LOSS System: Last Store Standing

Once they confirmed that the water had reached the agricultural supply center, everyone finally relaxed. Jack stood beside the fully swollen hose, unable to wipe the smile from his face.

Leaning against the Tesla, Megan smiled as well.

“I can’t believe you actually pulled it off.”

“Neither can I.” Jack patted the hose beside him. “At least their problem is finally solved.”

Henry laughed.

“They might start doing everything you say from now on.”

Jack rolled his eyes.

“I’ll be grateful if they just stop causing trouble.”

Laughter broke out around them.

Before it had completely faded, however, the expressions on Henry, Dale, and several others changed almost simultaneously. They turned toward the large pit, their hands moving toward their weapons.

The relaxed atmosphere vanished in an instant.

Jack and Megan stared at them, completely unaware of what had happened. Jack was about to ask Henry what was wrong when the system’s voice suddenly sounded in his head.

“Human, a pack of mutant carnivorous hyenas has been detected.”

“Number: Twenty-four.”

“Estimated arrival time: Thirty minutes.”

The moment the system finished speaking, Henry said grimly, “The smell of blood is strong.”

Jack went rigid.

Megan looked around in confusion.

“What’s going on? Why is everyone suddenly so tense?”

Before Jack could answer, the urgent hum of electric motors came from the direction of the trading post.

Everyone turned.

Several CUEVs were racing toward the shelter at full speed, their wheels throwing up clouds of dust across the wasteland. They didn’t begin slowing down until they reached the canopy.

The moment Elias’s CUEV stopped, he jumped out.

“The smell of blood is strong.”

Henry and Elias exchanged a glance.

“Mutant beasts,” they said at the same time.

Megan’s expression changed, and she turned to Jack.

“Mutant beasts?”

“Yeah.” Jack moved closer and lowered his voice near her ear. “Hyenas. Twenty-four of them.”

Megan’s lips parted slightly, but no words came out.

Elias stood still and studied the surroundings before looking toward the heat haze rolling across the distance. His expression grew even more serious.

“With a smell that strong, there must be a lot of them.”

Everyone quickly returned to the trading post and gathered beneath the canopy.

The Ashback Elk that had been soaking in the pit were already on their feet. The adults repeatedly raised their heads to scan the surroundings, while the calves pressed close to them and let out short, anxious calls.

The Gray-Eared Jump Hares near the shore had already descended into chaos. They darted into wooden crates and the shadows near the canopy. Several even shot between people’s legs and hid behind the boxes of supplies.

The Dustchucks in the pit were scrambling to get ashore as well. Their smaller bodies and digging forelimbs allowed them to grip the uneven walls, and they climbed out one after another. The few trapped behind the others squealed in agitation and began clambering over their companions, throwing the entire slope into confusion.

The Ashback Elk had a much harder time.

They were large and had spent a long time soaking in the water. The adults could just manage to climb the gentler slopes, but the calves struggled to keep up. The soil around the edge had softened after being soaked, and every step of their hooves sent sand and mud sliding downward.

The first adult to reach the top had barely turned around when several others pressed into it from behind, nearly knocking it back into the pit.

Before long, vague shapes began to emerge from the distant heat haze.

At first, they were nothing more than a few low black specks flickering in and out of sight across the distorted wasteland. As they drew closer, those specks stretched into mutant beasts with raised shoulders and sloping backs.

Their coats were a mixture of grayish white and dark brown, broken by irregular charcoal-black markings. From a distance, they blended almost perfectly with the sun-bleached sand and scorched rocks.

Powerful forelegs supported their high shoulders. Their broad heads seemed to merge directly into short, thick necks. They weren’t moving particularly fast, but their pace never wavered, as though they were incapable of growing tired.

More shapes appeared through the heat behind them.

One after another, they stretched across a long distance. They weren’t moving in an orderly formation. Some traveled in groups of three or five, while others ranged farther out on either side, but all of them continued toward the pit.

