It was a quiet dawn.
The sky had that pale, bruised quality.
Tysone stood on the roof of the mansion, leaning against the low parapet that circled it. He had been up before six. He didn't try to sleep past it. The core had opinions about extended rest that mostly amounted to you've had enough, get up, and after enough mornings of arguing with it he'd stopped trying. He was stronger for it, but it meant seeing a lot of sunrises he could have done without.
The courtyard below was clean.
Kohta and Kenji had already organized the supplies from the Aikawa estate, stacking fuel drums against the west wall and arranging the new weapons and ammunition in the armory shed. The Apocalypse Mule was parked in its usual spot, looking less like a vehicle and more like a sleeping beast, its tires caked with the mud and blood of the night before.
Everything was in its place.
Inside, the mansion was waking up. The freed survivors, Daichi and the others, had been given rooms on the second floor. They were quiet, grateful in that profound, bone-deep way of people who had truly had nothing and were now being handed a blanket and a promise of food.
What was taken for granted before was now a treasure.
The problem of the newcomers had been solved, at least for the short term.
He looked at the other rooftop, the one that faced the main gate, where a lone figure was already starting her morning rounds.
Asami.
She was walking the perimeter with a steady, unhurried pace, rifle held loosely but ready, her eyes scanning the street beyond the walls. With her was, naturally, Kotha. The boy had barely left her side since they'd returned, and was now 'protecting' her from the morning dew, or something equally absurd.
His presence, however, was actually useful, as he pointed out subtle weaknesses in the mansion's defensive layout that Asami, trained for civil policing, hadn't considered. It was a strange partnership—the nervous otaku marksman and the earnest cop—but it was working.
They made it work.
"Enjoying the view?"
He turned.
Saya stood there, holding two mugs of something hot and steaming. She handed him one. "Kenji found instant coffee packets. It's terrible, but it's hot."
"Hot and terrible is the official beverage of the apocalypse." He took the mug. The ceramic was warm against his palms. It could've been boiling hot, and he doubted the heat would've done anything but prickle his skin.
He was kinda getting immune to high temperatures.
"You're brooding again." Saya said, joining him at the parapet.
"Why do I always have to brood?"
"Because, duh, it's you we're talking about?"
Tysone scoffed playfully. "I'm not brooding. I'm planning."
There was a difference.
"Ah. Your brooding face and your planning face are remarkably similar."
He took a sip of the coffee. She was right. It was terrible. Bitter and thin.
"I've been thinking about what you said last night. About the port." He began. "And what Hayashi said about the city being full of 'strong' people."
He paused, choosing his words. He never believed himself as the strongest one in the world—but he did prepare in advance for the apocalypse, he was always proactive and reckless.
As such, he liked to think that even if not the strongest, he was quite up there in terms of skill, prep, and overall power. A Rank 2 fire-wielding mutant evolved; just the title alone was full of dignity.
And then it turns out that Hayashi likewise had chosen his same build.
"This place is a fortress, but it's a static fortress. We're a target. We sit here, and sooner or later, someone like Hayashi—only smarter, better organized, or with more people—is going to come along and test these walls."
"Your point being?"
"We can't just be reactive." He stated, his voice flat. "We need to be proactive. We need intel. We need resources. We need to understand the new power structure of this city before it decides to introduce itself to us."
Saya sipped her own coffee, her gaze fixed on the distant, hazy outline of the city skyline. "So you want to go to the port."
"I want us to go. As a team." He clarified. "Not just a quick raid. A real expedition. We scout the port, we assess its viability as a potential secondary base. We gather as much information as we can without getting into a major fight, if possible. If not, we handle it."
He set the mug down.
"Hayashi had a contact with a military radio. There's a command structure out there, somewhere, even if it's fractured. We need to find out who's in charge, what their goals are, and whether they're a threat or a potential asset. The port is as good a place as any to start looking for those answers."
She didn't answer right away. He could almost hear the gears turning in her head, the calculations and probabilities being weighed. The potential gains against the very real risks.
"Logically, it's the right move." She finally admitted, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Staying here is a slow death. The core supply in the immediate area will eventually run thin. We'll plateau.
Meanwhile, other groups are evolving, consolidating power."
"Exactly." Tysone nodded; he wanted to be part of this new pyramid at the top, not at the base.
"Moving everyone will be difficult and dangerous. The Mule can only carry so many people and supplies." She tapped her notepad. "But if you're talking about a forward scouting party... a smaller, more mobile unit... that's feasible."
"I was thinking the same thing. Not everyone will want to move anyway, and I don't want to abandon this base, just keep it as a backup."
He was thinking about how to break the news to the others. "The original core team. You, me, Saeko, Takashi, Rei, Kohta. The people who've been through the worst with me. Shizuka stays here, with Kenji and Haruto. They'll hold down the fort. Asami, Daichi, and the others can help reinforce the defenses while we're gone. Of course, I don't think it's the right time to move yet... first, I'd like to get to know our new friends better before entrusting them with the safety of our home. But that doesn't mean we can't start to at least plan for a future trip to the port."
Saya nodded thoughtfully.
"And we have to distribute the Rank 1 cores we got from Hayashi." Saya reminded him. "We're going to need to think about who gets them. We have to consider loyalty, combat aptitude, and strategic value."
"That's easy enough, the real problem is that I'd like to leave one or two Rank 2 combatants here before we go."
"I see..."
He thought it over. Shizuka might be a medic, but she had already gotten a core. Perhaps a Rank 2 could be forged among the original members in a few months, especially if they found another powerful core.
He had to be strategic about this.
Meanwhile, Kohta and Asami were now leaning against the Mule, heads close together, talking. Kohta was animated, using his hands to describe something, probably the recoil of a fifty-caliber rifle.
Asami was listening, a small smile on her face. She was a cop, trained to see the worst in people. It was probably refreshing for her to see someone who was so transparently, earnestly good underneath all that weaponry knowledge and social anxiety.
"You have a name for your little corporation yet?" Saya asked, breaking the silence.
"Rage Room Corps." Tysone replied with a deadpan expression. "Catchy, isn't it?"
Saya choked on her coffee. "You're not serious."
"Haha, nah, just messin' with ya." He gave her a smirk. "Though I think the 'Rage Room' part has a nice ring to it. We're all youthful and full of rage."
She rolled her eyes. "Of course you'd choose the most ridiculous name possible."
"Everyone out there calling themselves Black Dragon, White Tiger or some other over-the-top gang name. We should be different." Tysone reasoned, then thought twice about it. "You know what? Fuck it. Let's choose an over-the-top name too. Let's call ourselves the 'Obsidian Flame'. A little on-the-nose, but it works."
Saya stared at him. "Obsidian Flame?"
"Obsidian because, I mean, look at this shiny coat." Tysone pointed at himself, smiling brightly. "And flame because..."
He snapped his finger, and a small, perfectly formed wisp of fire appeared, dancing on his fingertip.
"Obsidian Flame, huh?"
Saya didn't seem to dislike it, at least.
Author's Note:
If you're enjoying the story and want to read ahead or support my work, you can check out my P@treon at [email protected]/LordCampione. But don't worry—all chapters will eventually be public. Just being here and reading means the world to me. Thank you for your time and support.