The streets got worse the closer we got to Rongdu South and the closest Costco.

Well... I guess ’worse’ was subjective.

I mean, there was worse as in too many potholes.

There was worse as in screaming people, explosions or people running around begging for help.

And then there was worse as in.. ’oh fuck... that’s not good.’

Everywhere you looked, there were empty cars that were half swallowed by grass and vines. A bus had been abandoned across two lanes with its windows shattered and small white flowers blooming from the seats inside.

I mean... it COULD be worse... The plants had not taken over everything.

But they were definitely running for election on a ’kill all the humans’ platform.

A vine curled through the open door of a pharmacy while the sign above it flickered weakly even though half the letters were already dead.

A tree was growing out of an apartment building... and on its branches, skeletons hun like some type of Christmas ornaments.

The entire SUV went deadly silent to the point that we all jumped when Chenghai’s radio crackled.

"...Rongdu South evacuation route no longer accessible. Repeat, civilian movement through South Fourth is suspended until engineering clears—"

Static swallowed the rest, but it was pretty clear where it was going.

Yuche turned down a side road without needing anyone to tell him.

Zhenlan’s eyes sharpened. "Why this way?"

"Main road is blocked," Yuche answered calmly.

"You know the route?"

"Everyone knows how to get to Costco... even if you don’t have a membership."

That made Chenghai look up.

Only slightly.

But I noticed because the man had been doing a very convincing impression of a haunted filing cabinet for the last few minutes.

I turned in my seat enough to glance back at him. "What? Did you think we’ve never been shopping before?"

Chenghai stared at me for one second too long.

"No."

Suspicious.

Everything about him was suspicious now.

I narrowed my eyes slightly before deciding I did not have enough emotional energy to interrogate him while my butt was already going numb from being in a vehicle.

Costco appeared at the end of the road like a giant beige bunker built by people who deeply believed in bulk toilet paper.

For the first time since leaving the house, I felt a little hopeful.

The parking lot was mostly empty, which should have been impossible. Normally Costco parking lots looked like humanity had gathered there to fight over rotisserie chickens and discounted laundry detergent.

Not that I blamed them. I mostly went for the dollar hotdogs and ice cream.

But now there were only scattered vehicles, a few overturned carts, and more weeds than any parking lot had a legal right to have.

"It’s still standing," Lingyun said.

"Of course it is," I replied. "Costco is probably stronger than the government."

Yuche pulled near the entrance but didn’t park directly in front of the doors.

Which was annoying.

"We have to walk from here?"

"It’s safer not to block the exit route," Chenghai replied before Yuche could answer.

I looked back at him. "You are very committed to ruining this shopping trip."

"This is not a shopping trip."

"The title disagrees."

"What title?"

"Mine."

Lingyun nodded solemnly. "I respect it."

Zhenlan opened his door first, scanning the lot before stepping out. Chenghai followed a second later, already checking sightlines and corners like the giant warehouse might personally ambush him.

Yuche got out and opened my door before I could decide whether I wanted to be offended about the parking situation or grateful I didn’t have to touch the handle.

I settled on both.

The air outside smelled wrong.

Warm pavement.

Rotting fruit.

Wet leaves.

Something sour underneath all of it.

The automatic doors at the entrance had been forced open and left that way. Several shopping carts were jammed sideways near the threshold, their metal frames twisted together with thin vines growing through the wheels.

Inside, the warehouse was dim.

It had just enough emergency lights still glowing weakly overhead to throw long pale strips across the concrete floor. The shelves towered above us, stacked with the kind of bulk nonsense that once made people feel safe because surely nobody could run out of anything if they bought forty-eight rolls of paper towel at once.

Turns out people could run out of everything.

They just did it slower.

I stepped inside and immediately looked around.

"Okay," I said. "First priority."

"Medicine," Chenghai said.

"Batteries," Zhenlan said.

"Snacks," I corrected.

Both men looked at me.

Yuche grabbed a cart.

Smart man.

Lingyun grabbed a second one. "I’m with Rouxi. Morale matters."

"Exactly. Finally, someone understands leadership."

Chenghai looked like he wanted to argue.

He didn’t.

Progress.

The front section had been hit hard. Most of the bottled water was gone. So were the obvious canned goods, first aid kits, batteries, and anything that screamed survival to people who had not spent enough time thinking about seasoning.

But Costco was huge... and there was an even bigger warehouse attached to it that most people overlooked when panic buying... or panic stealing..

Really, it was all the same.

People always grabbed what they thought mattered first.

They left behind the good stuff.

I found an entire pallet of hot chocolate powder behind a toppled display of protein shakes and immediately pointed. "That."

Zhenlan stared. "Hot chocolate?"

"Yes."

"We need practical supplies."

"Warm drinks are practical."

"For what?"

"Not becoming a miserable person."

Lingyun threw two containers into the cart. "Approved."

Yuche added a third without comment.

Beautiful man.

The moment we walked away from the display, everything went into my space.

Chenghai had already moved farther down the aisle, checking shelves with a speed and efficiency that would have been impressive if he wasn’t so intent on being weird. He grabbed medical gloves, disinfectant, multi-vitamins, protein powder, and several industrial-sized bags of rice that had been shoved behind a broken pallet.

Useful.

Boring.

Very Chenghai lately.

Zhenlan found tools.

Yuche found fuel stabilizer and several unopened cases of engine oil.

Lingyun found candy.

I found a pile of blankets still wrapped in plastic and added them too.

No one argued that time.

Good.

Maybe they were learning.

The deeper we went, the worse the store became.

The produce section was a crime scene against both food and dignity. Rot had collapsed entire boxes of fruit into sticky puddles crawling with flies. A section of refrigerated shelves had died weeks ago and taken several kinds of meat down with it.

I covered my nose with one sleeve. "Absolutely not."

Lingyun gagged. "That smell has a personality."

"It can keep it."

Yuche moved closer without saying anything, placing himself slightly between me and the darker aisles ahead. Chenghai noticed that too.

Of course he did.

He noticed everything now.

A noise echoed from somewhere deeper in the warehouse.

Metal scraping concrete.

Everyone stopped.

I lowered my sleeve slightly. "Please tell me that was a cart."

Another scrape.

Longer this time.

Then a soft wet chittering sound.

Lingyun’s expression changed. "That is not a cart."

Chenghai lifted one hand sharply, signaling silence.

I looked at the hand.

Then at him.

We were apparently doing hand signals now.

Wonderful.

The noise came again from near the rear storage area beyond the bulk pet food and seasonal displays. Something moved behind the hanging plastic strips leading into the back.

Not big.

Not alone either.

Several small shapes darted across the floor ahead before vanishing beneath a shelving unit.

Rats.

At least, I assumed they were rats.

They were too fast to tell clearly, and that was never comforting.

Zhenlan’s voice dropped. "We should leave."

Chenghai didn’t disagree.

That was probably a bad sign.

I looked at the carts.

Then at the back storage area.

Then at the carts again.

"We just got here."

Something screamed in the darkness beyond the plastic strips.

Not human.

Too small.

Too many voices at once.

Then came the sound of frantic movement.

Hundreds of tiny claws skittering across concrete.

The plastic strips near the rear loading area started trembling.

Lingyun took one slow step backward. "Rouxi."

I sighed and tightened my grip on the cart handle.

"Fine," I muttered. "But I am not happy about this."