The morning was cold, the kind of cold that cuts through armor and bone alike. Fog clung to the hills like ghosts refusing to move on. I stood by the edge of our forward base, loading supplies into a modified ATV. Only a few of us were going—trusted ones.
Ray, Vivian, Mason, and Erika.
The System's task was still fresh in my mind.
---
System Notification:
Mission: Retrieve Armored Vehicle Blueprint
Status: Explosives Training Complete – 25 Members Trained
Reward Location: Classified Storage Bunker – Region Delta-9
Warning: Hostiles Reported in Area. Stealth Recommended.
---
The location was at least two days out—an old military vault buried beneath a collapsed outpost. The blueprints wouldn't be a paper file. They'd be digital, and heavily encrypted. I didn't know exactly what kind of vehicle it was yet, but the system called it "Project Juggernaut."
The only problem? I wasn't the only one who knew the vault existed.
Two scavengers—Tom and Briggs—had stumbled on the location a week ago. They didn't know what was inside, but I did. And they were already planning to return.
If they found the blueprints first, everything would spiral.
And if they figured out I somehow knew exactly what was there?
Game over.
---
As we rode through the lifeless plains, Ray kept his eyes on the scanner. "Low creature activity, but I'm picking up some movement up ahead. Could be those scavenger assholes."
"Good," I said, voice quiet. "Let them show themselves."
Vivian looked over. "You going to kill them?"
The question lingered longer than it should've.
"I'll do what I have to," I said.
She didn't press. None of them did.
But the weight settled on my shoulders like a slow-bleeding wound. What kind of leader does that make me? A protector? Or a judge quietly building a gallows?
---
We reached the old bunker entrance just before dusk. Half-buried in concrete and snow, its blast doors still stood, sealed tight. But the vault wasn't the issue.
Tom and Briggs were already there.
They had a small fire going behind a broken wall, rifles leaned against their packs. They hadn't seen us yet.
Ray and I circled around from the right. Vivian and Erika stayed on overwatch with scopes.
I crouched behind a crumbled barrier, my hand on my silenced pistol. They were laughing. Planning how much they could sell anything "weird" they found inside. They had no idea what they were sitting on.
This would be easy.
Two bullets. Quick. Clean.
Nobody would know.
But as I raised the pistol, something in me cracked—memories of Kayden's betrayal, his sister in UNO's hands, the look in Ray's eyes when I told him I wanted to stay human in a world that wasn't.
I lowered the gun.
No. Not this time.
I had another way.
---
I stepped out of the shadows.
They froze.
Tom reached for his weapon. "Who the hell—?"
"I wouldn't," I said, gun already drawn.
Briggs blinked. "James? From the northern camp?"
"That's right."
Ray stepped out behind me, rifle steady.
"We're not looking for trouble," Briggs stammered.
"But you found it," I replied.
I walked toward them slowly, each step measured.
"You stumbled on something too big for you. That vault? It doesn't open for just anyone. It's rigged. And the last people who tried died screaming from the inside out."
That was a lie. But they didn't know that.
Briggs swallowed. "We didn't know—"
"You didn't ask. And now I'm here to give you a choice. Leave. Now. And never speak of this place again. Or you stay…"
I tilted my head slightly.
"And you see what I really keep in the dark."
They glanced at each other.
Then, like scared animals, they backed away. Packed their things. Didn't even speak.
By nightfall, they were gone.
Ray let out a low whistle. "That was some monster-level intimidation."
I didn't smile.
"I almost pulled the trigger."
Vivian came down from the hill. "But you didn't."
"No," I said. "But I wanted to."
And maybe that's what scared me the most.
---
We spent the rest of the night cracking the vault open. The entrance required a bypass code, but the System offered me a tool—Digital Override Spike—that made short work of it.
Inside, the air was stale. Dust choked the corridors, and flickering emergency lights blinked in rhythm like a dying heartbeat.
We found the server chamber behind three layers of security. Project Juggernaut was stored in a black data core the size of my forearm. I slotted it into my pack.
The System chimed softly.
---
System Notification:
Reward Claimed: Project Juggernaut Blueprint
Status: Vehicle Design Stored.
Next Step: Construct at Customizable Facility
Optional Upgrade Rewards: [Armor Plating + Shock Suppression] – Available upon completing Defense Missions
---
Outside, as dawn painted the sky in bruised orange and pale gold, I made a decision.
We wouldn't bring the vehicle into the main base.
We'd hide it. Near enough to reach in an emergency, but far enough that if someone betrayed us again, they wouldn't get near it.
We found a collapsed tunnel two kilometers north—a hidden underground loading bay. It took half a day to clear, but it was perfect. We hid the data core inside, buried under a camouflaged crate, sealed tight.
Only my team knew about it.
---
That night, we returned to base. Exhausted. Hungry. But alive.
And I stood once again on the edge of our camp, looking out at the broken world.
Vivian joined me, her eyes still alert.
"You could've killed them," she said. "Why didn't you?"
I looked at her. "Because we're already becoming what we hate. If I don't draw the line now… we'll lose who we are before we even win anything."
She nodded, just once. "I'd follow you, even if you had pulled the trigger. But I'm glad you didn't."
And maybe… maybe I was too.
---
Author's Note:
What would you have done?
Would you have taken the clean kill and protected your secret?
Or would you gamble on fear, on manipulation, and hope they never return?
James made a hard choice. One that walks the edge of mercy and necessity. But in a world where power is everything… can you afford even one moment of conscience?
Let me know—would you follow a man who holds back the darkness, or one who uses it without flinching?
---