Chương 64: So It Was You

By the time Harvey brought Jack and Mort back to the cave, Megan was already awake. She sat against the rock wall, taking large bites of the bread Gordon had given her. An open can of beef rested beside her, already more than half empty. Hearing footsteps, Megan raised her head. Jack hurried into the cave and immediately saw her. Then he stopped.

"Holy shit!" He stared at her in disbelief.

"Megan Hall? Meg? How is it you? What are you doing here?" Megan had been eating when someone suddenly called out her full name, followed by a nickname she hadn't heard in years. The bread slipped from her hand and landed on her lap.

"Fuck… Jack?" She stared at him for several seconds, almost as if she couldn't believe he was real.

"What are you doing here?" For a moment, neither of them knew what to say. They had been classmates in middle school. Megan had been the top student in their class and the prettiest girl in school. After graduation, she left town to study medicine and eventually became a doctor at a large hospital in the state capital. Jack stayed behind. After working for several years, he took over the convenience store and became his own boss. They rarely spoke after graduation, but they had never completely lost contact.

They still followed each other on social media and occasionally heard about each other through mutual friends. Even after all those years, it hadn't taken either of them long to recognize the other. Neither had expected their first meeting in years to happen inside a cave in the wasteland. Gordon, Harvey, and Mort couldn't understand Jack and Megan's first few words, but it was obvious that the two knew each other well. Harvey leaned toward Gordon and whispered, "No wonder Jack said she was important.

She must be an old flame." Gordon nodded in agreement, and Mort seemed to reach the same conclusion. Jack didn't notice. He crouched in front of Megan and checked her condition.

"Are you hurt? Do you feel sick anywhere?"

"Other than being starving and dehydrated, I think I'm fine," Megan said.

"I've had some water and food, so I already feel much better." Jack finally relaxed. Megan picked up the bread from her lap.

"You still haven't answered me. Why are you here? And who are they?"

"It's a long story. I'll explain everything after we get back. Right now, we need to get you out of here." Then Jack noticed the white Tesla deeper inside the cave, and his eyes immediately lit up. Megan knew exactly what he was about to ask.

"The battery is dead. It won't start."

"How did you know what I was thinking?"

"Your eyes are practically glued to the car."

"Was it that obvious?"

"Yes!" Harvey answered from behind him. Jack glared back at him.

"Shut up." Harvey immediately fell silent. Gordon nearly laughed, and even Megan found the exchange amusing. Some of the tension around her finally eased. Jack looked back at the Tesla.

"A dead battery isn't a problem as long as the car itself still works. We'll leave it here for now and come back to charge it later." The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"You have electricity?" Megan asked in surprise. Jack nodded, then shook his head.

"So do you or don't you?"

"There's electricity where I'm staying, just not here. Forget about the car for now. Can you walk?" Megan rolled her eyes and used the rock wall to stand. After taking a moment to steady herself, she tried a few steps.

"I should be fine as long as we don't move too fast."

"Good." Jack asked Gordon, Harvey, and Mort to check their remaining supplies.

"Do we have enough food and water for five people to reach the agricultural supply center and make it back to the convenience store?" After checking their packs, Gordon said, "We have enough." Mort agreed. Jack then explained the situation to Megan.

"We were heading to some old-world ruins," Jack explained.

"The place might have been an agricultural supply center, so there should still be plenty of seeds and farming tools inside. You can come with us, or stay here and wait. If you stay, we'll leave you enough food and water and pick you up on the way back."

"I'll go with you," Megan said after thinking it over.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. I don't want to be left alone in this godforsaken place again." She paused before adding, "Besides, coming all the way back here just to pick me up would only make things more difficult for everyone." Since Megan had decided to go with them, Jack let her rest a little longer before they left. Mort, Gordon, and Harvey settled near the cave entrance for lunch, choosing a spot where they could still watch the outside. Megan sat against the rock wall again.

She still looked weak, but the food and water had helped. Jack sat down beside her and lowered his voice.

"You asked why I'm here, right?"

