The first thing I did was move.
Slowly.
Carefully.
I didn't know how long I'd been out, but the storm was still going. The rain hit the leaves like static. The trees outside swayed in the dark, and every little sound made me flinch.
I stayed low.
The zombies were still there.
Not close enough to see clearly, but close enough to hear.
Shuffling.
Stopping.
Sniffing.
Then moving again.
They were not rushing.
That was worse.
I crawled backward from the stream and tucked myself behind the dirt wall of the shelter. My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat.
I opened JEI again.
Barricades.
Knives.
Traps.
Everything I needed was there.
I just did not have enough materials for most of it.
Not yet.
I checked my inventory.
Stone tools.
Flint knife.
Three vaccines.
A little iron.
Not much.
But enough to keep going.
I looked at the water again.
That was the answer.
If they were tracking me by smell, then I needed to break the trail.
I moved to the edge of the stream and stepped in.
Cold.
Not just cold—wrong.
My hotbar flickered.
A small circular icon appeared off to the side. Blue crept inward, slow but steady.
I froze.
"…what?"
I stayed still for a second, watching it.
The longer I stood in the water, the worse it got. The blue deepened. My movement felt heavier, just a little slower than before.
Great.
So water hides me.
But it also drains me.
I stepped out quickly, boots hitting the wet dirt. The circle stopped filling, the color holding where it was.
"Of course it does," I muttered under my breath.
Nothing in this pack was free.
I wiped my hands against my pants and glanced back toward the trees.
Still movement.
Still watching.
I needed to be smarter.
I stepped back into the stream—this time quicker. Just enough to break the trail. Then I crossed diagonally, climbing out onto a patch of stone on the other side.
Less scent.
Less noise.
And not enough time in the water to make that circle worse.
Better.
I went back to work.
More gravel.
More flint.
The first real step was always the same.
Knife first.
Then axe.
Then fire.
Then walls.
Then maybe… machines.
The night dragged on.
Every few minutes, something shifted in the trees.
Once, I saw a shape move between them.
Not fast.
Not aggressive.
Just… there.
I froze instantly.
Didn't breathe.
Didn't move.
The shape stopped.
Its head tilted slightly, like it was listening. Or searching.
The rain softened.
The wind shifted.
After a long moment, it turned and walked away.
I let out a breath slowly.
"…okay," I whispered. "Okay."
I pulled JEI back up.
Scrolled.
Stopped.
DNA Extraction.
Still there.
Still out of reach.
Metal sheets.
Compressor.
Lab block.
A whole chain of work before I could even touch it.
That wasn't early game.
That was survival after survival.
I closed the menu.
Didn't need it right now.
Didn't need power.
I needed to live.
I spent the next hour building.
Small improvements.
A tighter wall.
A lower roof.
A narrow entrance I could block quickly.
I even dug a shallow trench around the shelter, letting rainwater pool just enough to mess with scent trails.
Not perfect.
But better.
Every few minutes, I checked the tree line.
Something was always there.
Not close.
Not far.
Just enough.
Waiting.
Watching.
The storm slowly began to fade.
Thunder rolled farther away.
Rain softened into a steady drip.
The forest went quiet.
That quiet.
The kind that feels wrong.
I stood at the entrance of my shelter, flint knife in hand.
The stream still moved beside me.
The trees still loomed ahead.
And somewhere out there… they were still searching.
I glanced down at my hotbar again.
The circle was still there. Faint. Blue.
Not gone.
Just… waiting.
Another problem to deal with.
Tomorrow, I'd need better tools.
Better shelter.
Better everything.
And eventually… metal sheets. A compressor. A lab.
The DNA system wasn't something I could rush.
But it was there.
Waiting.
Just like everything else in this world.
I tightened my grip on the knife.
"Yeah…" I muttered quietly.
"This is gonna be a long pack."