Morning didn't come. The sky just changed color — from dirty grey to something closer to dusted bone. Elias opened his eyes before Max. His body didn't ache anymore. Not because it had healed. Just because he was getting used to the damage.
He rolled his shoulder. The bruises were spreading slower now. Either he was tougher or his body had stopped bothering to tell him it was hurt. Either way, pain wasn't something he registered the same anymore. It became background noise. Like the hum of the system in his skull.
[Quest Complete: Improvised Trap Deployment]
+15 Coins Earned
Bonus Objective: Enemy Avoided
+5 Coins
That made 50 coins again.
Enough to buy something — maybe food, if there was any. But he didn't. He saved it. Because saving was survival. Spending was weakness. Comfort was the most dangerous thing left in the world.
Max stirred behind him. Groaned. His face was too pale. His skin had that cold sheen Elias had seen on others — before they collapsed. Not infected. Just starving.
They had maybe two days before his body gave up. Three if they didn't move. Less if they ran.
Elias stood up. Walked to the door. No sound. No wind. Same silence as yesterday. He didn't trust it.
He opened his inventory. Same scraps. A few parts left from the trap. Some paper. A dead pen. The Combat Basics book — mostly read. And one unopened item.
[Survivalist's Pocket Guide]
Use: Instant-read / Vanishes after activation
Function: Grants passive perk — [Forager Tier I]
He hesitated.
He hated how the books felt. Like the system was writing into his brain with a knife. But perks meant control — and control was the closest thing to power he had. Power kept Max alive. Kept him alive.
He activated it.
The book dropped into his hand. Smaller than the others. Worn green cover. Smelled like mildew and dried herbs. As soon as he opened the first page, the words ignited — not with fire, but memory. Not his memory.
Moss. Soil. Roots. The texture of tree bark. The scent of edible fungus. Leaves that stung versus leaves that healed. In seconds, his mind was filled with sensory recognition. Things he hadn't known before suddenly slotted into place like forgotten instincts being reawakened.
Then the book burned away into ash.
His fingers stung, but only briefly.
Perk Unlocked: [Forager Tier I]
Effect: Identify edible plantlife and low-toxicity natural items
Useful.
He woke Max with a gentle shove.
"We're moving," Elias said.
Max blinked hard. "Where?"
"Outskirts. Green spaces. Less people. Less infected."
Max didn't argue. That was new. He moved slower now, but at least he moved.
Elias guided them through alleys and backstreets. Past rusted cars. Past abandoned apartments. The city was decaying in slow motion. As if it hadn't accepted that it was already dead.
On the third street, Elias paused.
A scavenged van sat half-parked, half-smashed into a streetlamp. Its side door was wide open. Inside, shelves. Plastic bins. A broken radio. More importantly — he saw the flash of green.
Plants.
He stepped in, boots crunching glass. The smell hit him immediately. Not rot — growth. Someone had tried to grow food in here. Portable greenhouse setup. Probably mobile farming before everything fell.
He leaned closer. Four plants survived. One was yellowed and dying. But the other three — green. Edible. Recognized instantly now.
[Chamomile Leaf – Restorative Herb]
[Wild Spinach – Edible]
[Miner's Lettuce – High water content / Hydrating]
He collected all three. Tied them in cloth. Max watched him.
"You know plants now?"
"Perk," Elias muttered.
"You have powers," Max said. Not an accusation. Not jealousy. Just observation.
Elias looked at him. Really looked.
Max was still just a kid. Bones poking through skin. Lips cracked. Too trusting. He followed Elias like he was the answer to a question no one asked. That scared him more than the infected.
"I don't have powers," Elias said. "I have debt."
Max frowned. "That mean something?"
Elias didn't answer.
By noon, they were out of the city proper. The land stretched into ruined suburbs. Houses half-burned. Front yards torn up. But there were trees. Overgrown bushes. Gardens that had once been ornamental now overrun with weeds and the wild return of nature.
It was dangerous.
But it was opportunity.
He used [Forager] again. Spotted more edible weeds. Even a few mushrooms — marked safe by instinct he didn't question. They found water by accident — a broken pipe pooling behind a collapsed wall. Filtered through crushed brick. He took the risk. Drank slow. Waited. Nothing burned. Nothing twisted in his gut.
He gave Max a sip.
Then they heard the scream.
High. Short. Cut off mid-breath.
Elias didn't flinch. Max did. That was all you needed to know about where they were at.
"Someone's out there," Max whispered.
"Lots of people are," Elias said. "Most are dead before they know it."
"But what if it's real? What if someone's alive?"
"It's always real. That's the problem."
Max stared at him. "You're just going to let them die?"
"They're already dying."
Max didn't speak again.
Elias moved them into a half-standing garage. There was a broken hatchback inside. He checked it for fuel. Nothing. But there were supplies in the back. A flare gun. A tire iron. And most importantly — a sealed tin of mints.
Food.
He split it with Max. One each. They sucked on them like they were eating gold.
That night, Elias didn't write.
He just stared at the flare gun. Weighed it in his hand. Not enough to kill an infected. But enough to blind one. Or distract.
He added it to his inventory.
The system buzzed.
[Inventory Full] — Expand for 20 Coins?
He paid without thinking. Regret came later.
Max finally broke the silence.
"What if we found other people?"
"What if we didn't?"
"I mean good people. A group. Safety in numbers."
Elias didn't smile. "Safety in numbers gets you seen faster. Heard louder. Killed sooner."
"What if we were careful?"
"There is no careful anymore," Elias said. "There's only quiet. And fast. And lucky."
Max looked away.
The stars came out.
Elias didn't sleep.
At some point, the system stirred again. But this time, it wasn't a quest.
Warning: System Shift Detected
Viral Strain Mutation — Urban Cluster 3A
New Class Detected: Echo-Host (Tier 2.5)
Description: Carries auditory mimicry and trap-call behavior
Recommendation: Avoid vocal interaction in exposed areas
He didn't blink.
Of course. That scream earlier. It wasn't bait from humans.
It was the infected.
And now, they could sound like us.
He leaned his head back against the wall. Eyes wide. Breathing slow.
Entry 17: The dead don't need to chase you. They just need you to come running.