Dawn crawled over the ruins slow and gray.
Behind them, the tunnel still smoldering a faint black scar twisting into the clouds from where Chris's journey began. The Moon finally sunk below the horizon taking away the horrors of the night they believed.
The group decided to head west along the fractured highway, which was filled with empty or destroyed vehicles making the trek time consuming. No one spoke for a long time, just doing their own little task to help pass the time.
Jess finally said, "We should keep moving until we're well out away from the city due to the still visable colum of darkness."
Valez didn't look up. "Define 'out.'"
"When it stops smelling like burning people," she said flatly.
Chris stared at the road ahead, the horizon smeared with ash and faint orange light. The shard beneath his skin pulsed, steady and faint. They found a small convience store off the main highway still looked untouched from the horrors they have experienced so far. L
Jess parked the truck beside the entrance and shut the engine off. "Steel walls. One entrance. Good enough if it wasn't for all the windows."
After they walked inside the stench of rotting food hit like a sack of potatoes. Dev went to check on the power hoping for a miracle only to yell out loud a few minutes later." There's no juice he responded out loud with annoyance"
"For now, we rest then, and grab what all food and drink has not gone bad." Valez said.
Dinner was quiet: filled with chips, beef jerky, stale crackers, and all the soda they wanted. It's the little things that made this day seem like the best day they ever had. It didn't matter that it was only gas station snacks, if was proof they survived for now.
Dev mid mouth full of takas said. "We're all seeing it, right? The flashes saying xp, the light?"
Jess nodded. "Yeah. The blue stuff when something dies or we do something?"
Chris looked up from his can. "Always the same color."
Valez leaned back. "So it's not shock. It's real. Whatever the hell's happening it's organized."
Before anyone could answer, blue light shimmered into the air in front of Jess's eyes.
[Level 2 – Available Classes Detected]
Jess froze just staring blankly at what seemed to be air. The only sound was the faint drip of water in the distance. Dev swallowed. "Earth to Jess, what's happening?"
Jess's voice trembled. "It just appeared. I didn't… do anything."
"What did?," Valez asked puzzled,
Chris raised a hand. "Wait. I think I know what you mean. Try to think deeper about it, and see how it reacts."
Jess frowned but focused. The light brightened, folding into faint blue shapes until words appeared, hovering before her that no one else could see.
[Level 2 – Available Classes]
Mechanic (Vehicle Specialist) | Operator | Scout
Jess immediately told the others
"Holy shit," Dev breathed.
Valez blinked hard. "Is that, can we all see that?"
"No," Jess said, shaking her head. "Just me. It's like… it's in my head, but I can make it show up if I think about sharing it."
To prove it, she pictured opening it to them, and suddenly, the glowing panel appeared for all to see.
Chris stared. "So it's private. But we can project it if we want."
Jess nodded slowly. "Feels like you have to consciously think about showing it to show it to others.'"
Valez muttered, "Great. So even our thoughts come with privacy settings now."
Dev focused and gasped as his own screen appeared.
[Level 2 – Available Classes]
Engineer | Scavenger | Technician
"Engineer," he said quietly. "That fits, I'll be the guinea pig guys wish me luck." With a sudden unremarkable moment passing by nothing seemed to happen.
Valez's display flickered next.
[Level 2 – Available Classes]
Overseer | Enforcer | Hunter
"Overseer," he murmured. " I've had that job my whole life keeping idiots alive."
Chris looked at his.
[Level 2 – Available Classes]
Survivor | Warden | Pathfinder
"Pathfinder," he said softly. The shard pulsed once under his skin, faint but responsive, as if it agreed.
Jess exhaled. "Guess that makes us official. Whatever the hell this is."
The light pulsed, then shifted again.
[Skill Tree Unlocked]
Jess waved a hand through it, experimenting. The system responded to her thoughts, unfolding menus like blooming light.
[Mechanic – Available Skills]
• Basic Vehicle Maintenance (5 XP)
• Efficiency Tuning I (8 XP)
• Structural Reinforcement (10 XP)
Dev did the same.
[Engineer – Available Skills]
• Jury-Rig (5 XP)
• Battery Salvage (7 XP)
• Makeshift Defense Node (15 XP)
Valez scanned his.
[Overseer – Available Skills]
• Field Coordination (5 XP)
• Resource Accounting (8 XP)
• Morale Anchor (12 XP)
Chris checked his.
[Pathfinder – Available Skills]
• Instinct (5 XP)
• Terrain Read (7 XP)
• Fracture Sense ( — )
The last skill pulsed gold. No cost, no description. Just waiting.
"How much XP you got?" Valez asked quietly.
"Six," Jess said.
"Seven," Dev added.
"Eight," Valez said.
Chris hesitated. "Nine."
(He had sixteen. The shard had condensed more energy overnight.)
Jess focused on her first option. "All right. Basic Vehicle Maintenance or structure reinforcement?."
Dev decided now was the time to go on a tangent "Well unless you want to live in a gas station the rest of your life fortifying it I'd say that maintance skill, you worked on heavy duty machinery already at the train yard, so with this you will be our number one oil money"
Jess stared at him hard wondering if she should laugh or throw her wrench at him. She decided to agree with his advice choosing basic vechicle maintance. The light pulsed, then sank into her skin. She gasped softly. "Feels… like I just remembered how to fix something I never touched before."
Dev followed. "Jury-Rig me up baby."
He flexed his fingers. "Same here, it feels like Deja vu almost. Like muscle memory that's been asleep."
Valez took a breath and selected Field Coordination. "All right. Let's see what it takes to keep a team together."
Chris pressed Instinct.
[Skill:Unlocked: Instinct I]
"When the path shifts, your pulse will know first."
For a heartbeat, everything sharpened the hum of the air, the creak of steel, even Jess's slow breathing across the room.
Then it faded back to normal. They spent the next half hour experimenting.
Jess laughed once, nervous. "So we've got private HUDs now. Just like that."
Dev tested it by opening his XP list, projecting it briefly before closing it again. "Feels like it drains you a little. Maybe not meant for long use."
"Good," Valez muttered. "Don't need people snooping in my incredibly high numbers anyway while winking."
Chris stayed quiet, replaying his Instinct's pulse. The shard echoed it perfectly, the two syncing like linked circuits.
Outside, the wind was picking up able to hear it while being inside.
Jess leaned her head against the wall, whispering, "We shouldn't even be alive."
Valez replied, "Maybe we're not. Not like before, anyway."
Chris looked toward the horizon, the faint red shimmer of the returning Blood Moon catching on the clouds. "Then we will adapt, we need to plan our next move."
The shard under his skin thrummed once, faint and approving.