The sliding doors were busted open, one of them hanging crookedly from its frame like a drunk trying to do the limbo.
Lin stepped over the shattered glass and rusted cans littering the tiled floor, crowbar in one hand, trying his best to look like he knew what he was doing. Sierra entered behind him with her rifle up, scanning every dark corner with a predator's ease. Yuzuki skipped in behind them, humming the chorus of a long-dead J-pop song.
"Looks like some kinda supermarket," Sierra muttered, squinting past the shelves. "Branding's all faded, but layout's familiar. Bet there's a pharmacy section tucked in the back."
"L-let's check there," Lin said, trying to sound decisive. "We, uh... need meds."
Sierra smirked. "Damn, Commander. Leading us straight to the loot. So assertive."
He cleared his throat, face already warm. "I-I'm just—doing my job."
"Your job's looking cute, isn't it~?" Yuzuki chimed in.
Lin choked on air.
They walked past collapsed aisles and rotting produce bins, stepping over rusted shopping carts and the bones of long-forgotten looters. The place had been picked clean years ago—but there were still remnants. A dusty condom box, some melted chocolate bars, the faint trace of bleach and despair.
After a few minutes, they reached the pharmacy window. Its security shutter had been ripped open and left half-dangling.
Sierra stepped in first.
"Nothing," she called back. "Just a graveyard of empty shelves and some broken pill bottles. Fuck me."
Lin followed behind her, peering at the cabinets. There were labels—most illegible—and a couple of moldy bandages. No painkillers. No antibiotics. Not even a goddamn vitamin.
"Shit," he muttered.
Then, behind them—
Squeak.
It was quiet, almost comically so. Like a single shoe against polished tile.
Yuzuki yelped. "Eeeep!"
In the blink of an eye, she jumped forward and latched onto Lin's arm like a panicked squirrel.
Her chest pressed flush against him—soft, warm, and way too real.
Lin froze.
His eyes widened. His brain short-circuited.
"Oh god," he whispered.
Sierra turned and raised an eyebrow. "The fuck?"
"I—it—it was a noise—!" Yuzuki squealed, still clinging to him like he was a human body pillow. "Like a ghost noise! It was behind the counter!"
"Probably a rat," Sierra said, sighing. "Or your imagination."
Lin wasn't listening. His heart was pounding like a war drum.
Because her boobs—her actual, goddamn C-cup idol boobs—were mashed up against his arm, and he could feel every single molecule of that contact. Her perfume, somehow still clinging to her post-apocalyptic uniform, smelled like strawberries and radiation.
His pants betrayed him instantly.
Oh fuck. Fuckfuckfuck. Not now—
He tried to pull away discreetly, but Yuzuki clung tighter.
"You'll protect me, right, Producer-sama~?"
"I—I—I—uh—" Lin stammered.
Sierra took one look at his red face, then at the suspicious bulge forming beneath his hoodie, and grinned like a wolf.
"Well, well," she drawled. "What do we have here? Pretty boy's pitching a tent in aisle five."
Lin nearly died on the spot. "N-NO—I MEAN—I—I'm just—"
"Oh noooo~" Yuzuki gasped, finally realizing what was poking her thigh. "Captain-sama... you're that happy to protect me~?"
"SHUT UP—PLEASE—OH MY GOD," Lin whimpered, trying to detach her like a panicked monk wrestling a succubus. "I—I'm not a pervert—it's just reflex—I mean—shit—"
Sierra leaned back against the empty shelf, casually examining a cracked pill bottle. "Relax. Ain't like we're judging. Hell, I'm flattered."
Lin wanted to scream. Or melt into the floor. Or spontaneously combust. Any would've been fine.
Yuzuki finally let go, giggling and covering her mouth. "He's sooo easy to tease~!"
He turned his back to them and adjusted his pants in absolute shame.
"...C-can we please just find medicine?" he mumbled, voice broken.
"Already told you, place is dry," Sierra said. "Let's check the staff room. Maybe someone stashed something useful during the Fall."
Yuzuki saluted with both hands. "Aye aye, Captain~!"
Lin just nodded, quietly dying inside as they headed toward the back hallway. His face burned, his erection refused to listen to reason, and he seriously considered asking ESI for a mental cooldown perk next level-up.
This apocalypse was going to fucking kill him.
