Arty didn't move. The three crystals rested silently in his palm while the infected continued closing the distance across the open yard.
Their uneven gait carried them forward with the same relentless rhythm that had already claimed his life once before.
Leah reached the driver's door first, pulling it open before turning back toward him.
"Arty... we need to go."
"We will," hereplied.
His eyes never left the approaching figures. The closest three continued directly toward them as his breathing slowed.
The second group had appeared further back in the industrial estate, yet instead of converging on the fight, several continued walking across the distant roadway exactly as they had before.
Only the nearest had changed direction. His mind replayed the last two minutes, every event layering over the next until something finally refused to fit.
"They were already moving." Leah frowned.
"What?" Tom asked, startled.
"They didn't appear because of us," Arty said.
Another infected stumbled over a discarded pallet before regaining its balance and continuing forward without the slightest hesitation.
Arty's eyes tracked it carefully, there was no anger, no rage or urgency.
Just… Movement…
"They were already going somewhere." Arty stated.
Tom stepped out beside the tray, keeping one hand on the Ute while watching the same figures that had captured Arty's attention. "I don't follow."
"They're restlessly travelling around." Arty said.
"They're zombies, isn't that what they do?" Dale said.
"I know. They're supposed to wander. At least according to the movies." Tom said.
Arty slowly shook his head. "I don't think they are."
A silence settled over the group, not because they believed him, but because none of them knew enough to disagree.
More movement.
Some travelled in small groups.
Others wandered alone or in pairs.
A few crossed between warehouses while others emerged from narrow laneways before disappearing behind rows of shipping containers.
Almost every one of them... Moved in roughly the same direction, his heartbeat quickened.
Not from a place of fear, this was from recognition, he started to see patterns, he had simply been too busy surviving to notice it before.
Leah stepped closer. "What are you looking at?"
"The ones that aren't interested in us." Arty said.
She followed his gaze, her voice trailed away. "I… I didn't even notice them."
"Neither did I," Arty admitted.
Until now, the first infected reached the body lying closest to the fence, it slowed, not stopping or attacking, it simply stepped around the corpse before continuing toward Arty.
There was no attempt to feed, no curiosity, not even an acknowledgement. This was very interesting, the bodies meant nothing, though the fight meant something else entirely.
It was noise, movement and signs of life, these are what mattered, the corpses didn't, another piece clicked into place.
"They're reacting..." He murmured the words more to himself than anyone else, not hunting." Tom said.
"Pretty sure they're still trying to eat us." Dale stated.
"They certainly are." Leah agreed.
"So... They're responding to opportunities." Arty crouched beside the nearest body once more.
Not for another crystal, this time to observe, the infected ignored the corpse completely, its attention never drifted from him.
Living movement.
Living sound.
Living targets.
"Everything else... Is background to them." He said whilst standing up.
"So if we stay quiet... They should eventually lose interest?" Leah looked at him.
"I don't know for sure... but it's a good place to start." Arty opined.
It was the first honest answer he'd given all morning.
"I'd rather know than assume." Tom folded his arms.
Arty looked down at the crystals resting in his hand before answering.
"I've noticed something," Tom said.
"What?" He asked.
"You keep saying, 'I don't know.'" Tom replied.
"Yeah that's because every time I pretend I know something... I die." He replied.
Nobody responded, there wasn't anything to say, the truth settled between them, heavier than the silence itself.
A gust of wind swept across the open yard, carrying the faint metallic smell of blood together with something older. Something stale had settled over the city long before they arrived.
Arty looked back toward the warehouse, the fences, reinforced corner, storage shed, these are all part of his new settlement, his future settlement.
His chest tightened slightly, only fifteen minutes earlier he'd been thinking about reinforcing walls, building defences, planning fields of fire.
Now... He was preparing to leave again, the thought annoyed him far more than it frightened him.
"This place is worth coming back to." Leah looked back at the warehouse.
"You've decided already?" Dale asked.
"I decided the moment I touched that fence." Arty replied.
"The metal?" Leah asked.
He nodded. "I can change it, eventually provided I've got enough time." He said.
The word hung between them, his fingers brushed the rusted fence beside him, the faint pull answered immediately, it was still there just waiting for him.
Almost as though the warehouse recognised him now, the sensation vanished the moment he let go, with a mental promise to return, he turned towards the Ute.
Tom climbed into the passenger side of the Ute, "So... What… We're leaving, for now?"
Dale lowered himself carefully into the rear seat, wincing as his cut and bruised ribs reminded him they still existed. "I don't like the sound of 'for now'."
"You don't have to." Arty managed the faintest smile.
He looked around the yard one final time, open sightlines, solid fencing, limited approaches, loads of metal with more than enough room to build and plenty of room for survival.
His eyes drifted beyond the warehouse once more, the infected continued moving towards them, whilst others passed by without so much as a glance.
More disappeared into the distance altogether, spreading out far and wide, whatever this world had become... It was no longer random, this new world had new rules.
The system had rules. Crystals had their own rules too.
His job... Was finding them before these new rules got him killed.
Leah rested one hand on the open driver's door. "If we're coming back..."
She looked toward the warehouse. "...what is this place?"
Arty followed her gaze, "It's not a hiding place, it's not temporary nor is it just another warehouse."
He finally understood why the scan marker had led him here.
"if it isn't shelter, what then?" Tom asked.
He looked down at the three crystals resting in his hand before slowly closing his fingers around them, "It's the foundation."
Nobody spoke, they didn't need to, the words simply felt true, not because the System had told him.
Everything he'd learned since waking up pointed toward exactly the same conclusion.
He climbed into the driver's seat, the warehouse remained framed in the windscreen for another few seconds while he rested both hands on the steering wheel.
"I'm coming back." Arty stated.
Leah heard him. "Well… So am I." Leah chimed.
Tom nodded once. "Count me in too."
Dale simply stared out through the side window without speaking. "Ditto." He replied.
Arty inserted the key into the ignition, he paused, taking one final look, he made one final promise to the warehouse and to the others.
"No matter what… Even in death… I'll find a way to bring you all back here!" He stated.
After one final promise, the warehouse wasn't finished, neither was he, his hand turned the key, the engine burst into life, as they drove off.
All across the industrial estate... Dozens of heads turned.