LOSS System: Last Store Standing

Barak grinned and raised the heavy hammer.

“One—”

Jack’s finger was already on the trigger.

He was about to lift the gun when a hand pressed down on his shoulder.

Jack turned sharply and found Elias standing beside him. The old man shook his head.

“Not yet,” Elias said quietly. “Let them come closer. They don’t know you have a gun.”

Jack froze for half a second, then understood and nodded.

Elias turned to the others.

“Vane, keep an eye on Jagger. Don’t let him get close. That weapon of his may be trouble. If you get a chance, spray him before he reaches you.”

Vane nodded. His dagger was in one hand, a can of cleaner in the other, and his gaze was already fixed on the figure moving along the edge.

“Reed, you take Mort. Watch the chain hammer. Don’t block it head-on. Just keep him from breaking through.”

Reed gave a low grunt and tightened his grip on his hammer.

Elias looked to Cass next.

“Keep Scar busy. Don’t let him rush in. Spray him if you get the chance.”

Cass gave the brake cleaner and the pair of sai in his hands a small shake, then grinned.

“Got it.”

Finally, Elias turned to Marlin.

“Marlin, hold off the woman. Same as the others. Don’t meet her head-on. Look for a chance to spray her.”

Marlin nodded. His short knife was already in his hand, and the merchant’s smile from earlier was gone.

Only then did Elias look at Jack.

“You watch Barak. Don’t rush the shot. Let him get close. When I tell you to fire, fire.”

Jack tightened his grip on the gun and nodded.

Elias swept his gaze over them.

“Everyone clear?”

The others answered one after another.

Jack watched him finish assigning everyone in just a few sentences, and one thought became very clear.

Elias was definitely more than just an elder from a small settlement.

By then, Barak had reached three.

Jack and the others still had not handed anything over. Instead, they seemed to be quietly arranging something among themselves.

The grin on Barak’s scarred face twisted wider.

“In the face of absolute strength, tactics are useless.”

He dragged the heavy hammer forward and broke into a charge.

A man that size should not have been able to move that fast. With every heavy step, loose stones jumped under his feet. The massive rail hammer swung up, cutting through the air with a low, heavy rush as it came straight for Jack.

“Move!”

Elias shouted.

Jack’s body reacted before his mind did. He threw himself to the side.

The hammer crashed into the spot where he had been standing a heartbeat earlier. Dirt and gravel burst outward, and a shallow crater appeared in the hardened ground.

Jack hit the ground hard.

His back went cold.

Barak’s first strike missed, but that only seemed to excite him.

“Fast little runner.”

He dragged the hammer forward again.

Jack scrambled backward, his hands and feet scraping against the ground. Barak’s shadow pressed closer and closer. From this distance, Jack could see the sunburned patches across his chest and the long scar cutting across his face.

The other raiders moved at the same time.

Scar came in with a strange laugh, quick and low, his curved sickle flashing in his hand. Valkyrie advanced more slowly, dragging her road-sign cleaver forward step by step. The scrap armor on her body scraped and clanged with every movement. Mort swung his chain hammer as he moved, each turn of the chain cutting a heavy arc through the air.

Jagger was the only one who did not come straight at them.

He slipped toward the side instead.

“Now!”

Elias shouted.

Vane moved first.

He darted along the edge of the tent, dagger angled straight toward Jagger’s chest.

Jagger reacted fast, but not fast enough. He twisted his short spear back to block, and the two of them crashed into each other at close range.

Before Jagger could create distance, Vane lifted the can and sprayed directly into his face.

The chemical mist burst out.

Jagger screamed and clapped a hand over his eyes.

“Ah! My eyes!”

He stumbled back, no longer caring about Vane, and turned to run.

Cass moved right after Vane.

He aimed the brake cleaner at Scar and pressed the nozzle.

“Try this!”

A sharp chemical mist burst into Scar’s face just as he rushed in. His curved sickle was already coming up, but the spray made him shriek and stumble sideways.

Cass crossed his sai in front of him and caught the wild swing of Scar’s sickle. The impact still forced him back two steps.

Reed went for Mort.

The chain hammer slammed into the ground with a dull thud, sending dust and chips of stone into the air. Reed did not try to block it directly. He kept moving, waiting for a chance to strike back.

Marlin met Valkyrie’s blade with his short knife.

The road-sign cleaver crashed down, and the sharp ring of metal against metal cut through the air.

In the space of a few breaths, the fight broke apart into several smaller battles.

Jack had barely pushed himself up when Barak was on him again.

The heavy hammer swept sideways.

Jack clenched his teeth and rolled away. The hammerhead passed so close to his face that the rush of air stung his skin.

Before he could even breathe, Barak raised the hammer again.

