After the brief encounter with the skinny man and his machete, the adrenaline-induced giddiness took most of the ride to leave my system. It was only a brief encounter, but it made me realise how useless I was overall. Sure, I could lie and bluff and had no problem beating someone over the head with a chair, but I didn't know how to fight. And if the end of the world was any indication, I would have to learn soon. Also, the adrenaline felt amazing, so there weren't really any downsides.

  Other than my internal musings, I also discovered that we could organise the items within our inventories, allowing us to be more efficient with our limited space and the vast amount of stolen crap we had acquired.

  After a few more minutes of driving, we finally found the right place; Noah stopped the car around the back near a fire exit, hoping not to draw attention to ourselves. The rear of the warehouse complex was a forgotten stretch of cracked asphalt and weedy concrete, where rusting delivery bays jutted like broken teeth from the building's stained facade. Faded yellow lines marked loading zones, barely visible beneath layers of grime and windblown litter. A chain-link fence, sagging in places, hemmed in the area, its barbed tips catching plastic scraps like trophies.

  Dumpsters lined the back wall, some overflowing, others left gaping like empty mouths. The air carried a sharp, oily tang of exhaust fumes and neglect. Stray pallets leaned against the wall like drunken sentries while a single flickering floodlight cast long, twitching shadows across the damp concrete, guiding our way through the shadowed car park to the dark green fire escape door.

  'Well, this is all very dramatic and ominous for a warehouse.' I look around, appreciating the atmosphere from the apocalypse that started no more than 2 hours ago. Stepping out of the car, I stretch and look at Sam pulling up next to us.

  "So what's the plan?" He asks us, assuming we discussed it in the car.

  'Ah, probably should have thought of that instead of going all OCD on my inventory.'

  Noah glances at me expectantly. 'That's not a good sign.'

  I give the area a quick once-over before saying the beginnings of the rudimentary plan forming in my mind. "Well, I will be melting the lock on the fire escape door to allow us to sneak in. Noah should probably stay by the car to be our getaway driver if needed." I pause to think before continuing.

  "Also, we should probably explain our powers first so we all know what we are working with. We should properly write it down in case someone can hear us."

  'Although it may be a bit late for that. Better late than never? I have no idea what I am doing.'

  Rubbing my face in mental exhaustion, I get my notebook and pen from my inventory to write down my phase of matter powers. After remembering Ella trying to read my notes, I take extra care with my writing.

  "Please excuse the spelling mistakes; my pen doesn't have spell check," I say as I hand the book to my right for Noah to take. A few minutes pass as everyone writes in the notebook, which eventually comes back into my possession. I quickly skim past Ella's and Noah's abilities until I find the rest.

  By the looks of it, Sam can manipulate the senses of organic beings. 'If this can be made permanent, then this could be a massive boon for the group. If not, he could be a great scout and blind opponents. Maybe even enhance touch if torture is needed… probably best not to bring that last one up.'

  Ava, on the other hand, could produce and control water. 'Great increase to group survivability and hygiene. It could also be used for combat, depending on its power. Producing water at high pressure could cut things pretty well, and controlling blood could be kind of cool.'

  The last on the list, Mia, makes me pause. Hive mind to anything weaker she touches. Undoubtedly incredibly useful and powerful. But if she can be everywhere and see everything at once, what's to stop her from seeing me using powers I shouldn't have? Do what needs to be done for mine and their survival. My mind races as anxiously runs rampant through my nervous system, making the world spin as I spiral. 'She could always have an accident. But better, the devil, you know, acting as counterintelligence. Do I even need to hide it?'

  Thoughts fly across my mind rapidly as I give the book to the others so they can check any powers they didn't know about while the gears in my head turn. 'Can't do much about it now; hide it for as long as possible and build goodwill. Until I can think of something better.'

  As for the current matter, I quickly force away thoughts of how a hive mind could inconvenience me and begin thinking about the group's powers and how they could be trained and used. 'Focus! Okay, we are stealing food. I can melt locks and maybe cause an avalanche of products if the warehouse is set up like in those forklift fail videos. Sam could enhance his hearing and know if anyone else is in the warehouse and roughly where they are.

  Ella and Mia wouldn't be much use. Ava could splash people's eyes and make the floor slippery to help us run away. Soaps would help if we can find her any. It's not ideal, but what can you do?

