The morning after was quiet—too quiet.
Jaden stood on the rooftop of the bookstore, eyes scanning the ruined street below. Smoke rose in the distance, and somewhere a car alarm screamed, ignored by the dead.
Tess climbed up behind him. "You see that?"
He nodded. "Smoke. That direction's downtown."
"Should we check it out?"
Jaden hesitated. "Could be survivors."
"Or something worse."
They packed quickly, avoiding main roads. As they weaved through alleyways, Jaden's Danger Sense flared—a pulse of unease tightening his chest. He grabbed Tess's arm and pulled her behind a broken dumpster just as a zombie stumbled out from a side door.
Its head exploded a second later.
Jaden barely caught the sound before he saw them—four figures advancing down the street. Human. Armed. And fast.
The lead was a woman in her late twenties, clad in tactical gear and dragging a bloodstained sledgehammer. A glowing blue aura clung faintly to her arms.
The others weren't ordinary either.
One floated inches above the ground. Another had eyes that shimmered like molten gold. The last one, barely a teenager, flicked a flame across his fingers like a lighter.
Tess whispered, "Are they…"
"Awakened," Jaden muttered, narrowing his eyes.
The group was efficient. The gold-eyed man reached out, and a surge of force blasted three zombies into a wall. The sledgehammer woman crushed skulls like pumpkins. The floating man twisted in the air and hurled a broken street sign like a javelin, impaling a crawler.
"Damn," Tess breathed. "They're like gods compared to us."
Jaden said nothing. He watched the way they moved—coordinated, ruthless. And powerful.
Too powerful.
As the last zombie fell, the group gathered and spoke, their voices too far to hear clearly. Then, as one, they turned… and looked directly at Jaden and Tess's hiding spot.
Danger Sense flared.
"Run," Jaden said.
Tess didn't question it. They bolted through a side street, cutting across an empty parking lot and up a narrow fire escape. Something crashed behind them—metal bending, concrete splintering.
"They're chasing us?" Tess gasped.
"They saw us," Jaden said, heart hammering. "And they're not normal survivors."
A force slammed into the building behind them. Dust and shards of brick rained down as the golden-eyed man appeared at the base of the fire escape, leaping up floor by floor without effort.
"MOVE!" Jaden shouted.
They reached the roof and jumped to the adjacent building, landing hard. Jaden rolled to absorb the impact, wincing as pain shot through his leg. Tess scrambled to her feet.
"They're still coming!"
"Keep going!"
Jaden risked a glance back. The Awakened weren't chasing like people. They were moving like predators—relentless, focused, confident.
As they neared another rooftop ledge, Jaden's System pinged silently.
[Temporary Objective Triggered]
Evade hostile Awakened encounter
Reward: Lock #010 (Quest Lock – Unopened)
"No choice," Jaden muttered.
He turned sharply and kicked open a rooftop access door. They rushed down a dark stairwell, the air thick with mold and decay. Something moved in the shadows—more infected.
But it was better than staying exposed.
Inside the building, it was a gauntlet of tight halls and shambling corpses. Jaden dispatched one with his folding knife, Tess cracked another's skull with the crowbar. They moved like clockwork now—silent, fast, efficient.
Behind them, a wall exploded inward as the Awakened entered from the other side.
"Split!" Jaden shouted. "Third floor stairwell—meet outside!"
Tess nodded and vanished into the smoke-filled hall.
Jaden ducked into a laundry room, shoved a machine against the door, and opened his System.
[Lock #010 Acquired – Quest Lock]
Status: Unopened
He didn't wait. "Unlock #010."
The padlock shimmered and clicked open.
+1 Endurance
Skill Gained: Sprint Boost (Active – Lv. 1)
Loot: Key Fragment (x1)
Jaden froze, staring at the item now resting in his palm—small, metallic, jagged like a broken gear tooth.
[Key Fragment Acquired: 1/1 for Lock #007]
His eyes widened.
"Perfect timing," he whispered.
He yanked the pin from the smoke bomb and tossed it behind him. A choking cloud erupted in the hallway, swallowing all vision.
Footsteps thundered in.
He ran.
With Sprint Boost active, his body surged forward like a launched arrow. Hallways blurred. Zombies seemed to move in slow motion as he weaved through them, boots hitting floorboards like thunder.
He burst out into the alley just as Tess rounded the corner. Together, they bolted through the maze of backstreets until the sounds of pursuit vanished behind them.
By the time they stopped, both were wheezing and soaked with sweat.
Tess leaned on a wall, panting. "What the hell was that?"
Jaden's face was grim. "Power. Real power. And they weren't trying to help us."
"Awakened aren't all heroes, huh?"
"No," Jaden said, scanning the horizon. "Some of them look at people like us—and they see prey."
Later, under a collapsed overpass, Jaden stared at the glowing seal of Rare Lock #007 in his system menu.
[Requirement Met – Key Fragment x1 acquired]
Lock #007: Ready to unlock.
He clenched his fist.
The Awakened had power.
But he had something else.
A System—and now, a Rare Lock ready to open.
Whatever was inside…
It might be the thing that changes everything.