"You can tell me now?" Jack briefly explained how he and the convenience store had ended up in this world, along with the changes that had happened to the store afterward. Megan stared at him in disbelief.

"Don't look at me like that," Jack said.

"We've already been transported to another world. Is anything really impossible after that?" Megan couldn't argue with that.

"What about you?" Jack asked.

"How did you end up here?"

"How should I know?" She told him what had happened before and after she arrived. When Jack heard that everything had changed just as she entered the town, he immediately sensed that something was wrong.

"You had just entered town?"

"Yes."

"And then you suddenly appeared here?"

"That's right. Why?" Jack fell silent. The timing was too much of a coincidence. If Megan had been passing through town when the convenience store was transported, there was a good chance she had been caught up in the same event. The possibility left him feeling guilty. He had already been wondering whether to tell Megan about the system. Now it seemed she might have been dragged into this world because of it. As Jack hesitated, the system spoke in his mind.

"Human, tell her." Jack hadn't expected the system to say that. After a brief silence, it continued,"She has the right to know." For once, there was a trace of guilt in its voice. That was enough to confirm Jack's suspicion. Megan had been watching Jack's expression change.

"What's wrong?" Jack glanced toward the cave entrance. Once he was sure Mort, Gordon, and Harvey couldn't hear them, he lowered his voice.

"There's something else I haven't told you."

"There's more?"

"I'm also bound to something called the Limitless Omniversal Supply System, or LOSS System for short," Jack said.

"It gives me missions, and whenever I complete one, I can convert something that was already in the convenience store into an unlimited supply." Megan was about to ask about the system, but Jack continued.

"And I think I know why you ended up here."

"Why?"

"When the LOSS System brought me and the convenience store here, you were probably passing nearby and got caught up in it." Megan fell silent. She had assumed she had encountered some unexplained natural phenomenon or been pulled into some kind of strange space. After everything she had endured—after nearly dying of hunger and thirst—she had ended up here simply because she happened to drive past Jack's convenience store.

"I only found out just now," Jack added, clearly feeling guilty. Megan was quiet for a long time before letting out a tired sigh.

"Forget it. It wasn't your fault. Strictly speaking, we're both victims." Jack felt a little better, but Megan immediately asked the question he couldn't answer.

"Can we go back?"

"I don't know." The answer took away what little hope she had shown.

"There's no point worrying about that right now," Jack said.

"We're already here. Staying alive comes first." Megan thought about it and agreed. As a doctor, she knew there was no point dwelling on a problem they had no way to solve. For now, survival had to come first.

"What is this place?" she asked.

"Why did it become like this?"

"I don't know much either. The older people here said the natural ecosystem collapsed several decades ago, and the world gradually became what it is now." Megan gazed toward the cave entrance for a while before another question occurred to her.

"How did you know someone else had been transported here?"

"I didn't."

"Then why did you come looking for me? And why did you tell them to ask for an Insta account?" Jack took the iPhone 17 from his backpack.

"Because of this. The moment I saw it, I knew someone else had come here from Earth. I just didn't expect it to be you." Megan immediately recognized the phone and took it from him.

"I realized it was missing after I returned to the cave. I guessed I had dropped it near that settlement, but I didn't know whether that creature was still around. I didn't dare go back for it." She suddenly looked at Jack.

"Wait. That settlement is yours?"

"Of course not." Jack indicated Gordon near the entrance.

"It belongs to the brothers. Gordon found your phone." Megan finally understood how the phone had ended up with Jack. By then, Mort, Gordon, and Harvey had finished lunch. Mort came back from the entrance.

"Can we leave?" Jack let Megan answer. She used the rock wall to stand and walked a few steps before saying, "I can manage. Just don't go too fast."

"Then let's go. If you feel unwell, tell me immediately. Don't force yourself." Megan glanced back at the Tesla.

"We're leaving it here?"

"For now. We'll figure out what to do with it after we get back." Gordon and Harvey picked up their supplies while Mort wrapped the chain around himself and dragged the iron ball toward the entrance. After making sure nothing had been left behind, Jack and Megan followed them out of the cave. The group continued toward the old-world agricultural supply center.