  I mentally shrug before explaining my thoughts, less bluntly, to the group in a hushed whisper as we stand around, leaning against the car. Ella also suggested that we grab as much as we can and bring it back for the vehicle guards to store before going back in. This way, we could hold more food without our inventories filling up.

  'Ideally, we'd just empty our inventory before going in, but we don't really have time to pick everything back up. We've been standing here chatting for too long.'

  "So, Sam, can you increase your hearing?" I ask normally, but he flinches slightly, so I lower my voice to a whisper. "You've already done it?" I ask him.

  "Yeah, whispers would be appreciated until I figure this out, " he says in a low whisper.

  'We should properly come up with hand signals like the army at some point. Maybe…, Focus!'

  "Gotcha, Ava, you ready?" I whisper while turning to see her looking slightly nervous. Despite this, she gives a brief smile and a nod, so we head over to the fire escape door, where I melt the lock and gag a little.

  I try to push the door, but nothing happens. 'Right fire doors properly open outwards for safety and crowd flow.' I noticed that while the lock was still broken, the hole was too small for my fingers now that the metal had returned to its solid state.

  I sigh, 'This will make me feel so sick.' I extend three fingers in a claw-like shape and melt the metal, allowing me to sink my fingers into the door and provide enough grip to pull it open.

  I try not to dry heave as I bite down on my sleeve to reduce the noise and hold the door open for the others to slip through into the building. 'I could climb anything, If I could, brain! Focus, for fuck sake!' I remove my fingers from the door and slip into the building to follow my friends.

  The inside of the warehouse was dark, with a 10m high ceiling and tall 7m shelves stacked with pallets of goods and food, creating an oppressive and claustrophobic atmosphere. 'Oh, that might just be the large number of corpses scattered around down the aisles.' The aisles were long and filled with dead bodies lying on the floor with half-filled trolleys scattered around haphazardly. The fire escape allowed us to enter the warehouse into a hidden back corner.

  'I'm sure that is a fire safety lawsuit right there.'

  Due to being at the back, we are around items such as pots and pans, as food would need to be more easily accessible. I look into the box next to us and find door stops. Thinking for a moment, I grab a few and use one to hold the fire escape open slightly.

  "Guys, where's the food?" Whispers Ava.

  Not knowing how to navigate the warehouse, I asked Sam if he could smell any food. He momentarily paused and stared into the distance before scratching his nose viciously. Shaking his head, he then took in a deep inhale through his nose and proceeded to gag. I quickly covered his mouth and gave him an apologetic look.

  After a brief moment, he nods, and I uncover his mouth.

  "I could only smell…Them." He gestures vaguely at the corpses with a mournful expression on his face.

  I nod. "It looks like we need to look the old-fashioned way," I whisper, crouching down slightly and looking through the aisles.

  "I hear something," Sam suddenly informs us as he follows my movements. It sounds like people at the front arguing. Maybe five people? Some want to gather all the useful stuff and make this their base. Then people talking in Spanish? Umm, others want to take the supplies and get them to their families. Okay, more than five people, a lot more." Sam relays the information to us, and we start to hear a lot of shouting from where he is gesturing.

  'This is going to be an intense game of hide and seek.'

  "Ooooook, hide from a large group of people, steal their food in a place we don't know. People don't look up; Logic suggests the warehouse will have longer-lasting food on higher shelves. We can climb shelves but not jump between them. Sam, can you enhance your eyes and try to find any top-shelf food?" I mutter my thoughts before looking at Sam.

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  "That might work," Ava says.

  "I'll give it a go," Sam mutters as he stares off into the distance and rapidly rubs his eyes.

  'Maybe our powers each have a disadvantage? Sam gets itchy, and I feel sick as a dog. I wonder if passive powers, brain!!!'

  I blink and shake my head slightly. Meanwhile, Sam is looking around the parts of the warehouse that he can see. After a few minutes, he begins to lead us through the gaps in the shelves, sucking in our guts as we squeeze through the large boxes of products.

  Reaching the correct shelf, we scramble up their metal frames and sneak to the front to go towards the food. We eventually made it to a large box of tinned baked beans, which Ava stores in her inventory.

