The wind had gone still.
No birds. No rustle. No shifting metal from the ruins outside.
Just a single sound—the low ping of the Phoenix Rig's early threat detection system.
[Passive Movement Detected – Range: 72m → 54m]Classification: Echo Signature – UnstableEstimated Arrival: 3 minutes
Lu Zhen's breath caught in his throat.
Yue stood near the side hatch, already tying her hair into a quick knot. Her blade—short, heavy, forged from a rail segment—rested in her grip like an extension of her arm.
She turned to him, eyes calm.
"How many?"
"Three," Lu answered. "One's fast. Two… heavier."
"Damn."
He didn't wait. He moved to the back storage panel of the rig and yanked it open, pulling aside a mess of wiring and scrap. Inside, beneath a coil of cables, lay a tightly folded military jacket—he'd salvaged it from the seat days ago but never touched it again.
He tossed it to her. "It's thick. Not biteproof, but it'll help."
She looked at it for only a second, then slipped it on without question. The polymer lining creaked as it hugged her torso.
"It's stiff," she said. "But I can still move."
Outside, gravel crunched.
[Range: 39m]
Lu's HUD pulsed. His Vault was holding a few leftover parts—nothing fancy. But something functional.
Fast.
He selected Emergency Assembly Mode.
[Deployable Trap – Auto-Spike v0.1 (Improvised)]Assembly Time: 90 SecondsMaterials: Small Spring Coil, Plate Fragment, Screw Bolts x3Placement: Manual | Trigger: Pressure
He grabbed what he needed and crawled toward the side hatch. With one hand, he opened it just wide enough to slide the trap out. He set it into the dirt near a crack in the ground—covered it with torn matting and dust.
"There," he whispered. "Left flank protected."
[Trap Status: Armed]
He moved back inside, grabbing the wrench blade from the dashboard slot. It wasn't sharp, but it was solid enough to cave in a skull.
Yue took position by the front. "You cover the door. I'll take anything that circles wide."
Lu nodded, checking his pistol.
[Ammo Loaded: 5 / 6]
The rig went still again.
And then—they arrived.
The first was fast. A Crawler—limbs too long, fingers like claws, face twisted into something halfway between man and bone. It launched from a ruined stairwell and sprinted across the cracked lot toward the RV's front window.
Lu didn't aim for the head. He aimed for the shoulder.
BANG.
The round struck, and the Crawler spiraled sideways, slamming into the rig's bumper. It screeched, rolled, and clawed upright again—its arm useless now, but legs still fast.
From the side, two more figures emerged—Shamblers. Slower, but more massive. Their flesh hung in strips, but their eyes were locked with hateful hunger.
The first one veered left—right into the spike trap.
SNAP.
The shriek that followed was raw. It fell forward, its leg torn open, its knee shattered from beneath. The second Shambler moved around it, stumbling past the rig's side wall.
Yue moved.
She met the second one head-on.
Her blade flashed—first a cut across the chest, then a slam of her shoulder to knock it off-balance. It growled, swinging a rotting arm wildly. She ducked under it, twisted, and drove her weapon into its back.
The blade didn't go cleanly in. But it went in.
She gasped from the force—but kept moving.
I shouldn't be able to push this hard...Not like this.
Another swing came from behind. Yue turned fast—too fast.
The jacket caught the edge of a claw. The fabric tore, but her skin underneath was barely scraped.
She didn't flinch.
Lu stepped back from the front and headed to the rear.
The Crawler had vanished.
Then—CRASH!
A limb burst through the side door panel.
Lu didn't hesitate. He raised the wrench blade and brought it down—once, twice—crushing knuckle and bone. The Crawler shrieked. The third swing caught it in the temple.
It collapsed halfway through the door.
Dead weight.
He slammed the door shut, locking it down with a bar.
Back outside, Yue was panting hard. One Shambler down, the other limping badly from the trap wound. She circled it, not waiting to be caught. Her foot struck its shin, then her blade cut through the neck with a precise, brutal motion.
And then—it was over.
The dust settled.
Lu looked at her. She looked back.
Blood. Bruises. Torn jacket. Sweat.
But both of them were still standing.
"We won," Lu said."Yeah," Yue replied, catching her breath. "We actually won."
Not because of a miracle.Not because of luck.But because they prepared. Fought. Moved as one.
Lu's HUD blinked softly.
[Auto-Spike Trap Blueprint Unlocked]Classification: Defensive Utility v0.1→ Trigger: Pressure | Output: Damage (Minor) + Delay→ Crafting Lv.2
[Crafting EXP +15 | Decomposition EXP +10]
Yue leaned against the RV's outer wall. Her hand went to her ribs, where the jacket had torn.
"That strike would've broken something without the coat," she muttered.
"Wasn't bulletproof."
"No," she said. "But enough."
Lu holstered his pistol. "How's your arm?"
"Bruised. Not broken."
They stood in silence.
Then Yue said, more to herself than to him, "My body's… responding. Faster. Stronger."
"You're evolving?"
"No," she said firmly. "Not like them. Not like fire and lightning."
Then softer:
"But maybe… this world is changing all of us. Even the ones it didn't choose."
Lu said nothing.
He understood.
He opened the RV door again, now clear of bodies. They stepped back inside. The smell of blood lingered, but so did the warmth of surviving something real.
He sat. She closed the rear hatch.
And outside, for the first time in days, the sky looked… survivable.