The Ashen Hyenas didn’t appear to be targeting the Ashback Elk at first. Their attention remained fixed on the pit. From time to time, they lowered their heads to sniff the ground, then raised their broad skulls into the wind to check their direction.

The heat wave had dried up water sources across a vast area. The moisture constantly evaporating from the pit had become an obvious guide, and the Ashen Hyenas had clearly followed it all the way here.

The animal at the front gradually slowed.

Dark brown blood stained the corners of its mouth, while its chest and forelegs were smeared with old gore. The others were in much the same condition. As the pack drew closer, the smell of blood and rotting flesh caught in their fur grew steadily stronger.

But when the first few Ashen Hyenas crossed a low stretch of rocky ground and saw the Ashback Elk still struggling to climb out of the pit, the pack’s behavior changed immediately.

The lead Ashen Hyena stopped, its dark yellow eyes fixed on the crowded herd near the water. The others no longer approached directly. Instead, they slowed and began spreading toward either side.

Several smaller Ashen Hyenas lowered their bodies and moved close to the gray-white sand as they circled toward the side of the pit. Those farther out widened the distance between them and shifted toward the routes the Ashback Elk were most likely to use.

The entire maneuver was almost silent. Only an occasional short, low call passed quickly through the pack.

The Ashback Elk’s cries became more urgent.

The adults already on shore didn’t flee. Instead, they paced anxiously along the edge of the pit, repeatedly looking down at the calves still trapped below before raising their heads toward the Ashen Hyenas spreading around them.

Jack watched the pack slowly form an encirclement, his initial surprise hardening into concern.

“Are they here to hunt?”

Elias watched the pack tighten its formation.

“Probably not at first. But they are now.”

Jack and Megan spoke at the same time.

“The Ashback Elk!”

Elias nodded and looked toward the pit.

Jack followed his gaze. The Ashen Hyenas were gradually surrounding the entire area, and the Ashback Elk still struggling in the water had clearly become their prey.

The last few members of the herd were still having trouble reaching dry ground. The adults that had already escaped didn’t take the opportunity to run. Instead, they returned to the edge and anxiously guarded the calves that remained below.

One calf tried several times to climb out, only to slide back into the shallows each time. An adult paced along the edge above it, calling urgently.

The calf found another foothold in the wall, hauled itself past the steepest section, and finally stumbled onto dry ground.

The Ashen Hyenas still didn’t attack.

Those facing the herd slowed and maintained their distance from the pit. Their companions on either side continued spreading silently, circling the elk from different directions. Several on the outer edge had already moved beyond the pit and lowered themselves behind a stretch of rocks, leaving only the tops of their heads exposed.

They appeared to have left an opening for the herd.

In reality, the available escape routes were growing narrower by the second.

Once the last Ashback Elk had scrambled ashore, the herd closed ranks. The adults formed a protective ring around the frightened calves, turning their massive antlers toward the approaching Ashen Hyenas.

The largest adult let out a deep call and led the herd slowly backward. But whenever they moved in one direction, the nearby Ashen Hyenas shifted with them.

The pack never came too close, but it refused to leave them a genuine path of escape.

The area around the pit gradually fell silent.

The heavy breathing of the Ashback Elk came in uneven bursts, their hooves scraping anxiously at the ground. The Ashen Hyenas made almost no sound. Only the gray manes along their backs stirred in the hot wind.

They were in no hurry.

The herd had only just climbed out of the pit, and most of the Ashback Elk had already spent much of their strength. Several calves were barely steady on their feet and could only press close against the adults.

The Ashen Hyenas had clearly noticed that too.

One of the hyenas near the front suddenly charged several paces.

An adult elk on the outer edge immediately lowered its head and aimed its antlers at the approaching predator. But before entering striking range, the Ashen Hyena stopped and darted aside.

At almost the same moment, two hyenas approached from the opposite side, forcing the herd to turn.

They never truly attacked. They only kept testing the herd, forcing the adults on the outside to shift repeatedly. Whenever the Ashback Elk prepared to break out in one direction, the nearby hyenas gathered immediately. The moment the herd stopped, they scattered again.

