LOSS System: Last Store Standing

Vane and Mort abandoned Jack’s earlier order and rushed toward him.

At the same time, Cass shouted toward the convenience store.

“Susan! Susan! Jack needs help!”

Vane reached Jack first, with Mort close behind. The Crag Lynx’s body lay sprawled across him, pinning him to the sand.

Blood covered the front of Jack’s body. His shirt had been torn open, revealing several long claw wounds across his chest.

Vane went pale. He reached toward Jack but stopped, unsure where he could touch him without making the injuries worse.

“Jack?”

Jack barely managed to open his eyes. He looked at Vane, then at Mort, and forced a faint smile.

“I killed it.”

Vane and Mort stared at him for a moment.

Even half-conscious and covered in blood, Jack was still proud of himself.

“Yes, you killed it,” Mort said, unable to hide his exasperation. “Very impressive.”

Together, they heaved the Crag Lynx’s body off Jack, then lifted him and started toward the convenience store.

Their hurried steps sent fresh pain through his chest, and darkness crowded the edges of his vision.

“Slow down…” Jack managed.

Both men immediately stopped.

“It didn’t kill me,” he added between shallow breaths. “Don’t finish the job by shaking me to death.”

Vane and Mort slowed their pace and carried him as steadily as they could.

Susan and Ray were already waiting near the tent when they returned. By then, Jack had lost consciousness again.

Cass went pale. “How is he?”

Susan crouched beside Jack and quickly checked his condition. The ground was covered in sand and dust, making it impossible to treat his wounds properly.

“Take him inside.”

Vane and Mort carried Jack into the convenience store and laid him on a clean section of the floor. Susan pressed two fingers to the side of his neck. Some of the tension left her face when she found a pulse.

She looked at Vane. “Find something in the storage room that we can use as a bed. He can’t stay on the floor.”

Vane returned a short while later with an outdoor folding cot. Once he had opened it, he and Mort carefully lifted Jack onto it.

“I need room to work,” Susan told them. “Both of you wait outside. Ray, stay and help me.”

Vane remained beside the cot, staring down at Jack.

“Outside,” Susan repeated. “You’re covered in sand. If it gets into the wounds, it could cause an infection.”

Mort took Vane by the arm and led him toward the door. This time, Vane went with him.

Once the door closed, Susan sent Ray to fetch clean water while she gathered disinfectant, medicine to stop the bleeding, gauze, and bandages from the medicine cabinets.

She returned to the cot and carefully cut away Jack’s blood-soaked shirt, taking care not to touch the wounds. As the fabric came loose, it exposed the blood and sand caked across his chest.

Ray drew in a sharp breath.

The claw marks looked frightening, but none of them went deep enough to expose bone. The worst ran diagonally from below Jack’s shoulder across his chest. A slight difference in angle could have made the wound far more dangerous.

Susan had Ray rinse away the dirt while she wiped off the blood with a clean towel. Once the wounds were clear, she disinfected them and worked to stop the bleeding.

The medicine made Jack tense even in his unconscious state, and a muffled groan escaped him. Susan kept working until every wound had been treated, then wrapped his chest securely in gauze and bandages.

Outside, Vane, Mort, and Cass waited beneath the tent in silence.

Mort was the first to speak.

“We need to move the Crag Lynx’s body. If we leave it there, the smell of blood could attract other mutant beasts.”

Cass rounded on him. “You’ve got some nerve. If it weren’t for you, that thing wouldn’t have come here, and Jack wouldn’t be lying in there!”

Mort lowered his head without arguing.

Vane cut in before Cass could continue. “You can’t blame him for all of it. None of us expected the Crag Lynx to follow his blood trail this far.”

“No,” Mort said quietly. “Cass is right. I led it here.”

“You didn’t do it on purpose,” Vane replied. “And as bad as this was, it could have been worse. If you’d still been at the settlement when it found you…”

His words trailed off.

Cass and Mort both understood. If the Crag Lynx had reached the settlement instead, no one there would have been able to stop it.

Silence returned beneath the tent.

Only the occasional footsteps from inside the store broke it. At one point, Ray came out carrying a basin of dark red water. She emptied it, filled it with clean water, and hurried back inside.

The sight left Vane, Mort, and Cass even more uneasy.

After what felt like a long wait, the convenience store door finally opened. Susan and Ray stepped outside, their hands and clothes stained with blood.

“How is Jack?” Cass asked at once.

Susan joined them beneath the tent and took a moment to catch her breath.

“He has several claw wounds across his chest. One is fairly deep, and he lost a lot of blood,” she said. “But nothing vital was damaged. I’ve cleaned and bandaged the wounds, and he’s no longer in immediate danger. As long as there’s no infection, he should recover.”

The tension beneath the tent finally eased.

Cass sank back into his chair, while Vane lowered his head and slowly unclenched his fists.

Mort swayed, then dropped heavily onto the ground.

Susan hurried over. “What’s wrong with you?”

The bandages around his abdomen were soaked with fresh blood.

“Your wound opened again,” she said sharply. “Do you have any idea how badly you’re hurt?”

Mort looked down at the blood. “It doesn’t matter. Jack’s alive. That’s enough.”

Then he looked up at her. “Although I suppose I’ll have to trouble you again.”

“Of course I’m treating it,” Susan said. “Were you planning to do it yourself?”

Mort offered no argument. He sat quietly as Susan removed the blood-soaked bandages and wrapped his abdomen again.

No one had ever cared whether he was hurt before.

So this was what it felt like.

Mort lowered his head and watched the clean bandage circle his abdomen. He said nothing, but quietly made a decision.

From now on, he would protect this place—and everyone in it.