LOSS System: Last Store Standing

Jack hurried back into the storage room.

Ever since the store had upgraded its climate control, he had almost forgotten about the portable air conditioner he used to complain about. If the heat outside had not nearly cooked him alive, he probably would not have remembered it at all.

He found it in the corner soon enough and patted the casing.

“Come on, buddy. Help me get that tent up tonight.”

He bent down and dragged the portable air conditioner out, then checked the plug and exhaust hose. Everything looked fine.

Next came the extension cord.

The tent was too far from the outlets inside the store, and the air conditioner’s own power cord was nowhere near long enough.

Jack unrolled the extension cord and ran it along the wall toward the door, careful to keep it away from the area where he would be walking. The tent had already caused enough trouble. He did not need to trip over his own cord too.

Once the cord was in place, he pushed the portable air conditioner out beside the tent.

The thing was heavier than it looked. By the time he got it into position, sweat had started gathering on his forehead again.

He set it beside the folding chair and adjusted the vent so the cold air would blow toward his work area. As for the exhaust hose, the wasteland around him was empty anyway. As long as it was not pointed at him, off to the side was good enough.

Then he went back inside and plugged in the extension cord.

Cold air began blowing from the vent.

Jack stood in front of it for a second and let out a breath.

“That’s better.”

On a wasteland night with no breeze, no streetlights, and heat still hanging in the dark, that bit of cold air felt like it belonged to another world.

Strictly speaking, it did.

With the portable air conditioner running beside him, Jack finally got some of his energy back.

After all that earlier struggling, he had at least figured out how the tent was supposed to work.

He went back to the half-finished mess, spread the tent fabric out again, and reconnected the poles properly.

Once the two main poles crossed and pushed upward, the tent finally began to take shape.

Jack stepped back and looked it over.

The main body was up, but the corners and guy lines were still loose. The whole thing wobbled whenever he touched it. He picked up a stake and tried to secure one corner first, only to run into the same problem as before.

The ground was too hard.

After a few failed attempts, Jack turned and looked at the hose nearby.

A few seconds later, he picked it up and soaked the spots where the stakes needed to go.

Once the ground softened a little, he pulled the corners back into place and hammered the stakes down one by one.

This time, they finally went in.

It still took effort, but at least the ground was no longer ignoring him completely.

After that, the rest went smoother. Jack adjusted the tent’s position and sorted out the remaining guy lines one by one. It was still annoying, but bit by bit, the tent finally started to stay where it was supposed to.

The portable air conditioner kept blowing beside him. Whenever the heat started getting to him, Jack stepped over, stood in the cold air for a minute, then went back to work.

After nearly an hour of that, the last guy line was finally tight.

Jack stood in front of the tent with his hands on his hips and looked it over.

It had taken a lot more effort than expected, but he had actually put the thing up himself.

After a moment, he smiled.

“Not bad.”

He sat in the folding chair for a few minutes to rest. Once his arms stopped aching so much, he got up and went back into the store for the rest of the setup.

He carried the folding table under the tent, then set the chairs around it. After that, he brought out the string of solar decorative lights, hung them around the tent, and switched them on.

One small bulb after another lit up, casting a soft glow over the table and chairs. The tent had looked rough a moment ago, but with the lights on, it suddenly felt different.

In the dead silence of the wasteland night, that simple little setup actually looked welcoming.

Jack nodded, satisfied, then started cleaning up.

The portable air conditioner had to go back inside first. If he left it outside all night, there was no telling whether it would still work tomorrow.

Once everything was put away, Jack closed the glass door and went upstairs in a good mood to wash up.

That night, he slept deeply.

After working for half the night, the exhaustion finally caught up with him. Not long after his head hit the pillow, he was out.

The next morning, voices outside pulled Jack out of sleep.

At first, he thought he had imagined it. Then he heard someone calling his name again.

Jack fumbled for his phone and checked the time.

Eight o’clock.

He muttered into the pillow, “Are they insane? Who shows up this early?”

The words had barely left his mouth before he became a little more awake.

Wait.

Cass?

Jack rubbed his face, threw on some clothes, and hurried downstairs.

When he reached the first floor, several people were already standing outside the convenience store. They had gathered under the tent he had set up the night before and seemed to be discussing something.

Cass, Reed, and Vane were all there.

This time, however, someone else had come with them.

An older man with gray-white hair stood beside them, listening quietly while Cass spoke.

Jack slowed down.

Cass noticed him first and raised a hand.

“Jack!”

Jack walked to the door and opened it, still carrying a bit of morning irritation.

“Do you know what time it is? You’re making noise outside this early?”

Cass froze, then scratched his head awkwardly.

“I thought you’d be awake,” he said. “We left before dawn. If we waited until the sun came up, the road would be much harder.”

Jack stopped.

Most of his irritation disappeared at once.

“Sorry,” he said, more seriously this time. “I didn’t know you had to travel that early.”

Cass waved it off.

“It’s fine.”

Then he seemed to remember why they were there and quickly stepped beside the older man.

“Right. Let me introduce him. This is Elias. He’s one of the elders in our settlement. Most of the important decisions go through him.”

Elias looked at Jack and spoke first.

“Hello, Jack. I’m Elias. I’ve heard quite a bit about this place from Cass and the others, so I came to see it for myself.”

Jack stepped forward.

“Hello, Mr. Elias,” he said. “And again, sorry about just now. I didn’t know you were coming this early. I shouldn’t have left you waiting outside.”

Elias gave a small laugh.

“No need to apologize. If you had known exactly when we would arrive, that would have been stranger.”

Jack scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh.

Elias then looked toward the area around the store.

“Vane said you want help securing this place?”

Jack paused, then nodded.

“Yeah.”

Elias nodded as well, but he did not start discussing plans right away.

“Before that, there’s one question I’m not sure you’ve considered.”

Jack asked, “What question?”

Elias raised a hand and pointed toward the empty wasteland outside.

“Do you have enough materials to build those defenses?”