Jack planted both hands against the ground and shoved himself backward with everything he had. Broken stones dug into his palms, and the gun almost slipped from his grip.

Then Barak lifted the hammer for another strike.

“Shoot!”

Elias’s voice cut through the chaos.

Jack raised the gun on instinct.

His eyes squeezed shut.

Bang!

The gunshot cracked across the wasteland.

For one brief instant, everything stopped.

When Jack opened his eyes, his ears were ringing.

Barak was on one knee.

One hand pressed against his stomach. The other still gripped the heavy hammer. The savage grin on his face was gone, replaced by pain and disbelief. Blood seeped through his fingers.

He stared up at Jack, his voice broken.

“A… gun…”

“How do you… have… a gun…”

Valkyrie reacted first.

“Fall back!”

Mort broke away from Reed and rushed to Barak’s side, hauling one of Barak’s arms over his shoulder. Scar stumbled over as well and grabbed Barak from the other side.

Vane started after them, but Elias snapped, “Don’t chase!”

Vane stopped.

Cass stopped too, his sai still raised in front of him.

The raiders pulled back a short distance. Mort and Scar checked Barak’s wound in a hurry, but Valkyrie’s attention was not on Barak.

It was on the gun in Jack’s hand.

Her eyes were even greedier than Marlin’s had been earlier, and far more dangerous.

“Good.”

Her voice came out cold and sharp.

“I’ll make sure none of you die in one piece.”

“And once you’re dead, that gun is mine.”

By then, Jack had forced himself back onto his feet.

The fear from almost being crushed by Barak’s hammer was still there, but Valkyrie’s words shoved something hotter through it.

Anger.

He raised the gun and aimed it at her.

“Come on!”

“Let’s see which is faster—you or my gun!”

Then he pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The bullet cut past Valkyrie’s side and struck the ground, kicking up dirt. Valkyrie jerked away, her face going ugly.

“You just wait—”

Before Valkyrie could finish, Cass stepped up beside Jack.

He slung an arm over Jack’s shoulder and sneered at her.

“Anyone can talk tough. If you’ve got the guts, come over here.”

Then he turned to Jack. “Boss, why waste words on her? Just shoot her and be done with it.”

Jack’s eye twitched.

Boss?

Before he could react, Cass had already turned and shouted at Reed, “Reed, Boss is too kind to kill. Go get my gun. I’ll do it for him!”

Reed froze.

Then he nodded, dead serious.

“Okay.”

He turned around and crouched under the table, pretending to search for something.

Jack stared at them.

Were they seriously doing this?

But the raiders did not know it was an act.

Mort’s expression shifted first.

“Boss, we should fall back! They have more than one gun!”

Scar growled, “Barak can’t hold out much longer!”

Valkyrie kept staring at Jack. Greed and frustration flickered in her eyes, but in the end, she gritted her teeth and stepped back.

“Move!”

The raiders dragged Barak away and began retreating into the distance.

Before she left, Valkyrie looked back at Jack one more time, as if trying to burn his face into memory.

Only after they had moved far enough away did Jack finally let out the breath he had been holding.

He lowered the gun and looked at Cass beside him.

“They’re gone. You can stop acting now.”

But Cass did not move.

The smile on his face froze. A second later, it twisted into a grimace.

“I…”

He sucked in a sharp breath.

“I’m hurt.”

Reed’s expression changed first.

He rushed over to support Cass, and Vane crouched down beside them. Together, they helped Cass into a chair. Only then did Jack see the red spreading across Cass’s thigh.

A long cut ran across his leg, ugly and frightening.

For a second, Jack panicked.

“What do we do? What do we do?”

Then his old-world instincts kicked in.

“Right, hospital! Ambulance! Cass, hold on. I’ll call an ambulance right now!”

Elias was already checking the wound. At Jack’s words, his hand paused for a moment.

Then he grabbed Jack’s arm.

“Calm down.”

Jack’s voice had gone sharp. “How am I supposed to calm down? Look at that cut!”

Elias checked around the wound again, then let out a slow breath.

“It’s fine. It looks bad, but it’s shallow. It didn’t hit anything important.”

Jack stared at him. “How is that possible? He’s bleeding so much!”

Cass was pale from the pain, but he still forced out a reply.

“Jack, really. I’m fine. It just hurts.”

Jack looked at him. “Really?”

Cass nodded with difficulty.

“Really.”

Only then did Jack manage to pull himself together a little.

“Wait here,” he said. “I’ll get the medicine.”

He turned and ran into the convenience store.

Farther away, Valkyrie walked with her head low, muttering curses under her breath. Her expression was dark enough to make the others keep their distance.

Then Jagger, who had been moving along the side, suddenly stopped.

His whole body went rigid.

The next second, he screamed.

“Ah!”

“Mutant beast!”