"Hmm."
Henry stood still, eyes drifting slightly as the system shop interface flickered in front of him, hidden from everyone else. The noise of the store faded into the background while he focused on the list.
Five items.
Only three mattered.
Guns Proficiency.
Demon Immunity.
Angel Fragment.
The rest were trash.
A one-time luck hex? Useless in a situation where things could go wrong every second. A demon knife? Good, sure—but it could be dropped, stolen, or lost in the middle of a fight.
He didn't need tools.
Henry glanced at his current total.
83 points.
More than enough.
Guns Proficiency would fix a clear weakness. Right now, if he picked up a gun, it was instinct and guesswork. Against fast-moving creatures, that wasn't good enough. One mistake, one missed shot—that was all it took.
Demon Immunity was even better—better than a symbol tattooed on skin. This was permanent, and no one could erase it.
The Angel Fragment lingered in his mind a moment longer.
Too valuable. Too big to take without thinking—especially when he was dirt poor, still short by nearly nine hundred points.
He selected both.
[Guns Proficiency acquired]
[Demon Immunity acquired]
The effect was immediate.
A sudden flood of knowledge hit him—angles, grip, recoil control, timing—layering over his thoughts all at once. His hands shifted slightly, adjusting on pure instinct, settling into position as if they had always known exactly what to do.
Then a low rumble rolled in, deep and distant at first.
It grew.
The entire store began to tremble—not violently, not enough to send things crashing, but in a slow, steady vibration. Something immense was moving outside, each step carrying through the ground like a warning.
The floor shivered under their feet.
Then it came.
A colossal leg slammed down in front of the glass storefront.
People screamed, stumbling back in panic. "What the hell is that?!"
Henry stepped forward despite it, eyes fixed through the glass.
The leg alone was massive—too large, too alien—and as it moved, the shape of the creature beyond the fog became just barely visible.
Behemoth.
It didn't stop. The ground shook again as it simply walked past, disappearing back into the mist.
"We're lucky it didn't step on the store."
"What was that thing?" Brent asked, voice shaking.
Henry didn't look away from the fog. "The kind of monsters I was talking about," he said. "Step outside, and that's what you're dealing with. You won't make it."
"So I'm guessing no one's feeling brave enough to go outside anymore?" Henry asked.
Everyone shook their heads.
"Good. Then help me cover the glass—black sheets, anything that blocks light," Henry said quickly. Evening had already set in, and he knew what came with the dark.
Night meant worse.
He remembered it too clearly—the Scorpion-Flies, the Pterobuzzards. If even a few got drawn in by the lights, the whole store would turn into chaos.
They moved fast, taping sheets over the glass with duct tape.
"Uh… why are we doing this?" Jim asked.
"When night falls, even a crack of light is enough," Henry replied, dragging a rack into place and shoving heavy bags of dog food against it. "You light a match, cook food—anything—and they'll come swarming."
"What kind of things?" David asked.
"Poisonous. Flying. They move in swarms," Henry said. "One sting—and you're dead."
Ollie, Bud, Brent—even Jim—went quiet at that.
David didn't.
"Do you think someone could survive out there?" he asked, voice tight. "If they stayed inside?"
Henry paused, then looked at him. "It's not impossible," he said carefully. "But some of those things… they don't wait. They force their way in."
He stepped closer, resting a hand on David's shoulder. "You should focus on your son."
David's gaze shifted.
Bill sat nearby, Madison beside him, gently trying to calm him as he kept asking for his mother.
Night fell, and with no electricity, the store sank into darkness. They kept a few battery lights on, but not near the entrance and glass doors, careful not to let the glow spill outside. Inside, a small gas flame burned as they cooked meat.
They sat on the floor to eat.
No one smiled. The fear still clung to them, heavy and unspoken—but they ate anyway. They had to survive. At least now, there was a small sense of relief—someone here actually knew how to deal with this.
David, Madison, Henry, and Billy sat together.
Henry ate nearly three times as much as the others—the drawback of a stronger body. It needed more energy just to keep going.
"So, Henry… you work for the county?" David asked, trying to fill the silence as they ate.
"Nope. That was a lie,"
David frowned. "What?"
"I don't work in disaster response," Henry continued. "I work in a similar sort of field—just… different. I hunt things people can't explain."
"You're used to hunting things like this?" David asked. He wasn't sure anyone could really live like that.
"Yeah."
"It sounds strange, but… it's true," Madison said quietly. She knew it better than anyone—if not for Henry, she would've either died… or become something worse.
David let that sit for a moment. There was some relief in it—knowing someone here understood what was happening—but it also raised more questions.
"So how did you two meet?" he asked.
Henry smirked slightly. "You could call it a romantic hunger encounter—"
Madison nudged him immediately. "Don't."
Then there was the sound of something smacking against the glass doors.
Henry froze mid-bite, the movement stopping instantly. In the next second, he was already on his feet, grabbing his gun as his focus snapped toward the entrance.
*****
🔥 For Advanced Chapters Join My Patreon 🔥
👉 patreon.com/DeathNote4455
🚀 Get early access to 21 Advanced chapters.