LOSS System: Last Store Standing

With the drone leading the way, Jack and the others headed toward Gordon and Harvey’s settlement.

At first, Jack occasionally spoke to Cass through the drone. When Cass warned him that it was nearing the limit of its range and had to return, Jack finally turned his attention to the wasteland around him.

Reddish-brown earth stretched in every direction. Stones of different sizes lay scattered across the ground, and every now and then, they passed the remains of a building with little more than its frame still standing.

Jack had never seen anything like this from the area around the convenience store. Seeing it with his own eyes for the first time left him stunned.

“Are these the ruins you were talking about?”

“Of course not,” Harvey said. “They’re just a few ruined buildings. That’s not enough to call this place a ruin.”

“Then what does count?”

“Old-world towns and cities,” Gordon answered. “The more people who lived there, the better the chances of finding supplies.”

Jack took in the barren land around them.

“When did everything become like this?”

“No idea,” Harvey said. “The world has looked this way for as long as we can remember. Maybe the older people know.”

“I once heard Elias say it was different when he and Marg were young,” Reed added.

That only gave Jack more questions.

For the rest of the journey, he asked about everything from how people survived in the wasteland and found water to how they traded and how often they searched for supplies.

Some of his questions struck Gordon and Harvey as strange, but they answered what they could. Reed filled in the gaps whenever they couldn’t.

Mort remained silent at the back of the group until Jack asked about raiders.

“It depends on whether someone has anything worth taking and how much it would cost to take it,” Mort said. “Only an idiot would risk his life for a pile of useless junk.”

Harvey didn’t dare comment.

“So raiders only attack people who can’t fight back?” Jack asked.

Mort answered with a faint smile.

Jack decided to leave it at that.

Until now, most of what Jack knew about this world had come from Elias and the others. But hearing about the wasteland was nothing like traveling through it himself.

The people here had no reliable source of food or water, and their shelters barely kept out the wind and dust. A single supply run could take days, with no guarantee of finding anything. They also had to watch for mutant beasts, raiders, and anything else that might go wrong along the way.

Meanwhile, the things Jack could casually take from the convenience store were priceless here.

He found himself feeling grateful that the entire store had come with him. Without it, he might not have survived his first day in this world.

They walked all morning and stopped only twice to rest. Jack had set out full of energy, but after several hours, he was clearly beginning to slow down.

Fortunately, Gordon pointed toward a stretch of low rocks ahead.

“Our settlement is just behind there.”

A short distance later, several low walls came into view, pieced together from stones and old metal sheets. There was no proper gate, only a few broad sheets of metal blocking the entrance.

As soon as they entered, Reed urged Gordon to find the seeds.

“I need to leave soon if I’m going to make it back before dark.”

“Give me a minute.”

Gordon set down his backpack and went to search through the piles inside, with Harvey following to help.

They returned a while later with a rust-covered metal box.

“The seeds are in here,” Gordon said as he handed it to Reed. “I don’t know if they’re still usable.”

Reed carefully packed the box away, then drank some water and ate half a pack of bread. After a short rest, he set out alone for the convenience store.

Once Reed was out of sight, Mort headed toward the entrance with his chain hammer.

“I’ll keep watch.”

Jack let him go and finally took a proper look around Gordon and Harvey’s settlement.

The settlement was small, yet nearly every bit of space was buried beneath broken metal sheets, unidentified parts, carts missing their wheels, old fabric, and containers of every shape and size. There was barely anywhere to stand.

Several faded old-world road signs leaned against one wall. One of them had been damaged so badly that only half an arrow remained.

Jack took in the mess.

“Gordon, you really do bring back everything you find.”

“See?” Harvey immediately said. “If he can carry it, he brings it home. It doesn’t matter whether it’s useful.”

He gestured toward the piles along the wall. “I still don’t understand what any of this is good for.”

“Just because you don’t understand it doesn’t mean it’s useless,” Gordon argued.

“Then tell me what it’s useful for.”

“I…”

Gordon had no answer.

Jack couldn’t help laughing. Now he understood why Harvey had said they needed to make room for Gordon’s collection just to sleep.

