LOSS System: Last Store Standing

Jack did not answer Elias right away.

He glanced at the group, then at the table and chairs under the tent.

“Let’s sit first.”

Cass and the others took their seats. Jack went back into the store and soon pushed out the portable air conditioner he had put away the night before.

Cass had barely sat down before his attention locked onto it.

“What’s that now?”

Jack ignored the question for the moment. He connected the extension cord, turned the vent toward the tent, and let the cold air blow inside.

Cass, Reed, and Vane all went still.

A second later, Cass’s eyes lit up.

“Wait. Is that an air conditioner?”

“Portable air conditioner,” Jack said.

Even Elias looked at it a little longer after hearing that.

Only then did Jack sit down across from him.

“Materials shouldn’t be a major problem.”

Elias did not interrupt. He simply waited.

Jack pointed toward the area outside the convenience store.

“I’m not planning anything too complicated at the start,” he said. “A fence should be enough for now. I just don’t want the store sitting out here completely exposed.”

He paused for a second.

“It doesn’t have to stop everything. As long as it blocks a little and gives the place a clear boundary, that’s enough. We can reinforce it later.”

Elias gave a small hum, indicating for him to continue.

“There are quite a few wooden pallets in the storage room,” Jack said. “We can use those first and put together a simple fence.”

Cass and Reed exchanged a look.

They had seen those pallets when they went into the storage room to move the table and chairs.

“And the shelves,” Jack added, pointing back into the store. “Most of the shelves inside can be taken apart. If we need posts, we can strip out the steel frames and use those.”

Elias looked toward the store, then back at Jack.

“As long as you know what you have to work with.”

The discussion soon turned practical.

The first fence could not cover too much ground. The wooden pallets and shelf frames were useful, but there were not enough of them to build around everything at once.

Elias suggested starting with the area in front of the convenience store and the two sides Jack used most often.

The faucet was another issue. Instead of sending the water all the way toward the large pit for now, they could dig a smaller pit nearby and use it for temporary storage. It would be easier to protect, and they would not have to stretch the fence too far.

The tent also needed to be moved closer to the store. It would be easier to use that way, and it could block at least part of the view from outside.

After some discussion, they settled on the first few steps.

Move the tent closer first. Once the position was fixed, they would gather the tools and materials under it. That way, once work started, everything would be within reach instead of forcing Jack to run back to the storage room every few minutes.

Right as they reached that point, Jack’s stomach growled.

The table went quiet.

Everyone looked at him.

Jack paused, then cleared his throat.

“Let’s take a break,” he said. “I haven’t eaten yet. And you came all this way before sunrise, so I’m guessing you haven’t either.”

He stood up before anyone could refuse.

At first, Jack planned to make something simple in the kitchen. But when he reached the door, he glanced back at the tent.

The table was already there. So were the chairs. There was open space around them.

Might as well cook outside.

Jack changed direction and went to the storage room first. He pulled out the camping stove, cookware, and tableware, then called toward the tent.

“Cass, come help me carry some stuff.”

Cass blinked, then quickly got up and ran over.

By the time Cass carried the stove back under the tent, Jack was already pulling ingredients from the freezer.

A pack of sausages, a pack of ham slices, ten eggs, a loaf of bread, and a block of butter.

He brought everything back and set it on the table.

Cass stared.

“Holy crap.”

He looked at the food for a long moment before finally saying, “You really are wasteful. Watering the ground was one thing, but this much for breakfast?”

Jack rolled his eyes and pushed the stove toward him.

“Stop nagging and help. Aren’t you hungry?”

Cass froze, then pointed at himself.

“I get some too?”

Jack almost laughed from irritation.

“Obviously. Everyone gets some. Hurry up.”

Cass answered at once, and his hands suddenly moved a lot faster.

Even Elias looked at Jack, as if he wanted to say something.

Jack waved him off first.

“Relax. Breakfast isn’t going to bankrupt me.”

Elias paused, then said, “Thank you.”

Jack shrugged and got to work.

Butter melted in the pan first, and the smell came out almost immediately.

He fried the sausages and ham slices for a while, then cracked in a few eggs. The bread slices went on next, toasted just enough for the edges to turn slightly crisp.

Before long, Jack had several hot plates of breakfast on the table.

Cass tried to help at first, but he mostly got in the way. In the end, Jack sent him off to arrange the plates instead.

Reed and Vane sat to the side and watched, their expressions a little complicated. Elias did not say anything either.

Once the food was on the table, everyone seemed to come back to themselves.

To Jack, this was just a quick breakfast thrown together on the spot.

But to Cass and the others, sausages, ham, eggs, bread, and even butter all together on one table already felt unreal.

Elias looked at the plate in front of him for a long moment before saying softly, “I don’t even remember how long it’s been since I last had breakfast.”

Jack paused.

He looked up at the old man, then said, “The past is the past. Don’t think too much about it. At least you’re having it again now, right?”

Elias froze for a moment, then smiled.

“I suppose I was being sentimental.”

Jack did not say anything else. He picked up a slice of bread and took a bite.

Cass had been holding back for a while. Once Jack started eating, he immediately dug in too. Reed and Vane were more restrained at first, but they gradually sped up as well.

Soon, under the tent, there was only the sound of chewing and the occasional muffled sigh.

Cass ate the fastest, keeping his eyes on his plate as if someone might snatch it away. Jack was not much better. After working half the night and getting dragged out of bed early, he was hungry enough that manners were the last thing on his mind.

Elias sat beside them and watched the meal unfold. At some point, the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

By the time breakfast was over, there was almost nothing left on the table.

Jack wiped his hands and pushed the cleanup onto Cass.

“You clean up.”

Cass had just finished eating and looked perfectly satisfied, so he did not complain.

“Sure.”

Jack stood up.

“I’m going to make some coffee.”

With that, he turned and walked into the convenience store.

But he had just gone upstairs and had not even reached the coffee when the system’s voice sounded in his mind.

“Human, primate mammals approaching detected.”

Jack stopped in his tracks.

The system continued.

“Estimated arrival in thirty minutes.”