A shout rang out through the broken silence of the supermarket.
Not a scream—
A yell. Sharp. Piercing.
From outside.
Lin froze.
Yuzuki stopped mid-hum, eyes wide.
Sierra's rifle was already in her hands. "That was Yue."
Lin didn't even think. He bolted.
"Yue?!"
His voice cracked as his boots hit the concrete, kicking up shards of glass and powdered plaster. Yuzuki sprinted beside him, her twin tails bouncing wildly. Sierra cursed under her breath and flanked the other side, low and alert.
They burst through the broken front doors into the pale, sun-bleached ruins of the parking lot.
And stopped.
The air around them felt like it dropped ten degrees.
There, at the edge of the street, Yue stood like an ice statue herself—arms relaxed, face unreadable.
Around her... six men.
Or what used to be men.
Savages. Wasteland bandits. Their ragged clothes barely clung to them—torn flak vests, sun-bleached denim, cracked leather armor held together by zip ties and bloodstains. One had a rusted machete mid-swing. Another had a rebar spear raised high. Their mouths were open mid-scream.
But none of them moved.
They were frozen. Completely.
From head to toe, jagged ice spread across their limbs and locked them in place. Even their blood vessels had crystallized, caught mid-beat, visible under their pale, frostbitten skin.
Yue stood in the center like a ghost in a snow globe.
Lin stumbled to a stop, panting. "W-what the fuck—?"
"I sensed movement," Yue said flatly. "Five seconds later, they revealed themselves."
Lin looked around. Celestine stood several paces behind Yue, hands clasped, whispering something under her breath, eyes glowing faintly violet.
"We circled back to check the cars," Celestine said softly. "But the spirits... whispered danger."
Yuzuki clutched Lin's arm, wide-eyed. "They were gonna attack...?"
Yue nodded once. "Confirmed."
Sierra approached the nearest frozen body and gave it a light kick.
"Solid. Fucking hell, Snowflake. That's cold."
"I did not kill them," Yue replied. "Yet."
Lin swallowed. "Y-you mean... they're still alive in there?"
Yue tilted her head slightly. "Their blood flow is suspended. Consciousness... uncertain. But revivable."
Lin stepped closer, heart pounding. He stared into the wide eyes of one of the bandits. Frost clung to his lashes. His pupils were dilated in raw fear, his lips curled into a frozen scream. His teeth were yellow. He was missing two.
Lin's stomach twisted.
Yue turned to him. "What are your orders, Captain?"
"I—I..."
His voice caught. Captain.
Why the fuck did that word keep making him feel like he was cosplaying?
But they were all staring at him now. Even the frozen ones, in a way.
Lin licked his dry lips. "W-we can't just... kill them, right? I mean—they were gonna attack, but—what if they know something? About the area. Or other supplies. Maybe even other towns."
Sierra snorted. "You wanna talk to them?"
"Well, not me—I mean... yeah. Question them. First."
Yue nodded without hesitation. "Understood. I will maintain freeze-state."
Sierra raised an eyebrow. "You sure you're up for interrogation, pretty boy? Last time someone touched you, you got a boner."
"S-shut up," Lin mumbled, turning red again.
Celestine stepped forward. "The frozen shall speak... in time. If they do not shatter first."
Lin flinched. "Wait, what?!"
Yue calmly added, "Duration of full-body freeze should not exceed twenty minutes, or cellular necrosis may occur."
Lin paled. "Then—fuck—okay. Let's set up a space. Tie them down or something. I mean—not sexually—just like—interrogation-style. Shit, you know what I mean."
Sierra laughed out loud.
"Oh, I know what you mean, Captain Kinks."
Yuzuki raised her hand. "Do we get to be the good cop~?"
"No one's being a fucking cop!" Lin snapped, more embarrassed than angry. "Just—help me move them! Gently!"
Yue gave a single nod, arms still glowing faintly blue.
"I will prepare the reanimation sequence," she said.
Lin took a breath. His first actual decision. His first order.
And if he was wrong... someone might die for it.
He looked at the frozen bandits one last time.
One had a necklace made of bottlecaps. Another wore a shoulder pad made from an old toilet seat.
"Gosh," Lin muttered. "This world's fucked."
Q: What would you look for first in a scavenging hunt?