After teasing Gordon for a while, Jack continued examining the old-world items. The more he saw, the more an idea began to take shape.

“Mort, come over here!”

Mort left the entrance and approached with his chain hammer dragging behind him.

“What is it?”

Jack first asked Gordon and Harvey, “You two aren’t planning to live here again, right?”

The brothers weren’t sure why he was asking, but both confirmed that they weren’t.

Jack then gestured toward the metal scattered throughout the settlement.

“Can we melt this scrap down and reuse it?”

Mort studied the surrounding piles.

“You mean…”

“We have coal now, so fuel shouldn’t be a problem,” Jack said. “And if Gordon and Harvey aren’t coming back, leaving all this metal here would be a waste.”

Mort understood. He picked up a rust-covered sheet of metal, then examined a deformed part from another pile.

“We can use it. We’ll keep anything that’s still useful and melt down the rest.”

His voice carried a hint of excitement.

Jack smiled.

Gordon and Harvey finally understood. Harvey stared at the piles around them in surprise.

“So this stuff really is useful?”

Gordon immediately straightened his back and gave his brother a pointed look.

“All right, I get it,” Harvey said. “You have a good eye.”

Gordon finally seemed satisfied.

“But how are we going to move all of this?” Harvey asked.

“If the electric four-wheeler Dale brings us works, we can use that,” Jack said. “Worst case, we move everything the same way you brought it here.”

Harvey had no objection to that.

The more Jack examined the settlement, the more useful things he found. Besides the scrap metal, there was plenty of old fabric. Marg and the others could wash and sort through it, using whatever was still intact to patch clothes and turning the rest into bags.

The bottles and containers were worth keeping too. As long as they weren’t damaged, they could be cleaned and filled with water for the trading post.

As for the parts no one could identify, they could melt down whatever was suitable and leave the rest here for now. Something might prove useful later.

The settlement no longer looked like a shelter buried beneath useless junk.

To Jack, it had become a storeroom waiting to be sorted.

He checked the time.

“Let’s eat lunch first. Then we’ll start separating everything.”

After lunch, Mort returned to the entrance while Jack, Gordon, and Harvey began sorting through the piles. They cleared several open spaces and separated the items according to how they might be used.

By evening, they had finally cleared enough room to move around, but most of the settlement was still packed with clutter.

As the daylight faded, Jack switched on a solar-powered lamp. Under its white light, he could see that they had spent the entire afternoon sorting barely half of everything.

Just looking at what remained made his head hurt.

“That’s enough for tonight,” Jack decided. “We’ll deal with the rest another time.”

Gordon and Harvey both relaxed. They had been afraid Jack would insist on finishing everything that day, which would leave them with no energy to reach the ruins tomorrow.

Harvey dropped onto the cleared ground and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Finally.”

Even Gordon avoided looking at the remaining piles. He clearly had no desire to continue either.

They ate a quick dinner, arranged a night-watch rotation, and found places to sleep. After walking all morning and sorting through junk all afternoon, none of them had any energy left.

Jack placed the solar-powered lamp in the middle of the settlement and lay down in a relatively clean corner. Before long, the settlement fell silent, with only the wind slipping through the gaps between the metal sheets.

They woke before dawn the next morning and ate a simple breakfast before preparing to continue toward the ruins.

Gordon and Harvey were already heading toward the entrance when Jack picked up his backpack. As he slipped one strap over his shoulder, something in a nearby pile caught his attention.

His hand stopped, and the backpack slid down his arm and hit the ground.

“What’s wrong?” Mort asked.

Jack didn’t answer. He was staring at a pile they hadn’t sorted, as if trying to make sure he hadn’t seen it wrong.

A few seconds later, he hurried over and pulled aside several pieces of old fabric and a few metal parts.

Something about the size of his palm lay underneath.

Despite the thick layer of dust covering it, Jack recognized it immediately. His breathing quickened as he picked it up and wiped it clean with his sleeve.

Gordon and Harvey came back from the entrance when they realized he wasn’t following.

“What are you looking at?” Harvey asked.

Jack examined the object several times before raising it toward Gordon.

“This…”

His voice trembled slightly.

“Where did you find it?”