  Like this, we sneak around through the warehouse and steal, I mean liberate a lot of food and supplements before dropping them off to the others and heading back in. It was all going smoothly until we were on our last run, due to the filled inventories of both groups, when the shouting gradually decreased in volume, and Sam told us to run to the door.

  "They plan to block off all the doors." He tells us as we sprint and weave through the gaps of the shelves back towards the door in a mad rush.

  But as we approach the aisles leading to the fire escape, we see five large men in their early 30s at the entrance of the aisle, looking at us in alarm.

  'Ah, that isn't ideal.'

  "Howdy folks, how are we doing on this fine day?" I ask in a cheerful voice with a large smile. They stop walking and stare at me before one steps forward.

  "Who the fuck are you?!" he yells in a confrontational manner as he continues to walk towards us, albeit at a slower pace.

  "Names Clint Stewart, at your service." I give a bow but keep my eyes on the man, the grin not leaving my face.

  "What the fuck are you doing here?" He growls in a low tone, and the others behind him start to walk toward us.

  "Looking for my brother, John Stewart. He had a job interview here today and wouldn't pick up his phone. Have you seen him?" I say while dropping the grin and adding a touch of worry to my voice.

  More men and a few women begin to join the original five after hearing their shouting, doing nothing to help our anxiety.

  "Bullshit." Another man said, "We haven't had anyone new all week. You're trying to steal our shit." He says, pointing at us accusingly.

  "Yeah, sorry about that. But there's so much here you wouldn't even notice if any is gone." Ava says in a timid voice.

  I sigh, 'Welp, that didn't work. On the plus side, we now know if we play poker against Ava, we will make a killing. Oh, right, the angry mob advancing towards us.' My heart begins to beat faster in my chest, causing me to grin slightly.

  "I do apologise for lying and for stealing food. But we have taken the little that we need and will be on our way now," I calmly state as I begin shepherding us back to the fire escape door.

  "Now, hold on just a minute; who said you can go anywhere after stealing from us!" The man at the front of the pack yells as a gun appears in his hand from seemingly nowhere.

  'Who the fuck brings a gun into work, we're in England, not the US? There was no blue light from the inventory, though, and his coworkers looked confused.'

  I stop moving and think for a second; I see Ava and Sam tense.

  "Sam, get ready to run with Ava," I whisper, hoping he can still hear me. I see him nod ever so slightly in confirmation.

  "Okay, no need to do anything hasty; we're not moving. But I must say, that's a nice piece you got, man. How about we make a deal?" I say in a confident voice.

  "You're in no position to deal, kid, give it back. Now," He growls while pointing the gun at us and slowly advancing.

  'Okay, distraction it is!'

  "Counter offer, my ass, for our lives?" My manic grin only widens at the look of pure confusion forms on his and many of the other ex-employees faces, giving me time to slowly make my way to the shelves.

  "I've always wanted a big strong man, and Uncle Toby has taught me some nasty shit I could put to good use." I lick my lips and lean against one of the supports for the tall and heavy shelves. My heart beats faster, and adrenaline begins to seep into my system.

  'This is going to make me so fucking sick.'

  The man tilts his head away from the gun and looks at me in pure confusion as the gun lowers slightly. However, it seems weirdly delayed, like a somewhat out-of-sink video game.

  "What?" He asks in pure confusion before snapping out of it and raising his gun again. "Just give us the shit and get the fuck out of here, you freak, before I fill you full of holes."

  'Interesting choice of words. Welp, it's now or never.' I think while I channel my power into my palm, I hold the support and liquefy the metal in my tensed hand, causing it to groan in protest. 'Come on, fail videos, don't fail me now.' I internally mutter just as the shelf begins to topple over.

  "Fucking run!" I yell, causing Sam to wince as we sprint towards the door. We just make it through before the shelf falls to the floor with an almighty crash.

  "Start the car! Yells Ava as I violently vomit and laugh at the adrenaline coursing through my veins.

  "What happened?!" Asks Noah, getting into his car and starting the vehicle.

  "No time, go, go, go!" Yells Sam as he slams the door closed and hops onto his bike, popping on his helmet.

  I jump into the passenger seat, still giggling slightly at the rush of emotions that I long thought dulled, making my heart beat rapidly and my lungs gasp for air. 'That just confirmed it, I need to get better if I want to keep feeling this.'

