Chapter 16: Wolves in a Den of Vultures

Chapter: Wolves in a Den of Vultures

The night was thick with an eerie silence, broken only by the distant sounds of hushed conversations and the occasional wail of a hungry child. Haven might have been a fortress, but inside, it was nothing more than a prison with golden bars for the lucky few and rusted chains for the rest.

I leaned against the wall, arms crossed, watching Zhao Yue eat her ration bar in slow, thoughtful bites. She had barely spoken since we got to this room. Not because she was upset—Zhao Yue wasn't the type to sulk—but because she was thinking.

And that usually meant trouble.

"You're brooding," I said.

She glanced at me, smirking. "And you're staring."

"Just making sure you don't drop dead on me."

She chuckled, shaking her head. "I survived the fever. I'll be fine."

That wasn't what I was worried about. She wasn't the same since waking up. Something had changed in her, and I could see it in the way her fingers twitched, as if itching to move. To do something.

Ning Xue sat by the window, staring out at the flickering lights of the Inner District. She had been quiet all night, lost in thoughts I couldn't read.

"Tell me something," she muttered, still looking outside. "If the world was never broken, would we have ended up here anyway?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What, you mean if the apocalypse never happened?"

She nodded.

Zhao Yue scoffed. "You'd still be wearing expensive dresses and calling people beneath you peasants."

Ning Xue shot her a glare but didn't argue.

I sighed. "No point thinking about what-ifs. The world ended, and we're here. That's all that matters."

Ning Xue's gaze dropped to her lap. "Maybe. But this place… it reminds me too much of the old world."

That was the problem, wasn't it? Haven was nothing more than a reflection of what society had always been. The powerful at the top, the rest fighting over scraps. Only now, the stakes were life and death.

Zhao Yue finished her ration bar and leaned back against the wall. "So what's the plan? We play along until we figure out how to take advantage of this place?"

I exhaled slowly. "For now, we gather information. This place is stable, but that only makes it more fragile. Something always cracks."

Ning Xue smirked. "You sound like you're planning a revolution."

"Not my problem if a kingdom crumbles when the truth comes out."

Zhao Yue studied me for a moment. "You think we'll last here?"

I met her gaze. "Not for long. But we'll make the most of it while we can."

For better or worse, we had become part of Haven.

And Haven was rotten to its core.

First Assignment

Morning came too soon. The air smelled of damp concrete and desperation as we made our way toward the assignment board near the outer gates. A crowd of exhausted, underfed survivors huddled around it, waiting for their names to be called.

A man in a ragged coat beside me muttered under his breath. "Another patrol? Damn bastards are sending us to die again."

I glanced at him. "How bad is it?"

He snorted. "You're new, huh? The rich bastards in the Inner District don't scavenge. We do. We go out there, bring back supplies, and if we die? No one cares."

Zhao Yue folded her arms. "And yet, you're still here."

The man sighed. "A bad deal is better than no deal. You refuse to go, you don't eat. You try to run, they shoot you."

Typical.

A guard with a clipboard stepped onto the platform and began calling names. His voice was bored, indifferent—like he was reading a grocery list instead of deciding who lived and who risked dying today.

"Squad Eight: Zhao Yue, Xiao Jian, Ning Xue, Li Hao, and Chen Mu."

A man and a teenage boy pushed through the crowd toward us. Li Hao was in his late thirties, his face weathered but sharp, his posture stiff like he had once been in the military. Chen Mu was younger—probably seventeen, his eyes nervous but determined.

Li Hao looked us over. "You're new. You know how to handle yourselves?"

Zhao Yue smirked. "Better than most."

He nodded, satisfied. "Good. Because if we mess up, we don't come back."

The Hunt for Supplies

The outer gates groaned open, and the wasteland stretched before us. Crumbling highways, overturned cars, and the distant echoes of the undead. It was almost comforting—out here, there were no politics, no fake smiles. Just survival.

Li Hao took point, leading us down an abandoned shopping district. He moved with practiced ease, like he had done this a hundred times before.

"Main objective is food and medicine," he murmured. "Avoid unnecessary fights."

Easier said than done.

The deeper we went, the more the air thickened with the scent of rot. Shelves were mostly picked clean, but a few places had been barricaded, untouched.

Zhao Yue and I moved ahead, checking for any movement. The first floor of a pharmacy looked safe enough.

"Cover me," I said, slipping inside.

The shelves were almost empty, but a few bottles of antibiotics remained. I grabbed them, shoving them into my bag—

Then I heard it.

A faint rasping breath.

I turned slowly.

Behind the counter, a zombie twitched, its head snapping up.

Its eyes were wrong. Not the usual dull glaze—these were focused. Calculating.

I tightened my grip on my katana. "Great."

The thing lunged.

I sidestepped, blade flashing. The katana sliced through its neck, but not before its clawed hand caught my arm, tearing through my jacket.

[HP -15]

The body hit the ground, twitching violently before going still.

Zhao Yue's voice came through the radio. "You good?"

"Yeah. But something's off. These aren't normal zombies."

Li Hao cursed. "We need to move. Now."

I stepped outside just as a scream echoed down the street.

Chen Mu.

The kid was backed against a car, a zombie looming over him. But not just any zombie.

This one was fast.

Too fast.

Zhao Yue moved first. Her gun was already raised before I could react.

BANG!

One clean shot. Right through the eye.

The zombie crumpled.

Chen Mu stared at her in shock. "That… that was amazing."

Zhao Yue frowned, lowering the gun. "I didn't even aim."

She wasn't lying. Her hands had moved instinctively, almost too fast.

Another change. Another mystery.

But we had bigger problems.

The gunshot had drawn attention.

From the rooftops, shadows began shifting. Grotesque figures crawling along the broken buildings.

Li Hao cursed. "Shit. They're coming."

"Fall back," I ordered. "We're done here."

No one argued.

We ran.

No Place is Safe

By the time we made it back to Haven, night had fallen. The gates slammed shut behind us, sealing the outside world away.

But I knew the real danger wasn't outside the walls.

It was inside them.

Li Hao exhaled, glancing at Zhao Yue. "That shot you made back there… you sure you never trained for that?"

She hesitated. "No. It just… happened."

I watched her carefully. "You've been different since the fever."

She met my gaze, and for a moment, I saw something in her eyes—something she didn't understand yet.

Something awakening.

Chen Mu was still buzzing. "You saved my life," he said to Zhao Yue.

She scratched the back of her head. "Yeah, well. Don't make me do it again."

Ning Xue had been silent the entire walk back. Now, she crossed her arms, her expression unreadable.

I knew that look.

She didn't even realize it, but some part of her didn't like how Zhao Yue and I moved together so easily.

Didn't like how she was the outsider in her own group.

I didn't comment on it.

Not yet.

Because I had a feeling things in Haven were going to get worse before they got better.

After defeating the creatures outside Haven, the system rewarded Xiao Jian with the following:

[System Rewards]

You have defeated multiple Tier-2 Mutated Hunters! +9,500 EXP Level Up! You have gained +3 Stat Points! Acquired: Unknown Crystal x2 Acquired: Mutant Beast Core (Tier 2) x1 Acquired: Adaptive Reflexes (Passive - Rank C): Slightly increases reaction speed against evolving creatures. Hidden Achievement Unlocked: "Predator Among Monsters" Bonus: +5 Agility, +3 Perception Updated Chapter (With System Rewards)