Chapter 11: The Noble’s Folly

Night fell over the wasteland.

The convoy had stopped in the hollowed-out shell of an old-world highway overpass, its massive concrete pillars still standing despite decades of decay. The soldiers had chosen it for its defensible position: high ground, limited approach routes, and a solid roof that blocked the toxic drizzle that had begun to fall shortly after dusk.

Commander Darwin organized the camp. The three trucks were parked in a triangle formation, their headlights cutting pale cones through the mist. Soldiers set up a perimeter, plasma rifles humming on standby. Recruits were assigned shifts, rations were distributed, and for the first time since leaving the city, the expedition settled into something resembling stillness.

But stillness didn’t mean peace.

The rations were simple: dense protein bars, purified water pouches, and small packets of dried fruit that tasted like cardboard. They were handed out equally, one per person, no exceptions. But equality, it turned out, was a concept that didn’t sit well with everyone.

"This is what they feed us?" Lloyd Vanworth held his protein bar between two fingers as if it were a dead insect. His slicked-back hair was immaculate despite the day’s chaos, and his tactical suit somehow still looked pressed. "I’ve seen better food in the waste bins of District Sina."

"Then go eat there," Rook grunted from across the fire, tearing into his bar with his teeth. "Oh wait. You can’t. Because you’re here. With the rest of us."

A few prisoners snickered. Lloyd’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing, retreating to the far corner of the camp where the other nobles had clustered. They sat apart from everyone else, speaking in hushed, clipped tones, their eyes darting toward the civilians and prisoners with thinly veiled contempt.

Gio watched from his spot near the fire, chewing his ration slowly. He didn’t care about the food. He’d eaten worse in District Maria. What he cared about was the tension. It was a living thing, coiled and hissing beneath the surface of every interaction. The wasp fight had forced a temporary ceasefire, but Darwin’s speech hadn’t erased decades of class hatred. It had only pressed it down, and pressure always found a way out.

"He’s going to cause a problem," Kojiro murmured, lowering himself onto the concrete beside Gio. He nodded toward Lloyd. "That type always does."

"He’s scared," Gio said.

"Scared people are the most dangerous kind," Kojiro replied, pulling out his own ration. "They do stupid things to prove they’re not."

Gio didn’t respond. He pulled up his system panel instead, checking his Bioenergy.

[Bioenergy: 38%]

Still climbing. Still too slow. He dismissed the panel and stared into the fire, its orange glow reflecting in his dark eyes.

---

Two hours later, the camp had quieted. Most recruits had settled into uneasy sleep, curled against truck tires or huddled under thin thermal blankets the soldiers had distributed. The rain had stopped, but the mist lingered, curling between the concrete pillars like pale fingers.

Gio was on the edge of sleep himself when he heard it.

Footsteps. Quiet, but not quiet enough. Someone moving away from the camp, toward the eastern edge of the overpass where the broken highway stretched into the dark tree line.

He opened his eyes and saw Lloyd’s silhouette slipping between the pillars, his rifle slung over his shoulder, a flashlight clutched in his hand. He was heading straight for the tree line.

What is he doing? Gio thought.

He glanced at the nearest soldier, but the man was facing the opposite direction, scanning the western perimeter. No one else had noticed.

Gio hesitated. Lloyd was an arrogant prick who had pointed a gun at a fellow recruit. He didn’t deserve Gio’s concern. But the tree line was dark, and the wasteland at night was a death sentence for anyone alone.

"Damn it," Gio whispered.

He rose quietly and followed, keeping his distance, his plasma handgun drawn.

He found Lloyd about fifty meters from the camp, standing at the edge of the tree line with his flashlight sweeping across the undergrowth. The mutated trees loomed above him, their trunks thick and twisted, bark glistening with a faint bioluminescent sap that pulsed like slow heartbeats.

"Lloyd," Gio hissed from behind a pillar. "What the hell are you doing?"

Lloyd jumped, spinning around, his flashlight beam hitting Gio square in the face. "You! Slum rat! What are you doing following me?"

"Keeping you from getting yourself killed. Get back to camp."

Lloyd’s face twisted with indignation. "I don’t take orders from district trash. I came out here to hunt. To prove that Vanworth blood isn’t something to be laughed at."

"Prove it tomorrow. With the group. Not alone, at night, in the apocalypse."

"I don’t need a group!" Lloyd’s voice rose, cracking slightly. "I don’t need anyone! My family didn’t send me out here to cower behind criminals and peasants. I’ll kill something. I’ll bring back a core. I’ll show Darwin, show all of you, that I—"

The ground shook.

It wasn’t a tremor. It was a footstep.

Lloyd’s flashlight beam swung wildly, cutting through the mist, and for a single, frozen second, it illuminated something in the tree line.

A wall of black iron.

That was the first thing Gio’s brain registered. A massive, curving wall of dark, metallic bone protruding through thick, scorched fur. Then the beam drifted upward and found the eyes. Two of them. Small, glowing like hot coals, set deep into a skull the size of a truck hood.

The creature stepped forward, and the earth groaned.

It was an Iron-Boned Bear. Enormous. Easily four meters tall at the shoulder, its body a grotesque fusion of muscle and jagged, metallic skeletal growths. Thick plates of iron-dark bone broke through the skin of its back, shoulders, and forearms like natural plate mail. Its fur was patchy and smelled heavily of sulfur and ash.

As it exhaled, a cloud of black smoke plumed from its nostrils, followed by a shower of orange sparks. The air around its muzzle shimmered with intense heat.

[System Alert!]

[Bioform Detected: E-Rank Mutagenic Iron-Boned Bear]

[Threat Level: High]