  Everyone gets in the car, and we begin to drive away, and I begin to calm down again.

  "What happened?" asked Ella.

  "Not much, just offered my anal virginity to some burly guy, then caused an avalanche," I responded, causing Mai to laugh.

  Ella doesn't look amused and asks Ava what happened. A short but accurate explanation later has the car in brief silence.

  "And you were laughing at that?" Asks Ella with mild concern.

  "Sudden spike of adrenaline and fear. I've always laughed at weird shit." I shrug.

  'Or maybe I'm just unhinged? Who knows.' My grin widens.

  "Anyway, we should head back to mine and hold up for the night. It's going to get dark soon, and who knows what will happen next." I say.

  "Why yours?" Asks Noah.

  "Yeah, I want to go home." Says Ava.

  "My house is hidden in a rabbit warren of homes. It also has enough bed space for everyone. Plus, my parents were out today, so we don't have to deal with that."

  'A lie, but better me than them. Too many people are working from home after the pandemic.' I clench my jaw and sigh as the car goes quiet again as the implication sinks in.

  "We should hold a funeral for the ones we can find." Says Mia.

  "Yeah, that's a good idea," Ava says, starting to choke up.

  "So, who's up for a slumber party at mine tonight?" I change the subject and turn in my chair to see everyone.

  "Yeah."

  "Sure, I guess."

  "Sounds like a plan"

  With everyone agreeing, I give a large smile before turning to Noah, "Looks like I'm going to have girls over before you, Noah."

  "Yeah, sure, you keep telling yourself that, Jacob." He says with a smirk.

  "Hang on a minute, did you get lucky without telling us?!?" Yells Mai from the back.

  With the mood shifting to a more humorous direction, I smile slightly and continue to add fuel to the fire. It didn't take us long to get out of Filton and head back to my house. Along the way, we passed a few stores with large crowds of people pushing and shoving to get the supplies within, turning the once boring shopping activity into a full-contact mosh pit.

  'That didn't take long.'

  We looked at the site but kept driving, leading Sam to my house, where we eventually parked in front of the two-story brick detached house. I take a deep breath, knowing what I would find there, and get out of the car. I walk up to the large windows of the converted garage and see the lifeless body of my dad slumped over at his desk.

  "Guess I was wrong about the days," I say, staring at the corpse of the man who raised me. 'I'm going to miss you, Dad; thank you for everything.' I exhale through my nose before going to the neighbour's garage, melting the lock, and lifting the roll-up doors.

  Sam pulls up on his bike and looks around in confusion. "What are you doing? That's not your house."

  "Need a place to store the bodies," I state simply. Once I was finished with the garage, I took out my keys and unlocked my house's doors as Noah explained the plan to Sam.

  "Are you okay?" Asks Noah, causing the rest to look at me with concern.

  "I will get there. I need a hand moving the bodies through." I give a brief smile and head inside, with Sam following me.

  It takes a while, but we eventually move the body of my father to the open garage and find the body of my mother at the dining room table, slumped over her partially completed mosaic. My eyes moisten slightly but do not leak. I stand there staring at her unmoving body for a few moments before picking her up and taking her to rest with my father.

  I lay her down carefully with Sam's help and stood there watching them for a bit. After a few moments of observing my parents' peaceful expressions, I clenched my fist and headed back inside the house, with the others following close behind.

  We opened all the windows to allow fresh air to circulate through the house as we cooked a quiet dinner to make the most of the still-functioning gas and fridge. Once everyone had eaten, we locked up the house and closed all the windows, putting multiple empty glass bottles by each door to alert us of intruders in the night.

  With the house secured, we distributed the food and supplies from the warehouse. It was a rowdy affair, which may or may not have led to a mini food fight consisting of packaged instant noodles as we tried to enjoy ourselves after such a long and challenging day.

  After messing around, we stored the excess food in the utility room and attic so as not to hold up so much of our inventories, but we made sure they were hidden from view from any of the windows looking in.

  With everyone fed and the house slightly more secure, we headed for bed after setting up a night watch. Each person was up for 1 hour and 15 minutes, with me taking the last early morning shift. I let out a long sigh as I undressed into my sleepwear, keeping a knife within reach of the bed. Letting out a brief soft call of goodnight, I collapsed into bed and went out like a light.