The darkness held its breath.
Inside the narrow storage room behind the warehouse, Lu Zhen sat with his back against a crate, watching the last faint glow fade from the ceiling light.
He ran a slow systems check on his HUD, only to pause when a corner ping caught his eye—anomaly detected beneath floor plating.
He pushed aside an old crate and pried open a loose panel on the wall. Behind it was a faded emergency cabinet, almost missed in the rust and darkness. Inside: three sealed ration pouches, a collapsible canteen, and a box labeled "FED-LOG: Engineer Class Tools."
He pulled one of the pouches out and tossed it toward Yue.
She caught it midair, her eyes narrowing in surprise. "Where did you—?"
"Hidden panel." He smiled faintly. "Someone wanted to live a little longer."
She examined the seal, then gave a short nod of approval. "Still intact."
They ate in silence at first. The rations were dense and bland—protein bricks laced with vitamins and grain sludge. But after days of near starvation, it tasted like luxury.
After a while, Yue asked, "What were you, before all this?"
Lu paused. Then: "Engineering student. Systems integration, mostly. I was into repurposing scrap tech—old drones, outdated interfaces. Fixing things that weren't worth fixing."
She tilted her head. "So... kind of like now."
He chuckled. "Yeah. Except now, what I build could save our lives."
She leaned back, her eyes drifting to the ceiling. "I was a mechanic. Heavy vehicles. Cranes, freight movers, shipping bay rigs... you name it. My father was a welder. My mother handled logistics at the port."
Lu blinked. "You were already a survivor before the apocalypse."
She shrugged. "I worked with machines. Not monsters."
He looked at her, and for a second, the tension eased. "Your parents?"
She didn't answer for a moment. Then quietly, "They didn't make it past the first wave. No warning. Just... light. Then noise. Then everything changed."
"I'm sorry."
She shook her head. "You don't have to be. I keep going. That's what they'd expect."
Silence returned, but it was a different kind now. Not the fear of things lurking outside—but the kind of silence forged by shared grief. Mutual understanding.
They didn't talk much after that. Instead, they took turns staying awake through the final hours of the night. Yue offered to keep first watch, leaning by the narrow doorway with a piece of scrap pipe across her knees. When her turn was done, she nudged Lu awake without a word. He sat up groggily and took her place, eyes scanning the dark while the HUD gently blinked in low-light mode.
No creatures came. No signals either.
Just time passing.
By morning, the sky was a pale yellow bruise.
They stepped out of the shelter carefully, sticking to the cover of rusted containers and broken forklifts. The wind had shifted—dry, electric, with the scent of dust and scorched plastic.
Just behind the warehouse, Yue spotted it first.
"There," she whispered. "Back lot. See that shell?"
A single recreational vehicle—an old civilian RV—sat half-buried in debris. Its frame was intact, windows cracked but not shattered, wheels half-sunken in mud. The paint was faded white, covered in black scorch patterns. But something about it made Lu's HUD ping.
[Structure Detected – Civilian Transport Unit: Mobile Class C]Condition: Inactive / Battery OfflineStatus: Frame 78% Integrity – RestorableBlueprint Match: Phoenix Rig Type-07 (Partial)
Lu Zhen stared.
"It's the same base frame," he murmured. "The blueprint I scanned last night... this is it."
Yue approached cautiously, checking the doors and undercarriage. "Engine's fried. Tires are done. But the axle's solid. Interior might be salvageable."
"We can work with this," Lu said, eyes already calculating.
He opened the Vault and reviewed his materials:
– Scrap Fiber Mesh– Wiring Coil x2– Scrap Insulation– Polymer Fragment– Steel Fragment– Battery Core (Damaged)
Enough to start a basic frame reinforcement. Enough to transform this relic into something more.
"I'll start with the frame," he muttered. "Seal the doors. Reinforce the window slots with fiber mesh and polymer blend. If I synth the insulation correctly, we can control internal temp at night."
"You do that," Yue said, grabbing a crowbar. "I'll make sure nothing's nesting in the cabin."
Lu set his palm against the RV's outer panel.
[Decomposition – Forklift Frame Available Nearby]Target: Steel Joint + Bolt Layer + Cabin PanelScan Range: 1.0mEstimated Time: 4 minutes (Increased Load)
He initiated the breakdown.
The forklift next to them groaned and shimmered—but the process was slow. Much slower than before.
Lu's vision wavered halfway through. The structure was dense. Too many moving joints, welded frames, steel composites.
"Come on... hold focus," he muttered.
When it finally unraveled, he collapsed back onto the floor, gasping—but smiling.
[Decomposition Complete – EXP +50][Level Up Achieved – Decomposition Lv.2 | EXP: 14 / 300]→ Scan Range: 1 meter unlocked→ Vault Capacity Expanded: 10.00 m³→ Decomp Stability Enhanced
His HUD pulsed brighter. For the first time, his storage space felt... free.
"We've got room now," he said aloud. "I can start storing larger structural sets."
"Good," Yue called from inside. "Because I think this thing has a solar bank tucked under the flooring. If it's intact, we might even have light."
Lu smiled faintly. The old world had left behind enough pieces. All he had to do was reshape them.
As the sun climbed higher, they worked in rhythm. Yue tearing out ruined wiring, Lu laying down reconfigured panels using synthesized bonds. The RV took on new life—slowly shifting from wreckage into a mobile base.
A home. A forge.
"This isn't just a shelter on wheels," Lu said quietly, running a hand across the side.
Yue looked over, her face streaked with dust. "Then what is it?"
He looked at her.
"It's a beginning."
—