Within moments, the herd had been compressed into an increasingly tight formation.

The adult at the front let out another low call, then abruptly lowered its head and aimed its antlers toward what appeared to be the weakest part of the pack.

The other adults reacted immediately, keeping the calves secured in the middle as they began turning in the same direction.

The Ashen Hyenas made no effort to stop them. They merely lowered themselves and slowly withdrew to either side.

Jack stared at the opening they had deliberately created, growing more uneasy by the second.

Beyond it, several low shapes had silently risen behind the distant rocks.

The lead elk gave a deep cry and charged toward the opening with the herd.

Heavy hooves pounded across the wasteland, throwing up clouds of sand. The adults along the outside stayed close together, keeping the calves tightly protected in the middle.

The herd had barely covered any distance when the Ashen Hyenas hidden behind the rocks burst from cover.

The lead elk didn’t stop. With its head lowered, it charged directly into the pack waiting ahead.

Its massive antlers swept across the attackers. One Ashen Hyena failed to dodge in time and was hurled aside, but several others held their ground and immediately lunged for the elk’s flanks and hind legs.

The elk kicked backward, striking one hyena in the head.

Another had already clamped its jaws around the elk’s hind leg. It was dragged several feet across the ground before finally being thrown loose.

But while the lead elk turned to fight back, the rest of the pack caught up from behind.

Several Ashen Hyenas lunged at the edge of the herd. The outer adults turned to meet them, antlers and forelegs driving back the first attackers.

The tightly protected herd was forced to slow, and gaps began opening between the front and rear.

The Ashen Hyenas blocking the path ahead immediately attacked again.

One adult elk was bitten on the hind leg, causing its body to dip sharply in mid-stride. It kicked the hyena away, but before it could regain its footing, another slammed into it from the side.

The elk stumbled but remained upright. It lowered its head, drove the nearby hyenas back with its antlers, then turned and ran after the retreating herd.

But that brief delay had already left it behind.

More Ashen Hyenas swarmed around it. Several snapped at its hind legs while others moved along either side, cutting off every route it could use to escape.

The elk knocked two hyenas away, but it could no longer regain speed. Whenever it tried to charge toward the herd, the nearby hyenas attacked from several directions, forcing it to stop and defend itself.

The rest of the herd had fallen into chaos as well.

With one fewer adult guarding the outside, several calves were quickly exposed. The Ashen Hyenas rushed through the opening, scattering the panicked young and tearing the formation apart.

One calf veered away from the herd.

A nearby adult immediately turned, trying to force it back toward the middle, but two Ashen Hyenas attacked from the side and drove the adult off course.

The calf ran alone for a short distance before three Ashen Hyenas caught up.

The first lunged for its hind leg. The calf lost its balance and rolled across the sand, then struggled back to its feet.

A second hyena charged from the other side and knocked it down again.

An adult spotted the separated calf and immediately raced back. It lowered its head and rammed aside the hyena blocking its path. Its thick antlers raked across another, forcing several of the predators to retreat.

The calf scrambled upright and stumbled toward the adult.

But more Ashen Hyenas were already arriving from behind.

They quickly cut the adult off from the calf. The elk charged repeatedly, trying to reach it, but each attempt was blocked by several hyenas attacking from different directions.

The herd ahead didn’t stop.

The remaining adults continued their breakout with the other calves protected among them. If they turned back, the opening they had fought through would close again, and the entire herd could be trapped.

The adult left behind let out another deep, urgent call.

The herd ahead slowed briefly.

The lead elk looked back once before leading the others onward into the distance.

The separated calf was attacked again.

The adult tried to charge toward it, but several Ashen Hyenas lunged at its side and hind legs simultaneously. Forced to turn and defend itself, it could only watch the distance between them grow.

Jack watched the calf go down beneath the Ashen Hyenas once more. Unable to stand by and watch any longer, he turned and ran toward the convenience store.

Elias grabbed his arm.

“Where are you going?”

Jack struggled against his grip.

“To get the submachine gun!”