remaining asset he had that wasn't fueled by caffeine.

He scanned the surroundings. His desperate eyes searched for something.

“Anything,” he whispered. “A convenience store? A convenience store? Anything that stocks cheap instant coffee will do.”

A bright flash of lightning lit up the sky and turned night into day for a split second.

In the blinding light, Raka's gaze was drawn upward. To the toll road overpass that stretched above them. Part of it had collapsed.

And at the edge of the nearly collapsed overpass, a shipping container truck hung in an impossible position. Its two rear wheels had already passed the edge, dangling in the air. The rear door was slightly open, spilling several burlap sacks.

In the flash of light, Raka could read the large letters on the side of the truck container. A name that made him forget how to breathe.

NUSANTARA COFFEE: The Nation's Best Aroma.