Chapter 25: Stakeout

The collapsed building formed a rough incline, concrete slabs stacked unevenly atop one another, creating a jagged path upward. The rubble acted as a natural barrier, sealing off the main street beyond, but it wasn’t particularly difficult to climb. Still, every step demanded care. Loose fragments shifted beneath their boots, pebbles skittering down into unseen gaps below with faint clicking sounds that felt far louder than they should have been.

John moved first, placing his weight deliberately, testing each foothold before committing. Kael followed close behind, his grip tightening on the strap of his bag whenever the rubble groaned beneath them. Dust clung to his clothes, coating his gloves and creeping into his throat, dry and bitter. He resisted the urge to cough.

Once they reached the top, the city opened up briefly before them. From this vantage point, Kael could see just how badly the surrounding district had been torn apart. Entire blocks were reduced to broken silhouettes, skeletal frames of buildings jutting skyward like ribs. Fires had long since burned out, leaving only blackened scars and collapsed interiors.

John didn’t linger. He moved across the crest of the rubble and began descending on the other side, threading his way between collapsed beams and twisted metal supports. Kael stayed close, careful not to let the distance between them widen too much. Below, partially hidden by debris, yawned the entrance to the underground parking lot.

“So,” Kael said quietly as they reached solid ground again, “you want us to go from here?”

John nodded. “Yeah. Do you smell anything?”

Kael inhaled slowly, deliberately, letting his senses stretch outward. He didn’t need to, but had to act the way to at least be convincing. While he was doing so, he gathered all the information he needed.

“I do,” Kael said. He glanced down at his mini-map. The density of red dots clustered below the structure was unsettling. Too many to count at a glance.

But something was off.

He watched the map for several seconds. None of the dots moved.

“They’re… not active,” Kael murmured. “I think they’re asleep.”

John exhaled through his nose. “Yeah. That’s why I chose this time of day.” His gaze remained fixed on the darkened ramp leading down. “Still, we can’t go in yet.”

“Risk of waking them up?” Kael asked.

“Yeah. And if we go in now,” John added, “anyone watching will follow us straight inside. I know a spot nearby where we can hide.” He gestured vaguely down the street. “We wait until nightfall.”

Kael nodded. The logic tracked. During the night, monsters would wake, but most would leave to hunt. Fewer would remain behind, thinning the numbers guarding the structure. It wasn’t safe, but it was safer.

He followed John away from the parking entrance, back through narrow side streets and past half-collapsed storefronts. Eventually, John led them to what remained of a small mini mart. The front was obliterated, half of another building collapsed directly onto it, crushing the entrance and burying the counters beneath concrete and steel. Still, there was space inside. Enough to crawl through and shelter.

The interior felt stripped bare. Shelves lay overturned, splintered and empty. The air smelled stale and dead, like a place that had been abandoned for far too long. Kael scanned the space instinctively, but there was nothing to take. No food. No supplies. Not even empty cans worth inspecting.

It felt less like looting had occurred and more like starvation had finished its work here long ago.

“This place’s been picked clean,” Kael muttered.

“Years ago, probably,” John said. “Not just looted. Lived in. Drained.”

John moved toward one of the fallen shelves and gripped its edge. He dragged it aside with a dull scrape, the sound echoing softly through the ruined space. Kael tensed, listening, but no answering noise came. His eyes never left the mini map worried that someone might sneak up on them. But those that decided to keep watch, well they kept watching.

Behind the shelf, a door was revealed. It was scratched and scarred, claw marks etched deep into the surface, but it still stood, somehow intact.

“This is a storage room,” John said.

He opened the door.

The smell hit first. Old rot. Dust. Something sour and stale. On the floor lay two skeletons, collapsed where they had fallen. Their bones were clean, picked bare by time. Empty cans littered the space, crushed and torn open, and bottles lay scattered, their contents long gone.

Kael didn’t need an explanation.

“They got stuck,” he said quietly.

John nodded. “Shelf fell. Blocked the door. They ate everything they had. Then…” He shrugged.

Kael looked away. There was nothing else to say.

“I found this place yesterday,” John continued. “Figured it’d be good to lay low.”

“It’ll do,” Kael said. “Nothing useful left, though.”

John shook his head. “We took what we could. Nothing worth carrying. Might as well sit down and rest.” He glanced toward the sealed entrance. “We’ve got a couple hours.”

Kael sat, setting his bag down carefully beside him. John closed the door slowly, quietly, until darkness enveloped them completely.

Time began to crawl.

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